The Flash #50
DC Comics
Written by: Joshua Williamson
Art by: Howard Porter
Colors by: Hi-Fi
Letters by: Steve Wands
The force barrier has been broken and Hunter Zolomon is in control of new forces that no one has dreamed of before. He is now more powerful than Barry and Wally and he has a mission to use this new power to correct what he thinks is wrong with time. With both Barry and Wally on his heels, he takes them on a journey through parallel realities. Realities that tie into various arcs in the DC universe.
At the same time, Wallace, Iris and Commander Cold have found themselves trapped out of time and Wallace needs to find a way to get them all safely back. It’s up to Iris to help Wallace and Williamson finds a great use for the character in this story. Barry and Wally continue to argue over who is responsible for this, why they are angry about that and so on. The amount of recrimination and regret in this issue is a little too much and frankly, takes away from the enjoyment of the story. I know it’s a device for showing the strain on Barry and Wally’s relationship, but it’s becoming tiresome to have to deal with Barry telling everyone that everything is his fault all the time.
Williamson does a great job of moving the story along and creating some big emotional moments for all the characters. Barry and Wally have a lot to work out it seems, but their back and forth is becoming depressing. Barry touches on Wally’s ability to enjoy the speed when comparing his being the Flash to Wally’s and the fun that Wally has is something that would return to this book. I haven’t gotten a sense in a long time that Barry Allen actually enjoys being the Flash and his melancholy and downtrodden attitude is making it hard to enjoy many of the moments he is in.
Howard Porter’s art is amazing. His ability to convey speed in an image is something that continues to draw my eye to this book. The panels move with the eye and you get the sense of speed in every action sequence and fight. It’s a rare gift Porter has of making fights look both kinetic and focused at the same time.