Art by: Chris Sprouse and Francis Manapul
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: November 27, 2013
With a Mountain of Maybes and Some Icarus Wings
Gotham has no power and Super Storm Rene is about to hit. The City is in utter chaos and the call has gone out for anyone to help. Among those who answered the call is everyone's favorite forensic scientist from Central City, Barry Allen. As this is a Zero Year tie-in, Barry Allen is just plain Barry Allen. Like most of the Zero Year issues, we get to see that our heroes were already super before they had powers. Unfortunately, this issue is like most others in that it is completely unnecessary and adds in a huge amount of ridiculousness to boot.
I love The Flash. I love Manipul's and Buccellato's Flash in particular. Their run in the New 52 has been great and I was so sad when it was announced they were leaving the book to head over to Detective Comics. Well, they overstayed their welcome by one issue. In my mind, they did this Zero Year issue as a favor, but I will pretend it never happened and their run ended with Issue #24.
Don't get me wrong, it has nothing to do with the dialogue which is good or the art which is stellar as usual. It is the situation that Barry is put in. Gotham is in utter chaos and Barry is helping the evacuation, right? No. Is he stopping rioters and looters? Nope. He is in Gotham chasing down a drug dealer. Hey, I know that "crack is wack" (or in this case "Icarus is Ridiculous") and you should "just say no", but a freaking Super Storm is on it's way. Gotham has no power. And worse of all, Barry is a forensic scientist not a street cop. A forensic scientist just weeks out of the Police Academy. Like the movies, this can't be good.
Of course since Barry is involved, the drug has to have some speed effect. Couple that with junkies and cops telling Barry he is too slow for whatever situation he's in and this issue has it's share of groan inducing lines. To top it off, there is an unnecessary cameo that comes off as forced and completely unnecessary.
Not all is bad, though. As I said earlier, the art is stellar. Chris Sprouse really does a great job making this gritty enough to be a Zero Year story while maintaining the Flash feel. Francis Manapul outdoes himself with his panels and this is a fitting end to his run. I just wish the rest of the issue would have been up to par.
Bits and Pieces:
The Flash #25 is an unnecessary and ridiculous Zero Year Tie-in. The art is stellar and Manapul and Buccellato do their best to explain why Barry is in Gotham, but it doesn't ring true. I'll pretend that issue #24 was the end of their New 52 Flash run because it was too great to end like this.
I love The Flash. I love Manipul's and Buccellato's Flash in particular. Their run in the New 52 has been great and I was so sad when it was announced they were leaving the book to head over to Detective Comics. Well, they overstayed their welcome by one issue. In my mind, they did this Zero Year issue as a favor, but I will pretend it never happened and their run ended with Issue #24.Don't get me wrong, it has nothing to do with the dialogue which is good or the art which is stellar as usual. It is the situation that Barry is put in. Gotham is in utter chaos and Barry is helping the evacuation, right? No. Is he stopping rioters and looters? Nope. He is in Gotham chasing down a drug dealer. Hey, I know that "crack is wack" (or in this case "Icarus is Ridiculous") and you should "just say no", but a freaking Super Storm is on it's way. Gotham has no power. And worse of all, Barry is a forensic scientist not a street cop. A forensic scientist just weeks out of the Police Academy. Like the movies, this can't be good.
Of course since Barry is involved, the drug has to have some speed effect. Couple that with junkies and cops telling Barry he is too slow for whatever situation he's in and this issue has it's share of groan inducing lines. To top it off, there is an unnecessary cameo that comes off as forced and completely unnecessary.
Not all is bad, though. As I said earlier, the art is stellar. Chris Sprouse really does a great job making this gritty enough to be a Zero Year story while maintaining the Flash feel. Francis Manapul outdoes himself with his panels and this is a fitting end to his run. I just wish the rest of the issue would have been up to par.
Bits and Pieces:
The Flash #25 is an unnecessary and ridiculous Zero Year Tie-in. The art is stellar and Manapul and Buccellato do their best to explain why Barry is in Gotham, but it doesn't ring true. I'll pretend that issue #24 was the end of their New 52 Flash run because it was too great to end like this.
4.75/10
Issue was fantastic totally disagree with this review 8/10
ReplyDeleteThe Flash is one of my favorite books in the New 52, but I thought this issue was just a needless tie-in for Zero Year. I found it ridiculous that a forensic scientist fresh out of the police academy ends up in Gotham patrolling the streets for a drug dealer. I think Harvey Bullock would never allow it to happen and it all just seemed ridiculous. Like I said, The Flash is such a great book, I just didn't like this issue. I'm glad you enjoyed it though and thanks for reading the review.
DeleteI agree with you on him being in gotham but i felt the story was more or less about barry and iris and i loved that part of the issue.But i understand where your coming from and keep up the great work!
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