THE FLASH:  THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE #8

Speedquest, Chapter 1:  Double Or Nothing

March 2007

Written by Danny Bilson & Paul Demeo

Pencils by Ron Adrian and Art Thibert

Inks by Art Thibert

Cover by Daniel Acuña

Synopsis

Bart Allen (aka The Flash) rushes to Las Vegas to rescue his girlfriend Valerie, who has been kidnapped by Inertia.  The Flash is able to outwit Inertia and save Valerie, although Inertia is able to get away.  That night, Bart and Valerie share a hotel room.  The next morning, Bart leaves the room to make sure everything okay.  In his absence, the form of Manfred Mota, Valerie’s father, makes his way to his daughter.  The Flash returns in time to capture Mota and put him into jail.  In Keystone City, Bart tells Jay and Joan Garrick that he plans to follow in Barry Allen’s footsteps by becoming a forensics officer for the Los Angeles police.  Elsewhere, Inertia decides he needs an army to battle the Flash so he decides to contact the rogues.... 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

Whoosh....did you feel that?  No, it was no the Flash speeding past.  Instead, it was Bilson and Demeo sweeping the decks of their short-lived reboot of the Flash to make way for the new writer with the next issue.  As such, there are a lot of loose ends that are conveniently tied up in this issue, including the rescue of Valerie and the capture of Mota.  Plus, Bart’s new status quo was set and his relationship with Jay and Valerie were also mended.  I am not entirely sure if the new writer will use Inertia, but I do recall that he will be part of the new Titans East, which was alluded to in the previous issue, so that is why is still on the loose.  As a result of this clearinghouse special, the issue feels rushed (appropriate, I suppose, for the Flash).  Actually, it doesn't make for a bad issue, per se but it doesn't make it a good issue, either way.

Overall, the short run by Bilson and Demeo will probably be labeled a disaster.  Some of the that is their fault as the stories were a jumbled mess, lacking cohesion.  Part of that is DC’s fault for forcing Bart to become Flash in the first place and then in the second place forcing him to act in a way (morose and somber) that is the opposite to Impulse, a character that many, many people loved.  And, finally, part of the re-boot's failure can be attributed to the rotating group of artists that failed to give the issues a unifying look or style.  Regardless, the sales for this title have sunk pretty badly and it will take a lot of work to pick this up once more.  

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