Flash #5

Last review of the night is a look at the early years of Wally West as the Flash. Barry Who?

Flash #5:

Summary: We open with the doctor from last issue telling her husband that she wanted a divorce. The husband(Jerry) figures she was dumping him because of Flash, so he beats her for trying to leave him, before storming to his lab where he bombards himself with strange rays and takes some steroids. The doctor(Tina) calls Wally and tells him what had happened to her and the two meet up at a restaurant where Wally implores her to report her husband to the cops(she doesn't want to). From there, Wally takes her back to his mansion to make sure she's safe... And, you know, because she's an interesting, attractive older woman and Wally has the hots for her. Meanwhile, between the rays and the steroids he was injecting himself with, Jerry has gained super-speed as well as enhanced strength. With that, he dons a costume(naturally) and sets out to beat the hell out of Wally(of course). Back at Wally's mansion, Tina shoots down all of Wally's initial moves(citing their age difference), but during the night she heads to his bedroom to stay with him. Before anything spicy can happen, Jerry smashes through the bedroom wall, which leads to a fight with an angry Wally. Jerry manages to get the advantage over Wally by shooting mustard gas in his face(?!), before grabbing Tina and rushing away from Wally. By the time Wally's vision has cleared, he looks out the window just in time to see Jerry and Tina crash into a fuel depot, leading to an explosion.

Thoughts: What can I say? I'm enjoying this series. Yes, the ending was insanely over the top, what with the fuel depot exploding(!), but I'm still enjoying watching Wally act relatively irresponsible for a superhero. Yeah, sure, Tina is obviously in a horrible relationship with an insane husband and all, but (almost) sleeping with a woman who WAS still married(although separated), isn't the sort of thing you'd expect to see Saint Barry Allen, Clark Kent or Steve Rogers do... But it WAS the sort of thing you'd expect a suddenly rich, super-powered 19 year old guy to do. That's probably what I've been enjoying the most about this series thus far. Yeah, Wally is the super-heroic Flash, but he's also a 19 year old guy, one who is trying to make it in the real world, as well as live up to the lofty expectations placed on him due to the Flash name. It's too bad Geoff Johns and the DC braintrust decided to take a piss all over this series, because there was some great character development done here by Mike Baron.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

That Wally West sure is romantic!