- Written by Joshua Williamson
- Pencils Felipe Watanabe
- Inks Andrew Currie
- Coloured by Ivan Plascencia
- Cover by Carmine Di Giandomenico & Karl Kerschl
“Lightning Strikes Twice” part five! With Central City now protected by dozens of freshly trained Flashes, Barry Allen takes time out to explore a new relationship. Meanwhile, a serial killer targets citizen speedsters as Wally West takes his first steps toward becoming the new Kid Flash…
Pickup your copy of ‘The Flash’ #5 at Comixology now!
Five issues in and we’re still not allowed a break on ‘The Flash’ even during ‘Barry’s Day Off’! If you’ve been reading my review of this series (here and here) then you’ll know I’m completely in love with this series.
When I started subscribing to comics I would always go to ‘Batman’ first. Anything Batman. Always. Now it’s a three way battle as to whether I read ‘The Flash’, ‘Green Arrow’ or ‘Batman’ first. That’s testament to how well these series are currently working because I’ve been a dedicated Bat-fan for over twenty years now.
I’ve spoken in the past about how ‘The Flash’ comics are working hard to carve out a niche in the series for stories about Barry Allen. Stories beyond the death of his mother and his failed romantic life. Well this issue is about his romantic life but for once it doesn’t centre on Iris. Barry Allen has been criminally underdeveloped in recent years but ‘Rebirth’ is injecting some life in to him.
‘Barry’s Day Off’ essentially deals with him trying to get some downtime now that Central City is overrun by Speedsters also learning to fight crime. There’s also his new found relationship with Meena Dhawan. Not to forget the subplots around Godspeed and Wally West which are also bubbling to the surface.
Writer Williamson is doing a great job of crafting a multifaceted story which is bigger than just Flash himself. Central City is a complicated landscape full of a diverse mixture of characters. Its something which has been rarely seen in recent years but is thankfully becoming more common place in modern comics. These characters in habit a well constructed environment which is as much a character as they are.
Of course there’s little time for Barry to enjoy his day off once Godspeed reappears and continues to pick off the new Speedsters that Barry is training. The cliffhanger in this issue is likely to cause some reverberations through the next few issues despite being a little obvious.
Much like its TV series counterpart ‘The Flash’ comics are trying hard to present stories of human interest and drama as well as the high octane action which comics fans would expect. Luckily for us it’s doing a great job of it.
Stylistically I just will not hear a bad word said about ‘The Flash’. This book looks just plain awesome. Every issue has been packed with detailed imagery which is as engaging on the fifth read as it is on the first. This issue has pencils by Felipe Watanabe, inks by Andrew Currie and colours by Ivan Plascencia. The trio create a very classic looking comic with great character expressions and very lifelike environments.
Flashes of the Speed Force are exhilarating to look at and really evoke a sense that the creative team love the characters and their work. I hope this creative resurgence on ‘The Flash’ lasts a long time.
Verdict
‘The Flash’ #5 is a great micro-breather in the ongoing story of Godspeed. Poor Barry just can’t catch a break. A great read.
4 stars
