The Flash Lego movie is awesome. The plot is fairly standard for a Flash story with Eobard/Reverse Flash as the villain but that doesn’t diminish how good it is. The story is fun, the little extras and cameos they put in are appreciated (Captain Boomerang, Captain Cold, the Joker etc). I really enjoyed this film. It’s just so adorable and perfect.
This is a full length review detailing the plot of the below comic, many spoilers!
This issue starts 2 days after the last one with Johnny Chambers (Johnny Quick) trying to teach Wally West (Mk2 Flash) the speed formula he uses to go fast. Turns out that he and Jay Garrick (grandpa Flash) were saved from that explosion in the last issue by Max Mercury as he is really fast. All three of them are trying to teach Wally how to be faster as he is still slower than Barry Allen (Flash). And they need to be as fast as Barry because he has gone all super villain and is destroying the city.
Anyway, Max tries to teach Wally the Zen of speed but he isn’t buying it. So he tries psychology instead, pointing out that Wally isn’t as fast as Barry because he is holding back, cause if he was then he’d have truly taken his hero’s mantle as the new Flash, something that Wally already felt guilty about it. Jay calls Wally the Flash, rather than his usual Junior, saying he has put his faith in him and it is feel good all round. Until Wally shares what he has learnt about Barry from the book he found. It causes Jay to go white and the others too once Wally explains. However Wally has a plan.
Barry is at the State Penitentiary in Central City freeing all the criminals and stealing all the guard’s guns. Barry gives all the prisoners a weapon and rallies them to join him in taking over the city. Must admit that the art is a little peculiar/dodgy here. Suddenly the speedster heroes turn up, disarming the criminal. Jay punches Barry, inviting him for a rematch.
Meanwhile Wally is at the Flash museum or what is left of it after Barry and Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) had a massive fight there. So Wally is busy setting up his plan all the while doubting himself and wondering if he sent the other speedsters off to die. But he finds what he is looking for. I notice at this point he is calling Barry ‘The renegade Flash’ and that is very telling of where this is going.
Back at the prison Max and Johnny are taking care of all the criminals, turning the tear gas against them and giving the guards back their weapons. Jay is battling Barry and this is where it gets confusing because he beats Barry this time, and Barry says that Jay is faster but just lacking endurance. And so they fight some more, Jay telling him he doesn’t deserve to be the Flash but this just enrages Barry to the point where he breaks Jay’s leg. Then he takes out Max and Johnny, swearing that when he takes over it won’t be as Barry Allen but as the one true Flash.
So he rushes off to the Flash museum where he is confronted by Wally who is holding a ring. Wally throws it to him and for a moment Barry looks pained before smiling and admitting that it is his. Wally has finally worked it all out. This isn’t Barry and this imposter has had everyone fooled, even himself. Obviously confused from materialising he dropped the book, the Barry Allen biography, that Wally found. A book that wasn’t written yet, a book that must have been from the future, much likes it’s owner; Eobard Thawne, Professor Zoom / the Reverse Flash (Woot, yay, finally!!!)
So it’s 5 issues in and still no Eobard. However I’m pretty sure by this point that I know where this plot is going and he is going to turn up next issue. Having to read all 5 parts just to get there has been variable. Some issues, like 4, were quite good, but others have been a bit meh.
This issue starts with Wally West (Mk2 Flash) watching Barry Allen (Flash) on tv fighting Hal Jordan (Green Lantern). Wally is currently a scruffy mess as he wallows in angst cause Barry left him for dead in the last comic and has since become a villain. He’s really emotionally fucked up over how he used to worship Barry and tried to live up to his legend but now he feels betrayed, wants to die and doesn’t believe he is fast enough to stop Barry either. So he goes out for a walk.
Meanwhile on a building site a bunch of builders are discussing current events. Amusingly they call Wally the shiny flash and Jay the old Flash with the hat. Barry is now dubbed evil Flash. Speaking of which they are suddenly thrown from their scaffolding by evil Flash and saved by Jay Garrick, Max Mercury and Johnny Quick. A huge fight ensues. Johnny is basically not fast enough to take on Barry.
