FLASH #27 & #28

[ DARK PRICES / LIGHT WALLET ] 

Eenie meenie miney moe. Villains smell of pee and woe. He's not nice, he's a foe. Eenie meenie miney moe. Or in other words, please check out the following two tales created by Joshua Williamson, Paul Pelletier, Howard Porter, Carmine Di Giandomenico, and published by DC Comics in August, 2017.

TO QUOTE George William Russell: 'Love and hate have a magical transforming power. They are the great soul changers'.

THE REVIEW:

At the end of last months episode, Barry Allen, generally known as the fastest man alive, returned from the negative speed force, alive and well, rejuvenated with its darkly hued energy and ready to take on his old adversary once again. 

But, as we all know, Eobard Thawne isn't the type of villain who can easily be taken down, especially since he has the power at his disposal to continue their fight through space and time. A fight, I hasten to add, that not only involves punches and kicks but also slurs and threats, aimed at the heart as well as the mind. 

As time ticks on both of these combatants eventually redirect their battle right back to where it initially began: Namely, The Flash Museum, situated in the 25th century, and it is here where they finally put things to bed. 

Not physically, mind you, as that would imply both men prefer the company of other men (if you get my gist). Yet Barry likes Iris, and I do mean he really, really likes her. Whereas Eobard likes Barry, the man he's fighting against, to such an extent that the only way he knows how to show his affection is by basically screwing up his life.

Now I know this sounds rather crazy, but then again, Eobard is crazy, real crazy, which is why their fight can only end in a couple of ways. Someone will live and someone will die, so which one do you think it will be? If you want to know the answer then pick up issue 27 of The Flash today! And once you've done that, afterwards you might like to check out issue 28 as that kind of acts as an epilogue to these events!

Well, as you might have guessed, Barry somehow manages to survive his fight with Thawne. Even so, that's not to say that he and his allies are completely out of the woods yet! Iris, for instance, needs some space so she can figure out what she wants to do next, while Wally needs some time so he can recover from his injuries. Meanwhile, Barry is still stuck with those darkly hued powers which appear to be corrupting his abilities as well as his mood.

Obviously he tries to counteract this by going into work and keeping himself busy. Not that this does him any good! Unfortunately Director Singh wants him to team up with Kristen Kramer so they can investigate why certain pieces of evidence have been disappearing from the evidence room. To make matters even worse his heart isn't in it either! Not even when a group of super-powered road hogs interrupt his day by getting into a fight with Mark Scheffer, also known as the villain, Shrapnel. 

Anyway, I think it best that I stop myself there or else I may spoil how this issue ends, and you don't want me to do that, do you? What you want me to do instead is tell you my opinions on these two episodes of The Flash.

First off, issue 27, which wasn't a bad issue really, even though I wasn't too keen on how it favored action over plot. Having said that though, the end of this book was a lot better than the beginning of it, largely due to the manner in which it implied it was going to end one way, but then, at the last second, Pow, it resolved itself in another. 

Another aspect I am somewhat ambivalent about was the use of Eobard's voice over narration. As much as I enjoyed the way it punctuated either end of the story, in the same breath I don't think it added anything in terms of its overall narrative texture, all except for substantiating something most of us already knew, that being his perverse form of hero worship. 

Issue 28, on the other hand, was a marked improvement upon its predecessor. As much as I'm not 100% sure about this new Emo version of Barry (which, in my opinion, won't last for very long), in the same token I did enjoy the mundane quality this issue had in spades, just in the way in which it came across like a day in the life of a CSI crime officer. 

I was also very intrigued about this new subplot relating to evidence disappearing from Barry's place of work. I mean, how the hell did that happen? Can't the CSI enforce stronger security measures in their own precinct? Especially since evidence has been stolen during previous adventures, most notably when a thief stole some super-powered weapons and then went on a one man crime-wave.

Hopefully Barry and his new partner (who seems nice) will be able to get to the bottom of this mess without falling in love. After all, Barry does have a bit of a reputation with the ladies at the moment, and I hope it doesn't continue because I would like him to resolve things with our Iris.

Along similar lines I'm not quite sure about the other subplot featured in this issue, the one involving Shrapnel and his hidden benefactor. Who could this mysterious person be? Maybe it's an ally or maybe it's a foe? Either way, I hope it doesn't take too long for whoever it is to unveil themselves and for Barry to get back to normal again. 

Now, quickly moving onto the art side of things, and you might like to know that issue 27 was drawn by Paul Pelletier and Howard Porter, two men who really know how to draw action packed scenes that are easy to follow and pleasing to the eye. Tonally I think this is the case because of their uncluttered designs and clearly choreographed sequences that complimented each other without distracting from the plot. Which, trust me, isn't an easy thing to do, particularly when so much emphasis is placed on a final chapter.

I also liked the way their bold characterizations were able to aid the emotional intensity of each scene, sometimes adding to it in terms of defining a characters internal monologue (I.e. Eobard's envy). 

Issue 28 had some pretty nice artwork as well. This time though the book was drawn by the regular series artist, Carmine Di Giandomenico, who managed to give each of his scenes, action or otherwise, some much needed character, suspense, and design. I didn't mind the way he drew Barry's new costume either. Despite coming across a little bit too much like a dark version of the Flash, that's not to say those menacing sparkles and swirls didn't lend themselves to being an otherworldly force which were corrupting his abilities.

So all in all, yeah, great issues, both of them, as the art was good, the stories showed promise, and at the end of the day I can't wait to see what's going to happen next month.

THE MUSIC:

During issue 27, Eobard told Barry that the main reason he messed up his life was because it was the only way he knew they could spend some time together. So in other words, Eobard loves Barry and his love for him is definitely tainted. You know, just like the following song sung by Soft Cell.

THE COMPARISON:

Do you remember that strange Emo version of Peter Parker featured in Spider-Man 3? If so, then you probably have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to compare issue 28 to! Emo Peter please meet Emo Barry, shake hands and then go off into the corner and do what you do best, namely, mope.

THE CONCLUSION:

Halfway through issue 28, Forrest warns Barry about an impending danger he's noticed in the workplace. So, for the sake of health and safety, let's see if you can guess what this danger is out of the following eight scenarios? Could it be... 

• That Malcolm from Accounts has dropped a decimal point and injured his groin.
• That their boss has turned into a monkey and wants to play with his staffs bananas.
• That his stapler has raped his ruler and is now going to give birth to a rubber.
• That the office gossip has been spreading rumours about Barry's kinky side. 
• That the unisex bathrooms have discovered a new sex.
• That the water-cooler has been filled with acid which he shouldn't drink.
• That his shoelaces have become untied and he may accidentally fall over them.
• That nothing makes sense anymore, not even the things that actually makes sense… allegedly.

Nuff said.