The Flash #22: The Button Part 4

This is part four of DC’s ‘The Button’ crossover between Batman and The Flash.  Have no idea what happened in the earlier issues?  Neither do I!  Lets have some objective and slightly confused fun!

The Cover

The cover of this issue is great.  It has a real old-time feel to it, like your pulling it off a news stand of the past.  It also features another version of The Flash, Jay Garrick(thank you CW for introducing me to the character), leading one to wonder how he’ll be involved in the story.  Jay looks tough, both muscular and fast, and brimming over with energy.  The iconic helmet looks pretty damn sweet too.  Jason Fabok & Brad Anderson put together an attractive cover.

The Art

The interior looks a lot more modern.  Howard Porter uses a lot of detail, but rather than being distracting, it really brings the characters to life.  It also appears to affect each character in the story differently.  Batman is dark, Reverse Flash is menacing, and The Flash(both of them) looks heroic.  It also helps that the issue is really colourful, and makes the story pop off the pages.

The Story

The issue begins with Batman and The Flash chasing the Reverse Flash through time, trying to prevent him from running to his own death, which I assume happened earlier in the crossover?  Time travel is confusing.  Notable on the opening page is the happy face button from the greatest graphic novel of all time:  The Watchmen.  This isn’t the only tie in to that graphic novel in this issue either, but I’ll get to that in a minute.  The issue is narrated by Jay Garrick, as he’s trying to prevent The Flash and Batman from being lost in the timestream/Speed Force after they lose the Reverse Flash.  When he does burst on the scene, he looks every bit the hero.  He manages to save our heroes before being pulled back to wherever he was imprisoned by an unknown force of ‘blue light’.  We also get to witness the Reverse Flash’s death, and it looks pretty rough:

Thawnes final moment

Later in the issue we see the source of the blue light that imprisoned Jay and killed Reverse Flash:  The distinctive blue hand of Dr. Manhattan.  We also see an extreme close up of the Comedian’s button, only to zoom out to Superman’s symbol.  It looks like another crossover is in the works, perhaps with a Manhattan vs. Superman battle on the horizon?  Lots of potential regardless.  Great issue with an awesome ending!