Review: The Flash Vol. 6- Cold Day in Hell
Quick Summary
Pros: The opening story is emotional. The second story is a compelling piece of detective work. The closing story is an awesome prelude to a future volume. Each of the book’s chapters looks great on its own.
Cons: Though the stories work well on their own, the connections between them are a little odd. The jumps between artistic styles can be jarring.
Overall: This isn’t the best volume in this series but it still manages to get a lot right. The stories here are all compelling, contain pleasant artwork, and have a tendency to build even more excitement for the future. There is some disconnect between the individual chapters but, on their own, each one works well. In the end, this book will primarily appeal to readers interested in seeing how the Flash progresses from the previous volume to the next one, not readers simply looking for the best Flash stories out there.
Story
The Flash Vol. 6: Cold Day in Hell, by Joshua Williamson, collects several solid Flash adventures. The first emphasizes the characters in a way that builds some intense emotion. The second is a compelling detective story with some satisfying action sprinkled on top. And the final adventure is a highly successful prelude to a future volume. The stories within this book feel a little disconnected from the flow of the series but, individually, they are all still easy to enjoy.
(spoilers start here)
Cold Day in Hell starts out with the return of Meena. Her return quickly introduces a great twist, as the heroes initially believe she is back for benevolent reasons before quickly learning she is working for the enemy. This is an emotional betrayal that stings in just the right way.
Then, Cold Day in Hell moves to Iron Heights, where the Rogues are running a secret criminal syndicate right under the warden’s nose. Watching Barry uncover this operation is satisfying and the peril he puts himself in adds some tension. Plus, the entire storyline builds up plot points for the future, as it is clear the warden is corrupt and the Central City Police Department is planning to do something about it.
The thing I didn’t care for about either of these two storylines is how disconnected they felt from each other and the previous volumes. The first arc refocuses attention on Black Hole and the Negative Speed Force but then has Barry essentially ignore these pressing issues. Then, in the second arc, Barry pushes his partner away to protect her again, a negative character trait he was supposed to be working on. Each story is fine on its own but they work less well when pieced into the larger tapestry of this series.
Finally, Cold Day in Hell closes with a prelude to Flash War. This prelude feels like a gift to fans of Wally West I, as it addresses the fact that he has received little to no attention since DC Universe: Rebirth (Review) and his character development has essentially been on hold since then. This pent up frustration works itself out through Wally’s actions, which manage to be both justified and frightening. All in all, the prelude was tremendously successful in gearing me up for the Flash War.
(spoilers end here)
Art
The appeal of the artwork in Cold Day in Hell is similar to the appeal of the story in that, individually, all of this collection’s artwork is great but, as a whole, there is some unpleasant disconnect. Pop Mhan starts out the collection with some bold displays of speedster power. Then, three separate artists take over for the next arc, with Howard Porter and Scott Kolins providing some particularly appealing contributions. Finally, Christian Duce closes the volume with an annual that presents some gorgeous interpretations of the characters. On their own, each of these chapters looks great but jumping from one art style to a dramatically different art style creates a jarring reading experience, especially when these jumps happen three times in a single story arc. This, ultimately, gives the volume some mixed visual appeal.
Continuity
The Flash Vol. 6: Cold Day in Hell continues the story from The Flash Vol. 5: Negative (Review).
The story here continues in The Flash Vol. 7: Perfect Storm (Review).
This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:
- Turbine was originally introduced back in The Flash Vol. 4 #8, collected in The Flash Vol. 1: Move Forward (Review).
- Trickster lost his arm in The Flash Vol. 4 #13, collected in The Flash Vol. 3: Gorilla Warfare (Review).
- Wally West I’s current situation references the DC Universe’s reboot from Flashpoint (Review) (Reading Order) and Wally’s return from DC Universe: Rebirth (Review).
- Wally also mentions that the Titans (Reading Order) recently had to deal with Abra Kadabra across Titans #1-6, collected in Titans Vol. 1: The Return of Wally West (Review). He also mentions that the Titans were recently disbanded, in Titans Vol. 3 #19, collected in Titans Vol. 4: Titans Apart (Review).