I'm not a seasoned comic book / graphic novel aficionado, therefore, I'm sorry if my review seems simplistic. I chose this graphic novel to request to review from NetGalley because I'm a huge fan of The Flash and Arrow on CW. I'm glad I went outside the box and requested another graphic novel because I really enjoyed the story and artwork. The art was eye-catching and remarkable for my untrained eye. The stories unfolded in ways that thoroughly engaged me from the start.

I don't remember too much about this trade, but I was mixed on the new villain Bloodwork, as well as the artwork related to him (among others).

Joshua Williamson is having an amazing run on The Flash. I've been reading comics for over 40 years now, and this has to be my favorite take on the character. Like the TV show? This is even better.\ A little darker in tone, but still some fun stuff thrown in. Great artwork as well.

Barry Allen's powers have been corrupted by the Negative Speed Force. This sounds like something they would have come up with on the CW show. Watching Barry's life, in and out of costume, spiral out of control has gotten tedious. The Flash is supposed to be a lighter take on superheroing. I'm honestly not a big fan of this take on the character. Let's get the powers back under control and fight some Rogues.

ARC from Netgalley.
Still reeling and infected by the Negative Speed Force, Barry's powers are doing more harm than good, especially from collateral damage. Yet the hero life must continue on... but he is finding it hard to keep balance. Flash is so busy (we see him take down Reapers and Shrapnel), yet Barry is not showing up for work much and he almost gets fired. Captain Singh calls Barry into a meeting and explains to him (and some other co-workers and lab partners) that someone in the department is destroying evidence.
Using his skills as a CSI, Barry is almost able to find out who the mole is, but someone sets the records department on fire. A little singed, but fine, Barry is able to put together all the pieces and they lead to one of the morgue workers, who reveals himself as the thief, but also shows his meta-abilities and covers himself with what can only be described by me as a "muscular blood suit". He declares himself one of the Rogues and gives himself the moniker Bloodwork. They fight and Bloodwork is only defeated when Barry lies and convinces him that he will be given mercy if he only calms down.
The fight with Bloodwork, and everything else that has been happening has Barry frazzled. He calls Wally (Kid Flash) to ask him to take over as the Flash, but Wally instead decides to train Barry, helping pull him out of his funk. The fight with Bloodwork also has consequences with Barry's job as a CSI. It saves his job overall, but gets him and his lab partner transferred to the CCPD lab inside Iron Heights, where they meet the "no nonsense and hard case" Warden.
Will Barry be able to hold the job at Iron Heights? What about when Copperhead shows her face in Central City again, seemingly trying to regain criminal footholds? And how is Meena (Fast Track) still alive? She's been dead since the war with Godspeed....
The Flash is still a good comic, but I wish it was released faster in graphic novel format.
Recommend.

Barry Allen has a problem with negativity. Iris West killed Thrawne in the future and Barry and Iris have not spoken since. Now Flash is infected with Negative Speed Force and causes destruction whenever he runs. He is goofing up at work and ends up getting transferred to Iron Heights Penitentiary. Maybe Flash's luck will change, but I would not count on it.

There's an interesting mystery at the beginning of Joshua Williamson's Rebirth Flash Vol. 5: Negative. The titular two-part "Negative" story is the book's best, as CSI Barry Allen teams with some rough Central City PD colleagues to take down a traitor within. Barry's unsmiling companions give this police procedural a noirish air, and Williamson offers enough red herrings for me to suspect each of them before the culprit's revealed.

Barry Allen is now fueled by the Negative Speed Force, and it's causing him some problems. As he learns to cope with the new powers, he continues alienating his coworkers and friends.

On the surface the Negative Speed Force seems cool, but it's really just another one of those tired superhero tropes where someone temporarily changes costumes or gets a new power. It's easy to see this is not the permanent direction the Flash will go in, so the stakes are immediately diminished. The second arc introduces a forgettable Rogue-wannabe who names himself during the climactic fight, and the final issue finally gives Barry some repercussions from all his tardiness and acting out at work. But don't worry! I'm sure it's only a matter of time before that punishment is completely reversed and everything goes back to the status quo!

'The Flash Vol. 5: Negative' by Joshua Williamson finds The Flash in some pretty tenuous territory after his encounter with Eobard Thawne both physically and emotionally.

The Flash has been affected by the negative speed force, and it causes destruction and harm whenever he uses his powers, so he has decided to stop being The Flash until he can figure things out. Things at work aren't any better for Barry Allen. Someone is stealing evidence from past cases. This along with Barry's perpetual tardiness is going to have consequences beyond this volume. Along with all the darkness, we get a light Christmas fill-in that feels kind of out of place here.

