“Gorilla Warfare” continues here, but not for heroic gorilla Solovar, who sacrificed himself to save The Flash, but he may not have been successful! At the very least, he’s lost his secret identity as his mask has vanished and his girlfriend Patty witnesses it. Luckily, the Speed Force starts to leave Grodd and he must stagger away, his stength vanishing rapidly.
Elsewhere, The Rogues continue playing the heroic role, battling the gorilla army to save Central City.
Patty diligently stays by Barry’s side as he lies unconscious at a friend’s house. We then get a stunningly rendered sequence which Barry (in his head) at first thinks is his life flashing before his eyes, but then realizes he is glimpsing possible outcomes of this already violent war… none of them are good.
Art duties are split between the super smooth Marcus To and series regular Francis Manapul. Both are really great, but the combination isn’t quite right. Marcus To’s work is very clean, nicely detailed but more simple and open. Manapul’s work is loaded with lines that go everywhere. The layout of the dream sequence is really cool and innovative with lightning shaped panels. A lot of times, there are multiple artists on a single book and I don’t even catch it because the artists styles compliment or are similar to each other’s. There was no denying that these were two different artists.
Storywise, there are a few details that further the plot, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t wish things weren’t furthered just a tad more. This story is good and is really establishing Grodd as a violent foe and a serious villain in the DC Universe. It’s just suffering from the same problem that a lot of books these days do, decompressed story telling. But, it wasn’t bad. As a whole, this issue touched bases with the various different cast members involved in this story and as the story did move ahead a bit. Both artists delivered great artwork, but their styles failed to mesh. But still definitely above average.
THE FLASH #15
Script and Cover by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Art by Marcus To & Ryan Wynn and Francis Manapul
