Flash #42 Review

Grodd Bless You

Written by: Joshua Williamson
Art by: Dan Panosian, Hi-Fi, and Steve Wands
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 14, 2018

I can't wait until we get the Flash War, but in the meantime, I never pass up an opportunity to get my Gorilla Grodd groove on.  The problem is, this Grodd story has a lot less Grodd than I was expecting and hoping.  What we have gotten is a non-powered Barry Allen who is flip-flopping between being chill about the situation and being an obsessed dick about it.  I really don't like either choice there, but am hoping for a happy medium.  Do we get that this week as well as more of a certain gorilla?  Let's find out...


We open with Grodd who is talking with Meena about Wally West.  Fans of Wally will dig Grodd's admiration for him and fans of Grodd will worry that their favorite gorilla is not long for this world.  The scene ends with Wally besting Raijin, but not getting the information he wanted...where did they take Iris West?

It's then off to see Godspeed and Barry and after a little more revisionist history, we get more Grodd/Black Hole connections to fill in the blanks of the early parts of this run.  Then August figures out why Barry needs him...to be his Fall Guy.  No, not Lee Majors playing a kick-ass stuntman, but a guy to blame if things go wrong.  Give August credit, though, he really wants to be a friend first and a murderous speedster killer second.

We then get Avery and Kid Flash looking to save Meena.  Again, we get a little switcheroo from what we got earlier in the series (this time with Avery's vibrational problems), but it doesn't really matter because Meena is bad to the bone and attacks the kid Speedsters...but Godspeed saves them!  It's then a battle royale of Speedsters and Multiplex(es), but it all ends with Barry trying to get his powers back.

I won't spoil too much, but since everyone warned Barry not to try to get his powers back, you can guess that everything didn't end all pinatas and RC Cola!  Williamson ends with a pretty kick-ass cliffhanger that is definitely one of those "it's going to get worse before it gets better" kind of things.  It also sets up what has to be at least some of the tension for the upcoming Flash War.

This was a fast-paced issue and while nothing was really that shocking, I liked it.  Barry might be his own worst enemy, but he's got four new ones to challenge for the crown.  Plus, I wanted more Grodd and I got it...and he was the smartest gorilla in the room as always! 

I found Dan Panosian's art a bit rough at first, but once he got settled into the story, it started to look a lot better.  In the end, it was good, not great.

Bits and Pieces:

Joshua Williamson continues showing that an obsessed Barry is not a good Barry and in the end, it looks like everything is going according to Grodd's plan.  The Flash War may not be beginning yet, but after seeing the cliffhanger, you could have fooled me.  I eventually warmed up to Dan Panosian's art and in the end, this was a good issue of the Flash inching towards the Flash War.

7.0/10