The Flash #12 Review

Date with Destiny

Written by: Josh Williamson
Art by: Davide Gianfelice, Ivan Placencia, Chris Sotomayor and Steve Wands
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: December 14, 2016

I may be in the minority here, but I love the current Kid Flash, Wally West.  The best part about it is
that we are finally getting a heavy dose of Wally and it's made this book a bit more exciting.  Yes, I didn't really love the Godspeed arc as a whole, but this new Speed of Darkness arc is a different story altogether.  Shade, Wally and Barry trapped in the Shadowlands is pretty damn cool and had me actually looking forward to the Flash for the first time in a while.  So, did this issue live up to the hype in my head?  Let's find out...


The issue opens up with a flashback of a Flash training session.  Barry is trying to teach Wally how to phase through solid objects, but Wally is more interested in figuring out Barry's true identity.  It's a fun scene and continues showing the fun that Williamson has with these two characters.

Of course, the fun ends since the Flashes are stuck in the Shadowlands with Shade.  We get a little recap before we see Hope and Iris...the Queens of the Shadowlands!  The two are bad to the bone and make no qualms about showing it.  They talk the talk, but will they walk the walk?

After the Shadows take Shade, school is in session for Barry and Wally.  It felt a bit ridiculous as Barry turns their dire situation into a potential learning session and really, I didn't even understand where he was going with it all.  Wally also made me shake my head as he uses Meena as an excuse not to try, but nothing compared to what happened next.

In the middle of their fight with the Shadows, Barry freezes time to use that awesome Speed Force ability...Speed-Talk?!?  Really?!?!?!?  They take their newfound time to talk about life, love and loss and Barry tells Wally that the reason he doesn't tell him his identity is to allow Wally to have a childhood.  Really?!?!?!?  How about not having him be Kid Flash?!?  Geez, this issue is forcing me into using lots of question and explanation marks.

When time goes back to normal, Wally uses his lightning power to get rid of the Shadows and we see that Iris has loosened their hold on her as well.  As she questions what is going on, Shade is working to free Hope as well.  It seems to be working, but Barry and Wally have a better plan.  The Fist Bump!  Yea, I'm not joking.  After the Flashes fist bump, the Shadowland is gone and the crew are in Central City again.

We get our goodbyes with Shade and Hope and Wally goes off to be a kid and then the issue ends...with something that Flash fans have been waiting over 5 years to see.  Yea, this is pretty big and I am damn excited to see what happens next!

Okay, the ending of this issue did save this issue, but I can't ignore the ridiculousness that came before it.  Seriously, this issue was headed for a much lower score, but I have to give Williamson some credit,,,this book is heading into exactly what Rebirth promised us.  Legacy, Love and Hope.

Davide Gianfelice's art was good.  Not great, but good.  I do like his character work enough and the best thing I can say is his style is a nice fit with series artist Carmine Di Giandomenico's.

Bits and Pieces:

Joshua Williamson pulls a buzzer beater this week and turns a loss into a win with one final page.  I can't ignore how bad parts of this issue were, but it ends with something that has me so excited going forward.  Despite my score, I am back onboard with this book and I hope Williamson uses this opportunity to give fans the book I hoped he would from the very start.

6.5/10