The Flash Vol 1

Now that I finished the run (it was a great ride) I'll make my final ranking of it. I changed a lot of stuff here and there and added the last 4 arcs into the mix.

Disclaimer: This isn't the definitive ranking it. It's just my opinion. So I hope you'll enjoy it!

1. Finish Line #758-762

This was the perfect final for an amazing run. There were sooo many epic moments. I am happy that I could sit through it in one 'session' and didn't have to wait 2 weeks for every new issue. This arc was really great. Finally introducing The whole Flash Family into Prime Earth. For real every Flash Family member joined it. Even the Tangent Comics one. Joshua wrote everyone of them great! With this great ending to the Eobard Thawne character I wouldn't mind if this would be the last appereance of him. The ending is so beatifuly written that I was really happy and sad at the same time while reading it. Right now I really don't know what I should think about reviving Godspeed. Also the Renegades are alive again and I want to know if they're ever going to really appear again.

2. Flash War #46-51

This storyarc was really hyped up among Flash Fans. And with really I mean really hyped up. It was really really good. The Return of Hunter Zolomon aka. Zoom was excellent in my opinion. I liked the fact that Wally got more 'screentime'. All in all a very good arc. Especially if you are a Wally fan. Wally remembering his kids again is really heartbreaking and I love Flash Forward for bringing them back

3. The Flash Age #88-755

Paradox was a fresh and interesting. His points maid sense and you could understand his anger. Showing that people died because of Barry and he dosn't even know about it is strong. The team up of Barry, Eobard and August was great and the ending (Spoiler!) where Eobard snaps Godspeeds neck was so suprising that my mind decided to leave and jump out the window. Seeing Reverse-Flash not killing Paradox in the end was great.

4. Running Scared #25-27

Man have I waited for this. The Reverse-Flash is my favourite villian and I couldnt wait to see him in the Flash series again, yes He appeard in the Button but that wasn't enough to statisfy me. When he appeard in the end of #24 I lost my mind. And the storyarc couldnt be better. I loved everything about it. You also get the backstory of Eobard Thawne (Reverse Flash) and how he and Barry first and why he got evil in the first place. To be honest I really understand Thawne and can indentify myself with him. (I dont know if that's a bad sign 😅)

5. Perfect Storm #38-45

The return of a classic villian: Gorilla Grodd. I didnt like Grodd here really that much as a villian and he definetly has seen better arcs. What I loved here was to see every Speedster at that moment (even Godspeed) fight together. It just let the Speedster Fanboy in me cry. Then I loved how Barry was really vulnerable and selfish without his powers. He feels like he is worthless without his powers which is completely understandable. When you read Finish line and see him say "it's just a power" I had to think back to perfect storm. It's a perfect example of character growth/ character development.

6. Greatest Trick of all Time #66-69

The Return of the original Trickster! It couldnt be a better written Trickster. This storyarc was teased a few issues ago but I hadn't any idea what Williamson was going to do. It turned out to be great! Williamson wrote the Trickster as twisted and as a mastermind as He only coud be. It's a deserved third place.

7. Lightning Strikes Twice #1-8

The second half of the first storyarc are a banger! Godspeed is a great Antagonist aka. Anti-Hero in my opinion. The thing that holds this one back is the first half, which is not bad, but its a little bit boring in the comparsion with the second half.

8. Cold day in hell #36-38

This arc was teased issues before it finally came. It handled the rogues pretty good and it was very exciting. I liked the aspect of Snart being a crime boss in jail and Godspeeds role in this. Sadly (Spoiler warning for the beginning of the arc) Tom Turbine was killed. I really liked him. Guess you cant have everything.

9.Rogues Reign #82-87

The Year of the villian arc was better than I expected. The idea of the Rogues dividing Central City upon themselves is great. I loved the fact that most of the rogues and the Flashes teamed up to fight Captain Cold. I really didn't want Commander Cold to die, but as he is now back alive with the other Renegades I'm okay with it. The new character designs were really dope.

10. Rogues Reloaded #14-17

The first appearance of the rogues in this run and it was a pretty nice ride. Barry was definetly too naive in this arc but I think its a part of his character because he always sees the good in people. I also really want to say that I want the Fiddler to be part of the rogues. He is a very interesting antagonist. All in all this was a good and entartaining arc.

