Race Against Time
The Flash - Review
Race Against Time
This isn't going to be a comparative review, just a review of the Flash arc 'Race Against Time', by Mark Waid.
Let me start by mentioning that I picked this arc up in Oxfam. More specifically, I picked up issues #113-118. Once I'd read through the whole set and found info on #112 online, I realised that it was meant to be a sort of prologue to RAT. I'd thought myself clever in picking up #118, which didn't specfically mention 'Race Against Time' on the cover, but apparently DC were too smart for me.
Anyway, onto the review.
Story
The story starts off with Wally West trapped in the 64th century and a new Flash - John Fox, a speedster from the 27th century - having taken his place in Keystone. Linda Park was told by Fox (presumably in issue #112) that Wally never returned from his battle with Savitar (the villain from the previous arc). We follow Wally's journey back through time as he tries to find his way back to Linda. In the meanwhile, Linda and Fox have to deal with villains in present-time.
Overall, I enjoyed the plot. It was fun and not particularly heavy. There were some interesting themes that it would be nice to go back and look at. Personally, I'd like to see more of the Wallyworld from the first issue, how they managed to pull society back into shape - if they did at all. There's a nice display of love that transcends even time, giving us the reason why Wally and Linda belong together.
Light-hearted and enjoyable, exactly what a Flash comic should be like.
Layout and art style
The last two of the six issues I have each have their own artist. Thankfully, the art style isn't that different and while you'll find yourself wondering about the shift slightly, it's not anywhere near as jarring as it could've been.
Fox picks up some random triangles and red lines on his uniform part way through. It only hit me when I thought "damn, now I'm not going to un-notice them", but looking back, it's clear that it *was* the first time I'd seen them.
I only noticed a few colouring mistakes. In one panel Wally was randomly blond and in another the thought-textbox was coloured for the wrong person. Nothing big.
Linda's 'frozen' position was posed differently everytime we saw her. She usually remained consistent in consecutive panels, but each time Wally came to see her, her position shifted.
The art matches the style of the story, mostly bright and cheerful, but it does get darker when necessary. It's well done and I really liked it.
Villains
There are a couple of villains around, but the main ones are Chillblaine, Abra Kadabra, and Dr Polaris.
Chillblaine is the Golden Glider's partner and is outfitted with some of Captain Cold's tech. He's not the first Chillblaine, but he is the last. He kills the Golden Glider (something that comes back to bite him) and sets things into motion, as well as leading Linda and Fox to the real problem. He is apparently killed by Polaris (though retcons are out on that now) on Kedabra's orders.
Chillblaine proves to be a danger to Fox, who only survives a pool of sharks with Linda's help. It would have been satisfying - and probably quite good for Fox too - if we saw Fox beat him. Though it is fairly apparent that a seasoned Flash wouldn't have had half as much trouble as Fox did. Chillblaine's only powerful because his enemies are weak.
Kadabra and Polaris are actually getting along. They're both aware they need the other for their plan to work and aren't doing the usual villain thing of getting ready to stab each other in the back at the first opportunity.
Though we don't get much characterisation for Polaris, we do get a very impressive display of his power. Kadabra honestly doesn't feel anywhere near as powerful. Yes he tends to sit on air and does an occasional teleport, but he's a shadow of his previous self. Ok, a quick look at wikipedia said he'd gained 'real' magic from Neron during Underworld Unleashed at about this time, instead of using his normal futuristic tech. It feels wrong to me that Kadabra seems weaker with *real* magic.
Allies
Our three main ones are Linda Park, John Fox, and Iris Allen.
Iris doesn't appear for much. She's been captured by Kadabra and Polaris and is being forced to write up what she learned in the 30th century for them to use as a plan of attack. She eventually is saved and decides to move away from the people she cares about, because she can't bare to see what she already knows will happen. She says goodbye to Linda while Linda is frozen, it's unlikely she said goodbye to Wally at all.
I know Iris has suffered through quite a bit, including the death of the man she loved, but it does seem to me that she isn't really prepared to deal with any aspect of a superhero lifestyle. Linda is much more accepting of how Wally works and, I think, is a better person for it.
Linda and Fox mostly follow the same storyline, until Linda gets frozen. Up until that point they were slowly following the villains' trail, starting with Chillblaine and the Golden Glider. Their interactions feel a little more plot-driven than anything else, but it's still nice to see Linda's appeal be shown that directly.
Linda herself is fairly awesome and we get to *see* that. Fox's observations on her are usually backed up with her own words or actions.
On the other hand, Fox gives us an unsure Flash. He hasn't had a chance to be a real hero and is constantly second-guessing himself. If he didn't have superspeed, it's unlikely that he would have saved anyone. I would like to see more of Fox in the future, but it's also good to leave him alone for now to build up his position as a 'hero' offscreen.
Conclusion
In the end I found this story light and enjoyable. It's fun, it's characters are interesting, and the writing and illustrations work together. As long as you're not looking for dark and gritty, you'll enjoy this read.
Edit
I have now picked up issue #112. It gives us a little more insight as to how long Wally's been missing and makes a start on some of the plot points that the rest of the arc will follow. It's not integral, but it does give us more of a picture of Fox and where he's fitting in.
It also gives us Piper in a supporting role that wasn't really continued for some reason. Maybe he would have been a little too useful in figuring the villains out or would have stood between Fox and Linda too much. I don't know, but it is a shame to drop him after that set-up.
Overall #112 is an interlude, while it's nice for completeness sake, it's one that fits into the summary in #113 without difficulty.
