When the Reverse Flash tries to murder Barry Allen’s bride, the Scarlet Speedster pushes himself to his limits to stop his nemesis…but at a price. Inadvertently while saving Fiona, Barry snapped Reverse Flash’s neck, and he’s pronounced dead immediately. After this The Flash gets put on trial, and his innocence is tested by friends and foes.
This storyline took place over a year and is collected in this volume. It’s reprinted in black and white, so that may turn people off immediately, but it’s not a big deal for me. Prior to this I had never actually read a Flash comic, although I have enjoyed the first season of the tv show and when I saw this at the library I couldn’t resist picking it up as I love superheroes, but I also love courtroom dramas as well.
The trial actually doesn’t last that long, but the drama surrounding it takes a year to play out. I think that if it was written now, this story would focus more on the trial. As it is each issue has a fight with a rogue and it’s very beholden to the momentum of comic stories. I think it would have been more interesting had The Flash been prevented from attending to his duties as a superhero and another hero had to step in. There are cameos from other heroes, as at one point The Flash has to be judged by the JLA as well, although the other heroes aren’t as present in the story as I would have liked (surely there could be no better character witness than Superman?)
There’s a lot of drama regarding who is going to represent Flash in court, and there are some after effects of Barry’s absence from the wedding. At this point the secret identity was still a big thing, and that plays a role in the story.
Towards the end there are hijinks with time travel and it takes a somewhat bizarre turn, but all in all it’s an entertaining run. But reading it made me want to see a film where a superhero is put on trial. One thing I love about superheroes is that they can be plugged into different genres, and I’d like to see these being explored more. It’d be something new anyway, to see a superhero put on trial.
If I had the time I’d write it myself.
For fans of The Flash tv show, it’d be interesting to see if this gets adapted at some point in the shows future. It’d have to be severely reworked though.
