The Flash #1 Discussion/Spoilers

[Rakzo]

Here we go again. A brand new series for The Fastest Man Alive and I must say that I'm glad that Wally West is still getting the spotlight. As I have mentioned before, I wasn't that much of a fan of Jeremy Adams' previous run on the character, not because I thought it was bad, in fact I thought the intentions were good but unfortunately the craft wasn't quite there so I was excited to learn that a new direction with a different creative team was tackling the series but unfortunately, it seems like quite a few of the mistakes from the last era are continuing here.

Si Spurrier offers a much more high concept angle for the series (as we already saw during his little preview in The Flash #800), one that is more focused on the classic sci-fi elements from the character and this is certainly welcomed due that there hasn't been a lot of that for a while. Spurrier definitely has a good handle on what makes the universe of the Scarlet Speedster fascinating and this is shown right from the beginning with the appearance of Gorilla Grodd (super intelligent gorilla with powers is just fitting here) and this plants the seeds for many of the ideas that the writer is planning to develop over the course of his run, there are many teases about future plot-points concerning the Speed Force and how it can explore different concepts and characters and all of this makes the read feel very content-packed.

Character work is not lacking either since Spurrier focuses a good deal on Wally himself and his relationship with his family. There's a particular and interesting moment where we see a bit of Linda's perspective about how it feels to be the only normal person in a house full of Speedsters and makes me wonder how it will be developed in the future. Not to mention that it shows how an everyman like Wally can deal with problems that the most intelligent scientists can't figure out due to how common his mentality is. Is good stuff.

Here comes the problem though, this book is overwritten as hell. There are so many pages where I feel the art could have told the story fine enough or that the idea could have been told in fewer words and yet Spurrier has this necessity to fill every panel with as much narration as possible and this feels especially wrong for a character from who you would expect a fast pace. Is too verbose for its own good and I hope Spurrier fixes these issues over the course of his work.

Mike Deodato Jr.'s semi-realistic and stiff style would initially seem out of place for this series but thankfully he's able to create very inventive scenarios based on Wally's speeds, the layouts are very creative and tell the story in an unique manner (and would have been better if the writer would let the art more room to breathe).

A bit of a mixed bag but I think there's enough potential here to be invested in it. Just hope the writing gets polished.

[bossofbam]

This was much too serious and a downer for me. I enjoyed the fun tone of the last creative team and am always worried about what DC might do to Wally next.

[Drako]

Like i said in the Wally thread:

I liked the first issue. There are interesting mysteries here to make you come back for the next issue and i really want to see what is the big bad of this arc.

Now, it was really wordy, i don't remember the last time i read a single comic book for this long (And english not being my first language, it tooks a little more time for me that might be for most people here.).

It kinda reminded me of Bendis, but Bendis bores me to death and this one didn't. I think it's a solid start.

Now, the art might be a struggle for some people, is definetly not your usual Flash art and everything is really dark, but since the motif of this arc is comic horror, i think it fits.

Another thing, the kids are still kids, it just looks like Deodato can't really draw them as kid instead of teenagers.

Also, he draws Wally like Chirs Evans. I'm not kidding, it's literally Chris Evans.

[Frontier]

A wordy Simon Spurrier comic? What a surprise .

[Paul Nolan]

.

Now, the art might be a struggle for some people, is definetly not your usual Flash art and everything is really dark, but since the motif of this arc is comic horror, i think it fits.
.

Sounds very reminiscent of Flash Volume 2 #201. Alberto Dose is a great artist, but fans thought his style didn't work with the Flash.

Howard Porter came on board after #207.

Hopefully this will just be a short break away from the fun like The Morrison / Millar 12 issues in the midst of Waids run.

[Factor]

Very intriguing first issue. I’m slightly concerned about the future of Wally’s relationship, but everything else I enjoyed quite a bit.
The overall mystery is very interesting and Spurrier has a great handle on the character.
The art was also a good match, even if it seems Deodato doesn’t know how eight year olds should look? Or did Irey get aged up to puberty all of a sudden?

