Absolute Flash #16 – Jeff Lemire, Writer; Haining, Artist; Adriano Lucas, Colorist
Ray – 10/10
Ray: Ever since this series began, one of the biggest scene-stealers has been Grodd, the beloved little baby ape/science experiment who was part of the same project that gave Wally his powers. The two were inseparable while Wally was on the run, but they were torn apart during the final battle that claimed Wally’s father. Now, Grodd is on the run alone – and has been reunited with his own father, a powerful and ruthless ape who underwent the same experiments Grodd does and has the predictable opinion of humanity. Grodd is now reduced to tagging along with his enraged father as the larger ape brawls with humans – and uses his psychic powers to take them over. Grodd quickly starts becoming afraid both of and for his father, and sends out a psychic message to Wally – the first contact he’s had with his favorite human since the events of the previous arc.
Wally has more than enough on his own mind, having encountered a future version of himself that warned him to turn away from his current investigations. But as soon as he gets the message, he springs into action and calls Linda for backup. I really like the way the link between Wally and Linda is evolving, with the two slowly learning to trust each other even with some bumps along the way. But this turns out to be one of the scariest events they’ve been part of, with the abandoned mall Grodd and his father have been hiding in turning into a full-on horror movie. There are some incredibly creepy moments in this issue, particularly towards the end, and with a real sense of danger that belies just how new Wally is to his powers. Grodd may not be the danger in this comic, but his father may slowly be growing into something just as dangerous as his main-line counterpart.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
