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Review Date: 08/01/2008
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The
Flash #242
DC Comics
Writer(s): Tom Peyer
Penciller(s): Freddie E. William
Cover Artist(s): Freddie E. William
$2.99 US 32 pages |
D.C. Comics is credited by comic historians
with initiating the Silver Age of comics with the introduction
of the modern-day Flash back in September of 1956 in
Showcase issue #4. By the mid-1950's, Golden Age
superhero comics had gone out of style, so D.C. revamped
the 1940's version of The Flash with a new costume
and new alter ego, and the Silver Age of re-emerging
superheros was on its way.
Given his own comic issue soon thereafter, The Flash
hit its peak in the mid-1960's with story and art by
the legendary Carmine Infantino. Infantino's
plotting and artistry of policeman Barry Allen, his
sidekick Wally West and their superhero personas The
Flash and Kid Flash represent some of the best art and
storylines ever in the history of comics.
Such a rare level of quality is a very tough act
to follow, so I approached reading the latest issue
#242 of The Flash not expecting to be wowed. While
the issue naturally doesn't reach the peaks of the 1960's
run, I'm pleased to report that, read in its own right,
it's an excellent current version of the storied Flash
franchise.
Issue #242 is written by Tom Peyer, drawn by Freddie
E. Williams and inked by Tanya and Richard Horie.
The Flash franchise has evolved a lot since the 1960's;
Barry Allen is long-gone, with former sidekick Wally
West now wearing the costume. He's married to
biologist Linda Park West, and they have two super-speedy
teenage kids, daughter Iris and son Jai, who wear sidekick
costumes and run around with Dad.
Issue #242 is part five of a six-issue story arc entitled
"Fast Money," and it's outstanding for three particular
reasons. First, credit has to be given to the
writer and artists for pulling-off a rarity in any multi-issue
story arc: in the first five pages, they clearly and
smoothly bring the reader up-to-date on the basics of
the plot covered in the previous four issues.
This is a rare and very admirable effort, allowing the
new reader to enjoy the issue in its own right without
feeling totally lost from the overall story arc.
Secondly, kudos have to be given to writer Tom Peyer
for knowing his Flash history and basing major plots
elements in the rich tradition of 1960's Flash storylines.
In this issue of the story, daughter Iris has been treated
for a medical condition with some alien medical technology, leading
to an unfortunate rapid-aging side effect.
The race is on (no pun intended!) to find a cure, which
leads the entire Flash family to Gorilla City, where
they deal with both good super-intelligent gorillas
and the traditional Flash nemisis of Gorilla Grodd.
Gorilla Grodd was a standard Flash nemisis in The Silver
Age; it was an unexpected kick to see him pop-up in
a new Flash issue and it was also a lot of fun
to see writer Tom Peyer blend the entire Gorilla
City concept into a modern-day Flash tale.
The third and perhaps best reason to read The Flash
is the whole Flash family concept as its now presented.
The D.C. team has pulled-off a very credible concept
of a superhero who's entire family in center-stage with
him as they deal together with whatever's going-on in
each story. The kids are a hoot; they seem very
credible as modern-day teens, as opposed to stereotypical
comic book sidekicks. The Flash Family also starred
a few months ago in an issue of The Brave & The
Bold with the same high quality, so its clearly not
just a fluke in Issue #242.
So all-in-all, a very high thumbs-up for Issue #242
and the 2008 version of The Flash in general. For
an enjoyable comic read of a modern-day superhero still
incorporating silver age elements, this one's a keeper.
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Contest
Announcement!
The good folks at That's Entertainment
have offered to sponsor this contest: In my
last column, I reviewed Issue #20 of Wonder Woman.
Word on the internet is that there's a Wonder Woman
movie or t.v. series effort floating through Hollywood
(remember Lynda Carter as the old tv.v series Wonder
Woman? Here's your contest challenge:
e-mail
me at
Gordon_A@msn.com
who
you think should be cast as the new Wonder Woman and
her sidekick Wonder Girl. I'll select the winner
in an upcoming review column, who will receive from
That's Entertainment a free Wonder Woman graphic novel.
Get those entries in now!
-Alan Gordon
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