Flash #208
Originally Presented at Comixtreme.com on March 30, 2004
Quick Rating: Great
Title: Red Carpet
Three generations of the Flash take on an army of Rogues on the streets of Keystone City.
Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Howard Porter
Inks: Livesay
Colors: James Sinclair
Letters: Rob Leigh
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Cover Art: Michael Turner
Publisher: DC Comics
Review: At the end of last issue, the Flash Parade was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a mob of the Scarlet Speedster’s nastier foes. He isn’t alone in facing off against them, though - Jay Garrick, the original Flash, and Bart Allen, Kid Flash, storm onto the scene to help the current titleholder of the legacy they all share. The problem is, Wally West hasn’t seen either of them since the Spectre blanked the memory of his identity from the minds of the entire planet, and he doesn’t quite know what to expect.
It really helps that Geoff Johns is currently the one and only man responsible for safeguarding the legacy of the Flash (with Jay Garrick in JSA and Bart Allen in Teen Titans - only XS of the Legion of Super-Heroes falls under another writer’s pen, and she hasn’t fully embraced the Lightning yet). This issue accentuates that legacy and shows why the Flash has the greatest legacy in comics - from the comments of a few guards at Iron Heights about what the Flashes mean to the twin cities to the re-opening of the Flash Museum, this story shows you who the Flashes are and why they are important.
Johns does not gloss over the repercussions of the Spectre’s actions either - Wally’s painful admission that his wife has left him, his sorrow at the knowledge that people know longer know and proclaim Barry Allen as a hero, and a long-delayed confrontation with his teammates in the Justice League remind us that these things do not happen in a vacuum, that there will be consequences. Next issue promises to give us even more of them.
Howard Porter does a fine job with this issue, showcasing all of our Flashes, all of the villains and the high-speed action with great skill. It’s also nice that the man who redefined the Justice League during Grant Morrison’s run on the title gets to return to the characters here, with a beautiful double-page spread of the team.
People who are already reading this title know it’s one of the best superhero comics on the market right now. People who aren’t reading any superhero book with Geoff Johns’s name in the credit box… well… what are you thinking, man?
Rating: 9/10