THE FLASH #186
"Crossfire, Part 3: The Thinking Man"
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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DC Comics
Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Scott Kolins
Inks: Doug Hazlewood
Colors: James Sinclair & Digital Chameleon
Letters: Gaspar Saladino
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Price: $2.25 US/$3.75 CAN |
On the surface, Johns is just telling a standard super-hero story. Bad guys. Good guys. Super-powers. But there's a lot more to "Crossfire" -- and Johns's run on the book in general -- than that. There's nothing random about it. Every issue since Johns's first as regular writer has been building up to this point, and that variety of plot points and characters has converge into a story that's a lot more than "good versus evil" and "might makes right." There are complexities and shades of grey here, and better yet, there's an unpredictable and exciting story to be experienced.
The Rogues travel from Central City, which they control, to Keystone City, which the new Thinker has transformed into a city-sized hard drive of his own. The Rogues' goal: to stop the Thinker's plan as it interferes with their own. And caught in the middle is the Flash, whom the Thinker has hard-wired and transformed into a super-fast processor. Meanwhile, Goldface's own plans come to light.
It's stunning how Kolins has transformed the way we look at the Flash. There's a maturity and subtle darkness in his art that reinforces the same qualities in the script. Kolins, along with Hazlewood and James Sinclair, have developed a unique look for these characters and the setting... a look that could be described as hard-boiled sci-fi. Stunning, realistic detail merges with inventive and surreal design.
Johns has crafted a dark, compelling epic story here, but he hasn't turned his back on the title character's roots either. For all of modern creativity and edge that he's instilled in this story arc, there's a counterbalance of Silver Age super-hero irreverence behind it. Some of the Mirror Master's tricks remain the same, and Goldface's flashback was presented in a solid Silver Age kind of way, for example. No matter what's going on, there's still a sense of fun at the heart of this story and the title character.
Johns approaches the story from a number of directions. There's the Flash, and also on the side of the angels, Morillo and Chyre, and Cyborg. And then there are the antagonists, the Thinker on one side, and the Rogues on the other. And if that wasn't enough, there are the wild cards, Captain Cold and Goldface, each with his own agenda. Yet somehow, the book doesn't seem cramped. The story is paced quite well, and the suspense continues to build.
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