The Flash #72-Year One Chapter Three

Writer: Joshua Williamson & Howard Porter

Color:HI-FI

We are already half way done with the 6-issue series of The Flash Year One saga. The retelling of Barry Allen’s origin story continues to unravel some aspects of the legend of the Flash that was born during the Silver Age of Comics. In the third chapter which is called the Rise of the Rouges, we see the young speedster take on the Turtle, the romantic relationship between him and Iris West develop, the prototype Flash costume, and the debut of a familiar villain from the Flash’s rogues gallery which doesn’t end well for Barry at the end of the comic.

Williamson’s writing continues to show the present-day Barry Allen develop into the hero that he will one day become. The scene where Barry takes on the Turtle shows the speedster alluding back to his childhood when he was bullied. It is in this scene that thanks to travelling to the future and meeting his olderself, Barry has chosen to once again cling on to hope like he did before his mother died. Despite Turtle rendering Barry powerless, it is with luck that Barry is able to phase through a brick wall and defeat the Turtle. The Central City Police Department arrests the villain and as a double victory, Barry and Iris begin to date.

Throughout the comic, we see Barry’s life become more balanced thanks to his speed. The comic book panels drawn and colored by HI-FI show the soon-to-be-Flash going out on dates with Iris, spending time with August Heart (the future Godspeed), visiting his father Henry Allen in prison, developing his costume further (which consists of a hoodie and red glasses), and being a hero by saving lives. The colors here used are have bolder but lighter hues which to me, evokes hope rather than the dreary colors of the dreaded future Barry ended up in.

It is not until after the scene where Iris visits Barry at his apartment, we get to the climax of the comic. After speaking with Iris about a criminal name Clive Yorkin (he was involved with the dead body during the investigation in Flash #70, Year One Chapter One). Barry investigates the case that involved Yorkin and John Banks (the dead man at the crime scene) and discovers that there is powder on Bank shoe. Barry suits up and rushes to the Central City Pharmaceuticals where he see’s  Yorkin and a group of criminals lead by one Leonard Snart, the future Captain Cold. Iris also witnesses Iris confronting Yorkin who threatens her. York pulls a gun on Iris to the point Barrry springs to action to use his speed save her from getting shot. But things go worse when the comic ends with Barry running away from the scene only to reveal that he took a bullet for Iris and is now near death at the end of the comic.

While I enjoyed the continuing story of Barry’s hero’s journey, I felt that the comic alone should have been more focused on how the Rogues came to be before showing the fight against Turtle. I am not saying that it should have had focused on all the Rogues necessarily but maybe it should have been centered around Leonard Snart and how be would eventually become Captain Cold. We only see several Captain Cold references with Snart, Yorkin, and the criminals wearing the blue glasses that Cold wears and that’s all we get.

Then again, this is The Flash Year One. However, I was hoping to see a little more about the Rogues than Barry in this one since the comic was title Rise of the Rouges. Then again, that’s just me. At least, we see the man who will one day become Captain Cold.

Overall, this was still a cool story which I give 3.8 Flash rings out of 5. The reason behind the 1.2 loss was it could have had made the comic a little Rogue centric before resuming Flash vs. Turtle. But again, that’s just me.

If you like this review, please feel free to follow my blog and hit the like button. Also if you agree of disagree with this review, feel free to comment.