I like the writing and surprises along the way. I loved the subplot with Wally, and really like what is done with his character. The art isn't my favorite, but it's an interesting choice.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from DC Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

This book is in a completely different class to the one before it, but that doesn't mean it's great. Our Flashy has Negative Flash powers, which – as other people have noted – should mean he gets slowed down, but actually means he just turns a little grumpy. Until that stops. And then comes a new Big Bad, until that stops. Then something else changes in the world of our Flashy, which I thoroughly expect to, er, stop whenever people feel the need, and/or remember there was A Boss mentioned, who we might get around to caring about. Or might not. Narrative complexity and logic is just not present. At least the entertainment is a lot better than before, and so is the artwork – but like I say, being better than a right old floater doesn't make it brilliant. Indeed, the childish inanity to close, from a Christmas special, is a right old skidmark. A begrudging three stars, just to show the huge leap forward from Volume 4.

Barry still has his dark energy from the Negative Force (Zone, or is that Marvel?) and it's playing havoc with him while he is trying to save people. He has a destructive aura now, and it's sometimes destroying Central City more than the bad guys.

We also see a new villain in this one, who, ew, does not have the best power in my opinion. Ew.

And then when all that's done, we get some Wally II scenes which was nice. Barry gets reassigned to Iron Heights as well, and then we get a Meena sighting.

The Christmas mini story was a little jarring, since it seemed to be taking place at a totally different time than the previous bunch of issues that I'd just read. But, as a stand alone it was a nice story.

I received this book via Netgalley thanks to DC Entertainment.

I'm a Flash fan and this didn't disappoint. Beautiful artwork from beginning to end. Loved it.

This book collects Issues 28-32 of the DC Rebirth run of the Flash along with an excerpt from DC's Holiday Issue.

Once again, Barry's life continues its downward spiral now that Barry's girlfriend Iris left him once learning he'd been hiding the truth about being the Flash from here. Now, he possesses the power of the negative Speed Force which is more dangerous and harder control even while his work life falls apart.

The first two issues in the book focus more on Barry's personal collapse with fights more incidental, in the third and fourth issues, he solves a mystery of missing evidence that leads him to a new rogue named Bloodwork, and then the final issue sets up his new status quo.

Overall thoughts, the art on the first two issues is painful to look at. It reminds me of one of those grungy too hip for its own cook indie comics. It's just unpleasant. The rest of the art is okay, though not spectacular. The story is too dark for the Flash, Josh Williamson should keep mind that he isn't writing Batman. The Flash has historically been a book full of amazing feats and colorful sci-fi. That said, the story does take a few turns that indicate that Barry may be going in a more positive direction even though so much is messed up.

The little Holiday special comic was a bit hokey and cheesy but with all the depression in the Flash book, we could use a little hokiness in this book.

THE FLASH VOL 5: NEGATIVE follows Barry Allen as he struggles through the negative energy that is swallowing him up and leaving destruction in his wake, all the while fighting crime and trying to keep Central City safe.
Some of the things that draws readers to the Flash is his burning desire to help everyone at all costs and that his powers are never fully figured out and therefore are always surprising him. In the graphic novel, those themes are prominent and welcome. The artwork is great and such a unique new villain is introduced; one that could thwart Barry for years to come.
A pleasure to read and great world to escape to, THE FLASH VOL 5: NEGATIVE drew me in and I can't wait to read the next volume.

Poor Barry. If it's not one thing it's another. This is crazy, after all this time knowing how to use his powers and depending on them, to get these new unwanted abilities and not know how to control them must be very frustrating. Even though he might be down for a little while, Barry always finds his way back to his feet again. Good story.

The Flash Vol. 5 is back with a new artist, but they managed to keep the same author. Volume five is more like a collection of three separate plots than one cohesive one, but considering how fast paced the Flash usually is, I’m not really complaining about this. If you haven’t been following the story up until now then you’d probably be pretty confused if you tried to jump in right at this point (which is perhaps fairly obvious).
There are three main plots that take up most of the time in this volume. The first plot continues the one started in volume four; with Barry reacting to the events that occurred and learning to deal with the changes made to him. The second plot introduces and deals with a new antagonist (and no, I’m not going to ruin his introduction for you). And the third plot appears to be setting up Barry for future events (and problems).
Being that the Flash is the fastest man alive (well, one of three now, I guess), it makes sense than when things change for him, they change quickly. In volume four, the powers that Barry uses on a daily (hourly really) basis changes dramatically. Here we see the poor guy still trying to figure out his new powers. Going from using the Speed Force to using the Negative Speed Force would be tricky, so I personally don’t blame him one bit for having some technical difficulties.
It probably doesn’t help that Barry’s life (the mild mannered alter ego one that is) is somewhat in shambles at the moment. He’s lost contact with the other two Flashs (one through anger, the other one likely is just too busy with his own mess), not to mention the whole mess with Iris. Plus his habit of being constantly late to everything (an irony I don’t think I’ll ever get over) isn’t exactly helping his career, work relationships, or friendships. So yeah, juggling both messes at once doesn’t sound like my idea of fun, but then again I’m not a superhero, so what do I know?
I think I probably liked the second plot the best out of this volume. Not so much for the antagonist, but for the workplace politics and investigation that occurs. I’ve always felt that Barry needs to work on grounding himself better, and this plot really does a great job of proving why that’s the case.
The antagonist introduced in this plot isn’t bad – he’s not the best designed villain I’ve seen, but he did force Barry to deal with him in a unique manner, which I appreciate. I do feel like his appearance was a bit too sudden – I think I would have liked a bit more buildup, considering the circumstances of his creation – but that’s more a personal preference than anything.
The last plot is a little more ambiguous. I could have lumped it in with the second plot, but it felt just a little too distinct for that. Basically is continues off of what was started in that plot (the workplace issues, not the villain), but it also is setting up for more. I suspect this will be a major part of the next volume, though obviously I can’t say that for sure.
I’ll admit that I didn’t love the artwork for this volume. Sometimes Barry looked fantastic – but more often than not he and the world around him just ended up looking slightly off. Granted, I’m not the biggest fan of artist changes to begin with, so you may not be able to trust my opinion here.
I’m actually pretty anxious to see what happens next in Flash. Based on the issues I’ve been seeing released I think there’s going to be a Dark Metal tie in happening in the next volume, but I don’t know how heavily it’ll impact Flash or his plot. I can’t wait to see how it goes.

