Writers: Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato
Artist: Scott Hepburn
Published by: DC Comics
Finally! After a long wait, it seems we get to have a little background on the current Flash baddie, the Reverse Flash. And, after the big reveal in Flash 23 of it being Daniel West, Iris’s brother, it was more or less a given that it would be pretty emotionally charged.
With Manapul and Buccellato strictly on writing duties in this one, Scott Hepburn does a great job depicting the life and struggles of Daniel West as he tries to get his life back together. Even though it was a little cartoony at some points, I loved the facial expression he gives Daniel when there’s an emotional change. The eyes always drew me in. My favorite has to be the page of Daniel coming out of the wreckage all beat-up and exhausted. Hepburn’s pencils and Buccellato’s colors made it almost cinematic in it’s portrayal.
I liked the story, I really did. Daniel as a child with the crickets really spoke to me as a reader. And that last page going straight into issue 24 was pretty awesome. I just wish we could have gotten a little more in-depth. Why did Papa West do the things he did to his kids? But mostly, I just wanted a little more detail into how Daniel’s abilities worked now. How does he turn the power on or off? Why does the destroyed monorail fuse with his body? But I really liked the flow of the story. For a second, I wondered why we weren’t starting with Daniel’s earliest memory and going forward, but of course, that last page explained it all. Manapul and Buccellato’s unique storytelling style will never cease to blow my mind.
Ignoring the goings-on of Villains month, this Reverse Flash storyline is hitting its peak and, from that last page, I really can’t wait to see where this goes. As a fan of a lot of time travel stories, I know you shouldn’t mess with the past, so what damage is Daniel going to create in his attempt to fix his life?
4 out of 5 nerds
Irwin Fletcher
I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.
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