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Review: The Flash #43

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theflash043Part of the challenges set forth with the new 52 relaunch was how to tell the story of its most famous heroes.  Parts of the heroes identities were so well known and so well established that it would be hard to put a modern spin on what is essentially comic book mythology by this point.  Thus Batman’s history was no different as the hero was born on that night in Crime Alley, just as Superman hurtled to Earth in a spaceship from dying Krypton.  In fact the origins of most of DC’s major heroes has not been changed at all save for one, the Flash.  Some commonalities still remain, but many are different.  In a way it makes sense, as Barry Allen had about twenty years of down time before he came back into mainstream continuity, and the lessons learned from the last days of the silver age taught that there were certain things important about the Flash’s history, but some that needed a touch-up.  In particular is the end of the silver age, the somewhat confusing trial of Barry Allen that helped lead to his death in Crisis on Infinite Earths.

The importance of Eobad Thawne to Barry Allen is a relationship that needed to be maintained though, as important to Barry as the Joker is to Batman or Lex Luthor is to Superman.  Although other villains have more visibility, it is Thawne who is the true arch-nemesis of Barry, plaguing him throughout his existence in one way or another.  As a modern and updated telling of Barry’s nemesis, this is the story that demanded to be told in the new 52, and it is the one which is being told now.  It should be said that the Flash is often one of the heroes that tends to be a bit below the surface in terms of popularity, and it can be easy to see why.  The nature of his stories are a bit more lighthearted than some others, but when it comes to Thawne it doesn’t matter.  Drama must prevail.  The story of Thawne is one that has been teased at for a while now, but one that is still in its infancy in this story arc.  Barry has to deal with his father, has to be there for Wally, and shows signs of reigniting the traditional relationship with Iris, but this is all about the setup for the showdown with Thawne.

In so doing this issue shows that the story line is still in its early stages, with Thawne’s group of villains playing a larger role here than Thawne himself.  What is supposed to be a big story is therefore somewhat diluted by the slower rollout as well as not really changing much from the regular script of this series.  It is fun and does well for the hero, but the the dramatic payoff still seems to be far enough away as Barry deals with the mundane (mundane for a superhero that is) before the bigger fireworks start.  This issue will probably become necessary reading after we see whatever finale is ahead for hero and villain, but for now stays true to the performance of the series, good but not great, with a decent amount of fun.

Story: Robert Venditti and Van Jensen Art: Brett Booth
Story: 8.6 Art: 8.6 Overall: 8.6 Recommendation: Buy

Patty Spivot’s Over/Under Reaction to the Future Flash

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Patty Spivot received a new life with DC Comics‘ New 52. Part of the gimmickry with the New 52 was to add a bit of “will they or won’t they?” to their titles by separating old romantic couples in the DC universe and replacing them with others. This is one of the easiest tricks of the gimmick, as there is a certain amount of tension as previous couples are kept close but still necessarily separate. Thus Lois Lane was replaced with Wonder Woman and Iris West was replaced with Patty Spivot. Previously she had been an assistant in Barry Allen’s crime lab and had played a relatively small role in his history, with fewer than 100 appearances in comics compared to nearly 600 for Iris, but of all of a sudden she was one of the two main leading female characters in this title.

theflashThe last story arc before the Convergence company wide crossover dealt with the replacement of the present day Flash with a future version of the character. The present day Flash was thrown into an alternate dimension influenced by the Speed Force, and the Future Flash was brought to the present day. This other Flash was much more brutal, eager to fix the errors of his past with a utilitarian outlook, reasoning that killing or maiming one in the present was better than if hundreds or thousands died in the future. Patty and Iris eventually become aware of his actions and confront him over it. When the present day Flash returns from the alternate dimension he is able to put most of the harm back to normal before settling back into regular life.

Except that his regular life is thrown off when Patty reveals that she cannot be with him anymore because he reminds her of the murderer. This is an over reaction based on the character that had been established, one that had been deeply in love with Barry, and it seems as though it was thrown in so that there was an easy avenue to wrap up loose ends before the hiatus. While this is an over reaction, there is an under reaction which is not really explored at all in any of the issue, and probably because it was mostly overlooked.

theflashAs was previously mentioned, the Future Flash, though still Barry, acted and behaved very differently, and was in effect a completely different person. Although intimacy is not explored in the mainstream comics as much, as two adults in an adult relationship it is reasonable to think that they would have had sexual relations with each other at some point, especially as they share the same bed. Although there is obviously no precedent in real world law for time travel, this would easily fall under the overall umbrella of sexual assault or sexual violence. If a person posed as another in order to have sex with anyone, then that would be considered rape. That it is two different versions of the same person is not really relevant, and in reality Patty would be aware of this violation more so than Barry might be, especially upon his return.

Thus the over reaction to Barry as having the face of a murderer makes little sense, but having the same face as a person that raped her would be much harder to live with.