Phil Hunn
Apr 20, 2008, 07:00 pm
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/0408/FLS_Cv239.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/0408/FLS_Cv239t.jpg" hspace=10 align=left alt="The Flash #239 preview"></a>Reviewer: Phil Hunn, philiphunn@hotmail.com
Story Title: Fast Money, part two
”I’ve never tried to cash in. I usually fight the ones who do.”
Writer: Tom Peyer
Artist: Freddie E. Williams II
Colorists: Tanya & Richard Horie
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Assoc. Editor: Rachel Gluckstern
Editor: Joan Hilty
Published by: DC Comics (http://www.dccomics.com)
There will be a little confession to start this review off: I only start picking this title up a few months ago, in order to thumb my nose at Joe Quesada. Why? Simple: the Flash is married with kids. If I couldn’t read about one married superhero, I thought, then I’d read about another instead, and give my money to that hero’s title instead of Brand Old Day (Take that, House of Ideas!). Was it a good choice? I think so, yes. Despite knowing next to nothing about the Flash except that he can run really fast (and that he has a bunch of other speedy types to keep him company), I was rarely confused or puzzled by anything in the book. Given how complex the Flash’s status quo is at the moment, I think that’s a very admirable feat.
In any case, this issue continues the havoc being wrought on Keystone City by the villain Spin (who’s almost like a non-blubbery version of Mojo, complete with cyborg henchman), and the Flash continuing to worry about having as much money as your average piggy bank. He got into this predicament before I started reading the title, so I don’t know how he managed to dig a pit this deep, but – as Spider-Man has proved, time and again – it’s fun watching a superhero dealing with the same kind of money worries as the rest of us. Humanising touches like that are always welcomed, especially in this medium, which is stuffed full of characters who are apparently able to get by on just air and goodwill in between saving the day. Flash, in turn, is characterised as a guy struggling to juggle the responsibilities of his position as the protector of Keystone City with those of looking after his family, and just about holding up under it all. His kids bring a lot of fun to the book whenever they’re on-panel (Wally’s son Jai is a great character, although admittedly he does assert himself on the page far more strongly than his sister Iris does), and Linda, his wife, is one of those long-suffering but ultimately very loving women that form the backbone of many families. She has some nice comical moments in the issue, which serve as a great counterpoint to Wally’s internal angst and the general tone of the story, which gets very dark at some points.
The villain of the piece, Spin, is hardly as well-known as the other members of the Flash’s rogues’ gallery, like Professor Zoom, the Piper or Captain Cold (and even they’re fairly obscure, when compared to big names like Lex Luthor or the Joker), but his plan is suitably malevolent and relies less on maniacal soliloquies than it does on actual hard graft and manipulation. While mind-control stories grate on my nerves a little after years of experiencing the X-Men getting routinely taken over by some random evil-doer, this one doesn’t, as the manifestations of that mind-control are actually quite varied, and show the influence the media can have on the public at large (an obvious target? Perhaps. But it’s a good target nonetheless, and Peyer has a lot of fun targeting talks shows and the like, showing how they, even under Spin’s control, are still putting their own spin on things). I thought that was a great little touch, showing how television can easily skew things in a completely different direction to the one they were heading in originally.
Freddie Williams’ art is sometimes a little cartoony in places, but it conveys enough emotion to make it transcend those moments (and the issue’s comedic moments are superbly illustrated, also – Linda’s facial expressions and body posture are very amusing, and are a welcome addition to the humour of the situation itself). His depiction of Spin and his henchman are really good – the henchman, in particular, is superbly grotesque, all wires and emaciated flesh, and there are some excellent moments where Spin’s opaque visor reflects back what he is planning to inflict on the Flash.
The Flash is not a title I’d even considered picking up a few months ago, and now, thanks to Tom Peyer, I actively look forward to it every month. As I said, I started buying it as a protest, and now I buy it because, as this issue proved, it’s a great read. If you’re looking for a good, old-fashioned superhero title, then you can’t really go far wrong with The Fastest Man Alive.
