Flash #23 Review

The Tales He'd Tell...and Does!

Written by; Joshua Williamson
Art by: Carmine Di Giandomenico, Ivan Plascencia and Steve Wands
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: May 31, 2017

I don't know about you, but it's odd going back to Flash after the hype of the Button story.  It's like heading back to work after a vacation...except hopefully it doesn't suck as much.  It's just a matter of getting back into the routine of things and then...BAM!  Reverse Flash shows up!  What What?!?!  I thought I left Eobard back in the Cayman Islands , but here he is next to me at work.  He shouldn't be next to me at work!  Oh well, I guess I better ask him what he's doing and see if it all makes sense.  Yes, I am still talking about reviewing this book and let's get on with it...


The issue opens in the 25th Century in the Flash Museum.  There are some pretty cool Easter eggs, but nothing beats the ending of the scene as we see the exhibit with Flash and his best buddy...Eobard Thawne.  Oh, Hell no!

We head back to the now and see Barry in S.T.A.R. Labs, examining (and talking to) Eobard's dead body.  He says that he knows Thawne is not dead, which pisses me off to no end.  Just a tangent, but I understand that Reverse Flash is a paradox now, but if he lives, it really takes a bit of steam out of Dr. Manhattan and the threat of the Watchmen.  Okay, I'm stepping off the soapbox and getting back to my review.

Barry leaves the body of his arch-enemy just as a glimmer of Speed Force lightning ignites in his eye. Yea, I guess what old Jimmy Boy wants is very different than what Jimmy Boy is going to get.

Barry then goes to a surprise Birthday Party...for himself and we get to see one of the cool things that Joshua Williamson did at the beginning of the series.  As his buddy Forrest talks to him, the word balloon is covered up by Barry's narration and it is such a good device to show that Barry isn't paying attention...and is a dick.  Granted, Barry is thinking of Jay Garrick and the Button story which is more interesting than Forrest, but still.

We then go through everything troubling Barry; Thomas Wayne's message to Bruce, Wally being upset at him, having to lie to Iris...then things get crazy as he imagines Reverse Flash killing everyone he loves.  It really throws him and even Iris and his father can't snap him out of it.

That's when Hal Jordan shows and things pick up.  Hal is hilarious as he gets caught in the middle of Iris yelling at Barry, but lucky for him, they are suddenly attacked by Multiplex.  I guess Midnighter didn't beat him up enough in the New 52!

As Barry and Hal suit up, we see that Danton isn't there for trouble, he's actually showed up to profess his love for...Iris?!?!  They had a drink once and the baddie is way obsessed.  As Barry and Hal get caught in a Multiplex tidal wave, Wally runs Iris home to safety.  Unfortunately, we end the issue with a cliffhanger that shows that the real danger has just arrived.

It's a tough thing to come off of a big crossover and keep the momentum going, but Williamson does a decent job here.  He shows a very distracted Barry, throws Hal in for some humor and sets up a present and future with Reverse Flash that is interesting even if it is a bit infuriating.

Carmine Di Giandomenico is back on art and the book looks really good.  I love his character work on Reverse Flash, Flash and Green Lantern and the Multiplex stuff was awesome.  When this series started, I was not a huge fan of his facial work, but that has improved enough to make this one of the better looking issues of the series.

Bits and Pieces:

Joshua Williamson starts his post Button story by giving us a very distracted Barry and a very Big Bad that should be dead.  It all sets up a mystery in the future as Barry's present is falling apart.  The story and art were good and I can recommend this to anyone whether they liked the Button story or not.

7.9/10