Comic Info
Comic Name: The Flash (Volume 4)
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Francis Manapul/Brian Buccellato
Artist: Francis Manapul/Scott Hepburn/Chris Sprouse/Karl Story/Keith Champagne
# of Issues: 7
Release Date: 2014
The Flash (4) #21
Reprints The Flash (4) #20-25 and The Flash (4) #23.2 (July 2013-January 2014). Barry Allen is trying to get his life back together. He’s moved in with Patty and is helping her plan an anniversary celebration for her parents. When someone begins killing people touched by the Speed Force, Flash must seek out the killer and stop him before it is too late. Plus, Barry finds himself on one of his earliest cases trying to stop a drug dealer peddling a fatal drug.
Written by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato, The Flash Volume 4: Reverse is a DC Comics New 52 collection. Following The Flash Volume 3: Gorilla Warfare, the collection features art by Manapul, Scott Hepburn, Chris Sprouse, Karl Story, and Keith Champagne. The issues in the volume were also collected as part of The Flash by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato Omnibus, DC Comics: The New 52 Villains Omnibus, Flash Rogues: Reverse-Flash, and DC Comics Zero Year.
While I like the “big heroes” like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, I’ve always had a soft spot for the second tier characters like Flash, Green Lantern, and Aquaman. Super Friends! was part of my childhood and how I was introduced to many of the heroes of the DC Universe. Though it was Barry Allen’s Flash in Super Friends!, I’ve always been a Wally West fan…though I have like Manapul’s turn on The Flash.
The Flash (4) #24.2
The collection features a bit of a reinvention of Reverse-Flash. The original Reverse-Flash was Eobard Thawne and then Hunter Zolomon took up the role as Zoom. Here, Daniel West (the brother of Iris West) has the role. Daniel’s origin (and motivation) is provided in the one-shot Villains Month issue The Flash #23.2 (November 2013) and he does seem like a good match for Flash. Like many villains his actions are misguided. He wants to fix his mistakes in his past and does it in a way that is both deadly and irrational.
The second story in the book is part of the bigger Zero Year storyline that spun out of Batman. Here, Barry Allen’s days as a detective are explored and his interaction with the Gotham City police department. Keystone City was always shiny and nice and so were Flash’s villains in a way (the Rogues always had a lot more personality than other super-villains). It is interesting to see Barry in Gotham City where everything isn’t nice. It is a different type of Flash story in that sense.
Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato’s interesting run on The Flash ends with this volume. The New 52 (in my opinion) was an interesting way to try to get new readers and explore different aspects of characters who have been around for decades. The Flash was one of the better New 52 outings, and it is worth picking up. The Flash 4: Reverse is followed by The Flash 5: History Lessons.
Related Links:
