Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Flash #243
DC Comics
Peyer & Williams

The latest installment of the Flash wraps up a whopping six issue arc. I cant say a whole lot has changed at the conclusion of this arc. In fact, I cant even recap the arc because it bounced around so much, but this particular issue is okay. It isn’t great, but it didn’t offend me either.

It’s safe to say I am going to spoil something in this review so consider this your spoiler warning.

You may recall that Iris was dead. Killed by rapid aging brought on by Grodd. Wally figures out the trickery involved and takes the fight back to Grodd with Iris safely alive. She’s a senior citizen, but she’s alive.

While this is going on, the Gorillas take Jai and Linda as prisoner. Wally doesn’t defeat Grodd, but Iris does. She takes Grodd into the speed force and apparently that sends him away. I’m not sure where he goes, but the threat is gone. This gives Wally the idea to take the kids into the speed force.

When they return both of the kids are back to normal! The issue ends up with Wally setting a new status quo for himself back in Keystone City.

It’s a harmless issue. But it has some major flaws with the ending. So Iris is an old maid and the speed force reverses her aging and stops her rapid aging, so why is she returned to being 10 when she is really supposed to be an infant? Also, if Jai is cured how come he doesn’t regress in his age at all? I don’t get it. Both of the kids should be infants. I also don’t get the roll that the little monkey really played in all of this. He seemed to be so central and yet what was his real purpose? Add in that Grodd was used like a buffoon in this last issue and you have some things amiss in this comic.

So what did I like about the comic? Well, for one thing the artwork. Flash looks great. Grodd looks great. The Gorilla nation looks great. Oh sure, everyone either looks mad or about to cry in terms of their facial expressions, but that’s so minor. I also liked that there was a fake-out with Iris being dead from last issue. It was creative and I was surprised with the outcome. I also liked the infusion of the speed force despite the fact that I have no idea what is was used for.

So there you have it. This was a better than average comic. The arc was a little long and little odd, but this particular issue seemed to be in the okay bucket. I would think this isn’t the issue for you if you haven’t been reading the Flash. You might want to wait until the next story arc begins.

3 out of 5 geek goggles