Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Flash #239
DC Comics
Peyer & Williams II

The punishment that is the Flash continues. I asked for less of the kids and I get less of the kids, but instead I get more strange story telling, only this time with Jay Garrick. This issue isn’t terrible, in fact I liked most of it, but it doesn’t build on the new villain at all. Instead it slows down to involve Jay talking sense into Wally by picking a fight with his wife, bossing around his kids and then getting into a fistfight with him. I just can’t get my finger on this title’s pulse and it annoys me.

The issue pretty much begins with Jay doing an interview about Wally and his actions. It’s pretty cool to see how Jay dodges some questions and how unrelenting his interviewer is. I actually liked this part of the comic. Obviously, the question is: why would Jay go on TV? The entire interview has the backdrop of Spin and the creepy villain’s husk tied to the wires. It’s pretty cool.

Next we get the JLA talking about Wally. This scene explains why they are so reluctant to pay Wally’s rent. Finally, Red Arrow decides to go and talk to Wally.

The Flash then goes to his “job”. Some guy has all kinds of super hero stuff in a warehouse. All he wants Wally to do is watch a video and dissect a scene that goes by too fast for anyone to decipher expect Flash. I’m sure this a bad thing.

Then Jay goes to force Wally’s kids to use their powers to find Wally. This is downright lazy if you ask me. Jay is also the Flash. How long can it possibly take him to run around and find him? Why is he forcing himself on the kids? This was the first negative point in this issue for me. It just didn’t make sense.

Jay finds Wally and they brawl. Okay, as dumb as this is, it’s clear Jay is under the influence of some villain or something so it is forgivable to an extent. However, this really derails the story. Red Arrow breaks it up and hey race off to go back to the news station, without Red Arrow or even hearing what he had to say.

The issue ends with the creepy dude tied to the wires and Spin opening up a portal or something that brings back an old villain of the Flash’s.

This issue had way too much Jay in a weird way. Jay in the interview was okay. Jay confronting Linda was pushing it. Jay ordering around the kids and then beating on Wally was over the line. This just felt too bizarre. Jay has some much more possibilities than this if you ask me.

I enjoyed the mystery surrounding Wally’s “job” and I thought the JLA discussions about Wally and his problems were good. I even liked the cliffhanger at the end. However, I would have liked this issue to really build upon last issue’s entrance of the villain rather than the step back it took.

The artwork also shined in some key spots. For example, the JLA, the room of all the super hero junk and the villains were all outstanding visuals. The one thing I haven’t gotten warm to his how Wally’s face (and Jay’s for that matter) always have a look on them like they just saw something for the first time in their lives. They almost never look confident or cocky and that just isn’t how a Flash is supposed to be wired. They are daring and adventurous, not a nervous dude in a suit.

In all, I hope the next issue gets us back into the heat of the villain’s minds. I wont be satisfied until I get a Flash story with some fighting, intrigue, mystery, a solid bad guy and some good inner-Flash thoughts. We are getting drips and drabs here and there. It’s getting to be time to put it all together. Oh, and two pages of the kids at a maximum.

3 out of 5 geek goggles.


Flash #239