And yet another comic book collection from my son, James. This one is titled: “The Flash: Omnibus“, (2011©).
I have very mixed feelings about this book – and at over 430 pages and hard-bound, this is definitely a book! I liked the character of the Flash when I was growing up. Marvel Comics didn’t really have the same kind of super-powered hero. They had fast heroes, but nothing like the Flash. But, in the DC universe, the Flash was still a 2nd / 3rd tier hero to me. Well behind Batman and Superman (1st tier) and many others (like Green Lantern) (2nd tier).
Anyway, in this story we have the creation arch for the re-boot of the whole of the DC universe. The Flash breaks the dimensional barrier and splits the universe into 52 different versions. This means the DC universe has a virtually unlimited number of options in re-writing all of its heroes with new endings to all of the old stories. While I don’t think this is actually “practical”, it is theoretically possible with an internally consistent universe logic.
Now, why MY mixed feelings? Mostly because the book is divided up by two artists, one of whom I like (about 1/3rd of the book) and one I don’t really care for (the other 2/3rd). Had I paid the full, retail price for this book, I would not have been a happy camper. Between the bad drawing and the jumping around in the story (kind of embedded universes), the story suffers and I was left feeling, who are these people and why should I care about them? In the end, I didn’t really, which was too bad.
Will I keep reading The Flash? Yeah, as long as they’re being supplied by my son for free, but I don’t think I’d ever actually pay for them – particularly if the book has the bad artist.
Bottom line: weak recommendation.
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