The Flash #2 Review

Speed Your Role

Written by: Joshua Williamson
Art by: Carmine Di Giandomenico, Ivan Placencia and Steve Wands
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: July 13, 2016

I am a huge fan of the Flash...the comic and the character.  However, I haven't been a huge fan of THIS comic.  It's a weird thing as I am also a huge Joshua Williamson fan so him doing the Flash should have been an easy "Up to the Plate Home run", but something has gone a bit wrong.  Wrong for me, but maybe not for new readers.  The reason I say that is Williamson has been giving a whole lotta recap, rehash and rosie and because of that, the book hasn't felt fresh to me.  Again, if you hadn't been reading the New 52 Flash, maybe that's not the case for you, but I'm selfish and only care about myself.  So, going into this issue, I was really hoping that the Fastest Man Alive can pick up the pace in his own book and make me a happy man once again.  Does that happen?  Let's find out...


If you didn't know, last issue ended with Barry's "old friend", August Heart, becoming one with the Speed Force due to an accident and this issue picks up with Barry trying to train him.  When this storyline was announced, this is what I couldn't wait for.  Cue up  "Hearts on Fire" and let's get some montages going!

I wouldn't say that August is a bad student, he just seems a bit unwilling to try new things.  Okay, turn off "Hearts on Fire" and play the Chariots of Fire Theme Song because like Forest Gump...He's Running!

We find out two pretty cool things here...the Speed Force protects you from skinning your knees and August knows that Barry is the Flash.  Of course, Barry tries to convince him otherwise (it's kind of hilarious), but August knows.  I like that Williamson does this.  For starters, August is a detective, but also it gives August a reason to trust the Flash right off the bat...maybe a little too much, wink, wink.

If you have been waiting for the New 52 Wally to step up his game and become Kid Flash, you'll be a tiny bit more happy after this issue.  Wally doesn't do much and even though we get a little family tree recap, it's something and nowadays, I'll take any Wally West Rebirth is willing to give me.

We also get a little Iris West and again, I'm okay with that.  She is snooping for some intel on Black Hole and if we were playing Hot and Cold, she literally be on fire!  While that sounds great, it's also a very dangerous place to be and Iris has made herself very known...by the wrong people.

Speaking of wrong, Williamson cuts to the chase and shows that August doesn't subscribe to the "With Great Power comes Great Responsibility" adage that somebody's uncle once said (and Barry almost said this issue himself).  Since it is forbidden to study the Speed Force, I'm guessing there is no documentation of it's side effects, but if you ask me, August is proving that becoming a douchebag is right near the top.

This all gets put on the backburner, however, when Black Hole kidnaps someone very close to Barry and it's game on!  Game on doesn't mean instant victory, though, and Barry finds out that Black Hole is more of a threat than he imagined and also that he kind of needs August and his connection to the Speed Force.  He also admits he misses having a partner, a callback to the original Wally West which was very nice.  The one thing that scares me, though, is August not coming up with a superhero name...probably because it will eventually be something that starts with God and ends with Speed.  Even if it isn't, Williamson certainly doesn't want to spoil that right now.

The issue ends with the craziness that we were promised when the Rebirth Flash book was announced...Speed Force Storm, bitches!  Like August says, "Looks like you have a lot more Speedsters to train, Flash!"  That sounds awesome to me, especially when we see one in particular.

Finally!  This is what I've been waiting for since Rebirth started.  Williamson gives us a fast paced and fun issue of the Flash and since that's what I wanted all along, I had a huge smile on my face reading this.  Let's hope he can keep it up because this book could turn into something special really quick.

Carmine Di Giandomenico steps up his game this issue as well and delivers his best issue yet.  Everything has been good in the Flash costume all along, but he does a really good job with just Barry and the rest of the characters sans costumes.  However, the best job was August in his costume.  I love the look.

Bits and Pieces:

This is the issue I've been waiting for since Williamson was announced for this book.  It flies by at breakneck speed, looks great and is just fun.  Plus, the cliffhanger promises a lot more fun and possibly montages galore.  Cue up "Fight to Survive" and get ready for two weeks from now.

8.5/10