Scott Kolins draws his balls off, but Geoff Johns writes this issue into the ground. I hold near and dear Johns' originial Flash run from the first half of this decade - Kolins was in there, too - but I feel like he's lost his way since coming back to the character. Rebirth is pretty forgettable. I miss Wally West. There are way too many Flashes running around. Too much whiny self-reflection. Too much scientificky explanation attempting to make sense of the Speed Force. Too much fucking Speed Force! The Flash is a dude that runs really fucking fast - that's your story! It's plenty good, just keep it working!
You know who I really miss? Tom Peyer and Freddie Williams II. Favorite Flash run ever. Lasted for about three seconds. Wally, wife, kids, crime-fighting fun. That creative crew made the married-with-children superhero work. Peyer managed a nice balance between Wally the concerned family man and Wally the fast guy, and he did it without the overly serious melodramatics that I think Johns has been offering recently.
So the story. The alive Rogues fight the Black Lantern Rogues in Iron Heights. Blue Lantern Barry fights Black Lanterns in a cemetery. I'm trying to make this sound boring & yet it's already more entertaining than the actual comic.
But like I said, Kolins is awesome here. I want to say his stuff reminds me of Geof Darrow a little bit - detailed linework, packed panels, stylized & cartoony - maybe some Jack Kirby, too. And EC horror comics. I dunno. Fucking cool though. Also not a great match for Johns' writing. There's a disconnect here. Johns is playing this one too straight, and Kolins is balls out zany exuberance. Considering Flash's rogues gallery, I think Kolins nails it - when you're drawing guys like Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, Trickster, Captain Boomerang, you need to have a sense of humor. Johns lost his. The Golden Glider slices up Captain Cold's chest with a frozen ice skate for fuck's sake, but Kolins is the only one having any fun.
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