For a long time the Speed Force has been the backbone of the Flash Family’s efforts to make the world a better place. Source of power, refuge in times of trouble, mysterious but benevolent.
But what if the speedsters’ have made a big mistake in just assuming the Speed Force is their friend? What if even Max Mercury, Zen Master of Speed and planning on leaping into the future with his teen charge Impulse, has got it wrong?
Max has been a speedster since the 1830s. He’s never been rejected previously.
As for Wally West, he’s been feeling a disturbance in the Force since The Flash #800… and ignoring it. Boss Mr Terrific is trying to understand the strange realm but Wally holds back the fact he’s noticed ‘fluctuations’.
Mind, given Mr Terrific isn’t telling Wally about a mysterious bubblegum chewer referred to as ‘Inspector’ who’s predicting a Speed Force-related apocalypse, let’s call it even.
Back home, Linda Park-West is feeling isolated now she’s lost the super-speed that came with carrying newborn Wade. While Wally and twins Irey and Jai revel in their powers, Linda’s strength manifests more quietly.
And at the twins’ school, Jai is acting strangely, prompting Irey to investigate.
There’s a lot going on in this double-sized debut for the new Flash creative team of writer Si Spurrier, illustrator Mike Deodato, colourist Trish Mulvihill and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. I’ve not gone into all the ins and outs, but I do want to give you some of the flavour of the issue. Think Vertigo’s superhero corner, where lived the likes of the Doom Patrol and Animal Man… heck, Buddy Baker’s daughter Maxine – Animal Girl and Irey’s best pal – remains from the wonderful Jeremy Adams run that preceded this relaunch.
I’m surprised and delighted by how much Spurrier honours that period – I enjoyed the preview story in the aforementioned Flash #800 but early publicity for this new series had me thinking Wally was running off into cosmic areas and we’d not see his family. But they’re central to this first issue and it’s apparent there are plans for them. I’m sad to see Linda feeling down, but it makes sense given where she is after the previous run. For one thing, this is the first time she’s been left at home holding the baby (the twins’ earliest years were… complicated). I hope she’ll find her way back to her best self soon.
Spurrier captures Wally’s voice with skill, bringing us the classic mix of breezy confidence and appropriate self deprecation.
As for the new story beats, I’m on record as not liking the Speed Force as a magical realm that provides whatever the story needs, so if Spurrier plans to pin things down, brilliant! The weirdness we’re seeing is certainly promising, as is the inclusion of a classic Flash villain and hint at the presence of another. Mysteries such as the identity of the Inspector, Jai’s boiler room activities and a helpful young man named Chad will certainly have me back next time. And who’s that narrating the Linda spotlight… please God Spurrier isn’t bringing back Mopee.
(You don’t know Mopee? Look him up. Or better still, don’t.)
I don’t know if Wally and Mr Terrific not telling one another about their Speed Force-facing worries counts as them passing the idiot ball as they’re not acting entirely out of character – Wally is an eternal optimist and Michael Holt massively arrogant. Then again, both have been heroes long enough to know Secrets Are Bad, and Wally’s lack of concern at regular people being kidnapped by Glinda Globes is very strange… is someone messing with him, or is the Speed Force malaise messing with his head?
We’ll know soon enough, I guess. Meanwhile, the script is smart, witty, engrossing – I’m in! And the art by Deodato doesn’t hurt. The storytelling is splendid, the characters look great (even if, as in #800, Linda looks disturbingly like a certain US-based Duchess) and the dynamism is off the scale, helped by Deodato’s decision to split individual panels into smaller frames. A regularly occurring stippled texture adds extra interest, while that splash page of the weirdness of Wally in the Speed Force is a massive hints at great things to come.
And Mulvihill’s sense of colour is a huge plus for the book, with a nice balance between naturalism and nuttiness… I especially like that scene with Max and the weirdo buffalo.
Otsmane-Elhaou doesn’t go distractingly mad with the lettering (cough Hawkgirl cough), though he does take every opportunity to vary font and size.
I’m not a huge fan of double-page credit spreads but editors Rebecca Bohanan and Chris Rosa have wrangled Production into an eye-popping neon marvel, compete with new legend.
I don’t, though, like the new Flash cover logo, which is horribly static, senselessly centred and has a hero silhouette adding extra clutter. Just no.
The cover image itself by Deodato and Mulvihill is a cracker, full of the energy missing from the masthead.
The Flash #1 is a great start to an intriguing new era, I loved it. How about you?
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 
Huh! Interesting. I’ll check it out tomorrow, but I didn’t have high hopes for it. Now you’ve got me curious to at least give it a shot. I love me some Wally, but I’m not sure if he’s gonna fit in a Vertigo style type of storytelling. Still… won’t know until you try it, I guess.
On a related sorta note, did you give the first issue of Wonder Woman a try? And if so, what di you think?
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Same here. I really don’t like Deodato’s art and Spurrier can be weird for weird’s sake too often but if Martin likes it this much I’ll try the first issue. At least it doesn’t seem like Linda’s off model like in the preview.
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I didn’t try WW after reading the preview, I can’t stand to see Tom King mess about with my favourites. He lost me at Adam Strange and Supergirl.
I do hope I’ve not given you false hope for the Flash!
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His Booster Gold lost me, especially coming so quickly after Jurgens wrote Booster in a Super Book. The only thing King’s Booster had in common with any other appearance was the costume.
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Made it maybe halfway through before I started skimming. I don’t like Deodato or Wall West enough to read this series. I especially disliked the happy marriage being ruined.
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I’ll let you know when i read Flash. Today or tomorrow.
You made a good choice on Wonder Woman. It read more like a political story than it did a super hero story. The character driving the story is Sarge Steel (although he’s wildly out of character) and Wonder Woman is more of a supporting character than anything else.