[Waterfall]

It's better than Williamson's dialogue and needless narration boxes. Funny how his work was praised to heavens while Spurrier gets a lot of criticism for the same reasons.

Anyways, I'm in. Love the lettering. Hate the art. Absolutely hate the art even.

I hope Wally continues to be around for longer.

[Paul Nolan]

Sounds very reminiscent of Flash Volume 2 #201. Alberto Dose is a great artist, but fans thought his style didn't work with the Flash.

Howard Porter came on board after #207.

Hopefully this will just be a short break away from the fun like The Morrison / Millar 12 issues in the midst of Waids run.

https://www.comicsbeat.com/si-spurri...iew-dc-comics/

and as if by Magic the 12 issue Morrison / Millar interlude gets referenced in interview.

Theres a reason it was only twelve issues....

[Waterfall]

https://www.comicsbeat.com/si-spurri...iew-dc-comics/

and as if by Magic the 12 issue Morrison / Millar interlude gets referenced in interview.

Theres a reason it was only twelve issues....

Yeah it was because Waid was taking a break from the book to focus JLA: Year One and Morrison & Miller were available to fill the gap for a year. Waid came back to complete the run. Once again your baseless agenda doesn't work, quit making things up!

[Frontier]

It's better than Williamson's dialogue and needless narration boxes. Funny how his work was praised to heavens while Spurrier gets a lot of criticism for the same reasons.

Anyways, I'm in. Love the lettering. Hate the art. Absolutely hate the art even.

I hope Wally continues to be around for longer.

I'm fine with Spurrier, I just think there's a clear difference between their writing styles even if they're both verbose in their own way.

[Bruce Wayne]

This was much too serious and a downer for me. I enjoyed the fun tone of the last creative team and am always worried about what DC might do to Wally next.

Totally agreed. I think Spurrier's cynicism is just not a good fit for the Flash. And his issue just clashes with the previous creative team. Flash is suppose to be fun. This is just a slog.

edit: Also "maths", was no one editing this and trying to catch his Britishisms?

[sifighter]

So is the concept supposed to be that Jai holding the speedforce surge is being haunted or infected by whatever creepy speed force weirdness is going on?

Because I’ve watched horror movies, and Jai is giving off haunted child vibes.

[Robotman]

I was really looking forward to this issue as the description of a Flash story dealing with cosmic horror stuff sounded amazing. The first few pages with Max Mercury were intriguing but I gotta say I was not a fan of the rest of the issue. It seemed intentionally disjointed. i can understand wanting to keep the reader off-balance if you’re going for a certain horror vibe but the execution just wasn’t enjoyable.

Wally not telling Mr. Terrific what was going on was just a dumb way to draw out the mystery of the story.

[Refrax5]

Like i said in the Wally thread:

I liked the first issue. There are interesting mysteries here to make you come back for the next issue and i really want to see what is the big bad of this arc.

Now, it was really wordy, i don't remember the last time i read a single comic book for this long (And english not being my first language, it tooks a little more time for me that might be for most people here.).

It kinda reminded me of Bendis, but Bendis bores me to death and this one didn't. I think it's a solid start.

Now, the art might be a struggle for some people, is definetly not your usual Flash art and everything is really dark, but since the motif of this arc is comic horror, i think it fits.

Another thing, the kids are still kids, it just looks like Deodato can't really draw them as kid instead of teenagers.

Also, he draws Wally like Chirs Evans. I'm not kidding, it's literally Chris Evans.

Yeah, the Chris Evans face on Wally isn't even subtle.

I found it interesting but, as razko said, overwritten. Wally was written to be good natured and funny and I appreciated the dancing gerbil bit, so I don't know that I agree with some posters that it's too dark. But I like horror, so my threshold for what's considered dark is pretty high.

[Mantis-Ray]

Okay this was interesting.

Though pretty wordy and a bit too depressing, not looking forward to Wally and Linda having marriage problems. Though someone pointed out Linda could be having postpartum depression which is potentially interesting. And Wally not telling Mister Terrific whats happening is a dumb move.

Also the art is generally good but it does look weird in some levels, especially the final page where it has an odd "CG-ish" look to it.