The Flash #37
"The Speed Was Power, and the Speed Was Joy" Part 7
Writer: Ryan North
Artist: Gavin Guidry
Colorist: Adriano Lucas
Cover Artist: Gavin Guidry and Adriano Lucas
Publisher: DC Comics
Wally West—the Flash—has mastered his new Flashes of Insight ability and is now able to protect multiple cities at once without difficulty.
He has mastered them, right?
You Dropped a Bomb on Me
On one of his now-daily multi-city patrols, Wally West is dividing his attention between doing good deeds and grumbling to himself about Green Arrow. I get it, Wally, the guy’s a jerk.
Anyways, Wally soon has a Flash (see what I did there?) of three bridges being blown up in three different cities at the same time. That’s certainly something the Flash should try to prevent. Good thing it’s a week ago, because being the Fastest Man Alive does not mean you’re good at detective work. Or really anything that requires patience.
Wally figures out who the culprits will be, and why. He then snatches them up and puts them all in jail now, before they’ve actually met and planned their crime. Is the day saved?
Green Arrow has gathered members of the Justice League—Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, and the young Superman (Jon Kent, filling in for his dad) high atop Mount Everest to discuss Wally and his overreach. Soon enough, they’re joined by the man himself, and a fierce debate occurs. That is, until explosions take place in three cities at once…
Fail Safe
There’s nothing quite like a Green Arrow debate. When Oliver Queen takes a stance against something or someone, there is no stopping him from making sure that anyone who can hear knows his stance. Knowing him, he learns sign language and Braille, too, just so no one gets left out of learning what he thinks.
When it comes to Wally and his Flashes of Insight, Ollie might not be wrong. The debate that takes place atop Mount Everest is the kind of thing that could easily turn into “one person is absolutely right, and the other is absolutely wrong,” no matter how bad it makes the two parties look. Looking at you, Marvel’s Civil War. Fortunately, that’s not the case here. Since it’s Wally’s book and we’re in his head the whole time, it’s easy to think he’s in the right. But Ollie makes enough solid points that his point of view is completely understandable too. It’s all handled pretty well here.
That’s not to say the issue is all high debate in low oxygen. After his initial Flash of Insight, Wally does quite a bit of super-speed detective work, some of which is really quite funny. I cracked up at the Star City detective, hoping there wasn’t a new villain calling himself “Wind Man” after Wally quietly blew through the station. That’s the kind of reaction you expect in a world full of way too many fools with superpowers.
And of course Wally’s internal monologue has to throw a little bit of shade Ollie’s way. I like it when heroes have a little bit of friction—they’re not best friends, but it’s not like they hate each other either. It’s an interesting middle ground, rife for character work.
I’m curious to see what’s up with the bridge explosions at the end. Not only did Wally catch the would-be bombers, but the “new” bombings are taking place way ahead of schedule. Is there something wrong with his Flashes of Insight? Did he interpret things wrong? Or does nature just abhor a vacuum, and these things were meant to happen no matter what?
Interesting, heady stuff. I like it.
Bombtrack
Ryan North continues to have a strong voice for Wally West, which is very important since we’re right there in his head the whole time. Wally admits he’s not a scientist or a detective, but that doesn’t mean you can't accomplish a lot at super-speed if you just think creatively. The issue is well paced (the single worst crime a Flash comic could commit is being too slow), with Wally’s investigation and the Mount Everest summit being given pretty equal page time.
Gavin Guidry’s art continues to remind me of Chris Samnee, which is great company to be in. He does great work with body language and facial expressions, and his sense of motion is strong (another must for a Flash book). I am not a fan of Jon Kent’s floppy hair here; it looks a little bit like he styled a poodle on his head. Everyone else looks pretty good, though.
Adriano Lucas’s colors are bright and, well, colorful here. Flash is just the right shade of red, and his many speed effects are interesting to look at. The reddish tone given to the panels of Wally’s visions does a good job of making them stand out. And the explosions, both foreseen and really happening, look good.
Whose Side Are You On?
The Flash #37 is another strong issue in the ongoing storyline of Wally West’s Flashes of Insight. This time the focus is more on the limitations and concerns of such power and its effect on one man, even one with access to the Speed Force. Green Arrow makes a lot of good counterarguments to Wally’s use of this new power, and you can see both men’s points. That’s not something you can always say when two heroes are on opposing sides of an issue.