11. The Button #21-22 (Crossover with the Batman Series)

This crossover was the first step towards Doomsday Clock. Seeing The Reverse Flash beat the hell out of Bruce was great and I loved to see Jay Garrick again.

12. Legion of Zoom #756-758

This was the transition form 'Flash Age' to 'Finish Line'. It was nice seeing Eobard recruiting Flash Villians from older timelines and how Eobard got control over Barrys Body was a little bit weird. But it gave me my favourite storyarc in this run so I'd rather not complain.

13. The Colour of Fear #23-24

I love the friendship of Hal and Barry. Their interactions are great. The ending of this arc was a big cliffhanger and I lost my mind when I saw the Reverse-Flash.

14. The Hunter and The Hunted #80-81

I really liked that after about 30 issues Hunter Zolomon (or The 'real' Flash how he calls himself).reappeard. All in all it was pretty fun to read and I really liked the ending, but I'm not going to spoil anything in the case If you didnt read it (Do that now!!!!!).

15. The Death of the Speedforce #76-79

This storyarc wich also got an adaption in CW's The Flash series is an interesting storyline. The Speedforce dying wasn't a threat because we all know they are going to fix it but the dynamic of all the other force users with Barry really got me. I liked all of them because they were all 3 dimensional characters (except maybe Steadfast but I still liked him though). The thing that really annoyed me is that it felt way too Long. I knew we had the Year of the villian rogues stuff going in in the background, but I really more needed variety. And finally Barry got with the other Flashes along, it really annoyed/annoyes me that Kid Flash was/is a solo hero.

16. Force Quest#58-63

I dont know, but I dont really like this New Forces aspect. It took too much issues (18!) and just kept dragging. I found myself grinding these three storyarcs too finally get some variety. In the beginning it was entartaining but it was sometimes really boring and too much new forces. (I hope things Change especially after #81 wich should be the end of the new forces thing.)

17.The Reckoning of the Forces #52-57

Like I said too much and this arc in particular was really boring. Especially after Flash War which was great.

18. Speed of Darkness #10-12

This 'mini arc' was fun and entartaining but nothing special. I like seeing Wallace (Kid Flash) and Barry working together. I really like the antagonist though.

19. Black Hole Rising #34-35

Man I was happy that the Negative Flash thing ended. This mini arc was also pretty entartaining. I really like the dynamic between Wallace and Barry and really wanted to see more of it (which didnt happen).

20. Negative #28-32

After coming from a really strong arc the series got really boring. The Negative Flash thing was an interesting concept, but the only exciting thing that happened was Bloodworks intrudoction which I really liked.

21. Sins of the father #18-19

This Mini Arc was about Wallace wanting to know what happened to his father (New 52 Reverse-Flash/ Reverse-Flash II). As I read his article on the wiki before this arc (I didn't know Williamson will be explaining Wallace's backstory later in the series) so I knew what happened to him (won't spoiler anything), because of this there wasn't a real catch and it was a nice and Shirt entartaining 'adventure'. I hoped Captain Boomerang would be a Flash Antagonist again but I guess we wont get more with him as his appearance in this issue.

22. The Price #64-65 (Crossover with the Batman Series)

The Price was okay dealing with the Aftermath of Heroes in Crisis. It was really depressing seeing Flash like this. Gotham Girl is an okay Antagonist not Bad but Not really interesting. I see those issues as sort of filler

So that was it. Did anyone even read that till the end? I figured it would be better to write a few things about every arc than just the ranking. Did you read Joshua Williamson's The Flash Run? If yes, what are you're favourite arcs/issues? If you didn't read it then go and read it. Now. This was the first Run I ever read in my life so it will always hold a special place in my heart and I'll never forget reading the Flash for the first time in my life.

P.S.: for me a storyarc is a plotline/storyline that lasts more than one issue.

