The Flash #6 – Simon Spurrier, Writer; Mike Deodato Jr, Artist; Trish Mulvihill, Colorist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: This has been the strangest book on DC’s lineup since the start, and I think that’s partially because it’s trying to be two things at the same time. It’s the most sci-fi driven take on the Flash we’ve ever seen, treating the Speed Force not as a superpower but as a cosmic entity that has been leaking into our world in unpredictable ways—and now is causing chaos both for the characters’ powers and the civilians around us, as cosmic explorers emerge from it and increasingly treat the world like a plaything. But at the same time, it’s a very intimate character-driven story as Wally’s family starts to fall apart—he’s struggling to balance his life, his wife is battling depression after giving birth and losing her powers, his son is struggling with expectations, his daughter is becoming distant, and even Barry is dealing with his own issues and things are tense between the old friends.
Wally is trying to repair things, but it’s not easy—a date with Linda where she gets to be close to speed again keeps getting interrupted, Barry is outwardly hostile when he and Wally team up on a mission, and Irey has been caught in some sort of mysterious time effect that’s frozen her in place. Just an average day for an American family, I guess. But it’s not long before the mysterious visitors show up again, things go haywire, and it’s clear there’s a lot more wrong with Barry than just resenting Wally’s absence. The end of this issue makes a lot of things clearer and gives us our first clear look at the main villain of the run, and the art by Mike Deodato continues to be incredibly surreal and creepy. But ultimately, Spurrier is doing a lot here, and trying to fuse two tastes that go great on their own, but don’t always go great together. It’s the most experimental DC run I’ve seen in a while.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
