Hey!! Who doesn’t love a good gorilla story?
Cue Flash #23.1, which gives us Gorilla Grodd. Last time we saw Flash’s simian nemesis, he had been banished into the Speed Force. Now, thanks to what I can only assume is the work of the Crime Syndicate, Grodd is free, Flash is supposedly dead, and Grodd holds the power of the light of the Speed Force. With a cool new uniform and a resolve to enslave humanity, Grodd appears on the eve of peace between Gorilla City and humanity.
The fine apes from Gorilla City have pitched in to help rebuild Central City. In an ultimate show of solidarity, the apes of GC have unveiled a statue of Flash at a ceremony that is to bring ape and human together.
Not so fast!!
Grodd shows up, and he’s pissed. How dare his subservient gorillas make nice with the humans! Worse than that, they built a Flash statue. At first, the apes attempt to reason with Grodd, trying to explain that their war was wrong. Grodd will hear none of it, so the apes and the humans attack. Sadly, Grodd shakes them off like a bad case of fleas. With the humans of Central City enslaved and the few remaining upstart gorilla’s restrained, Grodd tries to find happiness in his new rule. It doesn’t work. Whatever has happened to Grodd since his departure has changed him in an almost maniacal way.
Writer Brian Buccellato takes Grodd down an interesting road in these final pages of Flash #23.1. The idea that Grodd is bored with instant victory could set up one avenue to take down the Crime Syndicate. True, the villains might be running things, but are they free? Is this their own decisive victory, or merely a hand out from another form of Justice League dictatorship? The end advertises the continuing Grodd story in Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion. Take that title for what it is worth.
Chris Batista’s pencils are nicely done. Like Ethan Van Sciver or Doug Mahnke, Batista has an easy professionalism to his work. These are the kinds of pencils you go to when you’re looking for a big comic book feel. Solid line work, great action, multiple splash pages – Batista is tremendous with shock and awe. Gorilla Grodd looks terrifying here, and that’s not easy to do with an angry gorilla.
(4 Story, 4.5 Art)
