The Flash: Season Zero #8 Review

Written By: Brooke Eikmeier and Katherine Walczak
Art By: Phil Hester
Cover Price: $.99
Release Date: December 15, 2014

The Big Finale

At long last the first story arc of The Flash: Season Zero has come to its Big Finale...no pun intended. The tale of Flash as he goes against the horrible Nathan Bliss and his band of circus freaks has been an interesting one to say the least--but I'm kind of relieved that its finished, I really enjoy the character on the CW series and I feel the comic book series is great but this particular arc was really starting to feel to campy for me in terms of presentation.



The theme of circuses and clowns as they pertain to crime is nothing new in the world of comic books but lately I find myself finding that gimmick should be left to the Batman family of books.

It's hard for me to get up here and say that Flash should be facing off against characters like Trickster or Gorilla Grood but at some point it may have to come to that.  Issue #8 of Flash: Season Zero is a fitting end to the Freak Show arc, but it's littered with the same issues I've had with each of the previous issues--campy dialog, too many puns, and select characters that felt under defined.

I wouldn't suggest for a minute that the book has bad writing but it definitely lacks the same direction that the writing on the show has, opting to go for a 70's Flash feeling in terms of camp factor and the over all quick wit of the Flash. On the show the character is presented as a bit more serious while this Flash opts to go for the puns.

Phil Hester really shined here on the art catching the spirit of the characters and giving me a glimpse into a world I'm happy to take a peek at. The colors given the book a feeling a bit similar to the show and it seems like in terms of visuals the book has found its footing.;

Bits and Pieces

It took a while for Flash: Season Zero to really find its identity and the art side of things have definetly done that. Based on the teaser for Issue #9 I feel like the writing may be about to get on the same level, but only time will. Freak Show was a great story for exposition to help establish both Flash and his allies but at times I felt the story focused just a bit too much on Nathan Bliss's backstory, only to have him taken down by Flash in the end. Given my enjoyment of the show this is a book I will continue to read, but I do hope the overall quality goes up from here.

7.5/10