Heretical Jargon

Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL & BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Penciled & Inked by FRANCIS MANAPUL
Colored by BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Lettered by WES ABBOTT
Cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
Variant cover by MIKE CHOI
B&W Variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
Edited by DARREN SHAN & BRIAN CUNNINGHAM

 If you were worried about how effective the de-aging process for the new 52′s villains was going to be, fear no more!  Not only do they look even younger and more energetic, but they have also developed a keen sense of style!  Captain Cold starts off this year this year’s line of villainous costuming with his sleeveless hoodie jacket with just the right amount of blue and white for that frigid feeling.  (Sometimes I wonder if the artists actually design the costume changes, or if their hands are forced.)

While my poking fun of Captain Cold’s costume is a bit obvious, it doesn’t truly distract me from the overall story.  Geoff Johns is certainly putting in some quality work on his titles, (with exception of Green Lantern) and it’s showing.

Barry still feels like the same old Barry prior to the reboot, but some new and interesting elements have been added in order to make this Flash revamping feel worth the cover price.  There’s a lot going on with the technological side of things, as well as tweaking Barry’s speedster abilities – almost making it a burden to bear.

Barry can’t simply run around from crime scene to crime scene without paying attention to the powers levels his speed radiates.  Luckily, his handy dandy energy output gauges, in the form of the lighting ear pieces, let him know when he needs to take a trip to the newly refurbished Cosmic Treadmill.  Which, in turn, soaks out the dangerous speed levels from the Flash, to hopefully one day, I can only assume, be used as an alternative energy source for the local community.

There’s a brief, yet lovely romantic interlude involving Barry and newly inducted girlfriend, Patty Spivot. I had already assumed they were an item.  However, based on Patty’s reaction to Barry’s declaration on the public bus, that relationship is obviously just getting started.  There’s a clear pathway being paved here though; Patty doesn’t support the Flash’s vigilantism while Iris believes in what the speedster stands for.  Me thinks this could change the future of Barry’s love life, wouldn’t you agree?

While I don’t love Cold’s costume change, the more naturalistic form of Cold’s power is much more appealing than simply wielding an arsenal of freeze guns.  (Leave those kinds of villains for Bats to handle I say!)  Making it where we sympathize with the Captain is much more appealing too.  Before he seemed like some punk middle age man, now he feels more like a man, down on his luck, mad at the world.  Even with the costume, this is a Captain Cold I can enjoy reading about.

Give it up for Manapul and Buccellato on the art as well.  Just like Tony Daniel, the two are able to balance everything out creating the story and the art without any trouble!  The best part of it all is how well both visualize the sheer power in the Flash’s speed; everything from just straight running, duck and diving, to his powerful tornado maneuver. Plus, the paneling on every page is creative and superb.

Off to a good start, this series progressively gets better with every issue.  Manapul and Buccellato are not only telling a story of a classic DC hero, but reimagining the entire mythos as a comprehensive and intelligent – giving us a story EXPLAINING what being apart of the Flash family actually means.

10 out of 10 stars

Written By: Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato
Art By: Francis Manapul
Colors By: Brian Buccellato
Letters By: Sal Cipriano
Cover By: Francis Manapul

You know, when I was reading the flash run prior to the reboot, one question did pop into my head once that made me wonder about the realism within the world of the fastest man on Earth…Is Flash’s brain able to keep up with the physical speed, or will a story arc come along to show how Barry’s mind is deteriorating from taping into the speed force?  Now, at long last, Manapul brings us a plot to dive into this very concept…but I wonder how well it’s going to work in the long run?

It’s a little confusing to think that Barry’s mind wasn’t thinking fast enough to do the kinds of things he did here in issue #2.  If he wasn’t able to think faster than he runs, how is his mind and body able to work together?  It could be that Barry’s speed became more of an instinct, as we all have acted on instinct and/or without thinking at the snap of a finger at some point in our lives.  Could it be that Barry’s speed became such a conditioned part of himself that his mind didn’t NEED to keep up with his body?  It’s a farfetched concept, but that’s why comics are great!  Who needs reality right?

