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FLASH #178
"Caged"
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 |
I admit it, I've got something of a weakness for talking monkeys and gorillas in comics, and Grodd, a talking ape with psionic powers and a desire to rule a forbidden city, is probably the best. Of late, Grodd has not been used well, with his psionic powers ignored or removed and his gimmick being reduced mainly to "big monkey smash things." Johns gets Gorilla Grodd, as well as he gets the Flash, Piper, the rest of the Rogues, and he shows that off here in a spectacular action sequence that also moves forward the subplots started in Iron Heights. Kolins and Hazlewood deliver their usual
spectacular job on speed and action and setting, particularly when you consider
a chilling two-page city splash, and this continues to be one of the best
super-hero titles running.
One of the great things about Johns's run,
hearkening back to the days of Messner-Loebs, has been a slowly expanding (but
never too expansive) supporting cast and setting. This issue, we get a little
more from former villain Goldface as a union leader, the sinister warden of Iron
Heights and the introduction of a new businessman come to town with metahuman
containment facilities. This is all worked seamlessly into the main plot, but it
gives us a few minutes alone with each supporting character to learn more about
them.
In addition, while the issue itself is very
much about the conflict between Wally and Grodd (just as last issue was about
Wally containing a black hole), it ties in to a larger conflict as well. The use
of Magenta and Mirror Master (and Goldface, perhaps) acting as smart agents for
the Rogues is fantastic, a nice subtle use of their powers. The Rogues' Gallery
is currently a far more dangerous than goofy organization, and while I would
normally expect to be saying that Johns has missed the point of what the Rogues
should be with that change of tone, instead I find myself greatly enjoying this
new take on Flash's oldest foes.
Really, though, the spotlight this issue shines on Grodd, and the job this creative team does on him is simply phenomenal, one of the best portrayals in years. He's huge, frightening and bloodthirsty, and you can buy this guy as the would-be dictator of a hidden city in Africa. Kolins pulls no punches in his depiction of Grodd, who looks like he's just torn someone's throat out with his teeth and smashes people into bloody pulp with no second thoughts at all. He shows us destruction worthy of Hitch's work on The Authority with Grodd's rampage,
and the two-page spread of Keystone after Grodd's rampage is chilling and
powerful, especially in light of the real-life version of these images we've
seen in New York over the past two weeks.
While Grodd is the star of the show,
however, the Flash is certainly not left out of things. Johns and Kolins
continue to do imaginative things with Wally's superspeed. He doesn't win by
creating a whirlwind or punching Grodd multiple times, but by using his head and
his speed. He uses his powers in a fantastic visual storytelling sequence to
rescue everyone (including pets) from a collapsing building, and thus shows that
being a hero means rescue as well as violence. That's an important message, and
it's only one small indication of the innovation that Johns, Kolins and company
have brought to the book.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
