The Flash: It could arguably be said that he is one of the most underrated founding members of the Justice League. He is not only super fast, but he is very intelligent as well as creative on how he is in tune with the speed force. I myself am a Flash fan, and I was a little worried on how his villains would be depicted. One downside of The Flash to me was that he did not have a good cast of villains that he fought. Well, in The Flash 23.1: Grodd, I was very wrong.
Story:
To understand what is going on in this book, I have to take you back during the new 52 run of the Flash. The power-hungry Gorrilla Grodd, ruler of Gorilla City, invaded Keystone City. Fortunately, The Flash defeated Gorilla Grodd and trapped him into the speed force. Cut to the present day, the citizens of both Keyston City and Gorilla City are repairing the damage Gorilla Grodd caused. In an effort to make peace, The mayor of Keystone City and the ambassador of Gorilla City created a monument in The Flash’s honor. During the ceremony, Grodd made his triumphant return and is even more powerful than ever. He quickly enslaved all of Keystone City and Central City, tortured the Gorillas that turned on him, and made an example of the Gorilla ambassadors. It is looking very grim for mankind.
Writing & Art
Brian Buccellato has been doing the writing for the new 52 run of The Flash since the beginning of its run. “The Booch” did one thing that I have to commend him on with this book (besides the great story). Instead of making an origin story of Grodd like most of the other villain comics this month, he intertwined the ongoing story with this villain’s one shot. He made me interested all the way to the very end and I am wanting more.
The art in this book is beautiful. Chris Batista definitely knows how to make an angry Gorilla Grodd. Although I am personally a fan of Francis Manupul’s art (New 52 Flash), Batista definitely kept the quality of the style. The best parts of the book was the action sequences when Grodd was terrorizing the city. Batista captured his ferociousness flawlessly. I definitely cannot wait to see more of this artist in the future.
Conclusion
To no surprise, I really liked this book. Great story, really good art from a new artist, and it’s actually making me anxious on how they will build The Flash’s story from here. I would recommend this book for anyone who is a fan of comics.
[SlideDeck2 id=9304]
