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Oct 21, 2014 Issue #51 - September/October 2014 - alt-J By Jeremy Nisen

Since relaunching its entire superhero line a few years ago, DC Comics has had mixed results in trying to walk that line between serving up nostalgic goodness and reinventing its worlds to re-engage former readers and attract new audiences. Francis Manapul (art, co-author) and Brian Buccellato (co-author) seem to walk that line better than most in this latest volume of The Flash.

A super-speed killer—basically the new version of The Reverse Flash (aka Professor Zoom, at least in the “Old DC”)—is introduced, and the fact that even The Flash can’t seem to figure out who he is, despite his police-trained forensic mind, nor catch him, despite being the “fastest man alive,” is a great tension. The relationships in this book are also handled in a nice way; Iris West pines for Barry Allen (The Flash) even as his relationship with a fellow lab rat progresses. Yet the villain’s actual identity and backstory are sort of cliché, not to mention his real identity’s two degrees of separation from The Flash is the kind of comic coincidence that belongs firmly back in the silver age.

The art is the best part. Super-speed special effects seem kinetic and astonishing under Manapul’s slick pencils. The layouts are original and incorporate text and graphic elements into a fine overall aesthetic package.

The final chapter at the end is a flashback to a pre-Flash Allen encountering West during some sort of crisis in Gotham City. It feels shoehorned in and, frankly, could have been left out of this volume. Better to finish on a satisfying high note. (www.dccomics.com)

Author rating: 6/10