The Flash #753
Written by Joshua Williamson
Art by Howard Porter, Brandon Peterson and Hi-Fi
Lettering by Steve Wands
Published by DC
‘Rama Rating: 6 out of 10
If you’re a Flash fan, you’re likely used to all the time travel shenanigans that Barry Allen and company get up to, and Joshua Williamson’s villain Paradox fully leans into that flavor of Flash adventure. But if you’ve been following along with the current arc, this issue might feel like little more than unnecessary filler. Williamson and company made it fairly clear in the last issue what Barry needed to do to defeat Paradox, and this issue doesn’t move the chains along so much as it has Barry double down on his resolve. That leads to one pretty brutal character moment but a flimsy issue overall, even with some good work from artists Howard Porter and Brandon Peterson.
Williamson’s approach to Barry Allen and the Flash mythos has been to take the character he fell in love with and make it more and bigger than before. We’ve seen Barry reach some of his highest highs and lowest lows throughout this run. An unfortunate side effect of that (and cape comics in general) is that you end up reading a never-ending loop of the same stories and twists on the same moments over and over and over again. The Flash #753, while not a poorly put-together issue, is evidence of that side effect.
For all their running, Barry and his supporting cast very rarely move forward. This issue takes us back to the day Eobard Thawne killed Barry’s mother, and in a vacuum, that’s a really powerful test of Barry’s resolve. However, Williamson really telegraphed the necessity for Barry and Eobard to team up. Eobard will always be the man that killed Barry’s mom, and thus any team-up between the two will test Barry. Spending a whole issue reminding us that they have a history together actually makes Barry’s inaction outside his mother’s house in the past less impactful, unless somehow that’s not information you already have. I think Williamson’s instincts were right here, but he opts to hold the readers’ hand a little more than they probably need this far into his run.
Howard Porter and Brandon Peterson teaming up for a Flash book is pretty fun though. Speedster characters can be the toughest to really nail in a medium that relies on static images but Porter and Peterson are great at getting the necessary energy on the page. As much as Wiliamson’s script feels like it’s taking its time to explain what’s happening to the reader, Porter and Peterson excel at injecting it with a sense of urgency, This issue feels like a fast read because the characters are bouncing all over the place, and that makes the page outside of Barry’s mom’s house hit a little bit harder. Barry has to fight against his natural instincts – he can’t be a hero in that moment, he can’t even move.
Readers who have been firmly entrenched in this run from the beginning are going to feel a little bit like this issue is going through the motions. But thanks to the pace set by the art, this chapter will probably read great in trade, especially as that moment for Barry will stop the narrative dead in its tracks for a moment. It doesn’t feel like this story needed this issue so much as it needed that moment. Porter and Peterson put Williamson on their back a little bit in this issue but that’s what a collaborative medium is for. Williamson has proven he can deliver great Flash stories, and it’ll be a treat to see him wrap up this one.