The Flash #66 Review and *SPOILERS*

The Devil’s Greatest Trick

Written By: Joshua Williamson

Art By: Scott Kolins, Luis Guerrero,
Letters By: Steve Wands
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: March 13, 2019

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

The Flash has returned from it’s latest crossover with the Batman book. I think this book kind of needed a break like this. The latest storyline about the Force Quest was very disappointing in my opinion. While The Price wasn’t perfect, I thought it ended nicely. Hopefully this small break will give the Flash a chance to revamp the book and make it really enjoyable again. I know Williamson can do it, the question is, WILL he do it? Let’s jump right into this issue and find out for ourselves.

We begin the issue with the Trickster standing in his lair watching his monitors. He is self-narrating the issue and we know that this is the original Trickster James Jesse. We go on a journey through his past. He grew up reading books even though he was constantly chastised for it by his parents. Clearly a very unhappy home. James’ parents were circus performers that were using every underhanded trick in the book. They called themselves The Flying Jesses in order to rip off the Graysons. They even attempted to capitalize on the death of the Graysons by claiming their act was the NEW Most Dangerous Act in the World. During a show, his parents try to force James to be a part of the act but he runs off to read a book. His parents don’t stand for this as they pull him back and force him to climb the ladder for the show. The spectators all seem worried about what they are watching but none of them do anything about it.

We fast forward to when Trickster began a life of crime. His successes were able to catch the attention of The Flash. He even joined the Rogues but despite being so good at what he does, he was eventually caught by Flash and sent him to prison. He normally would be able to escape but he finds himself beaten and kept in a cell alone. It is revealed that Warden Wolfe began his extreme methods long ago as he kept James Jesse in prison and made it so he didn’t exist. He was going to keep him in prison forever. Back in the circus, we see James’ parents about to force him on the tightrope as the crowd grows more concerned. Back in prison, we see several failed escape attempts and we find that Trickster has been forgotten as another has taken his place on the outside.

We see two scenes occur at the same time as we see a young James Jesse step out onto the tightrope and an older James Jesse climbing to the top of Iron Heights in order to escape. We see the young James Jesse suddenly switch demeanor as he is actually a natural at the tightrope and the crowd goes wild. Meanwhile we see Iron Heights guards searching desperately for an escaped James Jesse. We get a final scene from his childhood as his parents count a big stack of money that they were able to pickpocket from the circus crowd while they were distracted by the show. We get the final panel of a modern day James Jesse geared up as the Trickster. This is where the issue ends.

Well, we’ve been teasing the Trickster storyline for a while now and maybe this means it will start this way. That said, I kind of found this to be a little boring. I’m sure new readers will appreciate this issue and those unfamiliar with the character will appreciate the background. However, as someone that has been reading Williamson’s run, I didn’t really need this extra information. We’ve been teasing James Jesse for a while. I don’t think we need to build him up more. However, plenty of readers will like this.

Bits and Pieces

While this may set up the coming storyline surrounding Trickster, I personally found this issue to be a little dull. It wasn’t horrible or anything and maybe some of this stuff will be relevant in the coming story but, until that happens, I kind of feel like we could have just started the storyline that we have waiting.

5.5/10