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| [ SPEEDING SALE ] |
TO QUOTE Joan Rivers: 'Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is God's gift, that's why we call it the present'.
THE STORY:
When we last paid a visit to Central City, we saw King
Turtle coming face-to-face with Barry
Allen so the former could tell the latter about his plans for multiversal domination. Well, according
to the old slowpoke, both he and his army of followers have traveled back in
time so they can steal Barry’s powers and then use them to control the
populace.
So far, they’ve kidnapped Barry’s counterpart from the future and used him to pull their present into our past. Up next, though, revolves around them seizing our
Barry’s abilities so they can finish off the job!
But can they do this? Can King Turtle and his legion of
henchmen corrupt the weak, overpower the poor, and basically cause
havoc in the past, present, and
future? To find out, either ask Steadfast,
or pick up issue 74 and 75 of The
Flash today! In the meantime though, here, check this out...
THE REVIEW:
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading these last two
episodes of ‘Flash: Year One’,
because the artwork was amazing, the
story was fun to follow, and more or
less it had something interesting to say about the true nature of being a hero. After all, any Tom, Dick, and
Harry can put on a pair of tights and declare they’re working in the name of
justice. But if truth be told, it takes time, determination, and an awful lot
of effort for someone to be a genuine person of valor. In fact, it takes so much effort,
that I think we should all relax our slacks and have a look at the following four sections detailing my opinions on
these two issues. Please enjoy.
1) The Resolution:
Whenever I've finished reading a story that attempts to rebrand a hero’s origin, I always ask
myself three very important
questions. One: Did I enjoy it? (Yes)
Two: Did it present me with anything new? (Yes)
And Three: If it did, how did any of these new additions enhance the
characters and their overall mythology? (Hmmm) Well, let’s face it, what’s the point
of changing someone’s backstory if
the process in itself doesn’t do anything different to alter people’s perceptions? Or at
the very least, do something new in the name of entertainment? ‘Year One’, for example, doesn’t really
do much in regards to redefining
Barry’s shared history, but what it does manage to do is throw quite a few fun elements into the mix. This
included things like Barry’s rejuvenated connection to his mother's memory, how he was introduced to Iris’s two nephews at
exactly the same time, Wallace and Wally, and most importantly of them
all, there was Barry’s encounter with his future self, because it has affected his
relationship with time-travel and
the way he now looks at life (in more ways than one). Apart from that,
though…
2) The Villain:
While I was reading this adventure I was suddenly struck with a very strange
question: Is The Turtle a boring bad
guy? I mean, visually, he may look
rather impressive, almost as if he were a cross between the Incredible Hulk, Doomsday, and Bowser
from Super Mario Bros. But as
far as his personality is concerned?
I’m not entirely sure that he has one! Well, his dialogue is cliched and trite, his motives are formulaic and pedestrian, and all in all, he doesn’t
really stand out from the crowd compared to some of the other members of The Flash’s Rogues Gallery. That said,
however, there is one thing about The Turtle that I found very interesting
indeed! Namely, his ability to be patient,
very-very patient, which in my opinion, is an ability I don’t think many other
supervillains possess! Well, do you know of many baddies who are willing to wait, and wait, and wait, until
the time is just right for them to strike at whoever opposes them? And
even if you can mention one or two, if
that, do they also share a special
connection with their foe that they can exploit, tap into, and use to pull
the future back into the past? (Similar, to a one-sided game of tug-of-war against the fabric of
reality!) No, I don’t think so! But then again, does being unique necessarily make someone
special? Or alternatively, does conforming
to the masses make someone easier to relate to? Either way, The Turtle does
come across as a somewhat perplexing villain, and from the looks of it, I’m
sure we’ll be seeing more of him in the near future.
3) The Force: In issue 91 of The Flash, cover-dated June,
1994, it was established that whoever has a connection to the speed-force can only use it to its fullest potential if they have an emotional link to someone they deeply
care for. Wally, for instance, fell
in love with Linda Park so she
became his emotional link. Whereas Barry,
on the other hand, has Iris West, so
she’s become his emotional link. Now, the main reason why I bring
this point up is because this ‘bond’ seems to ebb and flow depending on whoever’s writing this series.
People like Mark Waid, William Messner‑Loebs, and Brian Augustin, have used this concept
from time to time, while Geoff Johns,
Francis Manapul, and Brian Buccellato, have deliberately
ignored it. As for Joshua
Williamson, though, well, in his case, I’m not entirely sure where he
stands! Sometimes I think he’s trying to keep this ability alive due to the way he constructs
those scenes where Barry obviously seems inspired by Iris’s determination and
beauty. Whereas, at other times, I don’t think he likes to refer to it by name so he can distance this version
of Barry to the previous version of Wally! In any event, it’s still food
for thought, and I truly hope that someone can try to acknowledge this point sometime
soon.
4) The Extra Event: At the end of issue 75, we were
presented with two supplementary
stories. One of them focused on what
Barry did after his encounter with The
Trickster (circa issue 69), while
the other one revolved around Captain
Cold’s time with the Suicide Squad.
Now, out of the two, I'd say I slightly preferred reading Barry’s story because it featured Steadfast
(an intriguing new ally) as well as a personal piece of prose on The Flash's Legacy (filtered through Barry's monologue while rebuilding The Flash Museum). As for Captain Cold’s
story, however, that recounted what he's been up to since joining the Squad
(bang-bang-bang) and set up his impending encounter with Lex Luthor (yawn-yawn-yawn). So, more or less, these two additional adventures were a quick, fun read, plus I did enjoy looking at the bold and lively artwork
provided by Scott Kolins, Christian Duce, and of course, my
twitter buddy, Howard Porter, who
drew the maiden adventure and was the best of the bunch. What do you think, dear
reader? Who is your favorite Flash artist and why do you like their work?
Personally, I prefer Howard’s stuff because his illustrations are strong, energetic, and seem to suit Barry’s personality in terms of kinetic motion and expressive
physiognomy. Similarly, Scott and Christian’s work is likewise very expressive and strong,
even though sometimes it is somewhat inconsistent as well.
THE MUSIC:
For this month’s musical match-up, I’m going to align this
adventure to the Huey Lewis and the News
song, ‘Back in Time’, simply because,
you know, time travel and all that fun stuff.
Yes! That’s correct! I’m now going to compare these two
comics to The Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles, all because they’re both bright, adventurous, and feature more
than one turtle.
Comparison made, and cowabunga dude.
THE CONCLUSION:
Amidst Barry’s conversation with Steadfast, it was implied
that the Avatar of the still force informed his super-fast sibling what he had
to do next. What could that be though? Seriously, what could that be? Because this story doesn’t really fill us in on any of the details! But
then again, nothing’s stopping us from trying to figure it out! So,
without any further ado, let’s guess his next step out of the following eight
options! I mean, does Barry have to...
- Be
faster?
- Be
redder?
- Be
happier?
- Be
louder?
- Be
brighter?
- Be
meaner?
- Be
hive?
- Be
have?
Nuff said.
FLASH #74 & #75
Reviewed by David Andrews
on
August 13, 2019
Rating:
Reviewed by David Andrews
on
August 13, 2019
Rating:
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