DC ROUND-UP: It’s a different Flash/Kid Flash team in SPEED FORCE #1

THIS WEEK: The extended Flash Family takes center stage in Speed Force #1!

Note: the review below contains spoilers. If you want a quick, spoiler-free buy/pass recommendation on the comics in question, check out the bottom of the article for our final verdict.

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Speed Force #1

Writer: Jarrett Williams
Artist: Daniele Di Nicuolo
Colorist: Andrew Dalhouse
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Cover Artists: Daniele Di Nicuolo & Adriano Lucas

In retrospect, a series starring Kid Flash Wallace West and The Flash of China Avery Ho feels almost inevitable. Two of the younger members of the Flash Family, both Wallace and Avery came into their powers around the same time as part of 2016 Rebirth era of The Flash. Both heroes have been members of teams of their peers, whether it’s the Teen Titans for Wallace or the Justice League of China for Avery. And both characters have been somewhat aimless after their respective team books ended. Bringing Wallace and Avery together makes a lot of sense with all of that in mind, and the new Speed Force #1 provides plenty more reasons for the two to co-star in their own book.

Writer Jarrett Williams’s script does a great job establishing the relationship between Wallace and Avery beyond their super-powered connection. It’s clear from the banter between them that the two characters are close friends, and their interactions with other heroes from across the DCU further solidifies the bond between them. Befitting a pair of speedsters, the pace of the story is very fast, with Williams wasting no time at dropping clues for what’s to come and taking The Flash and Kid Flash away from their gaming console and into action.

The energy of Williams’s script is matched easily by artist Daniele Di Nicuolo and colorist Andrew Dalhouse’s visuals. Di Nicuolo’s work has a loose, stylized look that fits the story and the characters beautifully. The action is high-energy, Wallace and Avery’s running forms moving across the page in a way that can’t help but draw the reader into what’s going on. Dalhouse’s colors complement Di Nicuolo’s linework wonderfully, helping the reader keep track of where everyone is and what’s going on, and making the characters pop off the page more than they already do.

It’s unclear at this point what connection Speed Force has, if any, to the larger goings-on over in The Flash, but if this first issue is any indication there’s still plenty to enjoy here for Flash fans. Aside from Wallace and Avery, Speed Force brings back a pair of speedster characters who haven’t been seen in the DCU since before The New 52, and their arrival is a pleasant, delightful surprise. The issue also establishes a villain for the series, one who’s still relatively new to the DCU proper but who shares some similarities with a classic Golden Age Flash villain, albeit with updated sensibilities.

Speed Force #1 is a strong start for this series, hooking readers immediately with exciting action and strong characterization for the book’s leads. Williams, Di Nicuolo, and co. are clearly going all-out on this book, and the result is highly entertaining. It’s kinetic storytelling at its best.

Final Verdict: BUY.

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Round-Up

• Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Robert Carey’s Outsiders #1 is basically “What if Planetary had DC characters in it?” It’s a fine, if unremarkable, setup for the series, though if you’ve read Planetary before it’ll probably just make you want to read that again. At least it did for me.

• Green Lantern #5 continues Jeremy Adams & Xermanico’s streak of making me like Hal Jordan more than I ever have before. I’d be more upset if I wasn’t enjoying it so much. 

• The endgame for Danger Street appears to be in full swing, and this week’s issue #11 sees Tom King and Jorge Fornés raise the stakes – and the body count – as the series barrels towards its conclusion. What an odd, entertaining experiment this book has been.

• World’s Finest: Teen Titans #5 fully reveals the villain behind a lot of the classic Titans’s troubles of late, while off the field the team’s issues come to an apparent head. Writer Mark Waid is treading on familiar ground here, but under his script and artist Emanuela Lupacchino’s visual it all feels fresh. I really don’t want this one to end.

Miss any of our earlier reviews? Check out our full archive!