The Flash #30

I cover the first Flash title set post-Forever Evil, with a new creative team, with Robert Venditti, Van Jensen handling the script, and Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund and Andrew Dalhouse, covering the pencils, inks and colours respectively, published by DC Comics.

I’ve been dipping in and out of The Flash for a while now for the last thirty issues and I was initially not going to pick up #30 – it was one of those impulse buys where I thought I’d give the new creative team a try and see if it was worth sticking around for this title with – and I was going in with mixed expectations, given the fact that although Venditti has scripted XO Manowar for Valiant, which has been fantastic, he’s also been responsible for Green Lantern following the Johns’ departure, which hasn’t been hitting top marks.

Thankfully though, The Flash #30 is a step in the right direction. Venditti looks at the Forever Evil aftermath much like other DC books this month, which feels odd because the event still hasn’t ended yet. But Central City was one of the worst hit by the event and although this book is basically an epilogue issue centric on the Flash, it looks at the character following the event and thankfully avoids any major spoilers. Barry Allen is back, and struggling to live with himself following the fact that he couldn’t save his city.

I can say that this is certainly a promising start for The Flash. Penned by both Venditti and Van Jensen, whilst this book does not hit the high quality set by the previous team of Buccellato and Manapul, it manages to deliver a good look into Barry’s character following the aftermath of Forever Evil. It’s certainly interesting and gives us a good tease of what’s to come in future issues, especially starting with next week’s Annual.

We don’t often see repercussions following a big event but if that is your thing than The Flash #30 should be right up your street. With Barry’s role in the Central City Police Department the bulk of this issue sees him being interviewed by a psychologist, whilst helping in the rebuilding of the city as the Flash whenever she blinks or looks away. There’s no major threat apart from a teaser at the end of the issue, but equally it serves as a nice breather before we get stuck back into Barry’s adventures proper.

The artwork is pretty good. Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund do amazing work – I loved their work on Nightwing and whilst it was a shame they left the title it’s great to see them on this book. Booth does some good pencils that are reinforced by both Rapmund’s strong inks allowing Dalhouse to handle the colours well. It’ll be interesting to see what this creative team can bring to the book going forward especially when working in conjunction with Venditti and Van Jensen.

This book also sees the introduction of fan favourite Wally West – and it seems like this is a good week to be a fan of pre-New 52 characters as Batman Eternal #3 also saw the return of Stephanie Brown. It’s more like a teaser really – in the way that Stephanie’s was in Batman #28, but regardless, time will tell whether he’s like the old Wally or not.

VERDICT: 4/5