Weekly Comic Reviews 06.29.2020

Hey y’all. Back at it with two of my favorite comics this week. I also read the prelude to Empyre that released this week. It was incredibly dull, and I had nothing to say about it, honestly. I’ll wait for the actual event to start before reading anymore.

 

This full cover is incredible

Quick notice about next week: There are no comics I buy releasing, so I’ll be taking a fun detour into other stuff, including Gail Simone’s time on The Flash: Fastest Man Alive. It’s going to be an exciting week and I can’t wait to share it with you.

Spoilers for: The Flash #756, Saban’s Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers #50

 

The Flash #756

Writer: Joshua Williamson

Artist: Christian Duce

Ink: Jordi Tarragona

Color: Luis Guerrero

Letters: Steve Wands

Cover: Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, and Hi-Fi

 

Welcome to the start of the big final story arc of Joshua Williamson’s Flash run; it’s a showcase for Christian Duce, Jordi Tarragona, and Luis Guerrero. Duce is an incredible artist. His figures are dynamic and varied. Tarragona brings clean finishes that really cement the power of the actions these super powerful characters take. Guerrero’s colors always make the comic stand out from many of its peers. Unfortunately, this issue, like too many recent ones in the series, does not have a story that does the art justice.

Unlike those issues, which often came midway through stories, this story seems to be starting off on a strange foot to begin with. Eobard Thawne is recruiting Flash’s enemies to create his own Reverse-Flash Family. Here, he goes after Grodd, Turtle, and the Rogues before traveling to the future to recruit Barry’s children, the Tornado Twins, who are villains in this timeline. Meanwhile, Barry, wracked with guilt about Godspeed’s death, attempts to push his Flash Family away. They don’t let him though and Iris, Wallace, and Avery promise to stand by Barry. It’s a neat parallel of the two gathering the force.

But this Eobard is from before both Barry and Iris killed him...

The question is: Why not include the entire Flash family? Obviously, Wally is off somewhere being a pseudo-god (This story presumably occurs prior to Dark Nights: Death Metal). There are two specific characters that have been teased in this series but have failed to make an impact: Jay Garrick and Bart Allen. Acting as the big reveals of The Flash #25 and #50, respectively, neither character has returned. It’s entirely possible that it’s out of Williamson’s hands and he is making do, but it feels wrong. If the Flash Family is being assembled, Wally, Jay, and Bart should be here. They are, after all, the heart of said family.

Similarly, what is Thawne playing at? I’m sure the characters being recruited were chosen because they have been the key contributors to Williamson’s near-100 issue run. Except Hunter Zolomon, ostensibly the villain for the middle third or so. He may appear later in the arc, at which point this oversight will be forgiven. Really, the Reverse-Flash Family should be Thawne, Zolomon, Inertia, and The Rival (Do those last two even exist in this continuity?). You could even bring back Daniel West and position him as Wallace’s reverse. That would create a lot of potential for incredible stories.

Ultimately, the selection of villains being recruited is disappointing. This story has potential. A hero’s villains teaming up against them is one of my favorite superhero tropes. There are quite a few issues left with which Williamson can end his time on The Flash with a bang. Here’s hoping it happens.

 

 

Saban's Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers #50

Writer: Ryan Parrott

Artist: Daniele Di Nicuolo

Colors: Walter Baiamonte with assistance from Katia Ranalli

Letters: Ed Dukeshire

Cover: Jamal Campbell

So, Necessary Evil has ended. That’s about all there is to say. The Rangers beat the bad guys with relative ease (It does take Tommy and Jason combining their Zords to beat one and that’s cool.) and then everyone goes home. Well, the Omega Rangers stay in space because there a still villains to fight and none of them appear on the show again until Jason returns in Zeo.

There is a nice moment where Trini is the one to defeat Kiya. Trini has rarely been given a leading role in this story and it’s nice to see one of my favorite Rangers take down the villain. It also makes sense because she was the first, and really only, Omega to attempt to truly befriend Kiya. So, when Kiya assumes Trini is going to try to talk her down, it is very satisfying that Trini says, “Nope. I’m done with all that,” and transforms.

This is only half the gatefold

Sometime after the big battle, the Rangers get a notification that meteor is landing near the Command Center. They teleport over and watch the meteor land. Except it’s not a meteor, it’s a four-page gatefold splash of…. Some generic looking guy that hasn’t shaved in two weeks and wears robes. There is rarely anything negative to say about the art in this comic. It is energetic, expressive, clear, and just fun to look at. This huge reveal is a giant misstep. After some light googling, I was able to determine that the man in question is Lord Drakkon. His return certainly warrants a big reveal like this; it is just unfortunate it had to be in a way that didn’t actually reveal who the character is. I guess that’s what the next story is about. I’m here for it but hope Parrott figures out how to do exciting climaxes.

Also, Ranger Slayer and the Solar Ranger show up and they’re really cool characters, so that’s nice.

 

 

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