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I’ll let you know after I read it today or tomorrow.
You made the right choice about Wonder Woman. It reads like a political thriller with Sarge Steel driving the story. He’s wildly out of character from what I remember, though. Wonder Woman is pretty much a supporting character in the first issue.
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I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I’m glad to see Wally’s family and friends getting some time to shine here and having their own storylines start off, though I’m sure they’ll tie in to Wally’s story eventually. A lot of people, myself included, have compared this to Morrison’s work on Doom Patrol and Animal Man, but I think it also calls back to the early Silver Age stories where Barry would travel to other dimensions, planets or time periods and meet bizarre aliens or monsters.
Writer Si Spurrier has said on Twitter that while there will be “cosmic horror” people have mistakenly assumed that implies that Wally will be going to space or will be full of jump-scares, which apparently is not the case here.
I agree that Wally’s lack of concern for the abducted police officers/citizens it out of character and I wish that had been addressed. Maybe we’ll get some follow up next issue.
Overall, I enjoyed the issue and I’m looking forward to seeing what Spurrier does with the characters and story going forward.
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Si, bless him, hasn’t got a leg to stand on ‘cosmic horror’ is a phrase that doesn’t leave a lot of room for interpretation.
Excellent point about Barry’s early stories, I’ve been chatting about them to Billy D_licious recently on his A World on Fire podcast.
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Whoops. That “anonymous” comment was from me.
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Hello!
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That art looks lovely. Struggle with Flash stories these days – hate, hate, hate the Speed Force – but will check this out
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Good luck!
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I wasn’t planning on reading this. The ‘vertigo’ take I knew was coming didn;’t seem to jibe with the Flash I know, especially given how sunny the Jeremy Adams stuff was recently.
Your review is enough to entice me.
Thanks for covering!
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Hope you like it!
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I’ve got this on order. I often want to like Spurrier, but he has a tendency to overwrite dialogue to the point it just becomes annoying that ends up driving me off, so hoping that he resists that tendency to keep things moving.
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I don’t like all Si Spurrier’s stuff, but this is the most I’ve enjoyed his work since Hellblazer.
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I’m happy to say I was blown away by this book. For once an incoming creative team doesn’t ignore all the things the previous creative team did! Spurrier and Deodato are using the Adams run as a foundation and starting point, and I love it. I hate to see Linda going through a depression, but it’s totally understandable under her circumstances; I hope Wally isn’t too dense to see it for long. Linda, the kids, Max and Bart, and Mister Terrific all seem to have their own story beats, which puts us right in the thick of something like four or five different (or related) plotlines.
The art’s gorgeous. I love how Deodato breaks up the page, I love Mulvihill’s color, and I’m crazy about Otsmane-Elhaou’s lettering. As much trepidation as I’ve had for this book, it’s absolutely clear that we’re in good hands.
As for the story? I’m 100% down for unexplained and/or sinister aspects to the Speed Force. For a number of years before Waid & Wieringo created the Speed Force, there was a question of how Wally could do the things he does, and how Barry used superspeed with even less physical cost (no huge appetite, like Wally, for instance). I remember Tina and Jerry McGee were looking into it during the Messner-Loebs/LaRocque run, even positing that Barry might not have been exactly human. That inquiry was dropped for a while, and Waid put something of a band-aid over it with the Speed Force. And it worked really well for a while. But it’s been a crutch for a long time now — particularly on the TV series, and it really needs to be explored in greater depth. I think Spurrier and Deodato are going to do just that, and in an exciting, albeit queasy way (as opposed to a here’s-12-pages-of-cosmic-exposition way that would put me to sleep). Make the speed force ALIEN. Make it TROUBLING. Make it MYSTERIOUS. I’m here for all of it.
This is going to be a great run.
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Great thoughts as ever! I’d love if Tina and Jerry returned in this storyline. Mind, one or the other is likely dead and I’ve forgotten… maybe this whole thing will end up with the speed force energy being shot into the speedsters to power them for life, and the SF will go away, at least for a few years.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
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Hey there Martin. I read it and enjoyed it. I would have preferred if this creative team had been able to wait until the previous creative team had actually finished telling the stories they wanted to tell before taking the book over, but that was probably a decision made at editorial.
As it it, Spurrier does a good job building on what came before. This is the way I like to see a new creative team come on board. Take what was there before and use it to tell new stories.
I would have liked it more if Wally and Linda weren’t in such a sad place at the beginning of the series. It’s not that Linda’s troubles don’t make sense or are coming out of nowhere, but having Wally completely miss the point of what she was saying when they were talking is a little heartbreaking. I have no doubt they’ll get back to where they were. Every couple needs adversity, blah blah blah… but it was still sad to read.
I’m fine with exploring the speed force if it is going to add something new to the mythos (or better yet… dismantle the speed force entirely as it has become overused), but I’ll admit to getting slightly overwhelmed with all the cosmic science mumbo jumbo that filled the back half of the book. Cut that out by half and I’ll be a happier camper.
How great was it to see so much of the Flash family get some air time? I’m all for that!
I’ll agree that the layout of the art and the panel designs are great! Really interesting to look at. The actual artwork, however, isn’t really my cup of tea. Deodato doesn’t do a lot for me. I’m not sure if it’s the pencils or the inks of the colouring, but much of the art looks muddy to me.
I kinda like the logo. The figure of Flash right in the middle, works for me.
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Thanks for the splendid comments. It is a shame that Wally has slipped back a tad in terms of noticing Linda’s state of mind – when your wife is Linda Park-West and she’s meekly suggesting she does some paid work, rather than just announcing it, something is wrong.
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That comment above was me.
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Hello Murray!
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