Art by: Diego Olortegui
Colors by: Luis Guererro
Letters by: Steve Wands
Cover art by: Jorge Corona, Sarah Stern
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: April 16, 2024
Jay Garrick: The Flash #6 sends Jay Garrick on a race to save his daughter and 90% of Earth's population to stop Dr. Elemental's mad scheme to usher in a new Golden Age.
Is Jay Garrick: The Flash #6 Good?
Damn you, Jeremey Adams! I'm not crying! You're crying!
Yowza! The finale to Jay Garrick's adventure reuniting him with his daughter pulls on the heartstrings to give readers precisely the kind of feel-good ending every mini-series or arc in an ongoing should go for. Of the three Golden Age imprint titles DC put out, this is the strongest and best ending yet.
When last we left Jay and Judy Garrick, we learned that the man who was partly responsible for Jay becoming the Flash, Dr. Hughes, is also Dr. Elemental. Jay's power acquisition was less of an accident than everyone believed, and now, Dr. Elemental kidnaps Judy because he believes she's the key to unlocking metagene abilities around the globe.
Now, Jay races around the world searching for Judy with the help of Mr. Terrific's advanced satellite network. We learn Dr. Elemental intends to use Judy as a battery that will re-create the hard water experiment that unlocked Jay's metagene and intends to aim the conversion beam at the oceans. If it works, everyone who drinks water will have their metagene unlocked. Unfortunately, anyone who doesn't have a metagene, about 90% of Earth's population, will die.
Jay is then forced to do what a Flash does best - run to stop what's coming.
What's great about Jay Garrick: The Flash #6? Adams piles it on with a high-stakes obstacle, fast-paced action (naturally), cool wow moments, and a prologue that slathers on the family moments. The last few pages tug at your heartstrings, so be prepared to fall in love with the extended Flash Family all over again.
What's not so great about Jay Garrick: The Flash #6? One of the wow moments happens off-panel, which is a bummer. Yes, page space is limited, but those moments are what comics nerds live for.
How's the Art? Commendable. Diego Olortegui flexes big action muscles in this issue with an (almost) non-stop run through the entire finale, and it looks great.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Bits and Pieces:
Jay Garrick: The Flash #6 hits a home run with a climactic finale to stop Dr. Elemental's plans that threaten the world. Flash fans get plenty of big action, emotional beats that hit you in the feels with a sledgehammer, and a pitch-perfect ending.
9/10
This issue was very good. I didn't think the previous two issues, issue 5 especially, were good (issue 4 was rushed. Issue 5 was nonsensical and the truly bad issue in the series). This issue however was a return to form. On one hand it had well written superhero action with very cool moments ( those shark teeth!!!) and the tension of Jay reaching the buildings in time in order for both his daughter and humanity to live was high and well done and had a good emotional conclusion that showed how formidable Jay really is and why he is one of the most respected heroes of DC universe. On the other hand we had really good character moments, even during the action scenes. Adams has a way of getting to the heart of the conflict with just enough panels and words without going overboard or getting surface level. I really liked that hospital scene. I have previously took problem with the way fanservice gets handled in Dawn of DC ( Green Arrow is a good example) but Adams handled fanservice in this issue the right way which is incorporating it in his story and plot and saying something about it instead of just having some shiny panels that takes space. The flash family has became a true family, in large part because of Adams's efforts himself, that honestly is doing way better than other more famous DC families right now ( cough batfamily cough). Rating wise I would give this issue a 9 or 10.
ReplyDeleteI get the feeling Adams really likes and feels at home writing flash, I wish he was writing those characters and their journeys instead of Spurrier or whoever is writing Speedforce.( I feel like he still had a lot of story to tell with Mr Terrific especially) And honestly he would have been a way better choice for a Batman title at this point ( I am at least curious about his take on it which is more than could be said for a lot of other writers currently at DC). The fact that Tynion and Taylor have gotten this many chances writing batman characters when they absolutely get them wrong and surface level, keep introducing lame characters, have rushed or nonsense plots while Jeremy Adams has not gotten a chance with any Batman character when he has had a better track record in DC compared to Tynion, King, Zdarsky or Taylor so far is baffling to me. At the very least I wish they gave Batman and Robin to him instead of Williamson, it seems in his wheelhouse (besides, having watched some of his other works , he seems capable of handling a darker character and setting like Batman).
Batman and Robin would be an awesome choice!
DeleteThanks for replying Jim. Just something, and I am not trying to be mean, but you guys gave this issue a 6 and 7 on your podcast correct? I don't have a problem with 6, I completely agree with being percise on ranking and saving that 8 or above for truly exceptional issues ( since anything above 5 means above average from 1 to 10 and I can definitely see this as a 6 or 7 also), 7 is a more fair rating, but another thing ranking does is that it helps readers gauge how you compare two different issues together. So when you give a batman 128 (or one of those issues near it from gotham war if I am not wrong) an 8 or even a 6 and also give this a 6 and 7, does that mean you think these two issues are near the same quality or 128 is even better? Cause if this issue is a 6 or 7 on this scale, doesn't that mean that batman 128 sould at most be 4? Cause that issue is a horrible mess of characterisations, nonsense plot and premise. Genuinely curious about the scores. Hope I didn't offend.
Delete*sorry meant batman issue 138 or near it, not 128.
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