by Geoff Johns (writer), Francis Manapul (art), Brian Buccellato (colors), and Sal Cipriano (letters)
The Story: The Flash battles Captain Boomerang in downtown Central City and learns the secrets behind his future murder of Mirror Monarch.
What’s Good: I think part of what marks out this issue is the sense of wonder that is present in the depictions of the Flash’s powers. It shows Johns’ love for the character and it’s creative in a way that evidences that Johns has thought quite a lot about the Flash’s super-speed. Johns and Manapul, together, are masters at depicting the Flash’s powers, putting Barry in positions that allow for cool feats and ridiculously awesome demonstrations of his speed. The result is truly awe-inspiring, at one point resulting in a double-page spread that got an audible “holy shit” from me.
The battle between Captain Boomerang and the Flash feels every bit like the classic duel between old foes that it is. Johns is doing a great job at building the character back up. I also enjoyed Boomerang’s feeling out of sync with current events, always trying to catch up after being out of the loop; this only makes him a more appropriate nemesis for Barry, given Barry’s own recent struggles.
Over the past couple of months, I’ve griped a little bit over the Renegades, who have been fairly bland thus far. Johns makes giant strides this issue in rectifying that, as one Renegade goes against code, choosing to spill the details of Mirror Monarch’s murder. It instantly makes the group more interesting as a whole, having this bit of dissension, while making this Renegade in particular a suddenly sympathetic character.
The end result of all this is a very promising future for the series. The predicted future and the path of events leading up to the Mirror Monarch’s murder are very compelling. How much of it will happen as portended, I don’t know, but every bit of it would be well worth my future comic dollars. The fact that it heavily involves the mysterious, uncontrollable powers on the other side of the Mirror Master’s mirrors brings in some darker, creepier elements.
This issue also has Manapul and Buccellato at their very best. It’s a gorgeous book that proves that Manapul is just as adept at blazing action scenes as he is at lush backgrounds. The Flash is a perfect red blur, the backgrounds are epic, the depictions of speed are incredible, and the entire issue feels brilliant, fiery, and frantic. Manapul and Buccellato also prove themselves capable of making some of the most glorious, luminescent explosions that I’ve ever seen in a comic and when the two get to stretch their legs with larger panels, the results are incredible.
What’s Not So Good: It’s worth nothing that this issue goes by very quickly, particularly because most of it is spent on action scenes. Indeed, a helicopter rescue takes up more or less the first half of the issue. For this reason, there’s sort of a ceiling on just how high I can score this issue.
I also have to admit that Johns’ deciding that there was a law barring the Renegades from revealing the future to people, which is “punishable by death,” regardless of the person or the benefits, felt like a convenient cop out. It’s a hollow explanation, excuse even, for why none of the Renegades wanted to talk to Barry before now, which is clearly the more sensible route.
Conclusion: Tons of fun, no book does better at capturing the tone and ideals of Brightest Day.
Grade: B+
-Alex Evans
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