Life becomes more complicated as the Scarlet Soeedster deals with the horrifying legacy of Thorne in an original, gripping adventure.

In Flash Vol. 5: Negative, Barry Allen is dealing with the fallout of his battle with Reverse-Flash. Barry stole his speed after he tried to lock him in the negative speed force. This results in him becoming Negative Flash, with powers stretching beyond his control. In this volume, someone has been stealing from the evidence locker, and he is tasked, along with some of his colleagues, to find out who and why. An investigation that leads to the discovery of an original villain from an unlikely place.

Before writing Flash, Williamson was well known for his horror books, Ghosted and Nailbiter, over at Image Comics. Here in Flash Vol. 5, Williamson gets to showcase his knack for horror. Now, this series has been horror-tinged from the start, but it seems to have gone up a notch here.

The first page sets the tone with its heavy inks and mysterious characters colluding to send a message to Flash…something that isn’t really addressed again until a shocking last page reveal. The very next page starts off an action sequence where Flash chases the Road Reapers, a biker gang of thieves. At the end of the pursuit, we are shown the destruction left in Flash’s wake, which comes as a result of him being unable to control his new powers.

I’ll be honest, I’m fairly new to comics. My first introduction to Barry Allen is the CW TV series, and his appearances in Geoff Johns’ New 52 Justice League. I feel like DC is taking the popularity of the TV show and somewhat guiding the narrative in the comics. From the rogues gallery to the black Wally West/Kid Flash. I think they have a stuck a really nice balance between integrating certain elements from the show and presenting an original comic story. It’s certainly helped this reader to not feel lost along the way.

Back to the writing…I like the new status quo that Williamson has given Flash. I like how the aftermath of becoming Negative Flash, Iris learning Barry’s secret identity, and Iris subsequently killing Thawne, has forced him to rethink how he goes about not only being a superhero, but also as a human. This has put a strain on his relationship with Iris. In fact, we don’t even see her on page the whole book.

I struggled a bit with the art throughout this book. Now, I am not harping on any of the many artists’ abilities, but rather the fact that there are so many artists on this book. I felt a little discombobulated at times with each chapter having a new different creative team. I thought they all had their strengths, but struggled with the constant changing.

I liked the coloring, for the most part. However, there were several panels during the fight scenes between Flash and Bloodwork, both being colored red, that seemed a little too well, ummm, red. It stung my eyes a little. Can we talk about the viallain’s name real quick? I know it is a terrible name, but he did have a decent background story, and abilities that frustrated our hero. But, seriously? Bloodwork?! Anyways, overall the art was fine for this story. I did miss seeing Howard Porter on this volume, but I did appreciate his collection of variant covers in the back. Can we get him as the full-time Flash artist? Please?

Flash Vol. 5 ends with an 8-page holiday backup story where Flash carries people stranded at the airport to thei homes in time for Christmas. It’s a cute little story, and the kind that comics are so good at employing to tell heartfelt standalone stories.

Verdict:
Buy it, but only if you have been reading up to this point. The characterizations are solid, I like the new status quo for Barry, and Williamson is building towards the epic Flash War. If you aren’t caught up, I don’t see you jumping right in at this juncture. Williamson has been weaving a thread since the first issue that promises to deliver in the upcoming volumes.

Life is not going so well for Barry Allen, aka Flash, in the latest exciting installment of "The Flash."
Not only is Barry Allen having trouble in his relationship with the woman he loves but a rift is developing between he and his young partner. However, the reader need not worry. Situations, no matter how dim, always seem to resolve themselves thanks to this beloved Superhero.
Williamson does not disappoint his readers. Without a doubt, this book will be in demand!