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Review – The Flash: Blood Moon Special #1

The Flash: Blood Moon Rising Special #1 – Alex Paknadel, Writer; Daniel Bayliss, Artist; Matt Herms, Colorist Ray – 9.5/10 Ray: Blood Moon Rising has been an intriguing final act to Simon Spurrier's controversial but compelling Flash run, seeing Eclipso take over the moon and Wally West push himself to the limit to stop him. But I've been most interested in a side player to the run – Richard Swift, aka The Shade. This roguish immortal shadow criminal turned antihero was one of the biggest scene-stealers of James Robinson's Starman, and eventually became a leading man in his own right. But in recent days, he's been turning more cruel and ruthless towards lawbreakers, and it turns out this comes from a very human matter – his lover, Hope, is dying of a mysterious illness, and all of Richard's magic is powerless to help her. And in his desperation to cheat mortality, even as Hope starts to come to terms with her impending death, Richard taps into his darkest power and returns to the site of his creation – and discovers a terrible secret. The idea that Eclipso created the Shade centuries ago makes a lot of sense – obviously, their powers are incredibly similar, but also Eclipso loves to prey on human suffering and create loyal soldiers. And now that Shade needs help, Eclipso is all too willing to help him out – for a price that will strip away the little humanity he has left. And so Shade becomes Eclipso's sentry on the moon as he builds his empire, with years passing there as days pass on Earth, until the Flash gets involved and the event kicks off. This is a fantastic character piece for the Shade, probably the best since James Robinson's maxiseries for him, and it emphasizes just how well he works as both a hero and a villain. There are some great horror segments here, as well as some surprisingly emotional moments. Paknadel has written a few Flash specials before, and I'd love him to get a shot at a full run. To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week. GeekDad received this comic for review purposes. Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon!