The Flash #34 Review

Running on Empty

Written by: Joshua Williamson and Michael Moreci
Art by: Pop Mhan, Ivan Plascencia and Steve Wands
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: November 8, 2017

Now that we have the Bats Out of Hell tie-in nonsense behind us, we can get back to the story that I want more of.  Seriously, Joshua Williamson finally set up a bunch of cool things and then we had to wait a month to get to them  So, was it worth the wait?  Let's find out...


For those just jumping on, the things I was looking forward to were seeing more of Barry and Wally training together, Barry and his new job at Iron Heights and Meena revealing herself to be very much alive to Barry.  We pick up this issue with the last one as new(er) readers get a brief intro to Meena and her Speed Force origin before seeing Wally show up to give her a big, old hug!

Sure, things about Meena's story don't quite add up, but she drops a bomb when she tells Barry that she knows the Negative Speed Force is killing him.  Yowza!  The explanation of it, though, is a bit of forced recap and really, since we still don't know anything about the Negative Speed Force, it doesn't hit as hard as it should.

It's then off to a training/run real fast session so Meena can figure out more about the Negative Speed Force.  Alrighty then!  Barry and Wally take off and while I said I wanted more of this exact thing, this came off as a bit of a joke...kind of like a Super Friends type of thing.  Now don't get me wrong, I like the Flash to be fun, but this just felt strange especially considering the tone leading up to it.  Thankfully, Wally ends the scene by questioning why Meena is so concerned with the Negative Speed Force...it's because she is bad to the bone and we all know it!

We then go off to Kristen having a bitch and brew session (I will be trademarking that!) with Detectives Burns and Morrow and it's just to continue the whole "mysterious new bad guy" in Central City that seems 100% to be Meena.  

It doesn't take long to realize that theory is right!  After a tender moment watching the Sunset together, Black Hole goons arrive and Meena shows her bad side.  The issue ends with the whole Negative Speed Force problem taken care of...kind of.  Well, at least Barry doesn't have it anymore so we can get back to a Flash book with a properly working Flash!

This issue wasn't bad in terms of this overall series.  It was a quick read and did get rid of Barry's problem with the Negative Speed Force.  The problem of not knowing what the Negative Speed Force really does continues, however, and that may lead to more frustration as Barry has to fight it.  Also, Joshua Williamson better explain why Meena is pretty much the best Speedster who ever lived.  She mastered the Speed Force in no time at the beginning of the series so I'm worried that she will do the same with the Negative version.  Besides those problems and a bit more recap than I was expecting, Pop Mhan's art was great and I am actually looking forward to the next issue of Flash.

Bits and Pieces:

This was a promising issue of the Flash and I'll take it!  While I still want some explanation of what the Negative Speed Force is, at least it's now a problem Barry can fight.  I love Pop Mhan's art and this looks like it could be a springboard to some better stories coming up.  

7.0/10