As I am a big fan of Joshua Williamsons The Flash run (The Flash Vol. 5 and vol 1. aka The Flash (2016-) #01-761) I wanted to review rank it, and since @Sisu138 did something simillar I figured I'd also do so.I've only done till #81 because I haven't read the rest (and it would take way to long)😅. Also I love all of this run, when I talk about something in a Negative way than because it cant hold up with the other arcs in this run. And please keep in mind that this is my opinion, feel free to comment your List of this arcs (or even only how good they sound even if you haven't read them). So let's begin:

1. Running Scared #25-27

Man have I waited for this. The Reverse-Flash is my favourite villian and I couldnt wait to see him in the Flash series again, yes He appeard in the Button but that wasn't enough to statisfy me. When he appeard in the end of #24 I lost my mind. And the storyarc couldnt be better. I loved everything about it. You also get the backstory of Eobard Thawne (Reverse Flash) and how he and Barry first and why he got evil in the first place. To be honest I really understand Thawne and can indentify myself with him. (I dont know if that's a bad sign 😅)

2. Perfect Storm #38-45

Again the return of a classic villian: Gorilla Grodd. I didnt like Grodd here, that much and he has definetly Seen better arcs. What I loved here was to see every Speedster (even Godspeed) fight together. It just let the Speedster Fanboy in me cry. Then I loved how Barry was vulnerable without Powers. He was the bad guy really often in this arc. His actions were absolutely selfish in this arc.

3. Greatest Trick of all Time #66-69

The Return of the original Trickster! It couldnt be a better Trickster. This storyarc was teased a few issues ago but I hadnt any idea what Williamson was going to do. It turned out to be great! Williamson wrote the Trickster as twisted and as a mastermind as He only coud be. It's a deserved third place.

4. Flash War #46-51

This storyarc was really hyped up among Flash Fans. And with really I mean really hyped up. It was pretty good, but the hype was definetly too much wich sadly holds the story a little Bit down for me. The Return of Hunter Zolomon aka. Zoom was exent in my opinion. I liked it very much that Wally got more 'screentime'. All in all a very good arc. Especially if you are a Wally fan.

5. The Hunter and The Hunted #80-81

These issues are the most recent I read. I really liked that after about 30 issues Hunter Zolomon (or The 'real' Flash how he calls himself).reappeard. All in all it was pretty fun to read and I really liked the ending, but I'm not going to spoil anything in the case If you didnt read it (Do that now!!!!!).

6. The Flash: Year One #70-75

The origin of the Flash. I really really liked Turtle as an Antagonist. I hated him. I also liked that this distopic future felt like a real threat. The relationship with Iris was much better than in the rest of the series (except in the storyarc 'Speedforce Quest' and after that she barely appeard). I really enjoyed that trip and this is the jumping on point for beginners. Although I recommend reading the storyarc from the Rebirth Special.

7. Lightning Strikes Twice #1-8

The second half of the first storyarc are a banger! Godspeed is a great Antagonist aka. Anti-Hero in my opinion. The thing that holds this one back is the first half, which is not bad, but its a little bit boring in the comparsion with the second half.

8. A Cold Day in Hell #36-38

This arc was teased issues before it finally came. It handled the rogues pretty good and it was very exciting. I liked the aspect of Snart being a crime boss in jail and Godspeeds role in this. Sadly (Spoiler warning for the beginning of the arc) Tom Turbine was killed. I really liked him. Guess you cant have everything.

9. Rogues Reloaded #14-17

The first appearance of the rogues in this run. It was a pretty nice ride. Barry was definetly too naive in this arc but I think its a part of his character because he always sees the good in people. I also really want to say that I want the Fiddler to be part of the rogues. He is a very interesting antagonist. All in all this was a good and entartaining arc.

10. The Button #21-22 (Crossover with the Batman Series)

This crossover was the first step towards Doomsday Clock. Seeing The Reverse Flash beat the hell out of Bruce was great and I loved to see Jay Garrick again.

11. The Death of the Speedforce #76-79

This storyarc wich also got an adaption in CW's The Flash series is an interesting storyline. The Speedforce dying wasn't a threat because we all know they are going to fix it but the dynamic of all the other force users with Barry really got me. I liked all of them because they were all 3 dimensional characters (except maybe Steadfast but I still liked him though). The thing that really annoyed me is that it felt way too Long. I knew we had the Year of the villian rogues stuff going in in the background, but I really more needed variety. And finally Barry got with the other Flashes along, it really annoyed/annoyes me that Kid Flash was/is a solo hero.

12. Force Quest#58-63

I dont know, but I dont really like this New Forces aspect. It took too much issues (18!) and just kept dragging. I found myself grinding these three storyarcs too finally get some variety. In the beginning it was entartaining but it was sometimes really boring and too much new forces. (I hope things Change especially after #81 wich should be the end of the new forces thing.)

13.The Reckoning of the Forces #52-57

Like I said too much and this arc in particular was really boring. Especially after Flash War which was great.

