Reviews: The Flash #10

Marc Guggenheim began his run on the right foot, so to speak. The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #9 displayed a strength of narrative and character that had been utterly absent from the series since its devastating relaunch last year. The issue offered a new start for Bart Allen and, as the writer intended, a fine starting point for those readers who were willing to give the book another try. Guggenheim's good work continues in The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #10, a fast-paced issue that continues to redefine our central character and confidently contributes to the historic mythology of the legacy he's inherited. The Rogues Gallery is back in all its glory! There's a sense of continuity to the "Full Throttle" arc--particularly evident in its connections to the Geoff Johns era--that will reassure longtime readers and excite newcomers. Indeed, the sheer number of online reviews that have been posted for this issue reveal that the creative shift is attracting attention...

• Tim Callahan, writing at Geniusboyfiremelon, is glad that he didn't drop this book. "After the first issue of the Bilson/DeMeo relaunch, which was notoriously horrible, I told my comic book guy, the lovable James Arlemagne, that I'd keep buying it anyway because I am a sucker and I wouldn't be able to stand a gap in my collection when the inevitable good writer takes over around issue 12. Thankfully, Guggenheim rescued me a few issues early, so I only had to waste $24 instead of $32."
• At comiXtreme, Adam Chapman has awarded the issue four out of five exclamation points and declares, "For those that abandoned this book shortly into the relaunch, its time to come on back to the Scarlet Speedster... There's a ton of potential here, and Guggenheim is bringing back familiar characters that have, throughout the past few years, been instrumental to the book's success."
• Phil Mateer at All About Comics feels that Guggenheim is, somewhat ironically, moving too quickly. "Bringing in Zoom proves to be a Good Thing, and leads to a well-staged battle scene. However, there’s too much going on... This book could have used a few more well-crafted stand-alone stories before jumping into another multi-issue epic."
• Brian Hibbs, one of The Savage Critic(s), raves that the issue is "highly OK" but qualifies this by "wondering when Bart is going to develop a distinguishable character."
• Fanboywonder's Charles Wisniowski echoes the concerns of those readers who are still not entirely satisfied with the new crimson comet's characterization. "This month, we feel like we’re reading a Wally West by another name." Wally West, there can be no doubt, has cast a very long shadow.
• On the other hand, Fun with Foolio begins an ongoing series of reviews with a look at this issue that praises its character work. "Where the last issue spent time cleaning up the previous creative team's mess, this issue sets out to entrench Bart Allen as a bearer of the Flash legacy... While Flash #10 works as a Flash comic, it works even better as a Bart Allen solo book. Any number of scenes remind us our protagonist got his start as an exuberant goof-off extraordinaire--not because he's immature, but rather because his outlook and sense of humor bubble through the way he's written."
• Iann Robinson of Our Worlds at War comments on the new writer's gift for words and appreciates the issue's art. "Guggenheim has a great sense of dialog, I actually laughed out loud a couple of times, and artist Paco Diaz seems a great partner in crime for this book."