Comic Info
Comic Name: The Flash (Volume 2)/Green Lantern (Volume 3)/Green Arrow (Volume 1)/Flash 80-Page Giant/JLA: Secret Files
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Grant Morrison/Mark Millar/Ron Marz/Chuck Dixon
Artist: Paul Ryan/Ron Wagner/John Nyberg/Paul Pelletier/John Lowe/Will Rosado/Sal Buscema/Pop Mhan/Joshua Hood/Chris Ivy/Ariel Olivetti
# of Issues: 16
Release Date: 2016
The Flash (2) #131
Reprints The Flash (2) #130-141, Green Lantern (3) #96, Green Arrow (1) #130, The Flash 80-Page Giant #1, and JLA: Secret Files and Origins #1 (September 1997-September 1998). The Flash is in the race of life…literally. First he must face a debilitating accident while trying to stop the Suit. The Flash learns that the whole Earth hangs in the balance as the Flash is selected for an inter-dimensional race against time. The Flash finds his ultimate challenge when he must race death itself in the form of the Black Flash…and Wally’s life might never be the same!
Written by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar, The Flash by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar also features a three part crossover with stories written by Ron Marz and Chuck Dixon. Following The Flash by Mark Waid—Book 6, the collection also features a short story from The Flash 80-Page Giant (August 1998) and an origin page from JLA: Secret Files and Origins #1 (September 1997). The collection has art by Paul Ryan, Ron Wagner, John Nyberg, Paul Pelletier, John Lowe, Will Rosado, Sal Buscema, Pop Mhan, Joshua Hood, Chris Ivy, and Ariel Olivetti. The issues in this collection were also collected in The Flash: Emergency Stop and The Flash: The Human Race.
Grant Morrison and Mark Millar often are revolutionary in their writing. Their stories are generally extreme and don’t always feel like they fit in with mainstream continuity. Like Morrison’s run on JLA, The Flash stories feel like they are part of the DCU but have a certain edge not found in the regular books.
The series has a surprising cohesion that seems a bit lost in recent years in comic books. The crossover between Green Arrow and Green Lantern feels like it fits in with all the titles despite different writers. JLA, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Flash seem to be at the right place at the right time…it doesn’t feel like any of the writers jerked their characters out of bigger stories to do the crossover. It fits.
The Flash (2) #138
Morrison and Millar manage to increase the odds throughout the book. When you read “Emergency Stop” it feels like it is rather intense and high stakes. This is taken to another level in “The Human Race” which has Flash racing to save the Earth in a race he cannot ever win. You think that Morrison can’t go beyond “The Human Race”, but “The Black Flash” storyline not only feels bigger than “The Human Race” but also more personal with Wally’s relationship with Linda.
I’d be curious to know how Millar and Morrison worked together. The stories in the volume feel both indicative to the writers, but it also feel like a solid flowing story that doesn’t “break” despite different writers. Many books now just relaunch with new teams and that is the lazy way to do it. I prefer an honest attempt to write a story that remains true to character and fits within a bigger context.
The Flash entered a good “run” starting with Waid and Miller and Morrison make an honest attempt to make their takeover of the book their own. The Flash is a fun character and much more than “the guy who runs fast”. Morrison and Millar’s run is overshadowed by being sandwiched between Waid and Geoff Johns who took over the series with Flash (2) #164.
