Full Throttle: Storm Front
Marc Guggenheim – Writer
Introduction Tony Daniel – Penciller
Art Thibert – Inker
Pat Brosseau – Letterer
Tanya & Richard Horie – Colorists
Rachel Gluckstern – Associate Editor
Joan Hilty – Editor
Cover by Ethan Van Sciver
Variant cover by Tony Daniel
This is probably Van Sciver's best cover for this series, which isn't saying much, but I will give him that credit. Of course, I probably only say that because this cover doesn't have Bart's face on it, which Van Sciver insisted on drawing as angry and evil-looking as possible. Anyway, the idea of the Flash being flat on his back with the Rogues laughing above him is an intriguing prospect. However, as we'll soon see, Bart doesn't actually begin fighting the Rogues in this issue, much less lose to them.
I happen to own the Daniel variant, which I find to be the superior of the two. We're right in the middle of the fight, and everybody looks pretty good. I'm most pleased with the expression on Bart's face — he's resolute, focused, but not boiling over with pure rage, like he so often has been on the covers of this series.
Our story begins right where we left off. Bart has finally gained the upper hand over Zoom, only to learn that Zoom is working with his grandmother, Iris Allen, who is now pointing a gun at Bart.
Iris immediately fires three shots at her grandson, and Bart is mildly comforted to see these are tranquilizer darts instead of bullets. He still dodges them, though, and even grabs one and jams it into Zoom's neck, who was once again telling Bart that he's only trying to help him. The tranquilizer immediately puts Zoom down, and Bart turns to confront his grandma.
At the same time, Captain Cold is trying to get as far away from this scene as possible. Inertia suddenly appears right in front of Snart, teasing him for once again running away from the Flash. Snart angrily calls Thad a freak and says he's fed up with all speedsters. But Inertia explains that he's not technically a speedster now — not without pharmaceutical assistance — and he offers to give Snart the names of the next 10 Super Bowl champions just for listening to his proposal.
We return to Bart and Iris, who is apologizing to her grandson, saying she thought she could catch him by surprise, but should have known he could outrun the darts. Bart starts asking if this is a mind-control thing or if Iris is a shapeshifter, but she insists she's the real Iris. She repeats Zoom's line that they're only trying to help Bart. Iris explains that the darts were designed to take away a speedster's powers for about a week because she wanted to temporarily take Bart away from super-heroing. Naturally, Bart wants to know what Iris wants to keep away from him this week.
We then cut to the Jura Canton Prison in Switzerland, where Abra Kadabra is being held. (Apparently the Swiss authorities managed to track him down.) Inertia has snuck into Kadabra's cell and is trying to convince him that his plan is different from all the previous Rogue plans to take down the Flash, mainly because they're dealing with a different Flash this time. Kadabra isn't too interested on getting revenge on someone he's never heard of before, but Inertia says he's offering him the chance to pull off the biggest trick of all time — something that won't just withstand history, but make history. This finally gets Kadabra's attention, and he asks what the trick is. Inertia comes right out and says they're going to freeze time for everybody except the Rogues.
Back in Keystone, Iris explains to Bart that her knowledge of the future isn't always accurate — for example, she was wrong about Wally's child — but for the most part, things play out the way she had read about. And when she saw Bart become the Flash, she was horrified to realize what's going to happen next. So she took it upon herself to prevent that future. Iris initially refuses to reveal any more information, but Bart presses her, saying the best way to protect him is to tell him what he needs protecting from.
On the other side of Keystone City, the Weather Wizard was trying to rob a bank when Inertia interfered. Thad asks Mark Mardon if he's tired of getting beat by speedsters, clearly demonstrating that in a fair fight, he'll always lose to a speedster. Inertia knocks Mardon down and steals his wand, calling it a crutch. He asks Mardon if he's ever wondered how his son can control the weather without a wand. Inertia says it's because Mardon's son inherited his genes and abilities, yet doesn't have the mental blocks that Mardon does, making him think he needs the wand. Thad snaps the stick in half and offers to share some 30th century psychological therapies to remove those mental blocks.
We return to Bart and Iris, who finally caved in and told Bart how he dies. We don't hear her exact words, but we do see images of Inertia uniting the Rogues and creating a large, ominous-looking device. Iris cries after telling Bart this story, and he hugs her, assuring her that now he'll be able to change this future. He then returns to Los Angeles, realizing he's late for his class at the Police Academy.
