So far, Absolute Flash has done a great job immersing us in how Absolute Wally West has slowly become more of a superhero. We’ve seen his origin, met his allies, and even been introduced to some of his villains. But it wouldn’t be a Flash book without his Rogues. While heroes like Batman or Spider-Man have a plethora of villains with never ending battles against their respective heroes, Flash’s relationship with his Rogues has always been different. If you’ve seen Justice League Unlimited, you know what I mean. Many of Flash’s Rogues are often people with more human and tragic backstories with less nefarious ways of causing trouble. But this is the Absolute Universe, so it’s natural to expect things to be flipped on their head. With that, Jeff Lemire and Nick Robles slow things down in issue #6 to introduce us to The Rogues. While we may know who they are and where they stand in relation to causing conflict for Absolute Flash, we don’t know who they were or why they’re doing what they’re doing. That changes now.
DC
To understand the present, we have to go back in time. Don’t worry, there’s no “Absolute Flashpoint”, that’s not what I mean! But this issue is set six months in the past. See, it turns out that Captain Boomerang, Captain Cold, Golden Glider, and the Trickster served in the military here. And to top things off, they made some serious mistakes on their last mission. Here, Lemire provides a little insight into each character’s life since their failed mission to segue into how they get the band back together. In the process of this, we also are given some pretty huge revelations about The Flash and those we often consider important around him.
If I sound like I’m being coy, then that’s because some of the surprises Lemire leaves in this issue genuinely made my jaw drop and they’re simply worth experiencing for the first time without any spoilers. This issue, no pun intended, goes by so fast it’s absolutely incredible how many important details Lemire added here. Not only do we begin to understand the backstories of the “Rogues,” we also learn where things might be headed for Wally sooner than you might think. As a result, the issue has incredible pacing and although it feels like a quick read, it’s also just enough to give a little insight into the backstory behind several characters without dragging things on longer than necessary.
The issue also does a great job providing more insight into Rudy West’s character. As a longtime Wally West fan, it’s hard for me to not be distrusting towards Wally’s dad at every corner. But again, this is the Absolute Universe, and things aren’t always what they seem. In this issue, Lemire is able to continue the trend of taking the familiar concepts readers have familiarized themselves with and twisting them into something new, captivating, and full of intrigue. Additionally, the issue ends on an important cliffhanger that will certainly have huge repercussions on the series moving forward. Altogether, this issue is able to manipulate the page space to turn the story into a captivating drama-thriller while adding more depth to some of the series’ most important characters aside from Wally.
DC
Nick Robles returns to the series and doesn’t skip a beat. This issue is a joy to read and a huge part of that is Robles’ simple but emotive art. While the issue isn’t full of intricate line work where every shadow seems lifelike, each page is as consistently detailed as the last, which I think goes a long way here. Often, it’s easy for some pages to seem like they’re too lifelike to simply be drawn while other pages lack the same detail or characters lack detailed facial expressions. Here, Robles makes every page just as detailed as necessary. In an issue without a lot of action, the motion of the characters becomes much more noticeable; particularly since this is a plot and dialogue driven issue without any bombastic fight scenes to wow us. As a result, I found that parts of the issue seemed to struggle keeping its motion appear more fluid and seamless. However, this also allowed the story to emphasize how normal The Rogues really are in comparison to the forces controlling them.
Ironically, this left the issue feeling brighter than usual. Lucas’ colors were great here and helped emphasize how untouched by evil Absolute Flash appears to be. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean things are going well for everyone, it just indicates that this series may continue to carry a different tone than other Absolute Universe books. As a result of this calmer yet intriguing story, I think it’s safe to say that while Absolute Flash’s tone will continue to be starkly different than the rest of the Absolute Universe, that just means looks can be deceiving.
Altogether, I found Absolute Flash #6 to be a slower story that takes time to add depth to the world around Wally. It seems speed isn’t everything after all; without this book, we might have never learned how human The Rogues appear to be. We also might not have gotten to a point where I could safely argue… are The Rogues even Rogues? Or did we just assume that based on our prior knowledge from the mainline DCU? It seems Lemire and Robles are going to continue the trend of making The Flash stand out from other DC books by turning its stories into ones that, despite their science fiction direction, offer more tender and intricate concepts to captivate readers. As a result, this issue stands out as a great example of why Flash’s Rogues are simply indescribably different and more than villains like Lex Luthor, Trigon, Sinestro, or The Joker due to their often-tragic backgrounds leading them to oppose their respective foes. Altogether, this is a well-crafted story full of drama, conflict, and just enough suspense to leave readers desperate to find out what happens next.
You must be logged in to post a comment.