The Flash #9

Case Two: The Road to Flashpoint Part One

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Francis Manapul
Colorist: Brian Buccellatto
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Cover: Manapul and Buccellato
Variant Cover: Tyler Kirkham, Batt, and Nei Ruffino
Editors: Adam Schlagman & Eddie Berganza

It may be a month late, but The Flash also joined in on the white background, big logo cover gimmick. And I don't mean to use the word gimmick in a derogatory sense, I've liked all the covers in this style we've reviewed here. And this one is another winner — partly because I'm such a huge fan of Manapul and Buccellato. In fact, it's fair to say that it was their artwork that got me interested in the Flash in the first place, which in turn got me interested in Impulse.

Sadly, I can't say the same for our variant cover. It's not terribly bad by any means, and I do appreciate the attempt at finding something new by having the Flash run along the side of a building like that. But ultimately Barry looks like an out-of-control maniac, which is not a good look for him.

Our story begins in the middle of the night in Central City. A blue lightning bolt suddenly appears in midair, opening up a portal for a masked man riding a futuristic motorcycle. After causing a bit of property damage with his dramatic entrance, the man speeds down the road, saying he needs to find Barry Allen. We cut ahead to the next morning, where Barry is called into work even though it's a Saturday. Iris is upset Barry has to work, and reminds him to not be late to their picnic at 1 o'clock.

However, Barry's already running late today, having stopped off at the zoo to battle a gorilla wearing some sort of helmet (possibly Grodd, but not necessarily). Barry, of course, chooses to tell his boss, Director Singh, that he just missed the bus. Singh isn't too interested in Barry's excuses and he leads him out to their case, the scene of a dead old man wearing a purple superhero outfit. Barry isn't able to find any signs of struggle on the corpse, and his colleague, James Forrest, suggests that the victim simply died of old age, seeing as how he appears to be 90 years old. Barry can't find any ID on the victim, so he takes his fingerprints.

Apparently, this case kept Barry working right up to the time of the picnic, which is the first gathering of the Flash family since the parade at the end of Rebirth. Max Mercury is working the grill, while Jay Garrick is helping Irey fly a kite, and Wally and Bart are tossing a football around. Linda asks Jai to help set the table, but he complains that he's busy with his video game and that Irey should do it since she's faster. Bart asks Iris if Barry is coming, and Wally points out how Barry never used to miss a family picnic. Iris reminds him that Barry never was on time, either, but as they talk, Barry calls Iris with bad news.

Barry tells Iris that he suspects foul play in this new case and that he's going to put in overtime at the lab this weekend. Iris points out that Barry could have run over to the picnic to tell her this in person, and she asks why he's avoiding his family. Barry admits he's still pretty rattled by the mirror the Rogues shattered last week that showed his mom still alive in the present day — a glimpse at the life he should have, had the Reverse-Flash not killed her and framed Barry's dad, who apparently died in his prison cell. Barry says his parents should be there at the picnic, and Iris agrees, but she also says that Barry should be there, too. Iris reminds Barry of what it was like when they all thought he was dead, but they still had picnics with the family they had. She tells Barry he's not responsible for his mom's death, but Barry refuses to accept that, pointing out that Thawne only killed her because of what Barry grew up to be.

This awkward conversation is interrupted by Forrest finding a match of the victim's fingerprints — a 16-year-old boy named Ethan Kramer, who had just begun a career as the Elongated Kid. Barry is naturally shocked by this revelation, but he confirms that the victim's corpse still is rather rubbery and stretchy. He hypothesizes that young Ethan could have sought his superpowers the same way the original Elongated Man, Ralph Dibny, did, by drinking gingold. The substance is poisonous for most people, but it grants stretching powers to a select few. Barry speculates that the gingold may have triggered some kind of rapid aging in Ethan's body, and he wishes he had his old blood analyst, Patty Spivot, to work on this case.

A Detective Grubbs then chews out Barry for reopening one of his old cases and forcing him to do a lot more paperwork. Barry boldly points out that he proved that Grubbs and his partner had forced a confession out of an innocent young man, but this only makes Grubbs angrier, who ominously implies that Barry is making a lot of enemies on the police force. When Barry gets back to the office, he leaves a phone message to Patty Spivot, asking her to come help him on this case. Suddenly, our futuristic biker drives across Barry's office window, shattering the glass, before taking off down the street.

Barry turns into the Flash and chases the biker down, finally getting him to stop at the edge of a pier. The biker identifies himself as a cop, but Barry recently had a bad experience with cops from the 25th century, so he's not too keen to trust this one. So the biker removes his helmet, revealing a face that looks just like Barry's. He says his name is also Barry Allen, and he's here to save history from the single greatest time anomaly to ever threaten reality.




This is actually a fun series. Even though it pains me that Geoff Johns shoved Wally, Bart and the rest of the Flash family aside to start fresh with Barry. But I absolutely love the art, and the story is actually kind of intriguing. Sadly, Bart only made a token appearance along with the others. Yes, we know Max is alive and well, but we don't know if Bart is living with him or Jay or is completely full-time at Titans Tower. But, frankly, none of that matters because Flashpoint is right around the corner. Despite that one heartwarming story of the speedsters comforting Barry in the middle of the night, he has fallen back into depression and guilt, which is quite understandable. As much as we want our heroes to constantly rise above such emotions, sometimes they can't. And things will only get worse before it gets better.

Next time, we'll take the smallest of looks at Blackest Night's followup in Brightest Day #21.