DC Anthology - THE FLASH Vol. II by Joseph Gruenwald

DC Anthology
« THE FLASH Vol. II by Joseph Gruenwald »

Welcome Guest. Please Login or Register.
Dec 29, 2009, 6:36pm

DC Anthology :: DCA Universe - http://dca.bhyphen.com/dcau.html :: The Flash :: Reviews :: THE FLASH Vol. II by Joseph Gruenwald

Author

Topic: THE FLASH Vol. II by Joseph Gruenwald (Read 21 times)

Erik
Administrator

Editor-In-Chief
member is offline

[avatar]

How Do You Say "Oh, Shit!" In Skrull-ese?

Joined: Apr 2008
Gender: Male

Posts: 401
Location: Buffalo, NY
Karma: 4,951,357

THE FLASH Vol. II by Joseph Gruenwald
« Thread Started on Sept 8, 2008, 6:25am »

Copied from Derrick's LJ:

THE FLASH Vol. II by Joseph Gruenwald

Me again with a little helpful information before you dive into this review. The series THE FLASH Vol. II is no longer available at DC ANTHOLOGY. When the site was relaunched the decision was made to also rebuild the title from the ground up due to Mr. Gruenwald's dissatisfaction with some elements of the previous writer's issues that he was not comfortable with. There is a FLASH series written by the same writer and you can find it here: http://dca.bhyphen.com/titleflash.html

------------------------------------------------------

Okay, let’s be up front and honest right off the bat: you can’t write a Flash series if you’re dumb. Writing a character like The Flash takes wit, intelligence and tons of imagination. The Flash can run at the speed of light, which means that realistically, he can beat the ass off an enemy before the poor bastard even knows The Flash is there. Superspeed is one of the hardest superpowers to depict in prose and I know whereof I speak because I write an Avengers series where Quicksilver is one of the members and I’m always banging my head against the wall thinking of new ways to describe Quicksilver’s power. It helps that Quicksilver isn’t anywhere near as fast as The Flash, but it’s still hard as hell. So I read Joe Gruenwald’s THE FLASH series with an eye toward seeing just how another writer depicts superspeed and when I was finished, I was not only applauding Joe’s excellent creativity in showing the many different ways superspeed can be used, but his wisdom in doing several different types of stories within his run which keeps the series lively and entertaining since we’re never sure what Joe is going to throw at us from issue to the next. He runs the gamut from dark drama to slapstick comedy to old school super heroics and does it all with equal style and skill.

The series starts off with Wally West and his wife Linda holding a press conference that rapidly turns into a kidnapping as their son is taken from them. And things rapidly get worse from there and I can’t say any more except that the situation develops into a truly heartbreaking tragedy that shows that Joe is going right for the jugular with this series. I can honestly say I was truly surprised and to his credit, Joe doesn’t pull any punches as he describes the reactions of the Wests to what happens and how they deal with it. I have no idea if Joe is married or not but he does a good job of portraying a married couple. They come across as a genuinely happy couple with their share of problems but they work at communication like more married people should and it’s that communication that keeps them together.

Joe brings in a truckload of Flash villains as well as the usual band of guest-stars such as The Original Flash, Jay Garrick, who I can never get enough of as well as Impulse, who I would be just as happy to never see again (I’ll never understand the appeal of that irritating little snot) and Max Mercury. And Joe gets five gold stars for featuring one of my favorite DC characters in #6. None other than Ambush Bug himself in a really funny story that also features Monsieur Mallah and The Brain. I think that Joe might have gone just a bit overboard toward the end of that particular issue (there’s a really grotesque scene involving Mallah and The Brain) but after the grim drama of the earlier issues, I can well understand why Joe wanted to lighten up a bit and hey, it’s got Ambush Bug!

There’s also a great story where The Top is working as a hitman for Neron, who wants The Trickster dead and Wally literally has go to Hell in an attempt to beat The Devil and #8 reminded me of those great DC Flash comics from the 60’s where Barry Allen frequently used his scientific knowledge in conjunction with his superspeed to defeat his enemies. Just read the issue and tell me Wally’s explanation of how he beats The Alchemist isn’t mad cool.

That’s not to say the series is perfect, mind you. Joe has Linda get her job back as a television reporter, which is okay and all but I can’t see her being allowed to report on stories involving her husband. Isn’t that a really blatant conflict of interest there, Joe? Especially when Linda admits her main motivation in wanting her job back is to change public opinion about The Flash?

But Joe can be allowed the few glitches since he tells a story with such obvious enthusiasm for what he’s writing about. THE FLASH crackles with excitement and Joe is a skilled and talented writer. His dialog is just great. I love well-written dialog and Joe’s characters talk like real people and not like comic book characters that stand around telling each other things they already know. Joe’s characters are smart and have individual voices and speech patterns. He’s got a good ear. His descriptive passages are also well done and quite exciting when there’s action and emotional in the dramatic scenes. If you’re a fan of THE FLASH, then you won’t be disappointed with this series. It’s an intelligent and exciting series written by a talent who obviously knows what he’s doing and he does it very well indeed.

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

Click Here To Make This Board Ad-Free

This Board Hosted For FREE By ProBoards
Get Your Own Free Message Boards & Free Forums!