Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #6. Review and Massive Spoilers [Archive]

Kevinroc

11-29-2006, 04:57 PM

Quite a bit actually happens in this issue.

1: Jay is seriously hurt by The Griffin. Bart finds Jay. Griffin thinks he killed them both but Bart saved himself and Jay.

2: Bart "revives" Jay by touching him, seemingly giving Jay a taste of the speed force. Bart then takes Jay to the hospital.

3: The Griffin, in a crazy attempt to prove himself a hero, destroys a bridge and then tries to rescue the people. Bart comes by and helps save everyone. Griffin gets jealous and they fight. Bart reveals to Griffin that he is The Flash.

4: After falling in the water and seemingly having a near-death experience, Bart remembers what heppened in the Speed Force.

5: Bart pulls himself and Griffin out of the water. Griffin dies. Seems his powers drove him insane and eventually killed him.

6: Inertia and MOTA threaten the life of the girl, Valerie. (I wonder if she'll still be around when Guggenheim takes over.) This is a set-up for the next storyline before Guggenheim takes over.

7: Bart reveals that he was trapped... on another Earth. Wally, Barry and Max were there. Along with that world's Jay. Bart volunteered to return to the main DCU-Earth to warn them about Superboy-Prime. Linda and the kids are with Wally on that other Earth (they are mentioned but not seen).

Paul Dee

11-29-2006, 05:12 PM

7: Bart reveals that he was trapped... on another Earth. Wally, Barry and Max were there. Along with that world's Jay. Bart volunteered to return to the main DCU-Earth to warn them about Superboy-Prime. Linda and the kids are with Wally on that other Earth (they are mentioned but not seen).

I don't follow this title at all, but that sounds very very interesting.

sly_kat

11-29-2006, 08:32 PM

yeah there goes the whole speed force and inside it thing... add that to hints of the new earth to come... maybe the golden age heros wen they pass on inhabit the bodies of those on that earth?

Effect

11-29-2006, 08:45 PM

Instead of coming up with a new post I'll just repost what I said about this issue after reading the spoilers on other forums to save time. :)

I can't wait to pick up this issue. This sounds great. I was honestly enjoying this title and this seems like a great way of ending this arc. For everyone wanting to know about Wally and even Barry they have their answer. A great answer it is as well I feel since not only are they alive but this confirms another Earth out there officially. If Jay is young then we are most likely looking at a Golden Age Earth as well. I wonder who else is there as well.

I wish the writers were staying on this book. I felt they did a good job. I just hope the new writer does a good job as well.

This really brings up the dialogue changes in Infinite Criss. About Earth-2 Wonder Woman saying she was being pulled somewhere. What about Earth-2 Superman. I wonder if there is a Powergirl there as well. Oh man so many questions to ask now. :)

skally19

11-29-2006, 09:37 PM

this was actually a good issue.

glue

11-29-2006, 09:41 PM

The amount of time building up the Griffin and the amount of time it took to kill him are kinda odd. I'm glad the arc's over.

Alex L

11-30-2006, 10:18 AM

Not a bad issue -- WORLDS better than I expected -- but I still think this will be it for me and the Flash.

Griffin was still far too underdeveloped a character to really be a legitimate villain. Given that they had six issues to cram everything Griffin-related into, I guess I can't really blame them -- but he was still not a memorable villain at all.

The whole bit at the end with all the speedsters in the Speed Force was a bit confusing -- (ignoring the fact that Barry and Bart were wearing their plain clothes) Superboy Prime escapes, the Flashes decide to go back and warn Earth. But why did they all jump at the chance to send Bart, no arguments?

On top of that, Jay was left behind when Bart took SBP into the Force. How did Jay get there? If it was a pocket-universe deal (which would explain the two Jays), why is Barry there? And even if we overlook that, how did Jay get back to Earth when he was still in the S. Force? Oh, I'm so confused...

