The Flash #5

Barry Allen has to deal with both the escalating situation of a powerless Gem Cities and finding Manuel and the Mob Rule gang before it’s too late, all this while trying to adapt and adjust to his new limits of power.

Good

I really like how this story progressed. The escalation of danger and action is well paced, upping the tension as the pages go by. Manapul and Buccellato bring more interesting ideas to the Speed Force and Allen’s use of it.

The opening shot of the barges riding The Flash’s slipstream is a great scene and a problem solved in an interesting way. Also the double page it is presented on is a fantastic page, doubling up as the title page with writing displayed in shapes of ice.

Double page spreads can be tricky but the creative team uses them effectively to display scale and escalation of speed and danger.

Francis Manapul’s art in this book is fantastic. There is a great sense of speed to the movement, which is obviously pretty important to a book involving the fastest man alive. Combined with the emotive faces and soft, detailed colours it results in great pages of art.

Bad

I can find a single part of this issue that I don’t like, a stellar issue in a great series.

Verdict

Of all the New 52 books, The Flash was one of the books that I was really surprised that I liked. Before the reboot the only Flash related book I had read was Flashpoint. Which while it had it’s flaws I enjoyed it. So I gave the Flash a go with the reboot and it very quickly became a favourite.

I have enjoyed this arc as it combined Barry’s personal life and past with him learning new aspects of his powers and the over arcing setting of the city in chaos.

This issue brings the mob rule to a close but not without teasing Manuel’s return. The slow tease of Captain Cold as the next villain has been good and drip fed through the overall story quite well. The final tease makes me very excited to see what happens next issue.

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