The Flash #751 – Joshua Williamson, Writer; Christian Duce, Artist; Luis Guerrero, Hi-Fi, Colorists
Ratings:
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: The addition of Paradox to the Flash’s rogues gallery has added a new sense of urgency to this title as it heads towards what might be Josh Williamson’s final act in Flash #751.
Unlike the gimmick crooks of the Rogues and the many evil speedsters, Paradox is something else. Brimming with a combination of cosmic energy and an intense hatred for the Flash’s legacy, Paradox has recruited Godspeed to lure Flash into a trap and end the Flash legacy. Godspeed has always been pure chaotic energy as a villain, often to the point of absurdity – he started out as a decent cop, turned into a serial-killing villain, and has been hopping between good and evil ever since. So it’s not a surprise there’s more to his latest heel-turn than it seems. But he also still doesn’t exactly think things through, so while he pulls another face turn it’s largely for no results and Barry winds up facing off against the time-traveling tyrant himself.
Iris West doesn’t have as much to do as she did in the massive #750 issue, but she does manage to discover a key piece of intel while investigating Paradox in Commander Cold’s files that he left behind. What she finds out is that Paradox has been hunting Flashes for a long time – and he has never been defeated by a Flash. The only person who has ever beaten him is going to throw this series for a loop, and is the perfect last-act twist for Williamson to throw into the mix as we head towards an epic showdown, and a genuinely shocking gut punch of a last page twist in Flash #751 .
Williamson has probably done more to expand the Flash’s mythology than any writer since Johns, and it feels like often this run has done so much that certain elements get lost in the shuffle. I’m hoping Wallace and Avery get to play a bigger role in the coming arc, along with some of the other Forces that were introduced in the last year. The arrival of Paradox is a big enough threat that it’ll be all hands on deck.
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Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
