Happy Friday everyone! Time to catch up with the Flash…Is it really possible to catch up with the Flash? An existential question for another time perhaps. Today I am going to finish my recap of The Flash Vol. 2: The Speed of Darkness, specifically issues #12&13. If you need to read part 1, you can find the link at the bottom of this post. We last left our heroes trapped in the Shadowland about to face off with a corrupted Iris and Hope. Time to jump in.
The Speed of Darkness, Part Three: We start with a quick flash back (haha, get it? Oof) of Flash trying to teach Kid Flash how to vibrate through walls, while Kid Flash tries to guess Flash's real name. In the present, The Shade can no longer control the shadows and Iris and Hope are full evil at the moment. (Mixed feelings, since it seems like they are just being dope and powerful women.) The shadows pull The Shade away and Flash has an epiphany about how the speed of darkness is the same as the speed of light. Basically they figure out that they need to vibrate through the darkness, but Kid Flash still doesn't know how to do that. Flash temporarily freezes time (by going really fast) so he can give Kid Flash a pep talk. A bit of a downer pep talk about lost childhoods and trust, but it seems to be enough to pump up Kid Flash. Although instead of vibrating through the shadows Kid Flash blows them up.
In the shadow tower, Hope is explaining the evil plan to Shade, but Iris is having second thoughts. Hope threatens to kill her, but Shade distracts Hope long enough for the Flash team to arrive. The next Flash plan (via Iris) is to fill all the space with light, aka, explode more shadows. It works and everyone finds themselves back on the street in Central City. Shade, aka, Richard takes the blame for all that happened, but Hope forgives him very quickly. Him and Hope leave, Richard calling Iris the Flash's wife. (Foreshadowing? Haha, get it...shadow? Double oof.) Wally takes Iris home and then Flash and Kid Flash make up. Wally heads off to school. Barry spends some time reflecting on Richard's goodbye and decides to work harder at pursuing Iris. He goes to her place and asks Iris out on a date.
Date Night: It is Christmas Eve and Kid Flash has to stop a robber dressed like Santa, because Iris is on a date and for some reason the Flash is busy. In fact he is on a date, Iris even has the waitress take their phones, so there will be no interruptions. Kid Flash is busy stopping crime and it is going well, until a lava monster named Tar Pit decides to rob a toy store. On their date Wally asks why it took so long to go on this date and Iris points out that Barry was busy with work and other things (meaning other ladies). Kid Flash is trying to figure out how to beat Tar Pit, without touching him and also keeping the fight far from his Aunt's date. Tar Pit knocks Kid Flash down, but doesn't care to finish the kid off, so he slowly walks away. This gives Kid Flash an idea, so he runs quickly kicking up snow to slow Tar Pit even more. It works and Tar Pit becomes frozen in the snow.
Iris and Barry continue to chat about what pulls them together and what keeps them apart, on a date that is feeling a little sadder than I would have hoped for. Tar Pit confides in Kid Flash, that he was stealing the money to save his niece and nephew. They have been kidnapped by people that his dead brother owed money. Tar Pit is off to jail, but Kid Flash is off to save some kids, which he does pretty easily. Barry and Iris walk home and she admits she is scared of losing him as a friend, but Barry is optimistic that they can figure it out. They walk into Iris's house to find Wally making them hot chocolate and expressing how grateful he is for the both of them. We end with a few thoughts from Wally as he works at a food kitchen and we see Tar Pit's niece and nephew visit him and we see Barry and Iris happy for a night without distraction. Bonus ending, Captain Cold is driving a fancy car and meets a shady fellow in a desert. The man gives Cold some plans and then tries to blackmail him, but no one double crosses the rogues. (Poor guy never stood a chance.)
Thoughts: There are a few things I enjoy about this volume. I like that Wally keeps trying to guess the Flash's name and each guess is more and more white. I like Barry and Iris together. I hope that continues, but I do know that comic books never really let love last for too long. I will try to stay hopeful though. It is also fun to recap a Christmas issue. This volume felt a bit like an inbetween volume, with the short arch and the two single issues, but that is okay, sometimes it is nice to have a little bit less of the heavy all the time.
There were many artists who worked on this volume and you could feel that from issue to issue, but since the writer was consistent it wasn't too hard to look past. Issue #9 the artist was Jorge Corona, issue #10 was done by Felipe Watanabe and Oclair Albert, issues #11 & 12 were done by Davide Gianfelice, and issue #13 was done by Neil Googe. All of the main covers were done by Carmine Di Giandomenico. Individually these artists are all great, but it sometimes took away from the story, at least for me to have some many different styles. Please check out what they are up to now if you like.
