THE FLASH:  THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE #1

Lightning In A Bottle, Part One:  Flashback

August 2006

Written by Danny Bilson & Paul Demeo

Pencils by Ken Lashley

Inks by KWL Designs, Marlo Alquiza, Jay Leisten, Norm Rapmund

Cover by Ken Lashley

Synopsis

In Keystone City, truck drivers carrying explosives are rammed by a truck driven by a masked man who says he is starting a war.  Jay Garrick (aka The Flash) runs to help, but arrives too late.  Jay is the first Flash and the guardian of Bart Allen (aka Kid Flash) who lost his powers during the recent Crisis.  At the moment, Bart lives in Keystone City at the auto factory, although he must cross picket lines in order to earn money to pay the rent.  At STAR Labs, intern Valerie Perez wonders why Bart has stopped coming in for tests to learn why his powers vanished.  Meanwhile, the strikers learn the union wants to head back to the negotiating table, although one of the strikers is not happy.  Later, Dr. Perez visits Bart to learn why he stopped coming; he tells her he has come to terms with his lost power and he just wants to live his life.  The next day at Keystone Motors, the masked man detonates a bomb inside the factory.  Bart and his friend Griffin are caught in the blast.  To save Griffin, Bart taps into the speed force.  Jay arrives on the scene and tells Bart they need to talk.  As Jay runs Griffin to the hospital, Bart tells himself he will not let the speed force kill him. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

There was some good in this issue and there was some bad.  Unfortunately, it was mostly just a jumbled mess that made the entire thing confusing.  The biggest part of the confusion was the sudden shift in Barry Allen’s narration.  It appeared out of nowhere and it had no bearing on the current plot or even any developments that occurred afterward.  I actually flipped the pages to determine if any of them had been printed out of order or if I had missed anything.  I understand the need to complete the entire story of the Flashes, but in this case I think it was too confusing, especially in terms of Barry.  I liked the opening narration with Jay Garrick and that certainly set the stage so we can learn more about Bart.

The other part of the problem is the ending.  The Crisis (and even Jay’s narration at the beginning of this issue) indicated that the speed force was gone, gone, gone.  But Bart taps into it.  So, is it just me or do you recognize the inherent contradiction.  It’s gone!  But, wait, it’s not!  And if it is not, it certainly doesn’t look like something someone wants to tap into.  Regardless, I finished the final pages and then flipped back and forth trying to figure out if I missed something.  I don’t think so.  I just think that the speed force and what it is was not explained that well.  I suppose it will be explained in future issues and that is fine, but don’t say it’s gone, but then have it there.  It even looks like Bart knew the speed force was still available. 

Another problem I had is that the two new characters introduced in the book -- Griffin and Valerie -- were not all that likable.  Not only was I wondering why Bart was no longer living with Jay and Joan, but I was also wondering why he moved in with a lout like Griffin.  It made no sense.  And Valerie was just pushy.  Could she be Bart’s Linda Park?  If she is, they better make her nicer. 

But all of this pales to the changes in Bart.  I liked the way he was first presented in Young Justice and Geoff Johns characterization in Teen Titans was also great.  He was presented as a hyper-active, hyper-fun kid.  Now he is morose and sullen and not interesting.  I suppose this is a result of losing Wally and the speed force (and Conner as well!), but this was never explained or, in the case of Superboy, even touched upon.  It is not good when the reader has to assume the reasons for character behavior.  Let’s hope they get back to Bart’s character in later issues.

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