Friday, November 25, 2016

The Flash #11

   There are certain characters who become the "property" of specific writers or artists.

   Sandman (Dream), for example, should only be written by Neil Gaiman. Elektra should only be written by Frank Miller. And The Shade should be the property of James Robinson.

   But the latter turns up here, guest-starring in the latest storyline in The Flash.

   But there are extenuating circumstances - after all, The Shade was a foe of the original Earth-2 Flash (Jay Garrick). He also fought Barry (Flash) Allen in the '60s.

   But Robinson took the character and crafted him into a great anti-hero in the pages of Starman - and that's who we see in this story.

    The story takes Flash and the new Kid Flash into the Shadowlands - the dark dimension that's the source of The Shade's powers.

   Written by Joshua Williamson and drawn by Davide Gianfelice, this story is (so far) one of the best Flash stories in recent memory - it strips out a lot of the unneeded side stories and focuses on a straightforward adventure, one that focuses on both Flashes and gives them a chance to be heroic.

   They even have a good handle on The Shade, which makes it easier to accept when other hands are all over a beloved concept.

   So far, so good.

Grade: B+

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