FA+
Shop
1637 submissions
Collects The Flash #80-94 by Mark Waid (writer) and Mike Wieringo, Rob Haynes, Barry Kitson, Kris Renkewitz and Carlos Pacheco (pencillers).
In #80, Wally West is watching a baseball game on TV with Linda Park when the game is interrupted by a woman demanding to know where the Flash is. Wally recognises her has his ex-girlfriend Frances Kane, who could manipulate magnetic fields.
In my Fantastic Four review I said that Johnny Storm never had much luck with the ladies, but now it looks like Wally West has the same problem. He's trying to have a nice day in watching sport with his girlfriend when a crazy ex shows up. I know from reading other issues of the Flash that Frances ends up calling herself Magenta and joins the rest of the Rogues, so I suppose that her relationship with Wally gets ever worse from here.
Nightwing and Starfire guest-star in #81-83 as they help Wally fight against hi-tech criminal group known as Combine. Meanwhile, things get even more complicated between Wally, Frances and Linda.
I don't know anything about this Combine group. Do they appear a lot in the Flash comics? As far as I know the only people the Flash has ever fought are the Rogues, so this Combine group is new to me. Are they basically the Flash's version of Intergang? I'm always happy to see Nightwing and Starfire together though. As much as I love Dick Grayson, I have to admit that some of his fashion choices were a little iffy. Just look at that mullet. Then again, this was the 90's, there are plenty of iffy hairstyles all over these issues. A mullet really doesn't suit you either, Wally! Then there's Piper's ponytail. Oh, my...
In #84 and 85 the Flash is up against a new villain, a stab-happy fellow called Razer.
It seems like I wasn't the only one that disliked Wally's mullet. Linda marches him into a barbers to get his hair cut. Razer isn't quite as rad an 90's guy as I thought somebody with such an EXTREME name to have. At least he wasn't a Rob Liefeld creation though. Nobody is as rad, 90's and EXTREME as Cable and Stryfe. Let's not forget Adam-X, the X-TREME of course. So rad, so 90′s, so EXTREME!!! The nearest person I can think of being so rad and 90's from DC is Jean-Paul Valley when he was Batman.
In #86, the Flash teams-up with the hero Argus to investigate the discovery of a time capsule found in the ruins of the Combine's old headquarters.
I have no idea who this Argus guy, so I don't have enough information about him to make an opinion. My guess is that he disappeared into obscurity or got killed off during one of DC's many crisis events. You know how comics like to use their minor characters as event fodder. What is it with DC heroes and not wanting other heroes in their city? Batman's the same whenever somebody else pops up in Gotham and now the Flash is acting all pissy because Argus is operating in Keystone City. At least Superman knows how to share.
In #87, it's Christmas but the Flash doesn't have time to enjoy the festive season as he is busy fighting criminals.
Wow, Wally West seems to be a real misery guts. In the last issue he was all salty because he had to share superhero business with Argus, now he's got a sulk on because it's unusually hot during Christmas. I can see where Wally's coming from with that one though. It would just feel weird to have warm weather at Christmas. I don't know how people in Australia do it. I suppose the criminals aren't helping Wally's mood, from armed gunmen causing a ruckus at the mall and punks robbing a toy store to drug dealers dressed as Santa. I'd be pretty pissed if I had to deal with that sort of stuff during Christmas.
In #88, the Flash finds out that he is being sued for negligence by a woman that was seriously injured during the fight with Razer. Wally's lawsuit troubles continue in #89 and 90 as we find out that Abra Kadabra is taking the opportunity to use events in a scheme to get his revenge on the Flash.
You would expect a member of the public from the Marvel Universe to sue one of the heroes because the general public in the Marvel Universe are a bunch of dicks, but you expect better from the people that live in the DC Universe. I can't even say that the woman suing Wally is making a false claim as her injuries do seem legitimate.
In #91, we get the whole reason why I bought this collection in the first place, the first appearance of one Bart Allen. Bart only makes a small appearance in this issue as he and his grandmother Iris Allen escape from the Science Police in the future and head to the past (our present). Bart makes his first full appearance in #92 as we find out that he has become lost in the timestream and his speed powers are going into overdrive, rapidly aging him. Meanwhile, Linda Park is investigating the story of some kids joining a cult. The cult turns out to be the cult of Kobra and he isn't pleased about snooping reporters. This storyline continues in #93 and 94. #94 is also a tie-in to the Zero Hour event as the Flash is transported into the far future.
A pretty decent collection altogether. My only wish was that there were some villains for Wally to fight that I actually had an interest in. Now that I think about it, most of the classic Rogues (the ones I actually liked) were pretty much reformed at this point, weren't they? Piper, Heat Wave and Trickster were the ones that had reformed, I think. I don't suppose Mark Waid could have used Captain Cold all the time though. What was Captain Boomerang doing round about this time? Was he still part of the Suicide Squad back then? I'm sure some kind readers will help me out.
