The Flash #72 Review and *SPOILERS*

Greatest Hits

Written By: Joshua Williamson, Howard Porter
Art By: Howard Porter, Hi-Fi

Letters By: Steve Wands

Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 12, 2019

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

I was really excited when I saw that we were going to be getting a Year One Flash story because in my experience, Year One stories have at the very least been interesting. However, ever since we started this storyline, it has been one disappointment after another. This book has so much wasted potential after giving an entire issue to Barry’s origin story and then giving an issue to him talking with his future self. The issue I have with this book is that I was actually looking forward to seeing what kind of story we were going to get with Future Barry but that ended just as soon as it began and now we are back in the present. It kind of just feels like we wasted a lot of time to get where we are. However, hopefully this new issue will change things around. Let’s jump into it and see where it takes us.

We begin our issue where we left off. Central City has been stopped in time by Turtle but thanks to the Speed Force, Barry is still unfrozen. He thinks back to when he would confront bullies but never threw a punch. That changed today. Barry attempt to hit Turtle but is easily handled by Turtle’s powers. Barry proceeds to get his butt kicked for the rest of the fight however, at the end, Turtle throws Barry into a wall and Barry involuntarily vibrates through it. Still being new to his powers, Barry accidentally causes the wall to explode. The falling debris quickly knocks Turtle down and Central City becomes unfrozen. Barry uses his speed to make sure the debris doesn’t hurt anyone else in the area and the cops pull Turtle off to jail. Barry gets out of his costume and meets up with Iris and the two decide to get dinner together.

We have a montage of Barry’s life after this point. He learns more about his powers and uses them to prevent crimes. He continues to visit his father and his friendship with August grows. He also begins his relationship with Iris and the two seem inseparable. We catch back up a few months later and Barry has begun to leave a symbol at places he stopped crimes in order to kind of claim responsibility. We see Iris interviewing some witnesses. Back at Barry’s he is working on his suit when he is given a surprise visit from Iris. Barry freaks out as his place is a mess and he uses his speed to clean it up and put on something nice all before Iris gets up the stairs. Iris explores his place, and we learn a little bit about Barry and a little bit about Iris. When a picture accidentally falls out of Iris’ bag, Barry sees it and we see someone familiar to us. Iris identifies him as Clive Yorkin. However, work talk is off the table as the two plan on spending a romantic evening together. Unfortunately, Iris is called away when she gets a tip about her current story.

Barry decides to catch up on some lab work but when he does, he finds that the evidence leads him to Clive Yorkin so he races off after Iris. We catch up with Clive after he has finished a recent score. Iris calls them out and tries to question Clive, which puts the gang in danger with the cops nearby. When he puts hands on Iris, she knees him in the balls and Clive pulls his gun. His gang members tell him that it will blow their cover but he doesn’t care and he opens fire. Luckily Barry is there to stop all of the bullets before they hit anyone and then he ties up the gang and leaves the area. However, things are not as good as they seem as we catch up with Barry after the fight and see that he is bleed profusely. This is where the issue ends.

This book continues to have great art and for the first time since this storyline began, I actually enjoyed this issue. However, I am still very critical of the fact that there isn’t really anything to sink our teeth into. We set up Turtle to being the villain of this arc and then Barry takes care of him by accident. So instead we focus on the Rogues and Barry takes care of them as well. It is honestly feeling like we are just going through the greatest hits of The Flash in this storyline, and while it may be good sometimes, the overall idea is a flawed one. If I wanted to see the same story that I already know, I would just go back and read those stories. I want a Year One story to add something significant to this time in our heroes’ journey. Instead it just feels like a writer needed to take a break for a storyline.

Bits and Pieces

While this issue is much more fun than the previous two issues in this storyline, it is still flawed. We aren’t really getting a new story at all with this book. Instead we are playing the Greatest Hits of Barry’s past. When it comes to comics though, I can always just go back and read the previous stories. I don’t need a whole storyline to remind me about who our main character was when he started his journey. But still, a lot of great art and fun moments are in this book. So despite the problems with this issue, it’s still a lot of fun.

6.0/10