The Flash #768 Discussion/Spoilers

[Rakzo]

This was what a lot of us were waiting for, the return of Wally West as The Flash... unfortunately, it doesn't come with the best execution.

Jeremy Adams is the one responsible for this back to basics for The Fastest Man Alive and while some of the intentions might be sound, some of the choices are just odd. For example, right from the beginning you still see Wally doubting himself because of the events in Heroes in Crisis (and some people still don't trust him because of it, especially Ollie due to what happened to Roy) and I think most people are already tired of this whole portrayal. In fact, both Joshua Williamson and even Scott Lobdell tried to go beyond that to show a Wally that was getting over what happened, the portrayal in this issue feels a bit regressive.

Speaking about Lobdell, I can't help but also think that his work in Flash Forward was much more promising early on, particularly because of the implementation of classic Wally Rogues and concepts. This in comparison feels more generic due to the use of other characters and villains that are not related to the protagonist.

And now that I mentioned the word "generic", yeah, the writing itself is not particularly unique, or even that good. The dialogue is by the numbers and the presentation is not exactly creative, that's without even mentioning the plot that feels out of place for The Flash until the very end when it starts to connect to other Speed Force characters (Yes, Wally fighting dinosaurs might seem a bit cool but not that fitting for the series). The only thing I can give credit for is the amount of content that this issue provides but when such content is not engaging, what is even the point?

Brandon Peterson, Marco Santucci and David LaFuente handle the art and they all do a decent job but their styles (aside from maybe LaFuente's) seem out of place for a Flash book. Huh, start to notice a trend here.

Overall, an average read. I guess most of us were hyping this up for a proper back to basics for Wally but sadly, this isn't it, not yet at least.

[Waterfall]

I disagree with you.

It was better than what I expected. It's clear that we will get a proper status quo AFTER this arc so I didn't expect something flashy.

Rather, I'm pleasantly surprised. Wally has a personality and a distinct voice, which was absent for the past 5 years. I guess we can owe that to the writer coming from animation background. The dialogue was also an improvement and more importantly....I had fun!

This is what I've always wanted from this book. I am in for the ride.

[Rakzo]

Oh yeah, and what about those parts when Wally starts talking to himself out of nowhere. A bit early to start going crazy.

(And those lines! "Yabba-Dabba-Doo!", "Shaking like Shakira!". Wally is not cringey, that's something that should be obvious for most people).

[Waterfall]

I didn't find it cringe, I think The Flintstones reference was amusing . Talking to himself was better than abusing thought boxes honestly, it was a fresh change.

[sifighter]

I mean it’s not necessarily Wally just being Wally on his own, but it’s a good enough start up of reestablishing Wally post-Heroes in Crisis, also it’s kind of fun. I mean it’s a lot of Wally doing his thing, fighting speedy Velociraptors.

I also like the use of the weird parts of the dc universe, references to time travel, the omniverse, President Superman, and a cool appearance by Mister Terrific. Maybe it’s nothing new but it’s always cool to see the weird comic specific techno-babble and crazy shenanigans. I mean they turned Wally into a Speed Force communicator basically.

[Drako]

I didn't find it cringe, I think The Flintstones reference was amusing . Talking to himself was better than abusing thought boxes honestly, it was a fresh change.

I liked too.

I really enjoyed this first issue.

[CrimsonEchidna]

Honestly, my first impression is between this and the Titans naming the school after the "late" Roy, it's a real dick move on Roy's part that he's not bothering letting anyone know he's resurrected.

[The_Sneezing_Stormtrooper]

I wasn't quite sold on the preview pages but once Wally travels into the past it really picks up. Wally feels like Wally and it feels like he's having fun despite the situation in the opening pages.

It was nice to see Barry play a part as well as the rest of the Flash family being treated like they actually exist.

I also prefer Adam's take on the speedforce than a lot of other recent portrayals. It feels more in line with what it was meant to be during the Waid run so far.

I can't wait for next issue and I'm really look forward to seeing where things go beyond this first arc.

Less dead moms and more super speed
dinosaurs in the future please!

[Johnrevenge]

I decided to give it a try, and I'm glad that Wally finally got some respect since his return, and it finally felt that I was reading Wally again. Not fond of the first artist at all, never liked his art, but the other two were great. I totally loved the Flinstones' reference.

[Dataweaver]

While I'm tired of all the constantly going back to HiC, I think this might actually fix most of that issue: one plot point here is that there's something wrong with the Speed Force, and Wally's been drafted to fix it. It may well turn out that what happened in Sanctuary was the result of the Speed Force having been damaged. I think that's why they had that bit about the speed-dino blowing up: that was an indication that whatever's wrong with the Speed Force can lead to that kind of destruction. So once Wally figures out what's wrong and fixes it, there will no longer be any risk of him going boom just because he has a bad day.

It's also doing a couple of other things: we're seeing other heroes, like Superman, not blaming Wally for what happened in Sanctuary; and Ollie's antagonism is clearly linked to the personal loss he suffered, making it less a matter of being angry at Wally and more a matter of dealing with the grief, if you get what I'm saying. In the larger picture, he represents the families and friends of those who died in Sanctuary; so when he finally works things out with Wally (and I have no doubt that he will), that will serve as a proxy for everyone who lost someone in HiC eventually doing the same.

Plus, Roy isn't dead anymore; but Ollie doesn't know that yet. I'm hoping that he doesn't find out before resolving things with Wally; it would kind of damage what the story could do in that regard if his reason for patching things up with Wally is that Roy isn't dead after all. But once that plotline is over and done with? Then have Ollie get a call from Roy.

And the other thing that it's doing is reaffirming that Wally has a special connection to the Speed Force: Barry may have created it, but Wally is the one most closely connected to it. To the extent that the Speed Force can belong to anyone, it belongs to Wally.

[sifighter]

Oh I didn’t even think of the velociraptor exploding as relating to heroes in crisis or the speed force being broken. I just thought it was a fun joke of it was not a meteor that killed the dinosaurs, it was the speed force.

[sbp1972]

I get the idea of Roy not wanting to jump right back into the hero life, and take some time, and not really publicize he is back.
But, to not tell Oliver and Wally is pretty cruel. "I'm alive, I need some time, but I know how this would be eating at you and I wanted to let you know I am ok, and out there".

[Dataweaver]

For all we know, he did try that. It may be that we haven't yet gotten to the point of the timeline where he's able to make the call, or it may be that he tried calling and Ollie wasn't available to receive the call. Too busy with the Justice League stuff.

[Drako]

For all we know, he did try that. It may be that we haven't yet gotten to the point of the timeline where he's able to make the call, or it may be that he tried calling and Ollie wasn't available to receive the call. Too busy with the Justice League stuff.

In Infinite Frontier Roy didn't want to call anyone because he thought no one would believe he was back from the dead. Very stupid excuse, but it is what it is.

[bossofbam]

This is the first time I’ve had fun reading The Flash in about a decade. It wasn’t perfect, but Wally being the flash again just feels right.