Wally West is the fastest man alive, and tonight he needs to be – a nuclear bomb is primed to explode in five minutes and he hasn’t a clue where it is. The only thing to do is search Central and Keystone Cities at supersonic speed.
He does have a partner in crime, Captain Cold, who’s ready to help in typical Rogues style.
Linda’s reporting skills have uncovered the man who’s been spending huge amounts of money keeping Wally busy while he had a nuclear bomb built under the Flash’s nose. And once the Monarch of Motion and Arctic Arch-Criminal have found and defused the nuke, Wally pays George Stebbings a visit.
Oh, I do enjoy seeing our righteous hero deliver a well-deserved smack across the kisser to the man who’s been manipulating Central citizens to put themselves in danger in return for wads of cash.
Immediate problem solved, Wally turns his attention to his recently developed ‘flashes of insight’ power – how can he make snippets of the future enter his mind on demand?
Is anyone not hearing that old muscleman-jiggling-his-bits tune in their head? Writer Ryan North, only a few issues into his run, has come up with a great voice for Wally. Over at Marvel North has turned every member of the Fantastic Four into a genius, but while Wally is a smart guy, he’s no Brainiac 5. He’s the working class stiff Geoff Johns wrote him as, with an extra helping of goofball humour, easily distracted but quickly back to focusing on the task at hand.
Wife Linda, frenemy Captain Cold, twins Irey and Jay, they’re all on good form, but Wally is the star of the show; I always enjoy Flash stories that take place in just a couple of minutes and this is a winner.
I’m still not a fan of the flashes of insight, but having turned up with the recent DC KO event, I expect they’ll be gone with the next big crossover.
And while North is finding his feet on the story side, new artist Gavin Guidry has settled in nicely. There’s a terrific spread spotlighting the Scarlet Speedster’s search for the bomb, the start of an issue of terrific storytelling. My favourite panel sees Wally entering Stebbings’s building, proving that while generally a light-hearted chap, the Flash can do intimidating as well as any hero.
One thing I love is that Guidry doesn’t go as mad with the crackling speed lines as do most modern artists, he gives us plenty to represent movement without muddying the page. And Adriano Lucas cleverly colours them in yellow with a red wave form in the speed trail.
Lucas does a wonderful job throughout the issue, keeping things nice and bright – even that elusive bomb turns out to be grey and… pink.
Buddy Beaudoin also impresses with the lettering, emphasising the ups and downs of the drama with font choices and sizes.
Guidry gets points for experimentation with his cover design but, ironically, it lacks impact. Colours, once again, by Lucas.
Cover quibble aside, this is a fine issue. What I’m hugely looking forward to is North and Guidry’s first full-on supervillain issue. Is that coming next month? Sorry, my flashes of insight aren’t working right now.
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 