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THE FLASH #186
"Crossfire Part Three: The Thinking Man"
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 |
This story arc is really the culmination of almost everything Johns and Kolins have done on this book so far, from the build-up of the individual Rogues to the introduction of the Network and Kenyon into the city's infrastructure. Even with all of that going on, and well over a year of build-up, the book is surprisingly accessible, but that's largely because Johns and Kolins are doing a traditional super-hero book here, albeit one of the best traditional super-hero books on the stands. With plenty of action and an imaginative look at a variety of Flash supporting cast and villains, "Crossfire" is
shaping up to be another strong effort from this creative team.
I'm honestly not that big of
a fan of this new Thinker, as he has ill-defined and overly powerful abilities
that make him seem unbeatable except by deus ex machina. However, pitting him
against Flash's other foes is an interesting trick, putting the reader into the
position of rooting for the bad guys one way or the other. In fact, with
Goldface helping the Flash and Cold helping the cops, there's no clear-cut good
or bad in this issue... which helps to indicate the scale of trouble that the
scheming villains are causing, if it can force such unusual alliances.
One of the best aspects of
the Johns/Kolins run so far has been the creation of new Rogues and the good use
of some of the older ones. This issue, Weather Wizard, Captain Cold and Magenta
all get to show off their abilities as more than just third-rate villains. Cold
in particular has become so well-defined in Johns's hands that I'm almost more
interested in his stories than the Flash's at this point. I also enjoyed the
revelations about the Network, and the continuing development of Goldface as a
different kind of adversary.
While a lot of what I like
about the Rogues in general and this issue specifically can be attributed to
good writing, plenty of it is down to the unique art style of Kolins, Hazlewood
and Sinclair on this book. The elaborate technological detail in the
backgrounds, the beautiful fight choreography and the strong indication of power
effects all combine to make this some of the best art the Flash has ever had.
One look at Flash's arm windmills, the effects of Cold's gun or the pyrotechnics
of the Weather Wizard indicates the powers at work here better than any
narration could.
Honestly, I was a little
disappointed when the build-up for the Rogues story was diverted a bit to make
way for a Thinker tale, but this arc is going off in interesting directions as a
result of the numerous elements at play. This serves not only as a good heroes
vs. villains arc, but as a turning point for the Johns/Kolins run on the book as
a whole.
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