The Flash #44 Comic Book Recap/Review

The Flash #44 Recap/Review – Under Pressure

The Flash #44 Comic Book Recap

Disoriented by the teleportation abilities of the Folded Man, the Flash will at first wonder how he came to be two thousand feet underwater in the Pacific Ocean.  Then he’ll feel the bone-crushing pressure of the sea.  Panic will lead to reflexive movement, which will drain the body of oxygen.  The Flash will escape the ocean easily, but the pain will be agonizing.  He’ll survive… barely.  The body isn’t designed to travel that far underwater in such a short time, even with Barry’s super powers.  The blood vessels in his eyes will burst.  His eardrums will rupture.  And his lungs will be ravaged by pulmonary embolism.

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The Flash’s accelerated healing means he will recover quickly from this, but it won’t be an experience Barry will soon forget.  Eobard wants his foe confused and angry.  And he wants Barry to bring all those emotions back home to Central City.  Zoom explains this to his minions.   They’re names are Roscoe Dillon, also known as the Human Top; Magali – a woman who can manipulate time of people and objects; Block – who can stop the movement of atoms; The Folded Man – capable of teleportation within space and time; and Alexander Selkirk – a scholar of the Speed Force.  They are confused by this, as it would have been so easy to kill Barry just now.

But Thawne restates that killing the Flash now is not an option.  It will make him a martyr.  Statues and museums will be erected in Barry’s name.  If they want to defeat the Flash – truly beat him – then first, they must tear down everything that makes him a hero.  Thawne asks Selkirk if his designs are done, and Alexander confirms that the schematic is ready to do exactly what Eobard has asked of him.  Zoom orders his people to get ready, while he goes to visit their guest.

Nearby, Harry sits alone in a cell.  Eobard comes by, and hopes that Allen feels comfortable once again behind a sealed door.  Seeing Thawne drives Harry into a rage, knowing that Eobard murdered Nora Allen many years ago.  But Zoom dismissively knocks his attacker down without difficulty.  He most certainly did kill Nora, and if Harry doesn’t do exactly what Eobard says, then he’ll kill Barry, too.

Elsewhere, Barry looks for his father without success.  He goes home to find a co-worker named David is arguing with Barry’s roommate Hartley.  It seems the two are in a relationship, but it is strained due to Hartley’s past as the vigilante known as the Pied Piper.  David leaves, and bumps into Barry, who agrees to keep their relationship secret.  The issue is not that David is gay, as the head of the crime lab is out and proud, but rather, he can’t be seen dating a former criminal.

The next morning, Barry and Wally West are spending some time together downtown.  Wally asks Allen if everything is alright, knowing all that has recently happened to Barry’s dad.  Allen tries to brush things off, but he clearly is shaken by what has occurred.  Wally says that he should let things go.  West was angry at the Flash and blamed the hero for his mother’s disappearance, but hatred never got him anywhere.  Barry thanks Wally for the advice, and takes him to the Central City Police Department’s Garage.  Here, Wally will be doing a work-study program.  They are greeted by a man named Tim, who will be supervising West in his new role.  The two men get to work.

Outside, Zoom’s goons are preparing a device.  They announce their presence, easily getting the attention of the Flash.  He strikes out at Block, but his arm is easily crushed by her.  While the Flash winces in pain, the Human Top then unleashes a devastating whirlwind, flinging cars in Barry’s direction, though our hero is able to dodge them without much difficulty.  But the Block is able to knock The Flash to the ground and erects a barrier around him.  The shield forms a dome around the entire police station, and Barry tries to vibrate through it.

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However, the villains were hoping for something like this.  The reaction of Barry’s energy with the barrier creates a spark that activates Selkirk’s device.  The mechanism is a bomb, that begins building up energy.  Inside the precinct, Wally is struck by lightning, while Tim is slammed into a truck.  Barry tries to stop the device, but using his powers only feeds the bomb with more of his energy.  Every burst of speed makes the bomb stronger and it’s explosive potential larger.  Today… the Flash brings about his own destruction.

The Flash #44 Comic Book Review

Hello and welcome to Comic Island!  My name is Arden, and this is my recap, and review of The Flash #44.

So, if you’ve been following my coverage of this series, you know I’ve been voicing some concerns about this particular comic.  The story arc felt, especially last issue, like it was coming off the rails.  There was too much going on in too many different directions, and I was really worried this whole thing was going to turn into one big mess.

Luckily, this issue felt like things are starting to get a bit more focused as some of the story lines are finally converging.  As all the different characters and their stories are coming together, it feels like the writing and story are gaining a lot more focus.  By doing so, I really enjoyed issue number 44.  The creative team did a good job.  Oh, sure, it wasn’t the world’s greatest comic or anything, but it was a lot of fun and was very much an enjoyable experience on the whole.

[Related: Click Here For More Justice League Comic Book Reviews]

I like Eobard and his friends, and how he’s going about attacking Barry on all fronts.  Tearing him down and all.  It’s nothing new – the whole villain who won’t kill a hero thing – but it works and it works well in this context.  It makes sense – it is well established that Barry is revered in the future and Eobard knows this, so his primary objective should be to change this.  And I think the bomb that relies on Barry’s own powers is a pretty good idea, too.  Again, nothing new here, but it works in this story in a way that adds a lot to it and leaves me excited for what comes next.

I also like how Wally is becoming a bigger part of this story and honestly, this little panel right here – that is by far the most interesting thing to happen in the entire issue.  I don’t know where the story is going from here – not exactly, but this little panel is giving me all sorts of fun ideas.  I don’t want to give any specific predictions just yet, but you guys can let me know what you think this all means in the comments section below.