Next up is Max. He is faster than Johnny but not as fast as Barry. However he is smart and uses the scaffolding to his advantage. Max is also an agile gymnast, having an advantage over Barry who his trying to balance as he chases him up the scaffolding. But Barry uses the typical hero weakness and endangers civilians.
So whilst Wally is out on his walk he wanders to the place where Barry rematerialized. He realises where he is and has a look for clues. Some homeless guy is reading a suspiciously Flash themed book and so Wally buys it off him. Turns out it is Barry’s journal. But something about it spooks Wally. Whatever it is gives him back his confidence and he claims the title of the Flash again, vowing to take Barry down now that he knows his secret.
Still on the building site Jay tells Barry it is his last chance to surrender but Barry just boots him in the face. Helicopters turn up but Barry is busy beating the crap out of Jay. He eventually spots the news crew and tries to take down the helicopter. Jay, Max and Johnny try to rescue the film crew but the helicopter explodes seemingly killing the three speedsters.
This is a full length review detailing the plot of the below comic, many spoilers!
This issue starts with Wally (Mk2 Flash) reminiscing about
how he became Kid Flash when he was 10. So he talks
about how happy he was until Barry (Flash) disappeared whilst saving the world.
Now he is conflicted due to Barry’s return. Wally is worried that he is now redundant as
he isn’t as fast or experienced as Barry. But Barry seems to be becoming more
erratic and protective of his own identity and that has got Wally worried as
well. Barry is currently staying with Jay Garrick (Grandpa Flash) but he hasn’t
raised any concerns. So Wally gets suited up and goes to fight crime to take
his mind off of things.
Meanwhile Jay, who is just wearing a huge coat over his
costume, goes to talk to Johnny Chambers (Johnny Quick). Now Johnny is
apparently the head of a self-help empire and self-styled superstar. He already
knows Jay’s fears and agrees to help him. He offers to get Jesse, his daughter
(Jesse Quick) in on the action but Jay says it’s a job for the experienced speedsters
and so they go off to find Max Mercury instead.
Wally has called Barry in on fighting Combine, leader of the
tech commandos. Wally is taking in the girls at the beach as they go past,
basically the artist wanted to draw sexy women in bikinis. So they get to the
hideout, find a scale model of the city and the bad guy gloating about taking
over. They try to attack him but he’s a hologram and they fall into a trap. It’s
an ever shrinking force field!
Down in the subway Jay and Johnny are talking to a clerk
that they are sure is Max, even though he is denying it. Apparently he used to
be called Lightning, Blue streak and Quicksilver at various points before
settling on Max Mercury. The clerk keeps denying it but Jay knocks over his
token pile when they go to leave and Max has to use his speed to catch them
all. He bitches about being caught out but Jay calls in a favour from1949
claiming it’s a matter of life or death. Jay gives Max his costume, having kept
it for all these years, apparently he’s Jay’s hero.
So trapped in the shrinking force field, Wally is freaking
out whilst Barry tries to use logic to get out. They can’t just vibrate through
the walls as it keeps adapting to their frequency. They need to both vibrate at
different frequencies to confuse it but Wally isn’t fast enough to vibrate on
his own. Barry gives him a kickstart and it works. Barry jumps to freedom but
Wally only gets his arm out. He yells for Barry to help him, to save him, but
Barry hesitates. Barry then goes off on one about how he is the only Flash,
about how Wally stole his life from him and that the town is ungrateful and he’s
going to destroy it all. He leaves Wally to die.
Wally pulls himself together and manages to vibrate himself
through the force field, though he is left wondering what the point of
honouring Barry’s legacy is now if he has gone evil/corrupt/crazy. When Wally
gets home and turns on the TV he finds Barry giving an interview to the press.
He is saying how much he loved Kid Flash and was grateful for him taking up the
mantle. But then he says how he wasn’t up to the challenge and has been killed
by Combine. Wally breaks down and there the comic ends.
This is a full length review detailing the plot of the below comic, many spoilers!
This issue starts with Wally West (Mk2 Flash) and Jay Garrick (Grandpa Flash) trying to stop a bunch of super-tech commandos from stealing stuff. Apparently a new mob boss is in town and all his men are actually really competent, well-armed and bold in their crimes. The worst bit being that whoever the boss is, he has armed his minions with anti-speedster weapons. So the bad guys derail a train, going to crash it into a school as the Flashes try and get people out of the way. Barry Allen, aka Flash, turns up just in time to help out and everyone is saved despite the destruction.