14. Speed of Darkness #10-12

This 'mini arc' was fun and entartaining but nothing special. I like seeing Wallace (Kid Flash) and Barry working together. I really like the antagonist though.

15. Black Hole Rising #34-35

Man I was happy that the Negative Flash thing ended. This mini arc was also pretty entartaining. I really like the dynamic between Wallace and Barry and really wanted to see more of it (which didnt happen).

16. Negative #28-32

After coming from a really strong arc the series got really boring. The Negative Flash thing was an interesting concept, but the only exciting thing that happened was Bloodworks intrudoction which I really liked.

17. The Price #64-65 (Crossover with the Batman Series)

The Price was okay dealing with the Aftermath of Heroes in Crisis. It was really depressing seeing Flash like this. Gotham Girl is an okay Antagonist not Bad but Not really interesting. I see those issues as sort of filler.

18. Sins of the father #18-19

This Mini Arc was about Wallace wanting to know what happened to his father (New 52 Reverse-Flash/ Reverse-Flash II). As I read his article on the wiki before this arc (I didn't know Williamson will be explaining Wallace's backstory later in the series) so I knew what happened to him (won't spoiler anything), because of this there wasn't a real catch and it was a nice and Shirt entartaining 'adventure'. I hoped Captain Boomerang would be a Flash Antagonist again but I guess we wont get more with him as his appearance in this issue.

So that was it. Did anyone even read that till the end? I figured it would be better to write a few things about every arc than just the ranking. Did you read Joshua Williamson's The Flash Run? If yes, what are you're favourite arcs/issues? If you didn't read it then go and read it. Now.

P.S.: for me a storyarc is a plotline/storyline that lasts more than one issue.

I have been struggling with these for lord knows how long! The Silver Age ones are okay, but the Golden Age ones are getting annoying. I'll start off with Flash Comics (Vol 1), which are nicely collected in the Golden Age Flash Archives Volumes 1 and 2. Volume 1 collects 1 - 17 quite nicely, but it is Volume 2 I have an issue with. Volume 2 collects 18 - 24, and there are no more Golden Age Flash Archives after Volume 2. So, how am I meant to read 25 onwards? I'll admit that a small few like Flash Comics #86 are reprinted in other TPs like "The Greatest Flash Stories Ever Told", but if they're so great, why aren't they reprinted in Golden Age Flash Archives? Also, that is at least 50 Golden Age Flash stories I'll struggle to read. If you know any suggestions on how to read these, please let me know.

Another issue I have is All-Flash (Vol 1). I can only find 2 complete comics with all stories there, and those 2 are the first 2 that are collected in the Golden Age Flash Archives Vol. 2. All-Flash 31 was collected in The Flash: A Celebration of 75 Years. The first time I saw it I was wanting to throw a party. Then I noticed that only 2 stories from that comic were reprinted, and a third one called "Twisted Destinies" wasn't. With that, my happiness quickly turned into a hatred of the way DC have reprinted old Flash comics.

I later bought The Flash: The Silver Age Volume 4 so that I'd be able to read some old Flash comics that were reprinted in The Flash (Vol 1) #160 (I also needed the other Silver Age stories at that time). My bad, as it turns out that The Flash: The Silver Age Volume 4 doesn't collect The Flash (Vol 1) #160 at all, only its cover. I felt like crying. I quickly realised that it wouldn't be easy reading stories from All-Flash 3 - 30. I counted 45 Flash stories from All-Flash comics that weren't collected in TPs. To kick me where it hurts even further, I had a look for All-Flash Comics in "The Greatest Flash Stories Ever Told", and there wasn't even a single story.

If you know any good methods on how to get all these stories without it costing thousands, please tell me.

I'll also admit to me originally writing this post thinking it would only be on Golden Age Flash comics, but saw a recurring pattern.

Since I left off at All-Star Comics, I figured I'd go onto The Flash (Vol 1) next. The issues 104-199 are okay, but then issues 200 - 350 aren't collected in TPs either! The way these are collected is especially rubbish, as in The Flash: A Celebration of 75 Years, it collects 215, 233 and 275. It shows issue 275 (which I'm okay with), but then doesn't go into any depth at all on the effect it had on Barry's life, which the following 8 comics did. It makes very little sense to work so hard to show how badly it affected Barry's life, and then when it's time to put it in a TP you cut that bit out. Also, because of TPs, there are certain numbers between issues 200 and 350 which are collected in TPs. This makes it so much harder to get the ones you don't already have, because you have to make a list of the ones not collected in TPs to make sure you don't have the same one twice and waste money. This is due to TPs picking out comics from The Flash (Vol 1) randomly and with no sense at all, making it ridiculous to get your head round.

