Comic Info
Comic Name: The Flash (Volume 2)
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Mike Baron/William Messner-Loebs
Artist: Jackson Guice/Mike Collins/Greg LaRocque
# of Issues: 19
Release Date: 2020
The Flash (2) #3
Reprints The Flash (2) #1-18 and Annual #1 (June 1987-November 1988). Barry Allen is dead, and after years as Kid Flash, Wally West discovers he is now stepping into Barry’s shoes. Being Flash isn’t easy for Wally who doesn’t have a secret identity, but when Wally hits the lottery, Wally discovers his luck is changing. With more speedsters, and more danger, Wally finds being the Flash is a whole different level than his days as a Teen Titan…and when Vandal Savage targets him, Wally better watch out!
Written by Mike Baron and William Messner-Loebs, The Flash: Savage Velocity is a DC Comics superhero collection. The volume follows the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths which relaunched much of the DC Universe and also included the death of the Silver Age Flash Barry Allen. The collection features art by Jackson Guice, Mike Collins, and Greg LaRocque.
Despite having Barry Allen in things like The Flash TV series and Super Friends, Wally West was always my preferred Flash. When I started the jump from being a complete Marvel reader to picking up some DC Comics, it was in the thick of Wally’s “run” and I found him to be a much more identifiable character than many of DC’s big names like Batman or Superman…reading The Flash: Terminal Velocity, I found that it was a long and painful road to get there.
The series really struggles. While much of the comic could have revolved around the changes in Wally’s life simply by taking on a new title, the comic decided to focus in on the really negative aspects of Wally’s life. The lottery “deus ex machina” was a wild card that kept Wally from being Peter Parker and always looking for his next paycheck…but it also kind of turned him into a womanizing jerk that treats everyone around him poorly.
The Flash (2) #14
He jumps from woman to woman (rarely breaking up) and he even has some racists undertones that Cyborg picks up on in an exchange about “chitlins and gravy”…it doesn’t make him very likable. In fact, no one in the series is likable. Everyone’s worst aspects seems magnified. It feels like an attempt to make Wally “human” gone wrong.
In addition to that, the story completely stalls. The series takes too long to get into events and the Vandal Savage storyline stretches almost the entire first eighteen issues. It would have been nice to see more variety in the title and maybe bring in characters that aren’t normally Flash villains since Wally isn’t “the Flash” of old. A Teen Titan villain or two might have been what was needed.
The Flash: Savage Velocity is a struggle. While the collection is nice and big, it had me wishing I was reading Waid or Johns’ runs instead. Despite this, I would continue to get The Flash collections to see how Flash evolved…not only that it would be nice to see him get past the sleeping and eating phase of his powers (that also slows the story down). I hope The Flash: Savage Velocity gets a sequel and that eventually we’ll see it merge with The Flash by Mark Waid to finish the whole 1987 Flash comic book run in reprints.
