Writers: Brian Buccellato and Francis Manapul
Artists: Marcio Takara and Francis Manapul
Colourist: Brian Buccellato
Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual

Previously, in The Flash: The Flash defeated Gorilla Grodd and rescued the refugees that had become trapped inside the Speed Force – including Iris West. His girlfriend Patty Spivot also uncovered Barry’s secret identity as the Flash, and Barry’s ‘fake’ death was rectified. The only thing that he needs now to have his life going super smoothly is for his job to be reinstated at the Central City Police Department.

Some of the Speed Force refugees have been exhibiting superpowers, and the Flash has taken it upon himself to stop them hurting each other and those around them. But before he can even begin, the Trickster is taken prisoner by the Central City Police and detained at Iron Heights for supposed murders. Barry investigates and discovers that the Trickster is innocent – but his supporters aren’t about to wait for due process, and rush the prison to rescue him. As the Flash heads off to stop the rioting, his powers mysteriously disappear!

Writer: Brian Buccellato
Artist: Marcio Takara
Colourist: Brian Buccellato
Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual

Previously, in The Flash: Gorilla Grodd and his army of gorillas attacked Central City, forcing the Flash to forge a tentative alliance with his usual villains, The Rogues. With their aid, as well as the help of his girlfriend Patty Spivot and his one-time enemy Turbine, Flash was able to trap Grodd in the Speed Force, and rescue Iris West and the other Speed Force refugees as well. Along the way, Patty discovered the Flash’s secret identity, and the Trickster had an arm ripped off during one of Grodd’s rages.

During the battle against Grodd’s forces, certain other characters reemerged, such as Iris’ cousin Daniel West, who was released from Iron Heights just before Grodd arrived, and the vigilante known as the Pied Piper, secretly Hartley Rathaway, boyfriend of the police chief (and Barry’s boss) David Singh. And, most worrying of all, in the wake of Grodd’s attack, philanthropist and Flash villain Doctor Elias used the accumulated Speed Force energies to apparently transform himself into a monstrous Reverse Flash.

Writers: Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Artist: Francis Manapul
Colourist: Brian Buccellato
Letterer: Carlos Mangual

Previously, in The Flash: A battle with Captain Cold sent Iris West and a number of other civilians spiralling into the Speed Force after the Flash’s powers ran riot. On his quest to save them, Barry found himself in Gorilla City, and ran afoul of Gorilla Grodd. On his return to Central City, Barry battled his reteamed Rogues, only to find them working against Captain Cold himself.  Now, Central City has been attacked by Grodd and his forces.

Forming a temporary truce with the Rogues, Barry fights back and manages to rescue his girlfriend Patty Spivot, who discovers his secret identity. With his Speed Mind, Barry searches the timelines for a successful way to defeat Grodd; he feigns surrender, and forces Grodd into the Speed Force itself, where the tables are severely turned in Barry’s favor. However, Iris and the other Speed Force refugees are now caught in the midst of the battle.

Writers: Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Artist: Francis Manapul
Colourist: Brian Buccellato
Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual

Previously, in The Flash: Gorilla Grodd has invaded Central City with an army of gorillas in order to take what he believes is his – anything the Flash claims as his own! Using a mind suggestion device, Grodd is able to sequester Central City from the rest of the world by allowing outsiders to believe that a radioactive gas is surrounding the city, and by ingesting collected Speed Force energy, Grodd can battle the Flash at his own super-speed levels.

Despite being able to beat Grodd back, Flash is unable to defeat his completely, and collapses in battle. Patty Spivot and Turbine rescue him, inadvertently revealing to Patty that the Flash is actually Barry Allen, her believed-dead boyfriend. Patty swears to help him no matter who he is, and takes him to recover. Barry uses the Speed Mind in order to look into the future at the possible courses of action he can take; but all roads lead to defeat. Barry decides that only by doing the unexpected can he possibly force Grodd out of Central City – surrender!

Writers: Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Artists: Marcus To and Francis Manapul
Inkers: Ryan Winn and Francis Manapul
Colourists: Ian Herring and Brian Buccellato
Letterer: Carlos Mangual

Previously, in The Flash: Gorilla Grodd has invaded Central City with his gorilla army. The Flash has forced a reluctant alliance with his Rogues, and is attempting to wrest control of the city back from the hordes of apes. It hasn’t been going very well, since Gorilla Grodd has managed to harness the energies of the Speed Force, bestowing upon himself super-speed to rival the Flash’s own.

