The Flash #8 – Simon Spurrier, Writer; Ramon Perez, Vasco Georgiev, Artists; Sofie Dodgson, Matt Herms, Colorists
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: Wally is off-screen for this issue, ostensibly off with the Titans, but the truth is… more complicated. That lets Si Spurrier shift the focus, and the result is one of the most straightforward issues of the series and one of the best. Barry has gathered the many speedsters out there to prevent the countless dimensional incursions bringing creatures from time, space, and beyond. This includes rookie speedster Circuit Breaker, who has so far only appeared in anthologies. Jules is a fun character and it’s interesting to see them start to make their way into the Flash family, especially with the way their powers work. But while the speedsters are working their magic around the world, Irey West has become convinced something isn’t right with her father—and she’s launching a search to bring him home. But another threat is looming for all of them.
A surprising amount of time this issue is devoted to Iris West appearing on a top podcast to debate the role of superheroes in the world. This is a more nuanced look at this question than we usually see, but it’s clear it’s driven by the looming threat of Amanda Waller—and that threat becomes a lot more present when Waller and Peacemaker raid Terrifitech, equally to search it and to intimidate one of the hero community’s top tech backers. Things escalate when Waller’s men invade the radio station, threatening Iris and her host for distributing “terrorist propaganda.” It’s all very current, especially when Waller debuts a new theory for exactly why speedsters are so dangerous. This feels a bit like another story invading this book, but I think that’s intentional—it’s just about impossible for heroes to operate with Waller declaring war, and that’s threatening to leave the world open to countless threats like we see here.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
