Review: The Flash #9

Fanboying on The Flash # 9 by Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul

The road to Flashpoint begins here!

The new arc begins with a new mystery and a new mystery man in the form of the character named Hot Pursuit. We also get to see another day in the life of Barry Allen also known as the Silver Age Flash.

The issue is a good entry point once again for curious casual readers who just want to jump into the title before the release of the upcoming DC major event Flashpoint. As we all know there are some major shakeups in the world of the Flash post-Flashpoint.

While the death of a very minor character might throw the reader for the loop, this is still a great plot from the Johns. While there is a long way to go for Johns to develop and amass major followers to the Flash book the way he did on Green Lantern, this issue definitely shows just how much crafty and cunning Johns is in terms of his writing. The dialogue is great and character development is also on a great pace here.

As always, Francis Manapul‘s work on the book always comes front and center. The color and the dynamic spontaneity of the character is definitely fleshed out in each and every panel. The distance and the troubled look on Barry’s face is clearly featured while talking to his wife Iris Allen.

Special shout out also to Johns for making the rest of the Flash family appear even in a few panels of the book. This was something that was totally lacking from the first arc, which was very forgiveable since we were all focusing first and foremost on Barry’s return as the Flash.

Seeing Wally West though brings a tear to my eye seeing that DC is wasting a great character especially since the return of Barry.

One of my major sigh of relief here was the fact that we didn’t have to go with the unnecessary death of a younger character. While most DC fans are still groaning over the death of Red Arrow’s child in James Robinson’s Cry for Justice mini, I was thinking DC might have dodged the bullet by changing the age of the dead character from 16 and changing it to ninety something.

Overall, the new issue of The Flash was a great read. It was also a bonus to find out by the end of this issue who the man behind the helmet of Hot Pursuit is.