Flash #29 Review

Fireworks Factory

Written by: Joshua Williamson
Art by: Pop Mhan, Christian Duce, Hi-Fi and Steve Wands
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: August 23, 2017

I think the coolest thing about a hero getting a new powers is finding out about the new powers.  Call me old fashioned, but I can't be the only one who feels that way.  It seems that Barry has the Negative Speedforce pulsing through his veins, but for the most part, we are going to have to take his word for what that means.  The problem is...he doesn't know either!  I hope that begins to change this issue.  It has to, right?  I mean, why give Barry these new powers and then not show us what they are?  So, does Joshua Williamson give me what I want?  Let's find out...


The issue opens with Barry recovering from his run-in with Shrapnel that finished last issue and I guess we are being shown that Barry is not healing the way he normally would.  He only hints at it before we see how his meeting with Shrapnel actually ended...it was explosive to say the least.

Shrapnel's multiple punches caused an energy to buildup in Barry with the end result being an explosion that didn't kill the baddie, but allowed his pieces to be collected and taken to Iron Heights for safe keeping.  I certainly liked seeing the new power, but Barry just saying, "I didn't know I could do that..." and then not look into it further is already becoming a common occurrence...and becoming maddening.

I guess that is better than what we continue with, however.  The rest of the issue involves Barry afraid to use any powers which means we get a Flash book...without the Flash!  Just lovely!  Don't get me wrong, I love seeing CSI Barry (and we haven't gotten enough of that in Rebirth in my opinion), but why can't Williamson give us a healthy dose of both?

Barry's bubble bath is interrupted by a call from Kristen and it's off to the lab.  The two of them head off to the basement so that Kristen can prove how easy it is to steal evidence (?) before heading off to Burns and Morrow's "Lab".  Yea, it's a cop bar and the talk goes from Singh being guilty, to snitches, to work gossip...all of which was pretty damn boring.  The forced dialogue didn't help matters at all and I was glad when Barry excused himself to go check out the CCPD Records room.  The issue ends with Barry not using his powers once again and because of that, it looks like a lot of people, including himself, are in big trouble.

When this whole stolen evidence was introduced last issue, I was afraid that it would take time away from seeing more of Barry's new powers.  Even if that isn't the reason, it is the least interesting thing in this issue, yet is given the most page space.  There is one thing that a Flash book should never be and that is boring.  This is boring.

The art is shared by Pop Mhan and Christian Duce and both do a good job.  While I prefer Pop's pages, there isn't much of a transition problem and Hi-Fi's colors kick ass throughout.

Bits and Pieces:

While this issue doesn't give us any answers as to Barry's new powers, the biggest problem is we get little to no Flash.  We do get a lot of subpar dialogue and the continuation of a very uninteresting CSI case.  The art is good, but this issue is just a bore.

6.0/10