Sometimes, you just need a good old-fashioned team-up. With their long absence from the DC Universe, team-ups with Green Arrow or Hawkman seem special again, and Johns does a nice job of reintroducing the winged warrior to the Flash in this one-shot tale that ties up a running subplot as well. The villain didn't really seem like much of a threat, but that didn't matter, because the most interesting elements of the story were the interaction between Flash and Hawkman, and the story is also a nice tip of the hat to those who have been with Johns since the beginning, as the villain is someone from very early in his run.
I was surprised to find the subplot that has been running through Linda's part of the book resolved so quickly in this issue. To be honest, I was a little disappointed to find that a story centered on Linda turned out to be instead simply a ruse that was all about Wally, but it was a clever twist I didn't see coming. It also plays nicely into the first appearance of the villain and his modus operandi then, and gives this issue a villain and plot that doesn't require a lot of introduction.
That's fortunate, because this issue needs a lot of room to focus on the real point, which is seeing Hawkman and Flash interact. Kolins has done some of the definitive versions of characters for me, from the various Rogues to Gorilla Grodd to Flash himself, and I'm always interested in seeing his take on other characters. While it wasn't quite as spectacular as the work Rags Morales is doing month-in and month-out on Hawkman, I liked how Kolins showed both the animal side and the human side of Hawkman, with some glimpses of the man underneath the helmet and a realistic look at the costume that emphasized how it is designed to make the wearer look less than human.
Of course, the storytelling is top notch, as expected. The moment when Wally finds out what the other heroes say about him is probably the biggest moment of the issue, and it's a fairly subtle but important bit of storytelling that Kolins just nails. His work on the dragons and the beanstalk, enormous threats and big events, is also impressive. And the final page of the issue is a terrific cliffhanger, leaving me chomping at the bit to see what's next.
In this issue, it's clear that Johns and the rest of the creative team are having a lot of fun. Solid character interaction forms the core of the issue, with plenty of super-hero action to keep the reader interested. It's a good issue to check out if you haven't been reading The Flash but want to sample the book, and the third such self-contained issue before diving into what looks like a fairly big story next issue that features the return of one of the Flash's big foes.
