The Flash #31 – Ryan North, Writer; Gavin Guidry, Artist; Adriano Lucas, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: The Flash has been riding a hot streak since Wally West returned to the role, but the tone has taken some surprising turns. Jeremy Adams’ run turned the focus back to the family and made Wally a fan-favorite again, while Simon Spurrier seemed much more interested in exploring the dark, cosmic elements of the Speed Force. Ryan North is turning that dial back the other way again, but with the strange science-based sense of high adventure he’s been bringing to Fantastic Four for the last few years. This Wally West is a family man, a jokester, and an ordinary guy – but he’s also one of the most powerful people in the world, a contradiction that never quite sits right with him. He saves lives, helps hapless villains like Tar Pit get their lives back on track, and does it all while not fully understanding the nature of the powers he’s playing with – but knowing just enough to save the day.
And he saves the day – a lot – because people seem to be finding themselves in more trouble than usual. People are randomly doing extremely risky things, seemingly to get rescued by the Flash. After some brief investigation, Wally and Linda (who has a great banter with her husband here) discover that someone is paying people to get rescued by the Flash, turning these near-disasters into social media superstars and having people compete to pull off the most spectacular footage of being saved by the Flash. Wally tracks down the sleazy social media manager orchestrating the contest, but he insists he’s within his legal rights – and he may be in the right, despite the sinister hand seemingly behind everything. This is a pretty great start – a fast-paced, funny run that drives home North’s take on the character and delivers an engaging story that’s unlike any other recent Flash run.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