But enough about my ranting. It was an...appropriate ending for the rushed Griffin storyline, and it looks like the next arc will be Bart rescuing Valerie. But this book isn't going to survive my pull-list purge; I'm aiming to drop half the titles I'm picking up and this just isn't going to make it.

skally19

11-30-2006, 11:13 AM

On top of that, Jay was left behind when Bart took SBP into the Force. How did Jay get there? If it was a pocket-universe deal (which would explain the two Jays), why is Barry there? And even if we overlook that, how did Jay get back to Earth when he was still in the S. Force? Oh, I'm so confused...

that's a different jay. you contradicted yourself. and answered yourself in the same thing. YOU ARE CONFUSED.

Alex L

11-30-2006, 11:34 AM

that's a different jay. you contradicted yourself. and answered yourself in the same thing. YOU ARE CONFUSED.

So there are two Jays after all? One who got left behind on Earth-2 during the events of Infinite Crisis and came back to Earth-1 when they re-merged, and another who was in the Speed Force for no apparent reason?

smoothjokes

11-30-2006, 01:29 PM

So there are two Jays after all? One who got left behind on Earth-2 during the events of Infinite Crisis and came back to Earth-1 when they re-merged, and another who was in the Speed Force for no apparent reason?

Yeah there are two Jay's remember the Jay that was uncovered in Outsiders? It probably ties in with this Flash issue.

CYOTI

11-30-2006, 02:02 PM

The Jay in Outsiders was a clone created by Mallah and the Brain.

Effect

11-30-2006, 02:09 PM

jade_nova

11-30-2006, 03:46 PM

Is this the same Earth that was seen briefly in Justice of League of America #0? Both places were discovered by the Flash.

hitokiri_

11-30-2006, 04:14 PM

hay. . . here's one of those weird speed force moments.

Young Avenger

11-30-2006, 06:02 PM

This issue felt rushed to me. The scene with the speedsters confused me and the fact all of them let Bart go with no arugments bothered me. One good thing came out of this issue. The Griffen's death.

TheTen-EyedMan

11-30-2006, 06:10 PM

Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo wouldn't be getting Hama'd if they were doing a bang up job.

Alex L

11-30-2006, 09:54 PM

Three it seems. The one on the new alternate Earth where the Flashes and others ended up in IC. Then there is the normal Jay as shown in JSA/Flash. Then there is the clone in the Outsiders who I think was or is dying so he might not be around. I think he was handed to Alan Scott or someone in Checkmate at the time, not sure.

*head explodes*
So I just re-read the issue, and apparently I missed the part where Bart explicitly says he was on another Earth and that was the Jay Garrick of that Earth. http://images.honda-tech.com/set1/smile/emhammer.gif to me.

But if that's an alternate Earth, why did all the speedsters end up going there after they died? It can't really be Speed Force's Heaven if Jay is there (Jay's not dead) but how did Earth-1's Barry and Wally and Max find themselves there?

*head explodes again*

DarthAstuart

12-01-2006, 08:50 AM

wouldn't this alternate earth have been folded into "New Earth" at the end of IC, since all of this technically would have happened before that point in the event?

Effect

12-01-2006, 09:08 AM

Not really since that Earth, which does come off as a verison of Earth-2 it seems, was differnet from the Earth-2 that appeared in IC. In IC the Earth-2 was created was completely empty of people where as the other Earths weren't. They all had people, heroes, and villians. So that leads me to believe that Earth-2 or a version of it coudn't be recreated since it already existed and when the tower was destoryed it couldn't really be folded into the "new" Earth since it was never created by that device.

Then there is the situation with team Flash and SBP. If SBP had been on one of those Earths that were created (when they disappeared Alex hadn't created Earth-2 or the others) why not simply fly back to the normal Earth? If they were on one of those many Earths why did SBP and Flash(Bart) have to travel back through the Speed Force? I think it was because they were so far away that was the only way back. If that is the case then the Earth they were on couldn't have been one of those Earths that were folded into "new" Earth so it has to still exist out there.

Jack

12-01-2006, 10:00 AM

*head explodes*
So I just re-read the issue, and apparently I missed the part where Bart explicitly says he was on another Earth and that was the Jay Garrick of that Earth. http://images.honda-tech.com/set1/smile/emhammer.gif to me.