After the rescue a bunch of people want the Flash’s autograph but Wally discovers that they don’t want him, they want Barry. So much angst. He’s still trying to figure out how he feels as he makes dinner later that night with his girlfriend Linda. Linda is a total fox/drawn for porn. But she also gives loving and good advice about how Wally needs to believe in himself and find his own identity. A tickle fight then ensues which I am sure is there because they couldn’t draw them having sex, before Wally is called away on Flash duty.
Wally and Jay find Barry roaming all dazed in the alleyway that he originally rematerialized in. He seems a bit out of it, going on about having a second chance at life and looking for clues in the alley as to why he’s returned. They then get on with crime fighting, joining a load of cops surrounding a warehouse. The tech commandos burst out of the building with a tank and some super weapons and a huge fight ensues.
So the tech commandos manage to get their canon off and a wall falls on Wally, the leader cheering that they’ve killed the Flash. Barry then smacks the shit out of the bad guys. Wally comes round, though deafened a bit, and witnesses Barry losing it, being ultra-violent with the badies. He approaches Barry as he is shouting at a bad guy whilst beating the crap out of him and is horrified by what he hears.
Everything gets cleared up, no idea what Jay was doing during half that fight though. Anyway, Wally is all confused and upset by what Barry said. He reveals to Linda that he was expecting Barry to be shouting about killing him but he wasn’t. He was shouting that he was the Flash.
This is a full length review detailing the plot of the below comic, many spoilers!
Part 1 can be found HERE and will explain what is going on.
The rest can be found here;
PART 3, PART 4, PART 5, PART 6, & PART 7
So, Wally West is Flash Mk2 (previously Kid Flash) and was
enjoying Christmas with his other half Linda Parks and the Garricks, Joan and
Jay (Grandpa Flash) when the original Flash, Barry Allen appeared at his door.
This wouldn’t seem strange except for the fact that he’s been disappeared for
years. So this comic starts with Hal Jordan (Green Lantern and Barry’s previous
BFF) turning up to grill the returned speedster on where he has been.
Apparently he remembers nothing but one of Wally’s battles with Doctor Alchemy
drew his spirit out of the speedforce and made him whole again. Yeah, cause
that makes sense…. Anyway, Hal believes him as his ring also acts as a lie
detector and everyone is relieved. Though they are keeping the return under
wraps for the moment.
As they are all waving off Hal, Barry spots Pied Piper
walking down the street. He is appalled by his being free and taking a daytime
stroll and so attacks him. Turns out it is all a misunderstanding as since
Barry’s disappearance Piper has gone legit, though Barry seems rather pissed
about this. Not to mention that Wally has taken on the Flash mantle.
Anyway there is no time for arguing as Piper brings news of
trouble in town and the two Flashes suit up. They invite Jay to join them but
his wife drags him off, not letting him skip out on new year’s. Wally is now deferring
to Barry, still obviously idolising him despite having done the job of the
Flash for a while now. Barry however is blowing hot and cold, judging Wally one
moment and then complimenting him the next.
Eventually they get to the crime boss ‘Handsome Jack’ Giacomo,
apparently the vainest man in crime. Turns out that he rents out the same
amusement park every year and wanted the Flash there are protection because he
believes that someone has put a hit on him. Wally wants to slap him but Barry
lecturers him on the law and they end up trying to find the assassins instead,
much to Wally’s annoyance. Wally apprehends the first one, Barry finds the
second and then they end up in a hall of mirrors. They do manage to find the
last assassin, Barry saving Jack and Wally punching the killer.
But once they are done, Jack saved, Barry takes off leaving
Wally to clear up and wondering why. Turns out that Barry is suddenly reminded
of Iris and goes to her grave, leaving flowers and crying. Now this contradicts
with the previous series in which Barry ends up living in the future with a
resurrected Iris. So either he has forgotten about her resurrection of it has
been retconned???
