The Flash: Season Zero #22 - A Review

Like the previous issue, The Flash: Season Zero #22 is a flashback devoted to Len Snart and Mick Rory and their criminal careers before they became Captain Cold and Heatwave. It is revealed that the two crooks exemplified their respective elements long before they got their hands on high-powered super-guns. More, we see why the calculating Snart works with a loose cannon like Rory.


The script captures the attitude of the characters from the show perfectly. Nevertheless, some of the action doesn't make a lot of sense. I can swing with Rory's plan to throw off the police by setting the museum they're robbing on fire before they go in. The problem is the plan doesn't work (despite the burglar alarms being disabled) and the police somehow beat the fire department to the museum, purely because we need a reason for Joe West and his partner to be there. This issue is a great character piece but it strains credibility as an action sequence.


Thankfully, the artwork saves the issue.  This is the kind of story Phil Hester draws best and the inks by Eric Gapstur beautifully enhance Hester's pencils.  But what really makes the artwork pop is Nick Filardi's colors, with a palette of strong oranges and cool blues creating a perfect visual representation of our two main characters.

The Flash: Season Zero #21 - A Review

Before they became Captain Cold and Heatwave, Len Snart and Mick Rory were ordinary criminals. But how did two such different men become partners in crime? Now the tale can be told of how a cool and calculating mastermind came to trust a passionate hothead.


Phil Hester's in his element here with a dark, atmospheric story set on the wrong side of the tracks. His pencils are a little sloppy at times but not to the point where it's distracting. The inks and colors - by Eric Gapstur and Nick Filardi respectively - perfectly enhance Hester's pencils.


The script by Andrew Kresigberg and Lauren Certo is decent enough. There's a suitable number of gags regarding the characters personalities, including their differing drink orders - Cold orders an ice-cold beer while Heatwave orders Fireball Whiskey. Still, I can't help but wishing Geoff Johns had written this story as nobody writes The Rogues quite so well.

The Flash: Season Zero #18 - A Review

The good news is that Barry Allen has stopped the so-called King Shark from killing again. The bad news is that, in the process, he allowed a terrorist to escape from The Suicide Squad. The worst news is that they all have just ten minutes to stop a bomb from going off... and Deadshot just pumped Barry full of enough tranquilizer to make sure The Flash doesn't get in the way of The Squad and their target a second time...


The script for this issue is fairly good, with dialogue that sounds like it came right from the show. Cupid is appropriate flirty, Captain Boomerang makes a number of puns involving his favorite weapon. All well and good.

The actual story, however, suffers from a few logic gaps. The big one here is that Deadshot - a character not known for his compassion  - just happens to be carrying enough tranquilizer to take down a speedster in one shot. And then there's Amanda Waller's apparent stupidity in utilizing a blood-crazed monster as an agent on a mission requiring them to capture and question a suspect.


I've said before that I didn't think Phil Hester was the right artist for this series, but his talents prove well-utilized here. With the focus of this issue largely on The Suicide Squad, Hester's gritty style and talent for drawing monsters seems a good fit. And Eric Gapstur's inks perfectly enhance Hester's pencils.

The Flash: Season Zero #17 - A Review

Trapped in the bowels of ARGUS, Barry Allen has only minutes to save the unfortunate King Shark from killing again at the behest of Amanda Waller.  Naturally The Wall doesn't care about the toll the shark-man's endless hunger is taking on his mind - only that he's an asset that Task Force X can use. A little help from his friends may get Barry loose but can even he reach Coast City in time once he's free?


This latest issue is thrilling right up until the very last page where a whopping big plot hole reveals itself as we find out King Shark's target was a terrorist who needed to be questioned about an active bomb. Of course Amanda Waller wouldn't lose sleep over a dead terrorist. But the idea that The Wall would send an untested resource - to wit, a man-eating shark-man - out to capture a target who needed to be taken alive and hope that it could be kept under control long enough for an interrogation to occur is just plain idiotic!


Phil Hester is back in the artist's chair this time around and I can't say I've missed him too much. Some of the pages in this issue look rushed and sloppy. And I really do believe Eric Gapstur's style better fits the brighter aesthetic of The Flash universe.

The Flash: Season Zero #16 - A Review

Barry Allen is still determined to rescue the so-called King Shark from the clutches of The Suicide Squad. But even with Cisco and Caitlin backing him up and blueprints of ARGUS' headquarters and security systems, can The Flash accomplish this impossible mission? Not if Amanda Waller has anything to say about it. And armed with some newly built drones designed specifically for bringing down The Fastest Man Alive, she may indeed have the last word.


This issue marks the first time Eric Gapstur has handled the art duties on this series himself and it proves a welcome change. I love Phil Hester's artwork but his blocky style seemed a little stiff for The Flash. Gapstur's style is more fluid and there's a greater sense of motion to the book as a result.


The script itself is as enjoyable as we've come to expect from this creative team. Cisco makes A-Team references nobody else gets but proves to be far more than simple comic relief as he takes charge in the field and comes up with the plans that keep Barry in once piece. And while I side with those who dislike the newer, slimmer Amanda Waller design, I cannot deny that John Ostrander's Wall is very much here in spirit, no matter her appearance.

The Flash: Season Zero #15 - A Review

King Shark has been captured by The Suicide Squad, though they nearly killed Joe West in the process. This sets Barry Allen to tracking down this dangerous new villain group and sends him to Starling City looking for answers. Answers Oliver Queen has but doesn't want to give away...


