Flash has been a character that I’ve liked but who’s ongoing series have never been able to maintain my interest. So DC’s relaunch offered me a good chance to give the character another try. “Flash” #1 is a solid and fairly well structured first issue that does a nice job introducing Barry Allen as well as his supporting cast. Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato’s story moves at a brisk pace implementing elements from mystery and detective dramas while also giving us a couple of Flash action sequences. The dialogue is uniformly well written and the characters are sold as real and believable.

But there were a few issues I had with the story. It sometimes felt that important bits of information were left out of certain scenes. I occasionally found myself struggling the connect the dots or understand a character’s particular significance. I also wasn’t really impressed with the “villain” that we are introduced to. There’s an interesting tie to Barry but other than that this new threat that’s revealed on the final page doesn’t offer the exclamation point I would expect from a first issue.

I’ve never grasped the fascination with Manapul’s art style. I know it’s simply a matter of taste but I’ve always found his art to be flat and sometimes inconsistent. In some ways this issue looks better than much of his past work but it doesn’t stray too far away from what he’s known for. He does use some creative layouts and I loved the action sequence in the first half of the book. That being said, his somewhat simplistic character design doesn’t work for me. Also there is a dramatic lack of detail the further things appear in the panels and the book has a drab washed out color and tone to it. These gripes are mostly due to the intended style of the artists and I’m sure many people will like art. It’s just not my cup of tea.

I was hoping “Flash” #1 would grab me and pull me in. I would love to feel a connection and reason to invest in a Flash ongoing series. Sadly, Manapul and Buccellato’s first issue did little for me. It’s far from terrible and there are some interesting characters introduced. But with so many new titles out there, this one needed to blow me away. It didn’t. It’s good but not great.