There are two big releases for DC Comics this week, both featuring Geoff Johns as writer and while Brightest Day issue #0 may be the bigger ticket item it’s really Flash #1 that people should be amped on. Remember how great the Mark Waid Flash run was? Remember how the newer attempts to bring Flash back (including Rebirth, for my money) never felt right? Worry no more comic book fans because this new Flash series, at least based on issue one, is going to reinstate Wally West, Barry Allen and the whole Flash family back to that Mark Waid awesomeness.
Now before anybody starts screaming, I realize that Waid wrote for Wally West’s Flash so when I say Waid’s era was awesome I mean the quality of the writing. The new Flash has those great scientific and superhero touches that the Barry Allen run had but also the human touch that gave the Waid run such life. Geoff Johns has taken from both those sources and added his own panache to the new Flash series. Johns follows a classic hook-em style here by opening the book with a great Flash-battles-bad-guys scene in the classic Silver Age style. Then he drops Allen back into his old job creating some tension with his co-workers and a bit of mystery with the alleged death of Mirror Master. To top it all off Johns tosses in a nice sci-fi ending that promises to bring readers back for issue #2.
As for art, well, step right up and gaze into the work of Francis Manapul. I have to admit I was new to Manapul’s stuff but man does he knock it out of the park on this one. See, I like my comics to look like comics, not photo realistic or oil on canvas or wacky computer effects. I’m looking for Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Bill Sienkiewicz, John Romita Jr., Erik Larson, and so on, guys who really create a comic book world. Manapul’s John Romita Jr. inspired work creates that in spades. He also has a tremendous eye for movement in his pencils, which is an absolute must when creating a Flash comic. Manapul is not afraid of either the splash page or the two-page layout and he knows how to kill with them, which drove me to love his work even more.
I was also impressed at how Geoff Johns let Manapul dictate the life of the book. Johns knows that to really catch readers a Flash series must have high-energy visuals. Almost more than any other character, Flash relies on the pencils and colors working together to bring motion to a two dimensional non-moving charcater. If you’re reading too much at first, The Flash loses speed (pun intended) and the story becomes instantly boring. Here Johns crafts his dialog to push the story along and then back off just enough to let Manapul dazzle you with the visuals. With the two working in such perfect rhythms Flash #1 busts out of the gate and is a perfect read all the way through.
Admittedly I was also amped to get the free plastic Flash ring, as well as the announcement at the end of issue one about the Geoff Johns/Andy Kubert Flashpoint series coming out in 2011. With Flash #1 being so great and the creative team behind it really understanding what writing a Flash comic means I see nothing but blue skies and kick ass adventures for the fastest man alive.