But if that's an alternate Earth, why did all the speedsters end up going there after they died? It can't really be Speed Force's Heaven if Jay is there (Jay's not dead) but how did Earth-1's Barry and Wally and Max find themselves there?

*head explodes again*
The Speedsters there (with the exception of alterna-Jay) were part of the group that captured Superboy Prime, so they were all sent to the alternate Earth.

sly_kat

12-01-2006, 11:43 AM

The Speedsters there (with the exception of alterna-Jay) were part of the group that captured Superboy Prime, so they were all sent to the alternate Earth.

Yes but what was the class with Wally desrcribing himself going elsewhere?! it was implied to be different than the others yea? the original concept of the speed force now seems to be conduit to the other earth? (enough to travel by the vibrationaly frequency):eek:

Captain Smith

12-01-2006, 01:07 PM

The continuity is now clearer to me. :eek:

Buried Alien

12-01-2006, 01:12 PM

If SBP had been on one of those Earths that were created (when they disappeared Alex hadn't created Earth-2 or the others) why not simply fly back to the normal Earth?

Perhaps that's what the Anti-Monitor armor that Superboy-Prime was wearing was for.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Dr.Geekibus

12-01-2006, 09:21 PM

I was excited when I first read this thread so I went ahead and bought the issue. The ish just didn't do it for me though. I felt the explanation of where Bart and the others have been is lame. And the final disposition of the Griffin was equally lame. You know he'll be returning at some point either as pure energy or as some sort of energy vampire.

Anyway, I'm afraid that this marks the end of the run for me. No more Flash for me.

Thanks for all the info.

Doc

ChairthrowerLad

12-02-2006, 08:18 AM

I usually give a creative team one storyline and Bilson and Dameo were writing another arc I would stop buying this title. I love the Flash, hell, I like Bart, but this book is filled with bad art, a slow story, and the crappy dialogue. I hate to be so negative, but I have been stewing for awhile and now I want to vent. :p

hitokiri_

12-04-2006, 08:31 AM

after reading the issue, another question comes to mind.

they cleared up the location where the rest of the speedsters are. but how did they end up inside bart?

Joe Acro

12-04-2006, 08:45 AM

I thought the way the Griffen story played out was anti-climatic. My other big problem is with the reveal of where the other speedsters are. I don't think it makes much sense.

Anodyne

12-04-2006, 09:54 AM

after reading the issue, another question comes to mind.

they cleared up the location where the rest of the speedsters are. but how did they end up inside bart?
He ate them?:evilsmile

Joe Acro

12-04-2006, 10:30 AM

I suppose, in actuality, they didn't end up inside him. They're still stuck in that alternate reality, which doesn't make much sense when I think about it.

hitokiri_

12-04-2006, 11:16 AM

I suppose, in actuality, they didn't end up inside him. They're still stuck in that alternate reality, which doesn't make much sense when I think about it.

so. . . why's he getting those nightmares? :D

Jack

12-04-2006, 11:27 AM

The nightmares may have come from his lost memories, or simply the fact that he was afraid of losing control.

hitokiri_

12-04-2006, 04:09 PM

i hate the speed force.

Joe Acro

12-04-2006, 05:53 PM

i hate the speed force.
You should not hate the Speed Force. You should hate what it has become.

Dr.Geekibus

12-04-2006, 07:20 PM

I'm with Joe. Don't hate the Speed Force. I actually thought it was a clever plot device. It has become a joke, however, and really needs to just go away forever. Internalize the power in Bart without all the "the speed force is in you at a macrobiotic level" mumbo jumbo and lets just move on. :mad:

carabas

12-05-2006, 03:18 AM

What a frelling convoluted mess...
Any chance that DC will declare the story non-canonical, cancel it, and carry on with volume 2 any time soon?

the4thpip

12-05-2006, 03:27 AM

What a frelling convoluted mess...
Any chance that DC will declare the story non-canonical, cancel it, and carry on with volume 2 any time soon?

Bart waking up and finding Wally in the shower? :eek:

SKETCHSANCHEZ

12-05-2006, 07:45 AM

What I dont get is that SPB said he built the anti monitor armor so he could escape, but in this issue they said that he stole it.