My favorite cover is this short run was the issue #9 variant done by Dave (David) Johnson.
The best line comes from a would be criminal in issue #13, I literally laughed out loud.
The Speed of Darkness, Part Three: We start with a quick flash back (haha, get it? Oof) of Flash trying to teach Kid Flash how to vibrate through walls, while Kid Flash tries to guess Flash's real name. In the present, The Shade can no longer control the shadows and Iris and Hope are full evil at the moment. (Mixed feelings, since it seems like they are just being dope and powerful women.) The shadows pull The Shade away and Flash has an epiphany about how the speed of darkness is the same as the speed of light. Basically they figure out that they need to vibrate through the darkness, but Kid Flash still doesn't know how to do that. Flash temporarily freezes time (by going really fast) so he can give Kid Flash a pep talk. A bit of a downer pep talk about lost childhoods and trust, but it seems to be enough to pump up Kid Flash. Although instead of vibrating through the shadows Kid Flash blows them up.
In the shadow tower, Hope is explaining the evil plan to Shade, but Iris is having second thoughts. Hope threatens to kill her, but Shade distracts Hope long enough for the Flash team to arrive. The next Flash plan (via Iris) is to fill all the space with light, aka, explode more shadows. It works and everyone finds themselves back on the street in Central City. Shade, aka, Richard takes the blame for all that happened, but Hope forgives him very quickly. Him and Hope leave, Richard calling Iris the Flash's wife. (Foreshadowing? Haha, get it...shadow? Double oof.) Wally takes Iris home and then Flash and Kid Flash make up. Wally heads off to school. Barry spends some time reflecting on Richard's goodbye and decides to work harder at pursuing Iris. He goes to her place and asks Iris out on a date.
Date Night: It is Christmas Eve and Kid Flash has to stop a robber dressed like Santa, because Iris is on a date and for some reason the Flash is busy. In fact he is on a date, Iris even has the waitress take their phones, so there will be no interruptions. Kid Flash is busy stopping crime and it is going well, until a lava monster named Tar Pit decides to rob a toy store. On their date Wally asks why it took so long to go on this date and Iris points out that Barry was busy with work and other things (meaning other ladies). Kid Flash is trying to figure out how to beat Tar Pit, without touching him and also keeping the fight far from his Aunt's date. Tar Pit knocks Kid Flash down, but doesn't care to finish the kid off, so he slowly walks away. This gives Kid Flash an idea, so he runs quickly kicking up snow to slow Tar Pit even more. It works and Tar Pit becomes frozen in the snow.
Iris and Barry continue to chat about what pulls them together and what keeps them apart, on a date that is feeling a little sadder than I would have hoped for. Tar Pit confides in Kid Flash, that he was stealing the money to save his niece and nephew. They have been kidnapped by people that his dead brother owed money. Tar Pit is off to jail, but Kid Flash is off to save some kids, which he does pretty easily. Barry and Iris walk home and she admits she is scared of losing him as a friend, but Barry is optimistic that they can figure it out. They walk into Iris's house to find Wally making them hot chocolate and expressing how grateful he is for the both of them. We end with a few thoughts from Wally as he works at a food kitchen and we see Tar Pit's niece and nephew visit him and we see Barry and Iris happy for a night without distraction. Bonus ending, Captain Cold is driving a fancy car and meets a shady fellow in a desert. The man gives Cold some plans and then tries to blackmail him, but no one double crosses the rogues. (Poor guy never stood a chance.)
There were many artists who worked on this volume and you could feel that from issue to issue, but since the writer was consistent it wasn't too hard to look past. Issue #9 the artist was Jorge Corona, issue #10 was done by Felipe Watanabe and Oclair Albert, issues #11 & 12 were done by Davide Gianfelice, and issue #13 was done by Neil Googe. All of the main covers were done by Carmine Di Giandomenico. Individually these artists are all great, but it sometimes took away from the story, at least for me to have some many different styles. Please check out what they are up to now if you like.
My favorite cover is this short run was the issue #9 variant done by Dave (David) Johnson.
The best line comes from a would be criminal in issue #13, I literally laughed out loud.
Thank you as always for reading my recaps. Until next time.
Previous Posts: The Flash Vol. 2: Speed of Darkness, Part 1
Next Post: Justice League Vol. 2: Outbreak, Part 1
Note: All images belong to DC™
Previous Posts: The Flash Vol. 2: Speed of Darkness, Part 1
Next Post: Justice League Vol. 2: Outbreak, Part 1
Note: All images belong to DC™
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