Flash (vol.3) #3 (2010)

Flash (vol.3) #3 (August, 2010)
“Case One: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues, Part Three”
“FlashFacts: Boomerangs Part One & Two!”
Writer – Geoff Johns
Artist – Francis Manapul & Scott Kolins
Colors – Brian Buccellato
Letterer – Sal Cipriano
Associate Editor – Adam Schlagman
Editor – Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.99


When last we left the Flash, Barry Allen was accused of murdering the Renegade Mirror Monarch… in the future!  Man, I hope this doesn’t lead to three-years worth of courtroom drama.


Actually… ya know what?  Considering what’s coming down the pike for the DC Universe about a year after this issue hits shelves… I think I’d take another trial!


Yup… I definitely would!

It’s #BrightestMay… let’s go!


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We open at Iron Heights where Captain Boomerang is recovering in a bed after receiving a beating from a gaggle of prison guards.  As they discuss what they plan on doing with him, he lunges forward and bites one of the guards on the nose.  This gets him a bit more of a pummeling… until he discovers that he now has the ability to manifest boomerangs!

Digger proceeds to boomerang-the-hell out of the guards… and sets his sights on the great egress.

Over at the Central City Police Department, the place is abuzz with the news that Barry Allen’s DNA was found on the murdered Mirror Monarch.  This is sidestepped rather cleverly with Singh’s accusation that Barry simply contaminated the crime scene!  Easy enough, right?

Barry sends a text off to Iris, and the meet for a coffee and a chat.  She questions whether or not Barry might have accidentally contaminated the crime scene… which is met by a (rather deflated) dirty look.  He’s brought some work to the cafe with him… but it isn’t his case.  This is the Jason Hicks wrongful incarceration thing that we heard about last issue.  Barry says there are still eighty-some-odd days until he supposedly kills Mirror Monarch, so the Hicks case is far more pressing.

They chat for a while longer… and Iris tells Barry she’ll do whatever she can to help with the Hicks case (because, her eyes and her smile afford her “connections”… ethical journalism!).  Anyhoo, the cafe is suddenly bathed in blue… it’s the Renegades!  And they’re back for the Flash!

A chase (and fight) is on.  The Renegades manage to snare the Flash in a stasis field… but that doesn’t hold him for long.  Really love the way these panels look.

So yeah, Flash busts out and goes straight for Commander Cold.  While barking in his face, Barry finds himself victim to Cold’s “Cold Suit”.  This leaves him, well, frozen.  The rest of the Renegades pitch in and use their powers on the prone speedster… and it looks as though our man is about to be arrested.

That is, until… Captain Boomerang comes to his rescue?!

We then hop into our (two-page) backup.  You ever wonder how boomerangs work?  Well, wonder no longer.

You ever wonder how Captain Boomerang’s boomerangs work?  We gotcha covered there as well.

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Probably the strongest book of the Brightest Day bunch!  Really enjoying this revisit.


To be fair, I haven’t yet gotten around to digging out the Green Arrow and Birds of Prey books… but, something tells me that this Flash book will still come out on top.  Well, there’s also Generation Lost.  I guess what it comes down to… and what I’m trying to say is, this wasn’t a half-bad time to be following DC.


Our story here moves along at a decent enough clip.  Still decompressed, sure… but not quite to missable “chapter four of six” levels of decompressed.


I really like the way they sidestepped Barry’s DNA being at the crime scene.  It’s a tough situation… as it calls into question Barry’s forensics acumen.  If he really did contaminate the scene, this makes him look like a sloppy rookie.  He’s definitely gotta swallow his pride here, and just take his bumps… because otherwise, he’s, ya know… a murderer.


The Renegades come across as a little more “put together” than I remembered.  They actually seem to have Barry’s number, and work well as a team.  If not for Digger, they would’ve actually been successful in apprehending the Flash!


Since this is a Brightest Day book… we should probably mention… the only Brightest Day bits to get any panel time.  Captain Boomerang now has the ability to manifest boomerangs.  Is it interesting?  Ehh, kinda.


The back-up sorta feels like an afterthought… in the “Hey, we probably ought to add more Brightest Day to this Brightest Day book” sorta way.  It did, however, show what a remarkable colorist Brian Buccellato is!  The transition from Manapul to Kolins is nearly seamless… and I gotta figure much of that can be attributed to Buccellato.  Just some great stuff!  The art in this book in general continues to blow me away.  I really can’t gush enough about it!


Overall… still enjoying this, and feel like it’s a worthy addition to anyone’s comics library.


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