FLASH #32

[ A FAIRLY SHOCKING SALE ] 

Out of the following five people who do you think Future-Flash will kill next? Would it be: (A) Barry Allen. (B) Robert Venditti. (C) Wally West. (D) Brett Booth. Or (E) Someone else you'll get to see in this rip roaring adventure Published by DC Comics, in July, 2014

To QUOTE Sholem Aleichem: 'Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, and a tragedy for the poor.

THE STORY:

On a conceptual level I'd say 'Cold Call' is an adventure easily divisible by three. One part of it concentrates on the Flash battling a mysterious foe amped-up with some stolen super-villain-weaponry. Another part of this story centers on Future-Flash 'icing' one of his old enemies. And finally this tale ends on a fairly nice scene where Barry, Wally, and Iris, all go to a ball-game together.

Ahhhh! Bless 'em.

THE GOOD:

The first thing I'd like to mention about this issue was how I found Brett's illustrations very suiting for a character such as the Flash. Of course I do mean this with all due respect in relation to the previous creative teams efforts. Yet to me, personally, Brett's clean and bold style is more in sink with what Barry is like a hero and as a man.  

Another thing about this adventure I loved was that sequence where Barry spoke quite frankly with Wally about his surly attitude. From my point of view not only does this kick off their relationship similar to their previous 60's mold. But it also defines each of them as people in their own right -- with Barry becoming the surrogate father figure, and with Wally becoming the despondent yet nurturing youth. 

Plus to some extent I can also say exactly the same thing about that scene between Future-Flash and... coff-coff-coff. Yet in this case, though, I liked reading it due to its Justice League references. Nudge-Nudge! Wink-Wink!

Also, I must say I'm very intrigued to figure out what 'Future-Flash' meant when he said 'someone else' will have the responsibility of killing him. In fact, this piece of trivia was so intriguing, I think that I'll take a stab at it myself during my conclusion. Ha!

  

THE BAD:

The only slight gripe I had with this comic would be that part where the Flash took off to be with Wally West, rather than try to track down and apprehend that mysterious foe he was currently battling.

Now please don't get me wrong. As I said previously I did enjoy those scenes between West and Allen. But come off it! What's more important? Looking after a kid? Or getting your hands on a killer who has some really evil looking arsenal? 

THE MUSIC:

In many ways this story felt like a beginning to something else brewing upon the horizon. What with the way it has commenced Wally and Barry's relationship, as well as leading the Flash to capture his mysterious foe further down the line. So with that in mind, dear reader, how can I not musically pair it up with the Carpenters classic, 'Its Only Just Begun'?

THE COMPARISON:

There was a scene in this story where Patty got moderately pissed-off with Barry because he'd rather spend some time with Wally than with her. And so, when it finally came time for me to come up with something to compare this comic book to, the only thing I could think of was another pissed-off woman.

Courtney Love. Bless her cotton socks.

THE CONCLUSION:

As I said up above, I was very intrigued with Future-Flash's comment about someone else having to kill him. So, as promised, here is my run down of these future suspects.

1. Barry Allen -- Nah! That's would be too obvious, wouldn't it?
2. Barry White -- Where as that wouldn't be too obvious, but it would be very loud.
3. Iris West -- Hmm. I wonder how she'd kill him though. With love and affection? Or with pen mightier than the sword?
4. John West -- Cause his canned tuna and salmon recipes are the best in the business.
5. Patty Spivot -- Maybe she'll get so pissed off with Barry hanging out with Wally, eventually she'd really-really want to kill him?
6. Patty Jenkins -- The director of the Aileen Wuornos bio-pic starring Charlize Theron, entitled, 'Monster'.
7. Wally West -- Now that would be a nice little twist.
8. Bart Allen, or whatever they call him now -- Hey! Anything seems possible with Bar Tor at the moment.
9. Tim Allen -- Also known as that man who makes silly noises to perpetuate his own masculinity.

Nuff said.