Review: The Rogues’ Reign Tightens In The Flash #84 By Williamson And Duce
by Tony Thornley
Any hero’s worst fear is when the bad guy wins. Add powers on the fritz, and it sounds like a recipe for one of the worst days in any hero’s life. Unfortunately that’s exactly what The Flash #84 puts in Barry Allen’s way.
Joshua Williamson, Christian Duce, Luis Guerrero, and Steve Wands show us what happens when the Rogues win…
The Flashes are powerless, Captain Cold rules Central City, and their only hope is Golden Glider. It’s their darkest hour. Can they stop Cold, and restore the Speed Force? And what price will they have to pay to do it?
This is largely a setup issue, meant to increase the stakes and the conflict for the end of the story. Williamson has excelled at those all through his run, and while this isn’t the strongest of the bunch, it still accomplishes exactly what it needs to. It really does a fantastic job spotlighting the relationships between Barry and the Rogues, in addition to his existing relationships with his family.
Duce has been away from the Flash for a while, but he steps in without missing a beat. He is able to convey a great sense of scale with each page, especially with several absolutely fantastic splash pages. He also shows speed and movement really well, which is absolutely crucial for the character. Guerrero’s colors are bright but he uses greys effectively to emphasize the action in the story.
This isn’t the strongest issue of this run, but it’s a solid issue, and sets up the rest of the story to come nearly perfectly.
The Flash #84 is available now from DC Comics.
