“Strange Attractor”
Writer: Si Spurrier
Artist: Mike Deodato Jr.
Colorist: Trish Mulvihill
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Cover by: Mike Deodato Jr. & Trish Mulvihill
Variant covers by: Mike Deodato Jr. & Trish Mulvihill, Dan Mora, Rose Besch, Riley Rossmo, James Harren, Matt Taylor, Rahzzah
Assistant Editor: Rebecca Bohanan
Editor: Chris Rosa
Group Editor: Paul Kaminski
So here we go again. Right after DC restored the original numbering of The Flash series, they’ve reset it back to issue #1 and with a new creative team. But don’t let these changes fool you — the continuity has not changed. I don’t think we can even call this a soft reboot. Just an arbitrary renumbering. The first cover our new team has given us attempts to be dynamic, but came out just a bit too messy for my liking. And I’m very distracted by Wally’s teeth. There are quite a few variant covers for this issue, but none of them feature Impulse. However, much to my surprise, Impulse does appear in this story (and not just in a photograph like in the new Jay Garrick series).
Our story opens with Max Mercury and Bart Allen right where we left them last time: out in the desert, attempting to run into the Speed Force. Apparently the two of them have been practicing, and now they are ready to not break the barrier, but embrace it and breathe the lightning.
But as they begin to run, Max sees a startling image of a massive buffalo wounded by hunters. Max and Bart are both abruptly expelled from the Speed Force, landing hard on the dirt. Bart weakly asks if transcending time and space always feels like head-butting a planet. Max says something went wrong and asks if Bart saw anything, but he didn’t. So Max describes his vision and hypothesizes that it was the Speed Force’s way of attempting to communicate with him — trying to tell him that it hurts and needs help.
That’s all we get of Impulse in this issue. The story focuses on Wally’s struggles with the fluctuating Speed Force. Linda has given birth to a son, named Wade, and now she no longer has super speed. Irey has become friends with Animal Man’s daughter, but Jai is concealing a dark secret.
It is an interesting story — and surprisingly scary — but since Bart isn’t involved, I won’t get too bogged down in it here. I think Spurrier made Bart act just a tad too stupid in his brief appearance, but I really appreciate how he slammed the door on Jeremy Adams’ plan to send Bart away. Deodato’s art and layouts are quite unique, which works for the horror theme. And Otsmane-Elhaou provided the most innovative lettering I’ve seen in a long time. Perhaps ever. It takes some getting used to, but I like the direction of attempting something new and different.
Bart doesn’t appear in issue #2, either, but I’ll be keeping track of it (and the Jay Garrick series, as well). Whenever and wherever our lovable Impulse returns, I’ll be there!