With all the secrets upon secrets and shared information that has been revealed on The Flash and Arrow, it never occurred to me until now that Barry knows nothing about ARGUS or The Suicide Squad.  As such, the central conceit of this issue - that the sudden reemergence of Captain Boomerang with a gang of other killers would send Barry running for answers - is a brilliant one that helps to tie the two series even closer together.  As one might expect, there's a high humor quotient to this issue as Barry intrudes on Ollie's 'Arrow' time and fails to notice that while he might casually hold a conversation in the costume, The Arrow does not do anything casually.


Phil Hester is on familiar ground with his artwork here, having been the artist on Green Arrow for a number of years.  Hester's work with The Flash hasn't been bad but I think he's a better fit for the aesthetic of Arrow, which offers more opportunities for the shadowy, dramatic scenes that Hester excels at.  It's a debatable point but what can't be debated is that this issue is as well illustrated as it is well written.

The Flash: Season Zero #14 - A Review

Barry and Cisco survived Round One with King Shark, but the mutant shark-man's bite has slowed Barry's hyperactive healing-factor to a crawl. As Barry returns to work trying to hide his bloody bandages and Cisco and Caitlin return to tracking King Shark, little do they know that someone else is hunting the monster.

How soon will be be before Team STAR Labs crosses paths with The Suicide Squad? And has Captain Boomerang come back to finish The Flash off once and for all?


Fans of the show who have yet to give this tie-in comic a try will be pleased to know this issue contains the same humor. Phil Hester sneaks in a few funny visual gags, such ac Cisco's "research" into the biology of sharks involving a screening of Sharknado.  And the script by Kai Wu and Lauren Certo boasts several equally amusing one-liners.


Arrow fans will probably want to check this issue out as well, since it gives us our first post-arrest appearance of Cupid as well as the return of Captain Boomerang.  And Deadshot. There's always room for more Deadshot.

The Flash: Season Zero #13 - A Review

The Flash has King Shark!  Or does King Shark have The Flash? It's a bit hard to say but it may fall to Cisco Ramon to be a fast thinker before they have to test if Barry's quick-healing powers can let him grow back an arm!


This issue is exciting and yet something of a disappointment at the same time.  The action is well played out and some hints are dropped about Cisco's eventually taking up the role of a hero himself (You know which one!). But it's a bit of a downer that - unlike the comics - King Shark was once a human cancer patient undergoing radical treatment at the time of the Particle Accelerator Explosion rather than a shark who evolved into a semi-intelligent being. I guess the writing team would rather not explain why there aren't more of these meta-animals running around if the energy released affected non-humans.  But c'mon - it's not like evolved sharks are any more implausible than dark matter interacting with a drug made of Shark DNA to create a wereshark!


I've commented before that Phil Hester wouldn't be my first choice of artist for a Flash comic but his work here is quite effective, catering as it does to his talents for horror.  There's none of the forced poses or odd angles that marred previous issues.  Even Eric Gapstur's inks don't seem to be as randomly applied this time around.

The Flash: Season Zero #12 - A Review

I fear I may be turning into a skipping audio file (kids these days don't say 'broken record' unless they're hipsters)  but I find myself running out of ways to say how much I enjoy The Flash: Season Zero.


The story this fortnight is a gripping one, as our heroes investigate a frightening possibility - that the explosion of the STAR Labs particle accelerator affected animals as well as humans.  Worse, one of these so-called Meta-Animals - a humanoid shark - is on a feeding frenzy in Central City, seeking out the scientists who abused it. Could this be a hint as to how Gorilla Grodd might be brought into the TV show?  Probably, but this comic is a ripping yarn regardless of that question.


Comedy continues to be the best thing this series has going for it.  The humor of The Flash is intact and all of the characters are written true to form.  You can hear the voices of the actors from the show speaking the dialogue by Kai Wu and Lauren Cetro in your head as you read the comic.


The only real negative thing I have to say about the book involves the art.  Understand that I love Phil Hester's work and have enjoyed it since his run on Green Arrow.  But for every awesome page like the one above  featuring King Shark feeding, there are several pages where the human characters look blocky and stiff. Hester and Eric Gapstur are amazing when it comes to drawing monsters jumping out of the shadows.  Humans on a sunny day?  Not so much.

The Flash: Season Zero #11 - A Review

Barry, Caitlin and Cisco were enjoying a nice working vacation in Coast City, testing Barry's powers in a coastal environment to see if he might be the Fastest Swimmer Alive. Sadly, the fun is cut short when Barry gets called back to investigate a strange murder.  One seemingly committed by a walking shark...

The script for this issue is a fun one, with most of the focus being on the interaction between Barry, Cisco and Caitlin.  There's a fair bit of humor with Barry and Cisco cracking wise about the possibility of werewolves and zombies being potentially realities in their post-metahuman world (Caitlin is not amused, naturally) and the writing perfectly captures the spirit of the show.


Phil Hester is back as the series penciler along with Eric Gapstur on inks and, again, I must say that they seem an odd choice for the regular art team on this book.  They are both undoubtedly talented but their style seems at odds with the basic aesthetic of The Flash. The best bits of the artwork occur at the beginning and the end, where we see a shadowy monster attacking its victims at night. Unfortunately, most of the book takes place on a sunny beach in the middle of the day and Gapstur's inks are at their best when they are at their heaviest, strongly defining Hester's pencils.