The Flash #63 Review and *SPOILERS*

Dream Over

Written By: Joshua Williamson
Art By: Minkyu Jung, Hi-Fi
Letters By: Steve Wands

Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: January 30, 2019

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

I’m not sure if this book knows what it’s doing. I mean, I know the writer has a plan and that this whole story has been a part of that plan but at the same time, this Force Quest storyline has been kind of head scratching with the exception of a couple middle issues. When I think of this book, the part that interests me the most is the side-story involving Commander Cold. When I want to read a Commander Cold book more than a Flash book, there is an issue. However, I believe that Williamson can turn this around and that this book can be great. Perhaps I’m just a dreamer but let’s jump right in and see what this book has in store for us.

We start with my favorite storyline in this book which involves Commander Cold and Detective Burns. They were dropped into a fun house trap in the previous book. Not much happens here though. The two talk for a bit before being interrupted by a greeting from who I assume is Trickster. Cold then regrettably is forced to reveal his true past (or future? Eh? I’ll see myself out.) so he can explain everything that’s going on. We then cut to Zandia where The Flash and Psych are being absorbed by Gemini. After regaining her composure, Iris jumps into action and tackles one of the Gemini members. The two focus on Iris which allows Flash and Psych to rise to their feet. During this time, Flash realizes why he has struggled so much on this quest. He should have been playing the role of teacher because when he did that before, he actually learned so much.

Barry and Psych then grab the attention of Gemini and are able to use their powers to push them back fairly easily. Gemini then tries to combine the power of the forces by sharing a kiss but the forces explode violently when they do. Gemini is defeated but it’s not enough for Psych. When he get the opportunity, he hops on the male Gemini members and hollows him out with the Sage Force. Flash stops him but it’s too late. Belladonna (the female Gemini member) runs to her partner while Flash confronts Psych. Psych uses his power to show Flash the truth behind the forces. They are all in contention, not cooperation. The Speed Force user previously was able to lock the other forces away. The forces are all fighting for control of the Forever Force. Psych was able to escape in this time and Santiago (the male Gemini member) has died.

Barry and Iris stop by Arkham after turning in Belladonna to find that she has completely lost it. However, she does reveal that she got her information from the gorillas. Barry and Iris race off once again. Turns out one member has just finished holding a funeral for his fallen comrades. He reveals that everything Gemini knew was true and that he had hoped that since Flash was such a beacon of hope that the forces didn’t need to be fighting each other but it still happened. He also reveals who it was that killed the gorillas before Flash showed up the first time. None other than Hunter Zoloman. Flash races back to Central City and drops off Iris, despite her protests. Flash runs off to think and then we see him in the Heroes in Crisis fight. Booster Gold reveals his secrets and mentions Wally. Barry races off to find Wally and finds him in an apartment, collapsed on the floor. This is where the issue ends.

I don’t really think this issue lives up to the hype. Honestly, it makes me feel a little cheated. Gemini was built up to be these criminal masterminds but they get beaten in basically two pages. Then, we learned the truth about the forces, which is nice information to have but it basically makes this entire storyline meaningless. This is heightened by the fact that Barry blatantly admits he was going about the whole thing the wrong way. You can argue that this is decent character development but I’m pretty sure Barry has had this realization about 20 times in this run so it’s kind of old. Then we end with a tie-in to the Heroes in Crisis storyline. Talk about an epic waste of my time.

Bits and Pieces:

I hate to do it, I really do. However, this book is terrible. Everything that was hyped up in this storyline was revealed to be harmless or meaningless. Sure, there are some interesting parts and we do get a decent lore dump in the middle of this issue but it’s disappointing to have all this buildup and only for it to end this way. This was incredibly disappointing and I wasn’t even expecting that much. That’s how much this issue falls flat. This book is getting a very familiar score that our readers are quite familiar with.

5.0/10