Speed Lines

The Flash Secret Files and Origins 2010 #1

Ooooo, first issue. Ya gonna have more than one “Flash Secret Files and Origins” issue this year, DC?

We’ve got two stories in this one — first, Barry Allen is obsessing about who killed his mother. You didn’t know someone killed Barry Allen’s mother? It’s a retcon — his mom wasn’t ever really mentioned until recently, when it was suddenly revealed that someone killed her when he was a little kid, and his dad got blamed for it and died in prison. Barry doesn’t believe that his dad killed his mom, and that’s what steered him toward work as a police scientist as a career. Our second story focuses on the Rogues — Captain Cold, Heat Wave, Weather Wizard, Mirror Master, and the Trickster — visit the original Mirror Master’s spooky headquarters to check into an old anti-Flash contingency plan. And after that, there are profiles of the Flash, his supporting cast, and his villains.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Yeah, I didn’t really mind it that much. It’s light, but you’re not going to get any real deep stories in these “Secret Files” comics. The worst I can say for it is I think they slipped up and revealed the solution to the big mystery without realizing it.

Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! #14

Black Adam is back, thanks to Freddy Freeman telling an amnesiac Theo Adam the magic word he needed. He and Captain Marvel knock each other around, and Mary Marvel tries to talk some sense into Freddy. Black Adam realizes he can find an amulet from ancient Egypt to get enough power to destroy the Marvels once and for all, but can he find an ally to help him out?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Oddly, the slowest parts of this story are the slugfests between Captain Marvel and Black Adam. Everything aside from that is pretty darn cool. And the ending twist is pretty nice, too, even if we saw it coming pretty early.