The Quick and The Dead

THE FLASH: FASTEST MAN ALIVE #13
Written by Mark Guggenheim; Art by Tony S. Daniel and Art Thibert; Cover by Tony S. Daniel

SPOILERISH.

But some of us have stopped caring after the Bilson and DeMeo roadkill. This title was one of the few which actually had an OYL story to tell. Bart Allen was speedforced to adulthood; a new life awaited this brash, impulsive speedster trapped in a grown-up's body, an adult's world with actual responsibilities and bills to pay. Did he get kicked-out of the Teen Titans? Did he like where he was? Fact is, Bart as we knew him---Impulse, Kid Flash---disappeared. Grown-up Bart was just...dull. And I dropped the title easily. When DC announced that a new writer would be taking over, I took my chances. I love these Speedsters. I love their point of view; I love how they watch us waste our time. Marc Guggenheim's first issue (with the excellent Tony Daniel) on what would be the last arc of the title immediately brought back the Titans to Bart's life, and an unexpected family member from the future. It felt like a homecoming of sorts. Loose ends effortlessly trimmed. Re-focused storyline: Rogues United vs. The Flash. Which culminates here, in this week's (and arguably this month's) best story.

Tight, heroic, tragic.

The simplicity of Bart's final moments is brutal. Beaten to death. It's not actually shown in detail but the words echo in their subtlety. Depowering a hero is nothing new, but Guggenheim deftly writes it with palpable hope. Palpable desperation. More than his speed, Bart is more loved for his cocky, reckless nature. And in the last few pages, Bart finally becomes the Flash, still reckless, still stubborn, but now, undeniably, a hero.

"A hero is just someone who stands when their legs are gone." Mr. Guggenheim may just be talking about the title itself. Still, thank you.

Thank you for bringing Bart back to us and for giving him the best send-off that a hero could get. *****

Pulled

Added my pull list to this blog (and you can add yours, too!) just to keep track of things, and, pakshet, sweating now. Have to cross out a couple of titles, really.

For the sake of my future.

Some of the limited series(es?) will be wrapping up soon so that's a couple. Still on the fence with COUNTDOWN. But the latest issue of FLASH: The Fastest Man Alive is actually okay so that's a plus one.

Or. I can just not eat.

Incorrigible much.

The kids are doing fine

Teen Titans #38 (DC)
Written by Geoff Johns; Art by Tony Daniel and Kevin Conrad; Cover by Daniels

Or another issue filled with exclamation points. This is so far my favorite of all the OYL titles, surprisingly quick-witted in almost all issues. Geoff Johns did an amazing job with the short Doom Patrol arc, making the Chief a prime, fucked up master-bator of manipulation, but not without reason. And the shocker at the end of issue #37 makes me want to stay around for a very long time. The new line-up also keeps things continually on the edge. So. Where to begin. Issue #38 starts a couple of new storylines minus the disjointedness. Reveals the team's roster in the missing one year, lots of newcomers --- including Mas y Menos from the cartoon! --- and lots of returning Titans (can't stop looking at that spread). The search for Raven continues, but not after revealing that she left the group for a reason. A scary reason (that is yet to be revealed), and not just because she broke up with BB. And Slade has begun recruiting for his Titans East. Fat issue. Great cover. A plot that just won't quit twisting. *****



The Flash: Fastest Man Alive #3 (DC)
Written by Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo; Art by Karl Kerschl; Cover by Ken Lashley

Finally, some action. Not the heaving kind but you can feel the muscles twitching. There's a new hero in town, brash and impatient where Bart is hesitant and, uh, hesitant. This title poses too many questions, and it's getting piled up like those books on the floor that you always trip on on your way to bed. The speed force is shifty, and this should make for burned asphalt action. Research is not action. Bilson and DeMeo write inoffensive dialogues but everything's just too safe. Bart, way back in the Teen Titans, was a stubborn show-off. And now he's like "I'm not the Flash." Wally, where art thou? **