FLASH #23

[ GIMME MY SPEEDY-SALE! ] 

'That's it' said the Flash to his speedy adversary. 'I don't want to play with you anymore' he continued 'especially if you keep on killing people all of the time'. And in response, do you know what he said back to him? He said 'Fair enough. I'd rather play with Brian Buccellato and Francis Manapul, anyway! Especially if we're being supervised by the Publisher: DC Comics, sometime in July, 2013'.

Using GENERAL terms, answer the following 4 questions about this FOURTH PART of 'In Reverse'.

• WHAT'S THE MAIN THRUST OF THIS TALE: Whilst Patty attends her parents 30th Wedding Anniversary, her other half, Barry (The Flash) Allen, does his damndest to stop the Reverse Flash in his tracks. 
• ARE THE MAIN OBJECTIVES ACHIEVED: No. I'm not saying anything. Anything except Iris West stumbles across a familial revelation. 
• ANYTHING ELSE HAPPEN: Patty's father has a nice tête-à-tête with his lonesome daughter.
• HOW DOES THIS STORY END: With everything changing.

All in all, what is the most memorable SENTENCE OR CONVERSATION spoken in this issue?

There was a question posed by Iris to Patty that I thought resonated throughout this entire issue.

'What about Barry?'.

Well, she does have a very valid point, doesn't she? What about Barry? Will he live? Will he die? How will he cope with the aftermath of this issue? Plus what about that revelation which kicked me to the curb as soon as I saw it? KA-POW!

What are the BEST bits about this issue?

(+) I guessed it, folks. I guessed who the Reverse Flash really was a couple of reviews ago. Admittedly, this isn't a negative revelation by any stretch of the imagination. Despite it's obvious connotation, I did find this surprise quite shocking, because it made a lot of sense if you look at the bigger picture where this particular character is concerned. Hint-Hint!

(+) I know I should mention this more often, but I do really love looking at Francis Manapuls great artwork. His fight scenes are all very well composed. His characters show a lot of character. And by in large his illustrations do complement the tale he and Brian are trying to tell. Good job.

(+) OK. So Iris has some sort of teleporting power now. Ah-huh. Fair enough. I'm not really sure how I feel about this at the moment. One part of me finds it intriguing, whilst another part of me finds it too new for new's sake. Hmmm. 50 / 50 at best.

(+) Now I did enjoy reading those scenes with Patty and Iris in, as from my perspective, I found that they broke up this all-action issue quite nicely, and gave it some much needed pathos and personality.

What are the WORST bits about this issue?

(-) Although I did enjoy reading this tale, in the same breath, I'd have to say that it was somewhat sparse in content. Conceptually it was a battle that led into a revelation and a conclusion, complemented with a cute secondary sub-plot. Not that this was a bad-bad thing of course. It's just worth mentioning is all.  

Choose TWO CHARACTERS out of this comic book, and then compare them to A REAL-LIFE HISTORICAL FIGURE.

ANNE OF CLEVES AS IRIS WEST: Anne was the forth wife of Hendry the 8th -- the one time King of England -- who he treated like a sister although he ended up marrying her for a short while. Hmmm. Those English! A crazy bunch or what?

CATHERINE PAR AS PATTY SPIVOT: Unlike Anne, Catherine Parr was on par with her eventual husband, Hendry, managing to outlive him and help out Cleves in the process.

What QUOTE would be appropriate to sum-up this story?

'There is more to life than increasing its speed' -- Mahatma Gandhi

What SONG, THEME-TUNE, or MELODY, would complement this tale, as well as add and extra dimension to it by default?

'I'M A MAN OF CONSTANT SORRY' BY THE SOGGY BOTTOM BOYS: Oi! Don't you snigger at my song choice, folks! If you think about it for a moment or two, both this tale and this tune are all about one man's lonely choices in life, come what way.

ANYTHING Else?

Now as you might have guessed, I've tried my best not to give away the Reverse Flash's true identity, mainly because I don't want to spoil anything for those of you who haven't read this issue yet.

Well, it would be rather rotten just to spurt out his name all of a sudden. Wouldn't it? And I would never want to do that. No way. It's just not in me. However, the one thing that is in me is my admiration on this great-great creative team.

Brian Buccellato and Francis Manapul -- Wow! -- You're both stars in my eyes. I love reading your work each and every month, and really appreciate it when you tweet my reviews whenever you can.

Out of curiosity though, do you guys have any limits? At the moment your talents and efforts seem to know no bounds. And you only ever seem to slip up on occasion where your narrative is concerned.

When you can find the time I would love to hear your thoughts. Right, readers?

Love, Light, and Peace, the Reviewer.