Meanwhile, Turbine has allied himself with Patty Spivot, and their search for answers about Turbine’s life has lead them to the Central City Zoo, where another inhabitant of Gorilla City, Solovar, has been waiting for the right moment. Freeing Solovar, Patty and Turbine race to the Flash’s side to aid him in his battle with Grodd. Solovar sacrifices his life to protect Barry from a fatal blow, and Patty is shocked to see that the Flash is none other than Barry Allen, her boyfriend that she had believed dead up until now.

Writers: Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Artist: Francis Manapul
Colourist: Brian Buccellato
Letterer: Carlos Mangual

Previously, in The Flash: On his travels across the planet as a result of  his Speed Force induced powers, the Flash encountered the inhabitants of Gorilla City, who worshiped the Flash and his mission –- to run, and expend the Speed Force’s accumulated energy. Whilst in Gorilla City, Flash fought and defeated the villainous Gorilla Grodd, who was hellbent on stealing the Flash’s powers, believing them his by birthright.

On his return to Central City, the Flash found himself besieged by the newest incarnation of the Rogues. A fierce battle ensued, but the timely intervention (and betrayal) of Captain Cold allowed the Flash to be victorious momentarily. Before they knew what was happening, Central City was assaulted by Grodd and his army, forcing Flash and the Rogues to team up in order to stop them. But it seems that Grodd has discovered a way to harness the energy of the Speed Force, and this makes him even more dangerous than ever.

Writers: Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Artist: Francis Manapul
Colourist: Brian Buccellato and Ian Herring
Letterer: Wes Abbott

Previously, in The Flash: Whilst travelling through the Speed Force, the Flash was sent to another continent where he met the inhabitants of Gorilla City. These gorillas worshipped the Flash and his connection to the Speed Force and tried to aid him in his superheroics. Unfortunately, one member of the tribe, Grodd, was against the Flash and attempted to kill him. Grodd was defeated, and Flash returned to Central City.

The Rogues, a collection of villains who have fought the Flash before, have teamed up once again to try and take down the Flash and Dr. Elias, a philanthropist who is out to ruin the Flash as part of a social experiment. As the Rogues close in on the Flash, Captain Cold saves the Scarlet Speedster, and the pair team up to defeat the band of villains. Just as the battle seems over, Grodd arrives in Central City, with an army of gorillas at his command.

Writers: Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Artist: Francis Manapul
Colourists: Brian Buccellato and Ian Herring
Letterer: Wes Abbott

Previously, in The Flash: A climactic battle with the Rogues has left the Flash’s energy depleted, and the Rogues in no shape to do battle. Unfortunately, this is the point at which Gorilla Grodd chooses to unleash his hordes of gorilla warriors on Central City.

It has been established after Barry’s trip into the Speed Force and his battle with Turbine that his super speed is a result of the Speed Force’s movement through time and space. Not running will cause the Speed Force to overload and cause time distortions and even worse repercussions. But how were these powers bestowed upon Barry in the first place?

Writers: Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Pencillers: Marcus To, Scott Kolins, Diogenes Neves, Marcio Takara, and Wes Craig
Inkers: Oclair Albert, Wes Craig, Scott Kolins, Marcio Takara, and Marcus To
Colourists: Hi-Fi, Michael Atiyeh, and Ian Herring
Letterers: Wes Abbott, Pat Brosseau, Carlos Mangual and Dezi Sienty

Previously, in The Flash: The Rogues are back! Captain Cold, Weather Wizard, Heatwave, Trickster, Glider, and Mirror Master are roaming the streets of Central City once again, and that can only spell bad news for the Flash. All is not as it seems however, as some of the Rogues turn on Cold and continue on under the leadership of Glider, his sister. Together, the new Rogues steal the new Central City monorail and put Dr. Darwin Elias in grave danger by inserting a piece of shrapnel into his heart.

All is not lost, with the Flash getting backup in the form of the Pied Piper, a reformed Rogue himself. Now, the stage is set for an all-out brawl between the Flash, the Piper, Cold and the rest of the Rogues across all of Central City!

Writers: Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Artist: Francis Manapul
Colourist: Brian Buccellato
Letterer: Wes Abbott

Previously, in The Flash: After a battle with Captain Cold as the Flash, Barry Allen was thought dead by those around him. His girlfriend Patty has mourned his death, and he no longer has a job at the Central City Police Department. Instead, Barry has moved to the roughest area of the city in order to avoid detection, and is working as a bartender whilst still moonlighting as the Scarlet Speedster.

