The Final Showdown(Flash #86 Review)
THE FLASH #86
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Penciller: Rafa Sandoval
Inker: Jordi Tarragona
Colorist: Arif Prianto & Hi-Fi
Letterer: Steve Wands
Publisher: DC
Rating: 8/10
This is it, the battle for Central City is upon us. Flash faces off against Captain Cold, his archenemy for the survival of the city. With Captain Cold powered up thanks to technology given to him from Lex Luthor, he has taken the city for his own, but Flash has little time to figure out the problems with his speed powers and enlists the other Rogues to help him.
Williamson has taken what could have been a forced "Year of the Villain" tie-in and given us one hell of an action packed story. Watching Barry overcome the obstacles of his fluctuating speed and forced to team up with his adversaries, has been a lot of fun. While this isn't the first time this has ever happened, I love seeing Barry forced to work with Rogues.
Most of the issue consists of an epic battle, beautifully illustrated by Rafa Sandoval and Jordi Tarragona. Watching them duke it out was a blast to watch. You don't usually get to see them go to to toe like this and the art team did a great job of making each page full of excitement and energy. Sandoval has become one of my favorite Flash artists during his stints on the title, my only gripe is that we don't see him enough.
It's at the end of the fight though where something unexpected happens, Barry loses control and almost kills Cold. Luckily Golden Glider pulls him off, as Mirror Master restores the city back to how it was before Captain Cold took over. While I loved the idea of Captain Cod taking over Central City, I'm glad we can put this story to rest. It was a cool way to tie-in to "Year of the Villain", but I hat when line-wide events influence what happens in regular book. But at least Williamson was able to do it seamlessly and fun at the same time.
Williamson has been consistently giving us some of the best DC stories being published and once again left us on another cliffhanger. What he has in store for Barry is anyone's guess, but I'm sure it's gonna be one hell of a run. As we head towards the monumental 750th issue, expect some really cool stuff.