Due to me just mentioning The Flash: The Silver Age Volume Four, finishing the Flash (Vol 1) paragraph and just buying the TP recently, it would make sense to mention it next. I really don't have much to complain about, except my issue with The Flash #160 and how it only gave me the comic cover, and none of the stories. Other than that, the TP was nothing but good, as it had nice artwork, good stories, and the back of the TP shows every character inside it, so that you know what you're in for. I'm not complaining that they didn't do it, but DC could've put the rest of the Flash: The Silver Age Volumes in the back with all the comics they collect too, but that can easily be sorted out with a quick Google search, so this isn't really a complaint.

I'll move onto The Flash (Vol 2), make my final point and leave it there, as I think this post may be too long already. I have already mentioned The Flash (Vol 2) in a previous post, so I'll keep it as brief as possible. Issue 1 is nicely collected by A Celebration of 75 Years, and then the next comic in a TP is issue 62 in Mark Waid Book One. I have the same problem here as I do in The Flash (Vol 1). They have missed another huge chunk out of The Flash and moved on. I've noticed this part of The Flash (Vol 2) isn't that bad for TPs reprinting random comics from it, so I won't complain about that too much. I've also noticed that I can't find issues 142 - 163 collected in any TPs.

As an example, here's a quote from DC: "A thrilling new volume collecting THE FLASH #207-211 and #213-217!" What was wrong with issue 212? My point here is that I think the way the TPs collect Flash comics is just garbage, as they leave out comics all the time.

My final point is the "The Flash: A Celebration of 75 Years" TP, as I have mentioned it quite a few times in this post. This TP is in my opinion both good and bad. I'll do the good points first. Firstly, the TP does collect some of the Flash's "harder to get" comics, such as All-Flash #31 from 1947, which isn't collected in any other TP. Also, it collects Flash comics from every different decade, which for me is nice to see, as we get to watch The Flash slowly morph into the comic I love and I see different variations of the character, falling in love with each one as I go. Finally, it has a nice introduction to each era of the Flash, with 5 parts altogether being nicely seperated. So DC, congratulations on that.

Now I'll mention the things I disliked about the TP (there will be a point I have mentioned before in this post). Firstly, I'll start with the one that's least important. It has a dust jacket/dust cover, and it partially gets in the way when trying to read the comics. Of course, you can take it off and this is me being whiny, but it's still something I dislike. Another thing I dislike is that it only collects two comics from All-Flash #31. A good analogy: That's like being close to the finish line in a marathon while you're in 1st place, and then dropping out for no reason at the last minute. It does also collect some of the Flash's greatest adventures, but there is a problem I have with how it has done this which is quite similar to the point I made earlier on The Flash (Vol 1) #275. It also collects Flashpoint #5. The next comic before that one is The Flash: Rebirth #1.

I understand that you might only put in the first comic of the series to show the reader that it is a good series and maybe intrigue them into reading the rest of the story or maybe help them save money by showing them the first bit of the story they don't like first so they don't waste money on the rest of the series, but collecting only the last issue of a series is absolutely pointless. This means that you're showing them spoilers to a story they may not have read at that point, you're throwing them into the story with no basic idea of what's going on so everything just seems random, and you didn't give them the rest of the story, so everything that was supposed to build up tension to the finale and make the finale seem special is now gone, and you're left with a pointless, spoiler-filled random story that you can't make sense out of in the middle of stories that you actually like.

I will also mention that there is a column on the back of the dust jacket/dust cover that says "More Classic Adventures of the FASTEST MAN ALIVE". The idea is okay, as the reader will obviously be interested in the Flash to pick up the book. What's not okay is that every single recommendation they did is rubbish. That's not because I think the TPs themselves are bad, but the only recommendations are the TPs that collect the comics already in "A Celebration of 75 Years". In other words, it is recommending what you have already read. Great.

If you think you know any suitable way for me to fill these gaps of Flash Comics DC have missed, please tell me. Also, if you want to add anything onto one of my points, feel free.