Race Against Time
This isn't going to be a comparative review, just a review of the Flash arc 'Race Against Time', by Mark Waid.
Let me start by mentioning that I picked this arc up in Oxfam. More specifically, I picked up issues #113-118. Once I'd read through the whole set and found info on #112 online, I realised that it was meant to be a sort of prologue to RAT. I'd thought myself clever in picking up #118, which didn't specfically mention 'Race Against Time' on the cover, but apparently DC were too smart for me.
Anyway, onto the review.
Story
The story starts off with Wally West trapped in the 64th century and a new Flash - John Fox, a speedster from the 27th century - having taken his place in Keystone. Linda Park was told by Fox (presumably in issue #112) that Wally never returned from his battle with Savitar (the villain from the previous arc). We follow Wally's journey back through time as he tries to find his way back to Linda. In the meanwhile, Linda and Fox have to deal with villains in present-time.
Overall, I enjoyed the plot. It was fun and not particularly heavy. There were some interesting themes that it would be nice to go back and look at. Personally, I'd like to see more of the Wallyworld from the first issue, how they managed to pull society back into shape - if they did at all. There's a nice display of love that transcends even time, giving us the reason why Wally and Linda belong together.
Light-hearted and enjoyable, exactly what a Flash comic should be like.
Layout and art style
The last two of the six issues I have each have their own artist. Thankfully, the art style isn't that different and while you'll find yourself wondering about the shift slightly, it's not anywhere near as jarring as it could've been.
Fox picks up some random triangles and red lines on his uniform part way through. It only hit me when I thought "damn, now I'm not going to un-notice them", but looking back, it's clear that it *was* the first time I'd seen them.
I only noticed a few colouring mistakes. In one panel Wally was randomly blond and in another the thought-textbox was coloured for the wrong person. Nothing big.
Linda's 'frozen' position was posed differently everytime we saw her. She usually remained consistent in consecutive panels, but each time Wally came to see her, her position shifted.
The art matches the style of the story, mostly bright and cheerful, but it does get darker when necessary. It's well done and I really liked it.
Villains
There are a couple of villains around, but the main ones are Chillblaine, Abra Kadabra, and Dr Polaris.
Chillblaine is the Golden Glider's partner and is outfitted with some of Captain Cold's tech. He's not the first Chillblaine, but he is the last. He kills the Golden Glider (something that comes back to bite him) and sets things into motion, as well as leading Linda and Fox to the real problem. He is apparently killed by Polaris (though retcons are out on that now) on Kedabra's orders.
Chillblaine proves to be a danger to Fox, who only survives a pool of sharks with Linda's help. It would have been satisfying - and probably quite good for Fox too - if we saw Fox beat him. Though it is fairly apparent that a seasoned Flash wouldn't have had half as much trouble as Fox did. Chillblaine's only powerful because his enemies are weak.
Kadabra and Polaris are actually getting along. They're both aware they need the other for their plan to work and aren't doing the usual villain thing of getting ready to stab each other in the back at the first opportunity.
Though we don't get much characterisation for Polaris, we do get a very impressive display of his power. Kadabra honestly doesn't feel anywhere near as powerful. Yes he tends to sit on air and does an occasional teleport, but he's a shadow of his previous self. Ok, a quick look at wikipedia said he'd gained 'real' magic from Neron during Underworld Unleashed at about this time, instead of using his normal futuristic tech. It feels wrong to me that Kadabra seems weaker with *real* magic.
Allies
Our three main ones are Linda Park, John Fox, and Iris Allen.
Iris doesn't appear for much. She's been captured by Kadabra and Polaris and is being forced to write up what she learned in the 30th century for them to use as a plan of attack. She eventually is saved and decides to move away from the people she cares about, because she can't bare to see what she already knows will happen. She says goodbye to Linda while Linda is frozen, it's unlikely she said goodbye to Wally at all.
I know Iris has suffered through quite a bit, including the death of the man she loved, but it does seem to me that she isn't really prepared to deal with any aspect of a superhero lifestyle. Linda is much more accepting of how Wally works and, I think, is a better person for it.
Linda and Fox mostly follow the same storyline, until Linda gets frozen. Up until that point they were slowly following the villains' trail, starting with Chillblaine and the Golden Glider. Their interactions feel a little more plot-driven than anything else, but it's still nice to see Linda's appeal be shown that directly.
Linda herself is fairly awesome and we get to *see* that. Fox's observations on her are usually backed up with her own words or actions.
On the other hand, Fox gives us an unsure Flash. He hasn't had a chance to be a real hero and is constantly second-guessing himself. If he didn't have superspeed, it's unlikely that he would have saved anyone. I would like to see more of Fox in the future, but it's also good to leave him alone for now to build up his position as a 'hero' offscreen.
Conclusion
In the end I found this story light and enjoyable. It's fun, it's characters are interesting, and the writing and illustrations work together. As long as you're not looking for dark and gritty, you'll enjoy this read.
Edit
I have now picked up issue #112. It gives us a little more insight as to how long Wally's been missing and makes a start on some of the plot points that the rest of the arc will follow. It's not integral, but it does give us more of a picture of Fox and where he's fitting in.
It also gives us Piper in a supporting role that wasn't really continued for some reason. Maybe he would have been a little too useful in figuring the villains out or would have stood between Fox and Linda too much. I don't know, but it is a shame to drop him after that set-up.
Overall #112 is an interlude, while it's nice for completeness sake, it's one that fits into the summary in #113 without difficulty.