Elasti-Girl Friday 2

It's been a bit of a crazy week this week, but no way, no how was I letting Elasti-Girl Friday slip by without a post.

This week's post comes from the eighth issue of the current run of The Brave and the Bold, back when Mark Waid and George Pérez were still on the book. In DC's current mindset, a book as openly fun and adventurous as this one is quite rare, even more rare is a team-up like this: Flash and the Doom Patrol. The team-up here is a wink and a nod to the issue #65 of the original B&B series.

Metamorpho and the Challengers of the Unknown also make appearances in this book.

The basic premise finds Wally West (Flash) and his wife Linda visiting Niles Caulder at the headquarters of the DP in Prague for advice and assistance regarding the unstable powers of their children, Jai and Iris. Wally and Linda are concerned that the children's powers might prove fatal for the kids and are exhausting every resource to try and curtail that.

I've included the cover (above) and a page from inside (below).

Rita's first line in the book was to admonish Chief for being brusque with his guests. She greets the West family at the door, and its Chief with, "Oh, Chief, where are your manners? Honestly!"

From there she warms up to the twins and takes them off to see the torture chamber. Her role in this book is an eerie housemom/lab assistant role. Very similar to the way the character was played in the 1960s, but with a modern sensibility that gives her a very creepy overtone. This is especially obvious in the dinner scene with the West family and Metamorpho all gathered round the table with the Dom Patrol.

I personally found this issue to be the most enjoyable of the series (and it is available in the second collected edition). What really made it all for me was Iris trying to discreetly ask her daddy what is "wrong" with Rita. As a parent myself, I enjoyed this interchange, and can easily put myself in Wally's chair.

In the end, it is through the powers and abilities of al present that Jai and Iris are able to achieve a more stable condition. Unfortunately, this encounter doesn't get referenced during the main Flash run, at that time also written by Waid, but the important thing is that the kids are better.

There you have it, the second Elasti-Girl Friday. Have a great weekend and come back Monday for another Negative Monday.