Barry battles several of his old foes, the Rogues, who have undergone a strange metamorphosis, internalizing their powers so that they do not need weapons to battle the Flash any more. He defeats Captain Cold, the Weather Wizard, and Heatwave in quick succession – however, Cold’s sister, herself a Rogue known as Glider, has been secretly rescuing them from prison in order to facilitate her own plans.

Writers: Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Penciller: Marcus To
Inker: Ray McCarthy
Colourists: Brian Buccellato and Ian Herring
Letterer: Wes Abbott

Previously, in The Flash: During a battle with Captain Cold, the Flash created a time vortex that sucked his friend Iris West, as well as numerous other civilians, into the Speed Force, apparently never to be seen again. Since no one knows that the Flash and Barry Allen are one and the same, others now believe that Barry perished in the vortex, including Barry’s girlfriend, Patty Spivot.

After rescuing Patty from the Weather Wizard in Guatemala, Barry was going to reveal his secret identity to her, however, her guilt and anger over Barry’s supposed death put Barry off. Instead, he has decided that Barry Allen will remain “dead”, and a new civilian identity is in order.

Writers: Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Penciller: Marcus To
Inker: Ray McCarthy
Colourists: Brian Buccellato and Ian Herring
Letterer: Wes Abbott

Previously, in The Flash: Barry is on a whistle-stop tour of the planet, it seems. After heading into the Speed Force to try and rescue some friends he had inadvertently sent inside, he discovered the source of his powers and the crazed villain Turbine. After defeating his foe, Barry ended up in Gorilla City, where the tribe of talking gorillas told him of his purpose – he must run, or the Speed Force’s excess energy could damage time and space.

After defeating wannabe monarch Gorilla Grodd, Barry left the city with a renewed sense of purpose. Meanwhile, Patty Spivot, Barry’s girlfriend, has travelled to Guatemala. Unfortunately it seems that the resident supervillain drug lord the Weather Wizard is about to cause problems for both her and the Flash, who she blames for the “death” of Barry Allen.

Writers: Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Artist: Francis Manapul
Colourist: Brian Buccellato
Letterer: Wes Abbott

Previously, in The Flash: Barry Allen’s powers have been causing rips in the fabric of space and time when he runs too fast. During a battle with Captain Cold, Barry accidentally sent a group of people, including potential love interest Iris West, into one of these rifts and lost them. After defeating Cold, Barry opened another rift and ran inside to try and find his lost friends.

Inside, Barry learned of the Speed Force, the mysterious energy that allows him to run at superhuman speeds. He also battled Turbine, a Tuskegee airman drawn into the Speed Force during World War II who was trying to go home. It was revealed that the space/time rips were being caused by Turbine attempting to escape the Speed Force, and so they were not Barry’s fault. Barry grabbed Turbine and drove him out of the Speed Force, but landed himself in even more trouble – right in the middle of Gorilla City, where they were in the midst of choosing a new king.

So as readers might know, usually I present an entire series, or run on a series, in my “Comics You Should Be Reading” posts, but this time I’m just going to do a review for two trade paperbacks: The Flash Emergency Stop, and The Flash The Human Race. I’m doing both in this one post because both encapsulate a year long run on DC’s Flash series by two top names in the industry right now: Grant Morrison and Mark Millar.

Before Mark Millar became one of the comic industries most well known writers he was just a young upstart from Scotland, so who would be the one to help push his name from obscurity into who he was today? Fellow Scottish scribe, Grant Morrison. The two wrote several stories together: Skrull Kill Krew, Aztec, Swamp Thing, and this run on the Flash.

Anyway, enough into, let’s get to the review.

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Francis Manapul

When the new volume of The Flash launched about four months ago, I wasn’t quite convinced that I would enjoy it much. I’ve never been a huge fan of the Flash to begin with, and I’d read some very negative comments about Geoff Johns’ Flash Rebirth mini-series, in which he resurrected the Silver Age Flash, Barry Allen, and set him up to star in this new ongoing series. I decided to give it a shot out of curiosity and because reading a new series from #1 is always more appealing than trying to jump on in the middle of a run, but I was half expecting to drop it from my pull list after a couple of issues. To my surprise, the book was an instant hit for me. And #5 is another issue in a series that consistently feels fresh and exciting.