The Flash #36
“The Speed Was Power, and the Speed Was Joy” Part 6
Writer: Ryan North
Artist: Gavin Guidry
Colorist: Adriano Lucas
Publisher: DC Comics
If you're the fastest man alive and you have a new power that allows you to make it so no one in a city has anything bad happen to them for an entire day... you're going to test it out on one of the worst places to live first, right? And you're definitely going to get the blessing of that city's protector—one of your friends—first, right?
Well...
One Perfect Day
Wally West—the Flash—has been testing the limits of his new precognitive "Flashes of Insight" power. He has been able to spend an entire day crisscrossing both Central City and Keystone City at super speed, making sure that nothing bad happens and no harm befalls the citizens for that given day.
Now it's time for a larger-scale test, so he heads to... Metropolis? Don't they have like seventeen different Super-people?
After checking in on Lex Luthor, who's drinking coffee and studying "evil math," Wally catches up with Jon Kent, the son of Superman (who's also called Superman). After explaining his plan and sharing his Speed Force aura with the half-Kryptonian, Wally and Jon spend the day making sure that no harm befalls the citizens of Metropolis—even though none of them have apparently ever even heard of the Flash...
That night, Wally is told by his kids that Metropolis is too easy, it's already a great place to live. If he really wants to see if these new powers of his work, he needs to go to—bum bum bum!—Gotham City.
Um, no. That's a definite no, Wally. What's the second worst city you know? Star City? Yeah, that's a good one... too bad you and Green Arrow don't get along real well...
The Funnest Man Alive
This was an absolute blast.
Ryan North and Gavin Guidry took over The Flash with issue #31, and the book has been a bright, upbeat, fun time ever since.
Wally's ideas for the application of his Flashes of Insight are smart and a little bit naive, which works well for his character. As his daughter Irey (and me) pointed out, expanding the testing circle to Metropolis is really kind of cheating. It's already a shiny, peaceful, somewhat futuristic place. That doesn't mean there isn't a lot of fun to be had by his presence there, though.
The scene in Lex Luthor's office was utterly hilarious. Moving through at super-speed, he is able to read the "evil math" over Lex's shoulder and threaten him with a bad time if he's trying to do evil in the blink of an eye. And as he zips away, the only hint that Lex has that someone was there is a greater feeling of annoyance than he already has. I loved it.
Wally and Jon were an interesting pairing, one that we haven't seen too much of before. They had a lot of fun together, probably because Wally is emotionally a little closer to Jon's level than he is Clark's.
The scene when Wally decides he needs to test his powers on Gotham City, and gets told "no" multiple times in record time, was another hilarious one. Although I have to admit, the various footnotes throughout the issue left me confused as to exactly when this book is taking place in the current DC timeline. It's post DC KO, because he has the Flashes of Insight and mentions that Clark is in space. It's before Jon became Tomorrow Man, which was post-KO, I think? And Gotham is in the middle of the Bad Seeds event that just started, which is most certainly long after KO, I assume? So far it doesn't seem super important (no pun intended) to know exactly where it fits, but that doesn't mean it's not confusing as heck.
We get to forget about all those continuity concerns when Wally gets to Star City and meets with Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow. It helps that Ollie doesn't have a book of his own at the moment, so his current status is a lot more fluid. And that status at the moment is "really angry with Wally West." The issue takes a more serious turn as Ollie points out to Wally that what he's doing, no matter how well-intentioned, quickly heads down a slippery slope. He cautions Wally that what he is attempting sounds like that f-word that Ollie really hates, the one that makes him want to put arrows into people. No, not that one. It's fascism.
Wally and Oliver agree to disagree—just kidding, Wally runs off at super speed and decides to just do what he wants anyway, because how can Ollie stop him? Um, you know, Wally, he might have a bit of a point...
Family Values
Ryan North has brought a sense of fun to this title that was sorely needed. I liked a lot of Simon Spurrier's high-concept science fiction craziness, but it would have been a better fit for a different character. Here, North is bringing the same approach that he uses on Marvel's Fantastic Four—it's very character-driven, with family being a huge component of it all. And it's funny as all get out. I don't literally laugh out loud very often when I'm reading my comics, but I did more than once here.
Gavin Guidry's art fits the story that North is telling perfectly. He's got a very animation sort of feel, which gives the sense of speed and motion that a Flash story demands. His facial expressions are also great, they're exaggerated in a cartoonish sort of way but not to the extent that it's silly. In some ways he reminds me of Chris Samnee, and that's a great name to be compared to in my book.
The colors of Adriano Lucas are the perfect complement to the story and art. They are bright and rich, adding to the animation look that the title has overall. Wally's costume is a very bright shade of red, which is how I feel the Flash's suit should always be. Everything else is bright and sunny, with Metropolis coming across as a true "city of tomorrow," then when we get to Star City the shadows move in like storm clouds that tint everything in browns and blacks.
With the Best of Intentions
The Flash #36 is an utter delight of a comic book, offering laughs, heart, and an interesting moral debate in equal measure. I wish it had been longer, so that I could have spent more time just soaking in the joy and fun that North and Guidry inject into every page. Things take a little bit of a more serious turn at the end, but all that does is leave me chomping at the bit to see where this story goes next.