COMIC BOOK REVIEW - The Flash: United They Fall
After taking a much-needed break, I’m back with hopefully a lot more reviews on their way. Sometimes life gets a little too real and you just need to escape. What better place than fictional worlds full of adventure! So I wasn’t in the mood to read anything a little too deep, so I decided that rather than read a novel that was part of continuity or series, I’d read a one-off. DC had been releasing standalone comics in Walmart in America, and some of them would get a graphic novel version! So onto a standalone Flash novel!
‘United They Fall’ is essentially a two-part story involving the Flash and almost all of his main adversaries. The first part of the novel sees The Flash, aka Barry Allen, having to go up against each of his rogues one by one, even though he had locked them all away in Iron Heights Penitentiary. First, it’s Mirror Master, then Heatwave, the Turtle, followed by Captain Boomerang and finally Captain Cold and Golden Glider. What the Flash can’t figure out is who is putting them up to this, because each Rogue gives up as soon as they’re caught. But when the final member of the Rogues, Weather Wizard, turns up, he gives Barry the information he is looking for. The mastermind behind this plot is an evil robot named Amazo who has been attempting to build several versions of himself, each with the power of a Rogue, to take the Flash down. Can the Flash beat all these Amazos? And will he have to do it all himself? The second part of the novel sees Barry finally starting to live a good life. He gets on with his colleagues from work and he goes on a date with Iris West, a journalist that he likes. But when a stranger named ‘Shift’ appears from the future, Barry must go on a mission to stop an enemy who may be his greatest nemesis; The Reverse-Flash. Travelling into the future, the Flash finds that everyone worships this Reverse-Flash and that citizens are granted ‘Speed Force’ breaks where for a small amount of time they get to be as fast as the Flash. When the Reverse-Flash, aka Eobard Thawne, discovers that Barry is in his timeline, he threatens to destroy Barry’s life and attempts to kill him. Can the Flash beat this new adversary whose powers match his own?
So naturally, this novel was a pretty easy one to read. I think since it was not part of any continuity or series, it was designed to be an excellent place for people to start reading about a particular character, in this case; the Flash. The story was quite interesting because there was no limit on the number of characters that could appear, so we see Barry fight off most of his rogues. Amazo being the villain of the first half was an intriguing emprise but I think it paid off. I particularly enjoyed the issue with The Flash teaming up with The Atom. I can see that being such a good duo to have their joint series or one-off novel! My only qualm with the novel is that it seems that it’s quite basic and I’m assuming it was made for a younger audience. Not always a bad thing, but in this case, it was a little cheesy. Then again, The Flash kinda always is.
The artwork was decent, I don’t think I had any issues with it. It was naturally quite basic but not in a bad way. The covers were all good and that did surprise me a little! Overall, not a bad one-shot novel. A good novel to suggest to younger readers if they want to get into The Flash!
Favourite Panel:
Science Bros? I want more interactions between these two!
Favourite Character:
The Flash. Obviously. Optimism in the face of adversity is his strong suit and something we could all learn to emulate!
Rating:
Story Arc: 12/20
Character Development: 14/20
Artwork: 13/20
Enjoyability: 12.5/20
Re-readability: 11.5/20
Overall: 63/100
Level: Beginner