The Flash, Vol. 4: Crossfire

The Flash (1987) (Old Editions) #11

by Geoff Johns

A new trade paperback collecting THE FLASH #183-191, written by TEEN TITANS and JSA's Geoff Johns! The Flash has opposed many costumed villains in his career, but when they team up under the control of a new criminal known as Blacksmith, things go from tough to impossible! And when the artificial intelligence known as the Thinker makes his presence known the Flash finds himself in a crossfire between the two sets of villains.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Comic Book, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Geoff Johns originally hails from Detroit, Michigan. He attended Michigan State University, where he earned a degree in Media Arts and Film. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s in search of work within the film industry. Through perseverance, Geoff ended up as the assistant to Richard Donner, working on Conspiracy Theory and Lethal Weapon 4. During that time, he also began his comics career writing Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. and JSA (co-written with David S. Goyer) for DC Comics. He worked with Richard Donner for four years, leaving the company to pursue writing full-time.

His first comics assignments led to a critically acclaimed five-year run on the The Flash. Since then, he has quickly become one of the most popular and prolific comics writers today, working on such titles including a highly successful re-imagining of Green Lantern, Action Comics (co-written with Richard Donner), Teen Titans, Justice Society of America, Infinite Crisis and the experimental breakout hit series 52 for DC with Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid. Geoff received the Wizard Fan Award for Breakout Talent of 2002 and Writer of the Year for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 as well as the CBG Writer of the Year 2003 thru 2005, 2007 and CBG Best Comic Book Series for JSA 2001 thru 2005. Geoff also developed BLADE: THE SERIES with David S. Goyer, as well as penned the acclaimed “Legion” episode of SMALLVILLE. He also served as staff writer for the fourth season of ROBOT CHICKEN.

Geoff recently became a New York Times Bestselling author with the graphic novel Superman: Brainiac with art by Gary Frank.

Reviews

[machado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now it's getting good.

[Austin Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8 #183-#188

[Lissibith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never tell a hardcore DC fan that you think the Flash rogues gallery is a bit of a joke. Or rather, maybe you should, because then they might loan you this book. The Flash's Rogues are all working together, and that means a world of hurt for Wally West.

But they are only one half of the "crossfire" of the title. On the other side we have The Thinker, digitized and able to control machines at will. Machines and the people near them, including Wally's wife.

This was wonderfully comic booky, and for me at least a bit unpredictable, which is always welcome when it comes to the capes and cowls set.

I maintain after reading this that the rogues in Flash's books are still ridiculous, but they can, when they put their minds to it, be genuinely frightening and strong.

For my money, the most interesting part though was the little bits we got of The Flash trying to help Pied Piper be proven innocent of charges that he murdered his parents. It was a bit of a side story, barely touched on, but it was nice to see him reaching out and caring about them. This was a really great trade and I'm glad I got the chance to read it.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crossfire (183-188). This is very obviously the Johns who later wrote Green Lantern. He produces an action-heavy arc with a very large cast and constantly changing elements (so that even if it is one long fight, it's one long fight that stays interesting). This arc also does a great job of closing up Johns' plot elements to date, which he'd been setting up throughout his run, and we get more great characterization of the three cops that Johns introduced. Overall, a fun superhero story [7/10]. Messengers (189). offers a good coda, even if it's just a check-in with all the major characters.

Rogue Files: Pied Piper (190). These one-offs continue to be delightful. I loved the background on the Pied Piper, though it's a bit too overshadowed by current events to go into as much depth as I'd like [7+/10].

The Brave & The Beaten (191). I enjoyed the idea of calling back to Johns' earlier Grimm script, but this team-up with Hawkman is not particularly exciting [5/10].

[Printable Tire]

This collection of Flash comics comes many years after the previous one I just read, Terminal Velocity, and yet in a lot of ways this collection is simpler. It was more action-oriented, and the comic book characters were less fleshed out. It wasn't bad though, and I read it with enjoyment.

Wally West as Flash is sort of my DC equivalent of Spider-Man. They both go through a lot of the same personal problems, they both have a similar rogue's gallery, and they're both (relatively) young. The Flash's world is pretty wacky, but it doesn't upset me as a purist so much as I'm sure the current incarnation of Spider-Man's would, since I don't have as much emotional baggage riding on the crimson speedster (ew, apologies for the dorky comic book slang).

[Andrew Kwon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I overall really liked this book because of all the action involved within the story and the characters. The Flash got struck by lightning and all the sudden because really fast. There's others like him, but they want to destroy the world and now the Flash has to stop them. I also liked how the characters each had a different unique power involved in trying to stop the Flash. The action got me so hooked that I couldn't put down the book!

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite volume since I started reading, Johns throws everything at the Flash that it's a wonder he gets out alive. Really enjoyed the depth and content of this one, and I'm becoming a fan of the Flash's Rogues.

[Kayla Burton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun book. I felt kinda weird jumping into the story here, but that's my own fault. The art was pretty good, but not amazing. I love that Wally has a family and close friends and they all know he's The Flash, and just kind of accept that as part of their lives.

[Victor Orozco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty cool.

Definitely loving these Wally West/Flash stories. The Thinker storyline was interesting but in many ways it was like creating a sort of BRAINIAC style character for the Flash.

Loved that bit at the end with Hawkman. C+

[Thorn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not inspiring, either by the art or by the story.

[J.R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flash isn't very high on my list of favorite superheroes, but this storyline is quite well done. I even find myself liking the Rogues more.

[Dan · Rating 1 out of 5]

So much camp and cheese. I'm so glad for the new 52. This stuff was so unreadable. With villains like prankster or something like that, such a sad rogues gallery.

[Dan Chandel · Rating 3 out of 5]

It gets reaally boring. I miss mark waid.