Joe Acro

12-05-2006, 08:42 AM

The Anti-Monitor armor made no sense in the first place. Any explanation is better than what we had. So Superboy-Prime apparently nabbed it from an alternate reality in which the Anti-Monitor's armor wasn't utterly destroyed. (I suppose Crisis must've ended somewhat differently after the timeline reset in order to allow Alex and Superboy to find a body in the regular universe.)

But this alternate reality idea makes things more confusing. We previously believed Wally went somewhere different from Bart. Bart actually said at one point that he spent time in the Speed Force with Max and Barry. On this alternate Earth, why bother even having a Jay? Where are the other heroes?

hitokiri_

12-05-2006, 11:23 AM

this earth is only for the mainstream speedsters of the dcu.

and here i thought sbp made the antimonitor armor out of thin air.

the4thpip

12-06-2006, 12:00 PM

Sorry, but I did not see any improvement with this issue.

Horrible dialogue. Disjointed pacing. Still that "Barry's suit protects Bart" crap. The artist who draws like a bad Allan Davis clone has serious issues with foreshortening and anatomy. And everything. The final scene nearly made me hurl.

Bored at 3:00AM

12-06-2006, 10:34 PM

No improvement that I could see. Ah, well. I'll wait until Guggenheim comes on board.

Ian J.N.

12-06-2006, 10:52 PM

The Anti-Monitor armor made no sense in the first place. Any explanation is better than what we had. So Superboy-Prime apparently nabbed it from an alternate reality in which the Anti-Monitor's armor wasn't utterly destroyed. (I suppose Crisis must've ended somewhat differently after the timeline reset in order to allow Alex and Superboy to find a body in the regular universe.)
This makes my head hurt. The Anti-Monitor's corpse, including armor, comprised the base of Alex Luthor's big fork thingie. Superboy-Prime nabbed a harness from a parallel world, which implies multiple Anti-Monitors. Multiple Anti-Monitors, multiple Monitors running around--does that mean there's a Multi-Multiverse?

SKETCHSANCHEZ

12-07-2006, 05:05 AM

Well, at least we got a new writer to look forward to.

CAShepard

12-07-2006, 12:34 PM

Bart waking up and finding Wally in the shower? :eek:

lol or have Wally wake up and tell Linda he had a dream where he was running an inn;)

90'sCartoonMan

12-13-2006, 07:09 PM

Griffin says "Guess he finally ran out of road!" in reference to Jay. That's an...interesting...callback to the pilot episode of the Flash series. Jay was the name of Barry's older brother, and he got second place in some race he was running. Barry said that Jay never slowed down, he just ran out of road.

...yeah, I just had to bring that up.

SKETCHSANCHEZ

12-14-2006, 02:32 PM

The solits for Guggenhiems run sound pretty good on paper.

Heres the one that caught my eye.

THE FLASH: THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE #10
Written by Marc Guggenheim
Art by Ron Adrian & Art Thibert
Cover by Ethan Van Sciver
Good cop, bad cop! Acing the L.A. Police Academy exam, Bart Allen carries on his grandfather’s police legacy at super-speed. But the darker side of the law’s just shown up in the City of Angels: Zoom!
On sale March 21 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

I really dig that idea for some reason.

Heres the new artist by the way:
http://www.comiconart.com/RonAdrian.html

Pretty good...kinda a Benes clone but thats fine with me, your mileage may vary.

Apathy Boy

12-14-2006, 09:58 PM

MWGallaher

12-17-2006, 06:48 AM

I'll be happy that Bart's got a job other than being a scab. Bilson & DiMeo never thought to show us anything of the sort, but I'm pretty certain that Jay, lifelong resident of blue-collar Keystone City, would have strongly disapproved of Bart's choice of employment in issue 1.

Hush Little Batman

12-17-2006, 12:28 PM

This issue was stupid and the explanation of where all the speedsters went, and everything that happened on that other Earth, was beyond ridiculous. The speed force used to be a cool concept and now it's something I almost wish never existed because "writers" don't know how to use, or better yet - NOT use, it.