The Flash by Mark Waid—Book 6

Comic Info

The Flash (2) #123

Reprints The Flash (2) #119-129, Flash/Green Lantern:  Fast Friends #1-2, Flash Plus Nightwing #1, DC Universe Holiday Bash #1, and Showcase ’96 #12 (November 1996-September 1997).  The Flash is no longer welcomed in Keystone City.  With the danger of damage to its people and property, Flash is looking for a new place to land.  Santa Marta seems like the perfect fit for Flash, but Flash is going to discover that someone has been manipulating him the entire time…and the Rogues might be back with new and deadly intentions!  Plus, the Flash and Green Lantern are headed for a team-up, and one of their oldest allies’ lives might hang in the balance.

Written by Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn, and Ron Marz, The Flash by Mark Waid—Book 6 (also called The Flash by Mark Waid—Book 6:  Double Disaster) is a DC Comics superhero collection.  Following The Flash by Mark Waid—Book 5, the collection features art by Paul Ryan, Eduardo Barreto, Val Semeiks, Bart Sears, Andy Smith, Jeff Johnson, Ron Lim, Tom Grindberg, and Oscar Jimenez.

Mark Waid lit a fire under the Flash.  Often I’m a bit critical of Waid because I find Waid does really do much new with characters, but he writes in a solid, classic comic book style.  The Flash was one of Waid’s best long runs and this represents the “end” of the run.

The Flash (2) #127

Unlike a lot of modern books, the story runs in this volume are shorter and less “collectable”.  A story might be two or three issues, there might be a standalone, and there are also some shorter mini-series and one-shots collected.  There is an overall story that does tie the issue to issue stories together, but this type of writing makes it much easier to pick-up and put down…and you can even jump around in the collections without losing a lot of the story.  Some see this as a weakness, but I often find it is refreshing.

The collection also features a team-up with Flash’s old friend Dick Grayson (aka Nightwing) which is co-written with Brian Augustyn and a two issue collection (alternating the title between The Flash/Green Lantern and Green Lantern/The Flash) written by Waid and Ron Marz.  The Flash and Nightwing storyline serves as a nice throwback to old Flash days with Flash’s membership in the Teen Titans with Robin.  The second team-up not only serves to rejuvenate Jay Garrick, but allows the old Green Lantern and Flash to give Wally and the new Green Lantern Kyle Rayner the opportunity to bond (since Flash and Green Lantern have always seemingly been linked).

With this collection, Mark Waid steps away from the Flash for a bit.  Grant Morrison and Mark Millar take over the title for a few storylines and then Waid comes back.  This feels like the end of his run however and feels like this was what he was building to.  I commend Waid for his work on The Flash because he does manage to make a compelling story out of a guy who can just “run fast” (a criticism I never liked).  The Flash by Mark Waid—Book 6 is followed by The Flash by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar.

Related Links:

The Flash by Mark Waid—Book 3

Followed By:

The Flash by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar