New comics, Flash

New comics!

Ragnarok: Breaking of Helheim 4

I could probably drop this and not ever miss it.  I really should. Any day now.

Strange Adventures 1

It’s done by the same creative team, so I shouldn’t be surprised, but this totally gave me Mister Miracle flashbacks.  Perfect execution, but I hope that the deja vu doesn’t persist.  I want something different.

Flash: Time Flies

And so starts the next box.  This is basically the Flash box, I have over a hundred issues of this.  This one-shot is a keeper because Seth Fisher’s art is just bonkers unique.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Flash 0, 74-117

Impulse 11

Mark Waid built so much of his reputation off the strength of Kingdom Come and his long run on Flash.  The former is certainly well deserved.  I thought that the latter was as well, but does it hold up twenty-plus years later?  

Mmm...not so much.  There are some stretches of fun (Return of Barry Allen and Dead Heat are the stand-outs) and he introduces Bart Allen here, which spins off into the truly legendary Impulse, but I was overall underwhelmed by his work here.  Waid writes this title old school - plenty of inner monologue, a recap of the story in the middle of every issue, and a wholesome quality throughout.  Nothing wrong with any of that, but the first two items really give this a dated quality that doesn’t work for me anymore.  

Even more dated is the relationship between Linda Park and Wally West.  For all the time people in the comic call her out as being her own woman, Linda spends way too many pages being defined by her Wally angst.  I never cared about the two of them together, no matter how much they professed to be in love.

MIke Wieringo is a fantastic artist, but this is way too early in his career for his art to be truly stunning.  (And he doesn’t stay on as penciller for nearly as long as I remembered. He doesn’t even draw the Terminal Velocity arc, leaving that to an early stage Salvador Larroca (with cameos from early stage Carlos Pacheo and Oscar Jimenez).  So much talent in their nascent, level one forms.)  

For me, Flash is just a springboard for Impulse, which I can’t wait to revisit.  That’s where Waid truly cemented his status as a name to follow.  (That and Kingdom Come.)

I’m cutting the John Fox issues (truly horrendous) and most of the stuff between Terminal Velocity and Dead Heat.  (I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I’m keeping the stuff that showcases the other speedsters instead of Wally.)  I’m tempted to cut some of the earlier stuff too, but can’t bring myself to get rid of Ringo’s art.

Regret buying: No (Yes for 112-117)

Would buy again: No (Yes for 74-79, 108-111, Impulse 11)

Would read again: Yes (No for 112-117)

Rating: Fine (Nice for 74-79, 89-91, 108-111, Impulse 11; Disliked for 112-117)  (Cutting 103-107, 112-117)

Flash 134

Grant Morrision and Mark Millar give us a day in the life of Jay Garrick.  This is just good, basic storytelling at its finest.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good