Flash: Red Trinity (#7, December ‘87), by Baron, Guice, and Mahlstedt. This is gonna be fast, so try to keep up…

Yes, yes, yes, yes, and YES. Finally, some hot-blooded hero action, an engaging plot, and the character development we need.

The Good

Tina’s plight now has me hooked. Real consequences, that’s what we needed. This issue has action on most pages too, so the soap opera vibe of Flash #5 is gone. Joy!

I’m tempted to go back and fill out my collection, and if a comic can do that, it has won half the battle.

The Bad

McGee (Flash #5) was basically evil Flash. The new baddies, the Red Trinity team, adds three more Flash-wannabes. You can guess what Blue Trinity will give us. Is the concept of super speedy people that interesting that we need eight of them? I’ve also heard of this Reverse-Flash dude, and I know about Impulse. Impulse works because he has a strong character flaw: he’s impulsive. At this point, the villains seem like they were only written with super speed so they could keep up with the main character, and that’s boring.

What about a bad guy that could make Flash go even faster? Uncontrollably fast. Too-fast-Flash could be a real danger to himself and others. Doppelganger-Flash one through 7 is just repetitive and confusing. And I’ve lost track of who is who in Red Trinity already.

Synopsis

Flash’s powers make him the ultimate plot device; a master of the segue. Think about it. He’s able to reach the next scene before the reader. That must make him difficult to write. There’s no need for a shot of a jet flying off to the next mission, no pause before the next battle. Instant combat, just add water. As a writer, you probably need to spend a lot of time slowing the Flash down.

This ish gets a solid 3 out of 5 Cheeky Cthulhus from me. It’s worth reading if you can get your hands on it, but there really isn’t anything amazing going on here, so it’s not a must-have. If you’re a die-hard Flash fan, then maybe check out Flash: Red Trinity anyway.