The Flash #28 is produced by DC Comics and written by Mark Waid and Christopher Cantwell, with Vasco Georgiev on art, Matt Herms on colors, and Buddy Beaudoin on letters.
Onto The Plot
Flash #28 continues DC Fight Month, seeing Jay Garrick, the original Flash, face Guy Gardner, a fan-favorite member of the Lantern Corps. Their encounter is a fun battle that pays loving tribute to the deep history of both characters within comics. The story takes place during the line-wide K.O. event from DC Comics, in which multiple heroes and villains of the DC Universe must face each other in battle to gain the title of King Omega. This title signifies they are strong enough to face the might of Darkseid.
In the previous issue, The Flash #27, I praised how, despite being a tie-in comic, it truly felt like its own story. Its connection to the wider event felt seamless and in no way forced. It read more like an organic story that happened to use plot points from the ongoing event rather than a mandated corporate tie-in issue that brings the current momentum to a halt. Well, although I enjoyed aspects of this comic book and would say I largely had a good time with it, I would still say it is quite mediocre and not at all memorable.
As stated, the core of the issue and the real draw for readers is seeing Jay Garrick go toe-to-toe with Guy Gardner. In my opinion, this is a very bizarre pairing. So far, we have had quite a few strange matchups in this event, such as Wonder Woman versus Lobo and Harley Quinn versus Zatanna, but none that fit together so clearly due to the history of their mantles while simultaneously feeling mismatched. Have Jay and Guy ever met previously? I cannot imagine any chemistry between these two. Barry Allen versus John Stewart makes much more sense to me on paper than this; even Kyle Rayner versus Wally West would be more logical because they served on the Justice League together.
I found the fight itself entertaining enough and more within character than the previous Cyborg versus Swamp Thing matchup that I reviewed last week. The story begins with Jay initially trying to trick the Heart of Apokolips by challenging Guy to a game of checkers. Guy, acting as his usual arrogant and hot-headed self, dismisses Jay and misreads him as simply an old man. The actual fight is not that well choreographed and is not particularly entertaining to look at, but I enjoyed the banter between the two. The callback to the short-lived membership of Guy Gardner within the Red Lantern Corps was quite fun. However, I wish Jay Garrick had received some fun callbacks of his own, though I realize the character does not have as many notable shifts in his history to draw from.
Side Stories
There are also two side stories that run throughout the issue. The first follows the events of issue #27 as Wally West and Impulse continue to outrun the Legion of Darkseid. They make a stop in the specific time and place where Barry Allen first received his Speed Force powers.
The second follows the core subplot of the DC K.O. event, in which Darkseid is manipulating the body of Booster Gold. His goal is to infiltrate the circle of the Time Trapper and disrupt the entire tournament. Both stories are largely fine, although I do not really feel like there is much to either of them to offer commentary on to a great extent. It feels as though they are included to serve a specific purpose and alleviate the bloat from the main K.O. issues while keeping readers invested in the exploits of Wally and Bart.
Time For The Art
Now, onto the art of the issue. Overall, I think the artwork is fine. While I criticized the work of Vasco Georgiev in the last issue for feeling quite rushed in places, the visuals here look much better, and there are far fewer bizarre anatomy errors among the speedsters. While I do not think the fight is super entertaining to look at visually, I also think it gets the job done well enough and portrays what it is trying to. However, I would attribute this mediocrity to Mark Waid or Christopher Cantwell, as they wrote the fight and Vasco Georgiev is just illustrating what they have written.
Another issue I had is one I also encountered with Cyborg versus Swamp Thing: the creators really do not pull the trigger and take advantage of the variant costumes and the history of the characters. Yes, Guy Gardner gets his Red Lantern Corps look back, but is that all? It feels lazy. Or perhaps it is just that Captain Atom versus Superman spoiled us by being so good at the start of the month.
In Conclusion
In conclusion, I think The Flash issue #28: Jay Garrick versus Guy Gardner is just fine. It is nothing groundbreaking or memorable, but it is also nothing outright bad either. Personally, I would not go out of my way to buy this unless you are a completionist who has to own all aspects and parts of a comic book event.