The Flash #777 – Jeremy Adams, Writer; Fernando Pasarin, Penciller; Matt Ryan, Inker; Jeromy Cox, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a comic with two storylines more different from each other—and somehow both of them work very well. Wally West, coming off last issue’s wild interactive issue, is still stuck in a bizarre magic plotline, this time in Gemworld with the assist of the Justice League Dark and Amethyst. After a stunning action scene involving a giant ground worm that is used to crash a wall, the heroes find themselves face to face with Dark Opal, as the Gemworld villain tries to bargain his way out of prison. The bigger threat of Eclipso is looming, and Wally makes a good fish out of water in this storyline. There’s a light touch to this story that reminds us of why he was such a good Flash for the better part of twenty years. Pasarin’s art is some of the best of the run so far too, especially in the action scenes that deliver some fantastic splash pages and gruesome creature features.
But I may have liked the earth-based story even more, focusing on Jai West. The now-powerless Flash twin has been writing in a journal to keep his thoughts together, and that leads him into an intriguing mystery. While he’s a bit reserved, his sister Irey is a social butterfly—and has a new best friend in the troublemaking Maxine Baker. Is this the same Maxine Baker who is Animal Man’s little daughter? I suspect yes, but we don’t have any confirmation yet. As Jai observes and spies on his twin, he winds up getting pulled into her mischief as Maxine leads her in a bad direction. The Flash kids when introduced were… not well received, being your typical overly chirpy kid heroes. However, this run has managed to distinguish them in some interesting ways and give their solo and team-up adventures a fun Incredibles vibe. This continues to be one of the most pleasant surprises of the Infinite Frontier era.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
