Writers: Grant Morrison & Mark Millar
Pencils: Paul Ryan & Ron Wagner
Inks: John Nyberg
Letters: Gaspar
Colors: Tom McCraw
Published by DC Comics
US $1.95/issue

Reviewed by Alex Bernstein

Surprisingly pedestrian. Which, in this case, might not necessarily be a bad thing. Don't get me wrong: I'm a big fan and long-time follower of Grant's and I rank the first "Brotherhood of Dada" arc in DOOM PATROL alongside the best comics ever written. But in these issues of THE FLASH Grant (along with Millar) does something I've absolutely never seen him do. He plays it straight.

I've compared Morrison before to David Bowie (who I also love), meaning his work was as much, if not more, about style than content. Certainly JLA, MARVEL BOY, DC 1,000,000, etc., etc. are loooong on style, often to the story's detriment. But here, style is almost completely stripped away. And what we discover on a base level is that - yes - Grant is a good, solid storyteller.

These issues occurred when Mark Waid and Grant decided to take a break and switch books. And the stories are so straightforward, if they took the creator's names off the books, you'd probably think they were written by Waid (or Moessner-Loebs for that matter). There are two main arcs interrupted by three stand-alone tales: Mirror Master, Jay Garrick and a Green Lantern/Green Arrow crossover. All the stories have a major Silver Age feel - I was half-expecting to see Flash Facts and pink hands pointing out the action (old pieces of Flash biz) - but certainly, the work is the most reverential I've ever seen Morrison be with a character.

The first arc, "Emergency Stop" with the villain "The Suit" is easily the best, showing the most Morrison/Millar quirks you're likely to see in the whole run. Most come from the nature of the villain himself, a twisted living costume. This playing off a nice piece of Flash nostalgia: the fact that his rogues always got their costumes from the same tailor.

The second arc, "The Human Race" is stunningly standard, as Flash and a childhood imaginary friend, a living radio wave name Krakkl, are forced by two galactic gamblers to run a cosmic race for the fate of their planets. The story becomes "They Shoot Horses Don't They?" as both racers spend three issues running to the point of exhaustion.

Millar spoke in interviews about Flash's iconic significance in comic's history, starting and ending the Silver Age, Wally's new Flash signaling the start of the Modern Age. Morrison and Millar clearly take this seriously and treat Flash differently than probably any other hero they've worked with. They play it square.

And why not? If you're brains are about to explode after 5th dimensional imps and Ragged Robins, why not cozy down with THE FLASH and go back to the basics?

Recommended with reservations (Don't expect pyrotechnics.)

Alex Bernstein is a regular contributor to PopImage.