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THE FLASH #183
"Crossfire Prologue: Tricked!"
Recommended (8/10)
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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 |
For months now, Johns has been building up the new Rogues in the background, and this issue launches "Crossfire," which promises to pay off a lot of that development. It also doubles as an introduction to the new Trickster, a character I always liked (and whose new incarnation I like just as much) and provides a lot of changes in Flash's supporting cast. As always, Scott Kolins provides his unusual, industrial-style artwork to give the book an impressive look that matches the impressive scripts. Though this wasn't as strong as some of my favorite issues of the book, it was a solid read, as every issue of the Flash has been since Johns and Kolins took over.
Johns has been doing what previous Flash writers have attempted and failed to
do in his run, namely update the famed Rogues' Gallery without losing the style
and appeal that made them so enjoyable in the first place. The addition of new
members and a larger scale of organization with the Network has been a really
nice touch, but what really makes it work is the updating of the characters to a
more ruthless, and yet still capricious, style. The new Trickster is the epitome
of this kind of updating. He's young and brash, a little on the silly side, but
definitely deadly and dangerous as well. Johns manages to impart the important
elements of his backstory through the Rogue profiler that Flash has been working
on, giving enough basics to figure the character out but without spending the
entire issue on an origin story.
Of course, part of my
appreciation for the new Trickster comes from Kolins's redesign work. The flashy
and gaudy costume, replete with sound effects on the gadgets and clothes,
reinforces the character's attitude visually, and the wicked grin he wears gives
us an instant recognition of his personality. I'm also quite impressed this
issue with the effects that give Flash his sense of speed, whether it's the
racing around the apartment or rushing into Hunter's office and re-stacking the
papers that were blown about by his accompanying gust of wind. In addition, the
two-page spread of Network headquarters was truly impressive, instantly giving a
sense of their reach and ability.
Though this is merely the prelude to the "Crossfire" story, there are some major developments in these pages. I was very surprised to see the Chyre/Morillo situation come to a head so quickly, and it gave me a great deal of respect for Chyre's intelligence and abilities as a detective. Not as surprising was the systematic removal of Wally's allies, including the last page surprise that comes out of one of the encounters Fallout had during his rampage. Of course, I was quite annoyed to find out that if I wanted to read the rest of that rather important conversation, I had to follow it over to Impulse. I
had thought that sort of crossover was an artifact of the past, when Mark Waid
was writing both books and it made sense to have that much synergy between
books.
Aside from the feeling of annoyance that a rather important plot point is essentially taking place "off-panel," I was as happy with this issue of The Flash as I have been with all the others of late. Johns has brought the complex plotting and understanding of characters that has made JSA so enjoyable and reinvigorated The Flash, giving it an energy and appeal that it
hasn't had for several years.
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