Jay Garrick: The Flash #1 - Comic Review

 

I love the Justice Society, the characters from that team are some of my favourites in comics, and I've got a lot of time for them whenever they turn up. And because of that Jay Garrick is my favourite Flash. He's one of the kindest, most caring Flashes, and he's the perfect father figure to that family of heroes. And now, he's getting to be a father to his own child. 

Thanks to the time manipulating shenanigans of Geoff Johns, who introduced a slew of 'forgotten' characters that had been plucked out of the timeline, Jay Garrick has recently learned that he had a daughter, Judy, who was once his sidekick, Boom. Returned to regular time, but not to the time where she left, Judy now finds herself sixty years in her future, still a teenage girl, with parents old enough to be her great grandparents. She's having to adjust to her new existence; and it's not an easy thing. 

The issue opens with a flashback to the day where Judy was lost, as she and her father race to save Joan Garrick from the evil Doctor Elemental. Whilst Jay defuses a series of bombs, Judy rushes in to save her mother. One Jay catches up and finds Joan the two of them begin to lose their memories of their daughter, who has vanished. From here we get a scene reuniting mother and daughter, of the family coming together for the first time in decades in a series of very bittersweet moments. 

The older Garricks begin to regain their memories of their daughter, and are beyond delighted to have her back with them; but Judy feels like she's missed out on so much, that the world moved on without her, and that she doesn't quite have a place here anymore. It's something that I'm glad the series is exploring, as Judy just suddenly appearing out of nowhere is a huge thing. The Garricks have been portrayed as a coupe who couldn't have children of their own, so went out of their way to become parents to others, show form a found family to fill that ache. But now we've learned that that was coming from a place of loss, that their daughter was taken from them.

It's complex and messy, and at times really kind of heartbreaking, and it's important to this new series. It's being given the room it needs to breathe here, and everything that happens in the modern day is in some way in service to it. Even when Judy rushes off to go and stop some bank robbers it informs the family dynamic, as there's a moment when Joan thinks she's lost her daughter all over again. Luckily, the issue doesn't lean too heavily on this, as if Joan had ended up crying thinking her daughter was gone forever again I'm not sure I could have handled it. But, there is absolutely highly charged emotions flying all over the place here, and it's clear that this isn't going to be a smooth or simple reintegration for the family.

There's also an interesting development towards the end of the issue that reveals that it's not just Judy that the Garricks lost memory of, but Jay's arch villain Doctor Elemental too. We get to see that in the moment when Judy was taken Elemental watched on from the shadows, showing us that whilst he wasn't also taken out of time somehow memory of him was lost. Perhaps because he was heavily involved in the events leading to Judy's vanishing, like a ripple effect or a case of him getting caught in the wake. More interestingly too, Judy knocks his mask off during their fight, and whilst we don't get to see his face she does, and it's someone she knows. So not only do we get a new daughter/sidekick for Jay, but a cool new villain too.

The art works really well for the book, and Diego Olortegui does a fantstic job at bringing these characters to life. Everyone looks really good, and the costumed heroes all look fantastic here. There's a moment when Judy sees a photo of the Flash family, with ten speedsters in it, and it's a fantastic panel that shows off how well Olortegui draws the group. The difference between Jay in the flashbacks and the modern day is also really stark and striking. Some artists draw Jay as older, but still in really good shape and fairly young for his age, kept youthful thanks to the speed force. Here, however, Jay looks like he's carrying his years, and the difference between when Judy was taken and now is huge, and is being used to further enforce how shocking and upsetting things must be for Judy. The colours on the issue, by Luis Guerrero, are all nice and bright, and the issue is really colourful and every single page just pops.

As a long time JSA and Jay Garrick fan I was looking forward to this book. I was also slightly unsure of what to make of giving Jay a daughter. But reading this first issue I had a blast. There are some great moments of super heroics, intrigue and mystery, and plenty of scenes that go into the trauma that this situation would absolutely bring with it, and how it's going to change things for Jay and Joan forever. 

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