I wasn't exactly fond of the idea of these "DC First" specials when they were first announced, and I'm less fond of them now. While this issue is something of a fun story, it suffers from a lot of problems, starting with the most obvious one that it isn't really a "first" in any real sense of the word. This is a story that Flash fans will want to look at, as it references current Flash continuity and is by writer Geoff Johns, but some pacing problems and a general "what was the point?" feeling prevailed for me throughout. The concept is a loser, and the only thing that saved the book was a stronger creative team than it deserved.
The most interesting aspect of this story is actually the one that is explored the least, namely what is going on with the Piper inside the walls of Iron Heights. Johns sneaks in a little bit of development for the ongoing Flash title in this special, heightening the mystery of Piper's current predicament, and showing off a little more of the Rogue profiler Hunter Zylomon, and when that story was front and center, I was pretty intrigued by what was going on.
However, the central figure in this plot is Abra Kadabra, and while Johns has a better grasp of the Rogues than previous Flash writers Waid and Augustyn in general, Abra Kadraba was a Waid favorite, and he was one that was used very well in more than one story. Johns has an intriguing take on Kadabra, especially with his look at the technology that the villain uses, but he never feels as smart and deadly as he did when Waid was writing him. In addition, because of the framework of the book, I kept waiting for a flashback of some sorts, but we never got one, instead getting a lame explanation in the letter column that this was the "first" Golden-Age Flash/Superman race. Which wouldn't be such a problem if this didn't feel like a story that needed an issue more to really work. A lot of time is spent on setting up Kadabra as a dangerous foe, and transporting the Flashes to the future, but once that happens, the resolution is far too rapid, eliminating all of the problems with a couple of pages.
On the art chores this issue is Rick Burchett, known for a sharp and "animated" style, and Prentis Rollins, who has a harder-edged inking style. Both are favorites of mine, and they combine pretty well. I was especially impressed with their visuals on Abra Kadabra and his tricks, playing up the deadly yet whimsical nature of his style, but they also did a very nice job conveying the scope of the race between Flash and Superman and the dismal setting of the 64th century.
In the end, this is worth a look for regular Flash fans, if only because a lot of it feels like something that could have taken place in the pages of the regular title. However, because of the pacing problems and a general sense that the story was created to fill an event, rather than the other way around, it's probably something a lot of casual fans can safely skip.