My rating: 3.5 stars.
In #80, Wally West is watching a baseball game on TV with Linda Park when the game is interrupted by a woman demanding to know where the Flash is. Wally recognises her has his ex-girlfriend Frances Kane, who could manipulate magnetic fields.
In my Fantastic Four review I said that Johnny Storm never had much luck with the ladies, but now it looks like Wally West has the same problem. He's trying to have a nice day in watching sport with his girlfriend when a crazy ex shows up. I know from reading other issues of the Flash that Frances ends up calling herself Magenta and joins the rest of the Rogues, so I suppose that her relationship with Wally gets ever worse from here.
Nightwing and Starfire guest-star in #81-83 as they help Wally fight against hi-tech criminal group known as Combine. Meanwhile, things get even more complicated between Wally, Frances and Linda.
I don't know anything about this Combine group. Do they appear a lot in the Flash comics? As far as I know the only people the Flash has ever fought are the Rogues, so this Combine group is new to me. Are they basically the Flash's version of Intergang? I'm always happy to see Nightwing and Starfire together though. As much as I love Dick Grayson, I have to admit that some of his fashion choices were a little iffy. Just look at that mullet. Then again, this was the 90's, there are plenty of iffy hairstyles all over these issues. A mullet really doesn't suit you either, Wally! Then there's Piper's ponytail. Oh, my...
In #84 and 85 the Flash is up against a new villain, a stab-happy fellow called Razer.
It seems like I wasn't the only one that disliked Wally's mullet. Linda marches him into a barbers to get his hair cut. Razer isn't quite as rad an 90's guy as I thought somebody with such an EXTREME name to have. At least he wasn't a Rob Liefeld creation though. Nobody is as rad, 90's and EXTREME as Cable and Stryfe. Let's not forget Adam-X, the X-TREME of course. So rad, so 90′s, so EXTREME!!! The nearest person I can think of being so rad and 90's from DC is Jean-Paul Valley when he was Batman.
In #86, the Flash teams-up with the hero Argus to investigate the discovery of a time capsule found in the ruins of the Combine's old headquarters.
I have no idea who this Argus guy, so I don't have enough information about him to make an opinion. My guess is that he disappeared into obscurity or got killed off during one of DC's many crisis events. You know how comics like to use their minor characters as event fodder. What is it with DC heroes and not wanting other heroes in their city? Batman's the same whenever somebody else pops up in Gotham and now the Flash is acting all pissy because Argus is operating in Keystone City. At least Superman knows how to share.
In #87, it's Christmas but the Flash doesn't have time to enjoy the festive season as he is busy fighting criminals.
Wow, Wally West seems to be a real misery guts. In the last issue he was all salty because he had to share superhero business with Argus, now he's got a sulk on because it's unusually hot during Christmas. I can see where Wally's coming from with that one though. It would just feel weird to have warm weather at Christmas. I don't know how people in Australia do it. I suppose the criminals aren't helping Wally's mood, from armed gunmen causing a ruckus at the mall and punks robbing a toy store to drug dealers dressed as Santa. I'd be pretty pissed if I had to deal with that sort of stuff during Christmas.
In #88, the Flash finds out that he is being sued for negligence by a woman that was seriously injured during the fight with Razer. Wally's lawsuit troubles continue in #89 and 90 as we find out that Abra Kadabra is taking the opportunity to use events in a scheme to get his revenge on the Flash.
You would expect a member of the public from the Marvel Universe to sue one of the heroes because the general public in the Marvel Universe are a bunch of dicks, but you expect better from the people that live in the DC Universe. I can't even say that the woman suing Wally is making a false claim as her injuries do seem legitimate.
In #91, we get the whole reason why I bought this collection in the first place, the first appearance of one Bart Allen. Bart only makes a small appearance in this issue as he and his grandmother Iris Allen escape from the Science Police in the future and head to the past (our present). Bart makes his first full appearance in #92 as we find out that he has become lost in the timestream and his speed powers are going into overdrive, rapidly aging him. Meanwhile, Linda Park is investigating the story of some kids joining a cult. The cult turns out to be the cult of Kobra and he isn't pleased about snooping reporters. This storyline continues in #93 and 94. #94 is also a tie-in to the Zero Hour event as the Flash is transported into the far future.
A pretty decent collection altogether. My only wish was that there were some villains for Wally to fight that I actually had an interest in. Now that I think about it, most of the classic Rogues (the ones I actually liked) were pretty much reformed at this point, weren't they? Piper, Heat Wave and Trickster were the ones that had reformed, I think. I don't suppose Mark Waid could have used Captain Cold all the time though. What was Captain Boomerang doing round about this time? Was he still part of the Suicide Squad back then? I'm sure some kind readers will help me out.
My rating: 3.5 stars.
Category Story / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 78 x 120px
File Size 5.9 kB
Comments