Blackest Night: The Flash #1 is a great example of how interpretation has a lot to do with the effectiveness of a comic book. The elements of this book vault back and forth between what works and what doesn’t to a point that what the reader brings to the table will decide if they like it or not. It took me a couple of reads before I came down on the side of enjoying Blackest Night: The Flash, and it was only barely that I did.
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As with the other Blackest Night titles, The Flash opens as all hell breaks loose on Earth with the Black Lanterns. Barry Allen is trying to hold these undead zombies at bay while Hal Jordan and his team is off trying to attack them at the source (this is pre-Blackest Night #5). In the course of Barry’s attempts he goes up against the undead Black Flash as well as learning a terrible truth about his old buddy Solovar from Gorilla City. Outside of Barry’s trials and tribulations, The Rogues Gallery is also facing the return of long dead original members hell-bent on destroying them.
The first problem I had with Blackest Night: The Flash comes from a long-standing issue I have with how Geoff Johns is writing Barry Allen. It may seem to Johns he’s designing Barry to be a troubled hero suffering from some kind of post-traumatic stress disorder but Johns’ Barry Allen is mostly just whiney. I don’t remember Barry Allen bitching as much as he has since his return from the Speed Force. Most of this issue is Barry’s inner monologue that has an overdeveloped sense of “whoa is me”. I get it Barry, you’re bummed, now shut up and deal out some justice please.
At that same time though I found myself really enjoying how Johns used Barry’s stand-offish nature to battle the Black Lanterns. Barry takes his innate ability to control his emotions and turns it on the undead Eobard Thawne (the original Black Flash). I was also impressed with how Barry’s emotions betray him when forced to face the truth about Solovar. Johns writing goes back and forth in such a bizarre manner it felt like he’d written this book in several installments over a period of months.
Part of what makes this Flash title annoying is the timing. Clearly you’re supposed to have finished The Flash: Rebirth before reading this, except that Rebirth is still an issue away from completion. Add that to how the Rouge Gallery stuff seems tacked on and once again you’re in the court of disliking Blackest Night: The Flash #1. Hold it though, because while it is tacked on, the Rogue stuff is still so cool that you’re intrigued to see where it will lead. Once again the issue is back and forth leaving the reader to decide for him or her self if they like it.
Art-wise Blackest Night: The Flash is good but not great. Drawing a great Flash comic means everything is streamlined, with lots of movement and pacing. Artist Scott Kolins can draw but his art is extremely clunky which keeps it from gathering any real motion. Just when the panels come to life, a clunky drawing will bring it to an absolute halt. I also wasn’t a fan of how the undead Black Flash had a real Grinch vibe to him. It removed any menace the character might have had replacing it with a chuckle.
While overall I enjoyed Blackest Night: The Flash #1, I would have to admit it’s the least gripping of all the tie-ins. The writing is spotty but effective when it works, as is the art. Nothing in this issue pops off the page the way it did with Blackest Night: Superman or Batman. It’s not quite as boring as Blackest Night: Titans but it isn’t Geoff Johns’ best work on any level. I’m also finding myself less interested in the fate of Barry Allen; something I never thought would happen.
