Thursday, November 9, 2017

The Flash #34 - A Review

Dr. Meena Dhawan - a.k.a. Fast Track - was once Barry Allen's girlfriend and Wally West's first mentor. She disappeared during a battle with the villain Godspeed, seemingly killed along with two of her students among those granted super-speed by The Speed Force storms that once wrecked Central City.

Now, she's back and Barry and Wally are overjoyed at the news. But Meena has returned with grim news - Barry's new-found connection to the negative charge of The Speed Force is killing him! She offers to help study Barry's new powers and find a cure. Unbeknownst to them, however, Meena is a double agent, working for both STAR Labs and the villainous group of rogue scientists known as The Black Hole...


While I'm displeased to see Meena being turned into a villain (I found her to be a far more interesting love interest than Iris West during her brief time as Barry's girlfriend), at least she's proving to be a competent villain who is giving The Flash a run for his money.  The dialogue is a little flat, however, with a lot of sameness to the characters voices - a problem that may be due to Joshua Williamson co-writing this issue with Michael Moreci.

Whatever reservations I may have about the story, I have none about the artwork. Pop Mhan does his usual fantastic job on the pencils and inks, backed by the always outstanding colors of Ivan Plascencia. This is one of the most consistently well-drawn books on the stands.

The Final Analysis: 8 out of 10. It falters only in the story being inaccessible to new readers.

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