Inertia has also traveled to Los Angeles, accompanied by Mirror Master, Captain Cold, Pied Piper, Heat Have and Abra Kadabra. Meeting in an abandoned warehouse, Inertia opens the meeting by mocking the Rogues for routinely losing every battle to the Flash. Thad contests that he's been biding his time, intentionally losing his first few fights like a poker player learning his opponents' tells and weaknesses. And he assures everyone that he is from the future and he knows how this all plays out.
With Abra Kadabra providing the visuals, Inertia launches into his plan. He first shows them a picture of the Getty Center, explaining that it sits atop a seven-story parking garage, which will serve as the perfect foundation for the device they're going to build. Using material Inertia brought from the future, Captain Cold, Heat Wave and Abra Kadabra will handle the construction, while Inertia, Mirror Master and Pied Piper will deal with crowd control. And once more, Inertia promises that this device really will freeze time and enable them to make history.
We cut back to the Police Academy, where Bart has surprisingly run into his old girlfriend, Val. She says she doesn't want him to think of her as a stalker girl (even though she totally is), and that she realized that just one fight isn't enough to end a relationship. So she wants to try it again. Bart is genuinely shocked by this, but he manages to make the mature decision and tells Val that he needs some time and it isn't right for them to get back together right now. Bart then enters his classroom, but is immediately sent to the Parker Center to talk to the robbery/homicide division.
At the Getty Center, we see the Rogues didn't waste any time launching their plan. There's a big commotion, with people being frozen or burned and a green blur everywhere. As the museum is cleared, we see that Weather Wizard has joined the Rogues, creating a large whirlwind without his wand.
Bart, meanwhile, is being interrogated for the Steppenwolf attack. Bart insists the detectives are making a mistake, but they say forensics clearly showed that Steppenwolf's primary target was Bart's locker. All Bart can say is that their forensics must be wrong. The interrogation is suddenly interrupted when the police learn of the Rogues taking over the Getty Center. Bart gets up to leave, but the detectives grab hold of him and even arrest him. So Bart vibrates his wrists through the handcuffs, pops open his Flash ring and says that Steppenwolf attacked because he's the Flash. And he doesn't plan on sticking around for any more questions.
That ending gave me chills. Bart was just barely told exactly how he's going to die, suddenly ran into his old girlfriend and was arrested while trying to protect his secret identity. But he realizes that the priority here is stopping Inertia and the Rogues before they freeze time. So he shoves Val aside, exposes his secret identity and prepares to run head-first into certain death. Bart's had a really rough go at being the Flash, but now he finally is getting a chance to prove just how heroic he can be.
Iris and Zoom working together was an interesting development. Iris apparently has a time-travel device and could theoretically go anywhere and get anyone to help her. It's understandable that she would be desperate to save the boy she initially rescued from a corrupt government not too long ago. But I wonder why she didn't approach any heroes to help prevent Bart's death. It might be because she didn't know exactly when the Rogues would set their plan into motion. Regardless, Zoom wasn't that bad of a choice. His main motivation has always been to make heroes better — albeit in a cruel, sadistic way.
It was fun watching Inertia recruit all the Rogues. Although the Abra Kadabra sequence broke with continuity. When Bart battled him in Switzerland, he tricked Kadabra into teleporting himself to a swamp in America. And then it was Kadabra who told Inertia that there was a new Flash and he had moved to Los Angeles. But that's just a minor nitpick, just like me complaining that this is our 11th different art team on our 11th issue (can you really say you're "introducing" Tony Daniel when there are only three issues left?).
Before Bart dies, let's check out the new ads:
Before you see Spider-Man 3, see the all new extended cut of Spider-Man 2.1 on DVD.
Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus Volume 1.
Dead High. It's a killer school.
Marvel Trading Card Game on PC, PSP and Nintendo DS.
It takes brains to control the mindless. Dreamblade collectable miniatures game.
Batman Black and White statues.
As the end draws near ... the Countdown begins!
Justice League of America by Brad Meltzer in hardcover.
DC Nation is a letter from Dan DiDio admitting that the original purpose of 52 was to fill in the gap between Infinite Crisis and One Year Later for all the major characters, but then the writers of 52 had too much fun with the minor characters. So DC launched the World War III event to try to address some of those missed storylines.
Next time, we'll take a quick look at Countdown #51.
No comments:
Post a Comment