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| THE FLASH No. 3, January 2012 |
Midway down the
second page of Issue Three of “The Flash” is the line “I didn’t get a manual
with my powers.” But if this comic book’s opening is anything it is a reader’s
guide to the formidable super-powers of Barry Allen’s Scarlet Speedster; at
least as far as the creative writing team of Francis Manapul and Brian
Buccellatop are concerned. And what a wish-list of extraordinary abilities it
is too.
The Flash is fast, so fast in fact that he can run on water without
sinking, he can create and direct vortexes using his hands, and he has the ability
to vibrate through solid objects. He can also make other objects similarly oscillate in
order for them too to pass through dense matter, and actually demonstrates this
incredible power by shaking a large airliner so fast it safely passes straight through a motorway bridge and
comes to a shuddering halt alongside Central City docks. Oh… he can go
invisible as well apparently. Clearly he’s learnt a few extra tricks
since ‘The New 52’ started…
Unfortunately for this issue however Filipino-Canadian
artist Manapaul hasn’t. The (already overly expensive) variant cover by
Jim Lee, Scott Williams and Alex Sinclair is a beautiful illustration
containing both a cracking drawing of The Flash and some gorgeously vibrant
colouring. Manapul’s version pales in comparison, with a muted purple and white
theme which simply makes the drawing appear half-hearted and unfinished.
His interior artwork is
equally as lacklustre and uninspiring, though Buccellato should take some of
the responsibility for the depressingly drab colour choices. I’m also unconvinced by some
of the pair’s decisions regarding the arrangement of the panels on various pages.
The multiple windows within a single page showing Allen’s brain tapping into
the Speedforce has been seen before, and much more convincingly too.
But apart
from showing how clever they are, I can’t work out the reasoning behind the first
page’s airliner shaped montage comprising of an ‘over the shoulder’ view of the
plane’s cockpit as it crashes towards the freeway bridge. Especially when the
entire drawing is partially buried as a result of the title “Flash” being emblazoned
down the illustration’s length in a rather rude choice of orange. The ghastly font used to spell out "DC Comics proudly presents..." makes the entire page appear amateurish at best.
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| The variant cover art of "THE FLASH" No. 3 by Jim Lee, Scott Williams and Alex Sinclair |
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