Written By: Joshua Williamson, Howard Porter
Art By: Howard Porter, Hi-Fi
Letters By: Steve Wands
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 25, 2019
*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*
It’s no secret that I am not the biggest fan of this Year One storyline that we are currently in the midst of. It hasn’t added much of anything to the Flash mythos and the most interesting parts were thrown away almost immediately. That being said, there was a glimmer of hope in the previous issue. Sure we were still going through the Greatest Hits but I found myself very entertained by an issue that had injected fun into its’ story. The storyline is still fundamentally flawed but when you make an issue fun, it can become very easy to ignore those flaws. I’m hoping that we get more of that. I’m not enjoying the actual storyline all that much right now but if you can make these repeated scenarios fun for the reader, this book might just turn things around. Let’s just jump in and see where this issue takes us.
We pick up where we left off in the previous issue. Barry is bleeding on the floor of his apartment after being hit by a bullet in the fight to protect Iris. He can feel the bullet near his heart and he knows that he has to use his vibration to get it out but he hasn’t been able to vibrate without causing an explosion. As he is about to attempt the extraction, there is a knock on his door. It is Iris and she is distraught. Iris begins to open up about what happened and how she made the mistake of putting other people in danger. Meanwhile, Barry is trying to remove the bullet fast. Iris tells Barry that meeting him was such a big moment for her and how important he has become to her. Barry is able to get the bullet out. As he does, Iris stops talking, believing that she has been talking to an empty apartment. Just at this moment, Barry’s body heals almost instantaneously. It confuses him but he reacts quickly and changes clothes before opening the door. He tells Iris that he was in the shower but he heard her. The two embrace and then share a kiss.
The next morning, Barry and Iris wake up next to each other. They talk about the crime in Central City and how crazy things have become. Iris then has to leave for work. Barry decides he has to do something to make sure the future is safe. He travels to Iron Heights Penitentiary and we see flashbacks about his father being locked up. Today, however, he is there to see Turtle. Barry uses an excuse to explain his reason to be there and while there he learns about Turtle’s past. It’s a pretty classic supervillain story. He was a smart child that eventually became a scientist and even had a family of his own. However, during an experiment, he was struck by what we now know to be the Still Force. It greatly affected his body but he survived and his family stuck by him through the whole thing. Turtle then learns that he is immortal and that he can replenish his energy from others. He turns his powers on his family and kills them. At the end of his story, Turtle touches Barry’s hand and he recognizes him as The Flash. He says he won’t say anything for now but someday in the future, he will make his move.
Distraught, Barry races off back to the crime lab and begins his investigation into Turtle. Barry is clearly all stressed out by the whole thing and he is then interrupted by Iris who has come for their dinner date. Barry clearly forgot and he is so obsessed with his new investigation that he tries to push Iris away. He even says a couple lines that are accusatory in an attempt to anger her and make her leave. However, despite all of that, Iris keeps pushing and Barry eventually lets her in. Unfortunately, just before he can truly open up to her, the wall is blasted through by some green energy. They look outside and see it is happening all over the city. It is none other than Turtle but this is the Turtle from the future and he has future Barry Allen captured and has arrived in the past with a cosmic treadmill of his own. This is where the issue leaves us.
Let’s talk about the ending right away because it really does wonders for this book. When we read the future issue and it ended after that issue, I was disappointed because I thought it was the most interesting part of the story. We kind of just saw it and then left it without any plans for it in the future. We got some storylines that were alright but overall kind of boring and we didn’t’ really touch on the future storyline. However, this issue brings it back as the cliffhanger and I am ecstatic! I love that we didn’t just forget about it. Sometimes a later issue will come out and raise the quality of the other issues that came before it. This is what happened with this book. I only pray that we get a fantastic pay off to this instead of another one issue conclusion. The rest of this issue was alright. It had a tendency to be a little slow and the art (which is usually fantastic) had a couple moments that were poorly done (Turtle’s wife looks almost identical to Iris in those panels) but we got great character progression, we set up what would come at the end and we progressed Barry and Iris’ relationship. There have been much worse issues in this series and I’m finally happy to say that I can’t wait to see what comes next.
Bits and Pieces
This issue starts off really slow but we get some nice character progression and see how Barry and Iris’ relationship grows. However, once we get to the cliffhanger, everything comes around and brought this book back to life in what was previously a dying storyline that was going nowhere. Now, for the first time in months, I can honestly say I am looking forward to the next issue of Flash.
7.0/10
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