Book Review: The Flash: Season Zero

Book: The Flash: Season Zero (print issues #1-12, digital #1-24) by various writers and artists

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Rating: 2 1/2 stars

Review:

I enjoyed watching the first season of The Flash TV series but there are things that annoy me about the show which unfortunately plague this comic. The things that annoyed me were: Barry being insecure and lacking self-esteem and his not being able to think or figure things out for himself instead of constantly seeking advice from the S.T.A.R. Labs trio Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow and Harrison Wells among others.

There were seven stories included in this book:





First Story:

Freak Show by Andrew Kreisberg, script by Brooke Eikmeier and Katherine Walczak with illustrations by Phil Hester

This story wasn't bad, it follows The Flash as he tries to stop a circus ring master and circus performers from terrorizing the city. It started with The Flash finding a strong man stealing something from the bank but he was unable to stop him. Detectives Joe West and Eddie Thawne along with Barry Allen arrived at the scene and spoke with the bank manager who provided only a little bit of information.

Later, a large number of animals were set free from the zoo with several of them running wild throughout the city. As Joe, Barry, Eddie along with Iris (who showed up to meet Eddie) were leaving, they were all caught in a traffic jam caused by several tigers, lions, cheetahs and leopards. While The Flash was off trying to reign in all the animals, a mysterious snake charmer was trying to retrieve something from the bank manager who didn't survive the interrogation.

The police trio of Joe, Eddie and Barry were back at the bank to investigate the death of the manager. Throughout this story Barry got help from scientists Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow and Harrison Wells. Leads from the scientists had The Flash heading out to the circus but what he found there he was in no way prepared to handle.



Second Story:

Smoak Signals by Andrew Kreisberg and Marc Guggenheim, script by Andrew Kreisberg with illustrations by Marcus To

Marcus To's artwork was wasted on this throw away story which featured the presence of one of my least favorite characters in the Arrow/Flash Universe: Felicity Smoak. Why was she even included in this story?

Oh, that's right so The Flash could save her since she was being pursued by a group of flying armored mercenaries. Apparently someone wants her dead and sent a group of robots after her but The Flash intervened and saved her.

The only good thing about this story besides the awesome art was that Barry didn't get any help from the S.T.A.R. Labs trio.



Third Story:

King Shark by Andrew Kreisberg, script by Kai Yu Wu and Lauren Certo with illustrations by Phil Hester and Eric Gapstur

Barry with the assistance of Caitlin and Cisco were trying to figure out who or what was responsible for several killings. It turns out a patient Shay Lamden had undergone an experimental treatment and was transformed into a shark like creature due to the explosion of the particle accelerator. Since then he has been going after the scientists that conducted the treatment.

Before Barry could stop Shay or "King Shark", the Suicide Squad swept in and took him to A.R.G.U.S. where Amanda Waller made King Shark a member of her team. Barry sought out advice from Green Arrow and Felicity about the Suicide Squad so he and the rest of Team Flash could figure out the best way to get King Shark back.

This story went from a standard particle accelerator radiation freak/villain of the week to an action adventure story with Barry, Cisco and Caitlyn teaming up with Amanda Waller and her Suicide Squad to stop a terrorist.



Fourth Story:

Black Star script and illustrations by Phil Hester with ink by Eric Gapstur

This slow moving story focused on a past project that Dr. Caitlyn Snow was a part of where a soldier went out in space as part of an experiment. He was only supposed to be out there for nine months but he was left out there for years and thanks to that particle accelerator explosion he ended up merging with the machine leaving Caitlyn, Cisco and Barry to try to stop the rampaging machine man.



Fifth Story:

Day in the Life script by Ben Sokolowski with illustration by Marcus To

A "Day in the Life" is exactly what it states, the story follows a day in the life of Barry as he tries to enjoy a movie marathon with Joe but emergencies kept popping up. From hostage situations to hurricane flooding, The Flash was there.

What I love is that Barry will do his best to make sure he saves everyone he can and even inspired a young boy to do something rather heroic. I really like this story, it was very good.



Sixth Story:

Ice and Fire script by Andrew Kreisberg and Lauren Certo with illustrations by Phil Hester

In this dull story Joe was giving Barry some information about Leonard Snart a.k.a. Captain Cold and Mick Rory a.k.a. Heatwave. It was pretty much nothing more than a backstory showing how Snart and Rory first started working together before they became supervillians.



Seventh Story:

Melting Point script by Sterling Gates and illustrations by Ibrahaim Moustafa

This story focused on Caitlyn Snow who was dealing with the death of her mentor Professor Wangari Hollowell. In the middle of the night she received a mysterious package and inside was a video recorded message from her mentor stating that her death was murder and named her killer. She said she was killed for an experiment she succeeded at completing. After Caitlyn and Cisco watched the video they set out to take care of the favor her mentor asked of her which is to retrieve her mentor's equipment.

However, what they found inside a creepy old building was a secret lab with one of Caitlyn's former classmates trapped inside. It turns out that particle accelerator explosion caused Professor Hollowell to become unstable following her experiment. Caitlyn and Cisco with some assistance from The Flash came up with an on the spot plan to stop her mentor from going through with a devastating plan.



This book wasn't the best read especially with there being only two really good well written and interesting stories and a third that wasn't bad out of seven stories. That certainly doesn't make for a good read. I found the rest of the stories to be dull and boring and I debated whether to give it 2 stars or 3 so I went with 2 1/2.

It starts to get a little annoying that Barry can't do anything without seeking advice from someone be it Joe, the scientists or Green Arrow. When is he going to at least try to figure something out for himself. It's hard to image this version of The Flash ever becoming a hero who can think for himself and take on any challenges that turns up without his team being there to help him. When is he ever going to stand on his own and figure out who he is, if he's always going to someone for advice.