The Flash #46 Review

Writer: Joshua Williamson

Artist: Scott Kolins

Colourist: Luis Guerrero

Letterer: Steve Wands

What exactly the Flash War is still escapes me, but this prelude issue does a good job at setting up the motivations of its primary villain, Hunter Zolomon. Zolomon has appeared briefly in the past few issues of the series and Joshua Williamson delves into the character and his relationship with Eobard Thawne, the Reverse-Flash, and ties Thawne's actions and motivations into the rest of the series in a very clever way.

The inclusion of Scott Kolins in this series is such a smart decision, since his art embodies the legacy of Wally West as he drew him all those years ago. I think Hi-Fi may have been the better choice to colour his work, but Luis Guerrero does a fantastic job and this action-light issue makes full use of Kolins' character acting and incredible panel work. His panelling can enhance the motion of characters, such as one panel that breaks the pattern of previous ones by having Wally West running at an incredible speed. It's just nice seeing an artist at the top of his game drawing this book.

This issue is the kind of story I've been waiting for since Geoff Johns first launched Rebirth. Wally West has been sidelined for the past two years, and the events of the last two issues feel like a genuine continuation of the overall Rebirth narrative. I commend DC for finally approaching the story but I must say a lot of it too late at this point. That's not to say it isn't satisfying, but I was looking for more scenes between Wally and Iris since Williamson has been building their confrontation for quite some time now. Williamson doesn't really set up must animosity between Wally and Barry so hopefully their eventual confrontation won't come across as contrived.

This was a fun prelude issue that has me interested in the Flash War arc in two weeks. I'm glad that DC is finally bringing Wally back to the forefront and the art was really nice. Pick this up in anticipation!