The Flash #33

Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Howard Porter

Before Reading: 

The Flash has been dealing with some crazy stuff as of late in this series. It seems every month he is going through the ringer. As of issue #32 The Flash is dealing with his new negative speed force powers and all the problems that come with it., not to mention all of the personal stuff that Barry has going on. So it is a very odd thing to see The Flash #33 be a Dark Knights: Metal tie-in, especially if you are not reading that event title. I won't go into a ton of detail for that reason and will try to review the book on its merit of being #33 of The Flash. Nonetheless, we are getting art from Howard Porter which is always a plus. Also, go read Dark Knights: Metal it is hugely epic and fun!

During Reading:

The book opens with a monologue from The Flash which Williamson has been quite good with. Barry needs to send Superman into the Dark Multiverse to find Batman and stop all the craziness that is taking place on earth. Superman needs Barry's speed (With the help of Steel) to do this because the Speedforce is all connected to time because time is all wibbly wobbly... you get the idea. The book goes on to detail the Justice League searching for Batman and having to fight the Dark Multiverse versions (again, go read Dark Knights: Metal!) of Batman.  It ends by basically getting you excited to read the upcoming tie-ins and the event itself.

After Reading:

As mentioned earlier, it is strange to have this tie-in to Metal at this point and time in The Flash. The cover alone though had me excited to read it as it displays a showdown between The Flash and "The Red Death" which is the Dark Multiverse evil version of Flash/Batman. Sadly, we are not treated to this in the issue.

However, it doesn't mean this issue wasn't a pretty good read for a tie-in. I have always loved Howard Porter's art and feel that he is one of the most diverse talents on the DC roster. His art fluctuates well and I mean that in a very positive way. His art for this issue is quite different than his art on older issues in this series, but he brings exactly what is needed for what is happening in the story. Here, things are electric and loud, and his panel layouts are great for the story. The colorist does a great job here creating that noise with Porter.

If you are only reading The Flash series and not Dark Knights: Metal you will most likely be completely lost. Williamson smartly tries to catch readers up to speed (pun!) on that event from page 1 but there are already three issues out of that story out and a whole lot has happened with that one. So if you are not a completist, you could skip this one. That being said, if you are only reading this series that means you are a Flash fan and he has some great moments here. I highly doubt this will change/affect the current arc when we get issue 34, but it was a fun ride to be had and also somewhat important to the events of Metal.

8/10

The showdown I was hoping for