The explanation by Dr. Elias was interesting and clever; and while I stand by my above statement about mind and body needing to be at one with each other in order to work, this whole notion that his brain has to think faster in order for him to BE faster is interesting.  However, with such a great piece of plot setting, I felt a little jipped…how is it that all of the sudden, Barry figured out how to “think faster.”  Just like that, without any prior personal training. Is there something about being on top of a building with a gorgeous city-view and the comfort of a gorgeous hot blonde with glasses standing next to you enough to get your brain going to hit the gas pedal?  What exactly is your muse Barry?  Couldn’t Manapul have stretched out the “learning process” for Barry in taping into the speed force, learning how to speed up his thinking process?  I feel like something that could have been REALLY cool was ripped away from me.

Of course, where the story fails slightly, the artwork makes up for it, period!  I have a feeling I’m going to be following this series more for Manapul’s art rather than his writing.  The way Barry saw the world differently; the slower parts of what he saw in a gorgeous purple and white montage, and the faster parts of what he was seeing in the regular, full color awesomeness we’re used to.  It was such a creative way to display the differences in Barry’s new found sight…even if it’s basis for existing doesn’t really make sense to me.

The bulk of the issue is the Flash running around town, saving every woman and child he can with his new found ability.  We do learn a little more about his friend Manuel, but not a whole lot.  But so far, I’m not too terribly impressed with the story.  It’s all about the art for me at this point, and that’s definitely Manapul’s strong point.

6 out of 10

Written By: Francis Manapul& Brian Buccellato
Art By: Francis Manapul
Colors By: Brian Buccellato
Letters By: Sal Cipriano
Cover By: Francis Manapul

Except For The Costume, Not Much Has Changed…
In the tradition of the Tony Daniel’s one man writer/artist team up, Francis Manapul pulls out all the stops and does double duty with the script (accompanied by Mr. Buccellato) and art.  I think there’s something to comic book freelance employees taking up both jobs, don’t you?  Everything Daniel did on Batman before and after the reboot was top notch, now Manapul is proving to be just as capable.

Barry Allen was minding his own business, with fellow forensic scientist Patty Spivot, at a party celebrating the new innovations in technology Coast City has achieved, when suddenly, a gang of armored thugs drops from above through the glass ceiling, gassing the place.  The Flash, being too fast for the smoky clouds, gets the jump on the majority of the invaders, with one bearing a remarkable resemblance to his old friend, Manuel, who died in the attack.  Later, after being chased down by another group of unknown people, he finds himself in the midst of hundreds of men, all resembling…Manuel???

Of course nothing has really changed much for the DC speedster, with exception of Patty Spivot who takes over in the potential girlfriend spot, along with Barry and Iris’ marriage being erased from the history books.  Both women, however seem to be the same strong women they were before the reboot, with Patty moving up in the world as a successful forensic scientist.  That’s right you harsh critiques of Catwoman and Red Hood and the Outlaws!  All you can do is complain about the two instances in DC’s barrage of #1’s where two women are sexually exploited and you don’t even recognize the number of women who look normal and hold a respectable position in the DCU without showing a lot of skin.

Manapul is my favorite comic book artist.  As I stated in my review of All-Star Western #1, his “sketched out” style proves to be very rough and fresh, but clean and crisp at the same time.  The actions scenes explode with color, and the slower, calmer scenes glimmer from the lights of the city’s after hours.  Of course the visual highlight of this issue is the two paged spread on pages four and five, bursting out at us as it wishes it were a three dimensional comic book. I’m not sure what I think of the new costume design, but it seems to represent the style that every superhero is adopting; much more detailed with seams that don’t really serve any real hemming purpose.

For right now, time travel seems to be a thing of the past, although I’m sure it’ll come back at some point.  For now, however, I’m certainly glad to see Barry have a much more low key adventure to partake in and not another “out-of-this-world” event that’s too complicated to comprehend.  Although I wonder how much Barry remembers from the events of Flashpoint.  Based on Flashpoint #5, Barry remembered enough to deliver a message to Bruce Wayne after the current DC Universe was born. Does he remember the old universe at all, or was that a moment that we are to assume dwindled away from his, and everyone else’s memories?

The Flash is off to a good start!  Barry Allen has everything he needs with a mystery to boot.  Iris will undoubtedly make the moves on Barry eventually, causing some interesting relationship turmoil to stir up, as well as other personal strife.  Looking forward to more excitement in the world of the Flash!

9 out of 10 Stars