Anyway, Wally fiinds him at the grave and decides that he
really is Barry, having been suspicious all week. Barry says he can still feel
Iris’s presence and tbh the whole thing is canonically screwy all things
considered. Like doesn’t he remember that before Crisis and his death he also
had 2 kids?? And that is all for this issue. Don’t worry I am sure Eobard will
turn up soon.
I have returned! And now to get back to the comic reviews.
This is a full length review detailing the plot of the below comic, many spoilers!
The following parts can be found here; PART 2, PART 3, PART 4, PART 5, PART 6, & PART 7
At the end of the first series of the Flash (which you can
find HERE) we found Barry Allen (the Flash) traveling to the future to be with
his resurrected wife Iris who had previously been murdered. Our favourite
villain Eobard Thawne (aka Professor Zoom/Reverse Flash or Zoomy as I like to
call him after he was nicknamed that by his friend in the comics) was dead
after Barry murdered him for trying to kill Barry’s fiancé Fiona Webb.
As you might be able to guess, considering all
my reviews are about Zoomy he returns in Wally West’s run of comics as the
Flash. Wally becomes the Flash after Barry is killed, melting into the speedforce
during Crisis on Infinite Earths (Justice League comics).
However, he turns up during a 7 part arc and so I am going
to have to review the whole damn thing. Now I don’t really enjoy Wally’s run so
please excuse any snark.
Its Christmas and the Flash family are celebrating. Wally
West (Flash Mk2 /previously Kid Flash) is dragged out for some festive heroing
by his friend and fellow speedster Jay Garrick (Grandpa Flash). Talk turns to
Wally’s girlfriend, Linda Park, and if he’ll propose, but it’s looking
unlikely. She does know his secret though. So both Flashes go and help out at
the local soup kitchen and doing other good deeds, chatting the whole time. It’s all good family festive
fun, though Flash mk2 is whining about how he isn’t a kid anymore and Santa no
longer loves him.
Flash mk2 saves a woman from getting run over, only to
discover that she has gone into labour and her husband has fallen in with a bad
crowd and is planning a robbery. They can’t move the girl, so Grandpa brings
the doctors from the hospital to her (seems irresponsible to me, like what if
they were in the middle of treating someone??). And then Flash mk2 goes to stop her
husband, Joey, from doing something stupid.
The Flashes look for Joey but he’s already clocked off from
his job as a mall Santa. He manages to steal the money but gets stopped by a
kid who’s only wish for xmas is that his dad wasn’t in jail. This pulls all the
right heart strings and Joey can’t go through with it. But then his mobster
friends arrive, feeling betrayed they open fire. The boy and Joey run only to
be saved by the Flash Mk2. The Flashes sort out the money and the boy whilst
Joey goes to find his wife. She has now had the baby and all is good with the
world (blerghhh).
The comic ends with a heart- warming get together with
Wally, Linda, Jay and his wife Joan. It’s Christmas and all is good, Linda got
Wally something he wanted and they are just kissing when the doorbell goes.
They open the door and standing there in his Flash costume is original Flash
Barry Allen!!!
Barry and Eo in The Flash – Rebirth #1.
Not really as it’s just a hallucination and it’s actually his captain talking to him.
I had some money left from an Amazon voucher and decided to spend it on this adorable Flash kids book. The book is DC comics super heroes, The Flash: Attack of Professor Zoom by Matthew Manning, published by Raintree.
The plot is that Eobard Thawne aka Professor Zoom is inpersonating the Flash whilst robbing banks and starting fires. Barry tracks him to the Flash museum, overloads his death trap and knocks Eo out, bringing him to justice.
This book is really cute and part of a series of Flash books for kids. It’s written in a really simple and charming way and even has little activities for children at the back, encouraging them to think about parts of the story and write stuff. The only thing I found odd was the Professor Zoom info page. It reads like someone has just cherry picked bits from his Wiki page. It also says he has yellow eyes, whilst saying he looks like Barry (something that got quickly reveresed in the comics on both occasions it happened).
But generally adorable and there are books for most of the villains available.
Taken from ComicVine – A preview page from Flash Rebirth. So it seems that Eobard’s plot from the N52 (check out HERE if you missed it) is being upheld. The image shows Eo (I presume and not Hunter) with Black Flash which I don’t quite … Continue reading
Everything Eobard 