RATING:
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Buy FLASH #239 at X-WORLD and save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopexd.asp?id=26562)
Story Title: Fast Money, part two
”I’ve never tried to cash in. I usually fight the ones who do.”
Writer: Tom Peyer
Artist: Freddie E. Williams II
Colorists: Tanya & Richard Horie
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Assoc. Editor: Rachel Gluckstern
Editor: Joan Hilty
Published by: DC Comics (http://www.dccomics.com)
There will be a little confession to start this review off: I only start picking this title up a few months ago, in order to thumb my nose at Joe Quesada. Why? Simple: the Flash is married with kids. If I couldn’t read about one married superhero, I thought, then I’d read about another instead, and give my money to that hero’s title instead of Brand Old Day (Take that, House of Ideas!). Was it a good choice? I think so, yes. Despite knowing next to nothing about the Flash except that he can run really fast (and that he has a bunch of other speedy types to keep him company), I was rarely confused or puzzled by anything in the book. Given how complex the Flash’s status quo is at the moment, I think that’s a very admirable feat.
In any case, this issue continues the havoc being wrought on Keystone City by the villain Spin (who’s almost like a non-blubbery version of Mojo, complete with cyborg henchman), and the Flash continuing to worry about having as much money as your average piggy bank. He got into this predicament before I started reading the title, so I don’t know how he managed to dig a pit this deep, but – as Spider-Man has proved, time and again – it’s fun watching a superhero dealing with the same kind of money worries as the rest of us. Humanising touches like that are always welcomed, especially in this medium, which is stuffed full of characters who are apparently able to get by on just air and goodwill in between saving the day. Flash, in turn, is characterised as a guy struggling to juggle the responsibilities of his position as the protector of Keystone City with those of looking after his family, and just about holding up under it all. His kids bring a lot of fun to the book whenever they’re on-panel (Wally’s son Jai is a great character, although admittedly he does assert himself on the page far more strongly than his sister Iris does), and Linda, his wife, is one of those long-suffering but ultimately very loving women that form the backbone of many families. She has some nice comical moments in the issue, which serve as a great counterpoint to Wally’s internal angst and the general tone of the story, which gets very dark at some points.
The villain of the piece, Spin, is hardly as well-known as the other members of the Flash’s rogues’ gallery, like Professor Zoom, the Piper or Captain Cold (and even they’re fairly obscure, when compared to big names like Lex Luthor or the Joker), but his plan is suitably malevolent and relies less on maniacal soliloquies than it does on actual hard graft and manipulation. While mind-control stories grate on my nerves a little after years of experiencing the X-Men getting routinely taken over by some random evil-doer, this one doesn’t, as the manifestations of that mind-control are actually quite varied, and show the influence the media can have on the public at large (an obvious target? Perhaps. But it’s a good target nonetheless, and Peyer has a lot of fun targeting talks shows and the like, showing how they, even under Spin’s control, are still putting their own spin on things). I thought that was a great little touch, showing how television can easily skew things in a completely different direction to the one they were heading in originally.
Freddie Williams’ art is sometimes a little cartoony in places, but it conveys enough emotion to make it transcend those moments (and the issue’s comedic moments are superbly illustrated, also – Linda’s facial expressions and body posture are very amusing, and are a welcome addition to the humour of the situation itself). His depiction of Spin and his henchman are really good – the henchman, in particular, is superbly grotesque, all wires and emaciated flesh, and there are some excellent moments where Spin’s opaque visor reflects back what he is planning to inflict on the Flash.
The Flash is not a title I’d even considered picking up a few months ago, and now, thanks to Tom Peyer, I actively look forward to it every month. As I said, I started buying it as a protest, and now I buy it because, as this issue proved, it’s a great read. If you’re looking for a good, old-fashioned superhero title, then you can’t really go far wrong with The Fastest Man Alive.
RATING:
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Buy FLASH #239 at X-WORLD and save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopexd.asp?id=26562)