The Flash #41 – Joshua Williamson, Writer; Carlos D’Anda, Artist; Luis Guerrero, Colorist
Ratings:
Ray – 8.5/10
Corrina: Is Wally Taking Over?
WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW
Ray: The “Perfect Storm” arc continues in The Flash #41 with a strong spotlight for Wally West and the younger members of the Flash family, but is somewhat held back by the fact that Barry Allen continues to make terrible choices that put him and everyone around him in grave danger. When the issue picks up, Grodd and his council of allies, including Negative Flash and the mysterious Raijin rule over a frozen Central City, while a powerless Barry is desperately trying to get his speed back. He’s turned over the city’s protection to the older Wally in the meantime, but time is running down as Grodd’s freezing of the city will have fatal consequences soon. In his desperation to protect his proteges, he sends Kid Flash and Avery away from the city, telling them off rather harshly and seemingly causing another falling-out with young Wally.
Tensions are rising with the older Wally as well, as he questions Barry’s attempts to use the lightning rod to get his powers back. It could work – or it could attract Grodd and his minions. Wally leaves to try to save the city, speeding people out of the city one at a time while outrunning the villains, and this gives him a fantastic spotlight. Williamson is clearly a fan of Wally’s previous run as the Flash, and this issue emphasizes that he’s essentially a visitor in a world that’s no longer his. Some of the scenes where he reminisces about his time in this city in a different world are fantastic, almost Astro City-esque in places. Barry, on the other hand, is in a bad place. The loss of his powers seems to have left him a bit unstable, and it sends him on an illegal visit to Iron Heights, where he recruits help in the war against Grodd – in the form of the psychotic Godspeed. There’s a lot to like in this run, but it almost makes me wonder – does the DCU have the wrong Flash? Because it’s Wally West’s Flash who shines.
Corrina: If I thought DC would actually swap from Barry Allen to Wally West as the Flash, I would like Flash #41 much better. But that seems unlikely, given Barry Allen is the star of the Flash television show.
As it is, we have our hero of this series, Barry, making horrible choices again because he’s so desperate. I suspect the story wants me to feel bad for him but it only makes me want to sideline him for Wally.
Is it possible DC will do that? Because this is the story that shows that Wally West is a terrific character, from his talk with Barry to his rescuing the people of Central City, which also gives him a chance to reminisce about what he’s lost but also how happy he is to be in the world again.
Meantime, instead of trusting Wally, Barry heads to Godspeed. Well, the murderous cop did help Barry during the previous arc and has some good left in him. Part of me wonders if Godspeed will sacrifice his life to return the speed force to Barry and allow him to defeat Grodd. But after Barry’s actions over the last two arcs, I’d prefer it if he stayed depowered.
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Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
I’ll admit that I liked Wally West as the Flash better than Barry. I grew up with Barry, but Wally’s character, especially in the later run, was just more interesting to me. I was glad to see him pop up in Rebirth as I’d expected the former Kid Flash to look, not the rebooted one.