The Flash #4: Run Irey Run

The Flash #4 sees Wally continuing to investigate the Gallery, a mysterious realm that seems to be linked to Wally’s mind and thought processes. Meanwhile, Wally’s daughter Irey comes into her own as the super hero while teaming up with Jesse Quick in order to take on Mirror Master. This issue feels very much more in touch with the prior Flash series than ever before while also embracing a lot of the elements that have made this series so unique.

While the first three issues spent a lot of time establishing this new iteration of The Flash ongoing series, The Flash #4 truly embraces the prior run from Jeremy Adams and company. This is bound to please a lot of fans of the prior run while also allowing newly established fans a context for the amazing run that came before. The specific area from Adams’ run that is brought up here is Irey establishing herself as a full on hero. A lot of creators will reference things from a prior run, but will rarely go out of their way to build upon that story in a meaningful way. Even details from that run such as the mentor/mentee relationship that Irey struck up with Jesse Quick return here, making it feel like the passing of the torch between these series was more well handles then most.

When it comes to the overall science fiction feel of this book, Si Spurrier and Mike Deodato Jr truly embrace all the aspects of The Flash’s abilities (new and old), creating one of the wackiest Flash stories of all time. The idea of The Gallery alone is just one of the weirdest things that has popped up in a Flash series in recent years. That combined with the way that Deodato uniquely draws these characters really makes this book such a fun, albeit confusing ride from beginning to end.

One aspect of The Flash #4 that really has become indicative of the full series is the way that Spurrier is constantly preparing for the future. This series is only four issues in, yet it is constantly introducing elements to keep in the back of your mind. This kind of storytelling shows that this creative team is in it for the long haul, and that the plot elements introduced here are only a footnote for what is going to be happening moving forward.

Much like the preceding issues, one of the most profound elements here comes from Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou’s lettering. Otsmane-Elhaou is doing things with lettering that totally break from the norm. These elements make the lettering as much of an artstyle as the work from Deodato. This issue sees fun elements like the trailing of the speech bubbles as Irey runs away or the fluctuation in text size based on speech volume add a ton of fun to the story being told. The lettering here is amazing and profound, creating a very well rounded story.