The Flash #768 Discussion/Spoilers

[Dred]

Lol so it just doubles down and decides that "Not only are you The Flash, now you're the ONLY Flash!" !? That's actually kind of hilarious XD

The Speed Force has always acted like a jealous lover with Wally from day 1.

[Jekyll]

YES!!!!

For the first time in a VERY long time I was thrilled to read the Flash again. After all the crap DC has put us Wally fans through I was very skeptical but am so glad that I gave this issue a chance.

I have never heard of Adams before but I look forward to seeing what he has in store for our boy! Now if only DC would return the freaking JSA.....

[WallyWestFlash]

Wow. Loved it.

A great adventure story with a lot of fun. I mean bouncing through time and being chased by dinosaurs with super speed. Wally had his personality back. Having fun and being himself. This is what a Flash comic should be. Just awesome sci fi fun. Art was pretty good as well. Peterson is not my favorite but still. Was cool they used Humbarto Ramos type art for the Impulse segment. The Barry and GA parts added the emotional aspect to it. Although i dont mind Barry being in it from time to time I hope they give Wally the spotlight. Its his time to shine.

Off to a great start and really excited for the future.

[The_Sneezing_Stormtrooper]

I have never heard of Adams before but I look forward to seeing what he has in store for our boy! Now if only DC would return the freaking JSA.....

It's not a JSA comic but Adams is also the writer of the upcoming JSA animated movie.

[Jekyll]

It's not a JSA comic but Adams is also the writer of the upcoming JSA animated movie.

Interesting! It is definitely on my radar to purchase.

[PLG1962]

My question is what will Barry be doing since this is Wally’s book?

[Frontier]

My question is what will Barry be doing since this is Wally’s book?

He's going to be in the Infinite Frontier mini.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

This was a lot of fun. I'm sure the whole "Speed Force is going crazy" stuff is inevitably going to lead to the complete wiping away of any guilt Wally might have for the deaths in Heroes in Crisis, which is fine. That story turned into a complete shitshow, so the quicker it's effects are scrubbed, the better.

My main concern here is what they're planning on doing with Wally. Where does he go now? Is it just going to be wacky adventures of Wally West, superhero and family man? That might be fun for a little while, but I think they're going to have to figure out a raison d'etre for Wally beyond course-correcting from the Didio years. I'm hoping there's a long-term plan here, otherwise Wally's run might not be very long-lived. The comics market is a harsh place right now.

[Frontier]

This was a lot of fun. I'm sure the whole "Speed Force is going crazy" stuff is inevitably going to lead to the complete wiping away of any guilt Wally might have for the deaths in Heroes in Crisis, which is fine. That story turned into a complete shitshow, so the quicker it's effects are scrubbed, the better.

My main concern here is what they're planning on doing with Wally. Where does he go now? Is it just going to be wacky adventures of Wally West, superhero and family man? That might be fun for a little while, but I think they're going to have to figure out a raison d'etre for Wally beyond course-correcting from the Didio years. I'm hoping there's a long-term plan here, otherwise Wally's run might not be very long-lived. The comics market is a harsh place right now.

Well, Barry's going off to the Multiverse so the main Earth will need a Flash.

[dornwolf]

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.

When you have the chance, you gotta do it.

Have to like a writer who basically calls it out in story "Like rebooting it self"

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Doesn't this mean that both Wallace and Bolt in Teen Titans Academy should be powerless? Just watch that book contradict this by having them use their powers before Wally fixes the Speed Force.

This story doesn't necessarily take place at the same time.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Well, Barry's going off to the Multiverse so the main Earth will need a Flash.

Yes, but what will that Flash's dramatic hook be? The Flash franchise is littered with failed revamps. Just because Wally's the main Flash again and everyone is happy about that at the moment doesn't necessarily translate into sales six months or a year from now.

What is Wally's story now? That's the real question for me in regards to this. I like where this is going so far, but I'm not seeing that hook yet beyond reversing course on everything dumb thing that happened to him during the Didio era.

[BohemiaDrinker]

Okay, just read it for the second time. There's a lot to like here, and some tings I'm not crazy about:

DA`PROS:

- I think that this comic is the very first proper interaction between Barry and Wally since Final Crisis. It was great at depicting how they relate top each other, the personality, weak and strong suits from each one and didn't have to throw anyone under the bus for it. If Flash Rebirth and onward those guys were portrayed like this, the Flash Fandom wouldn't have spent more than a decade trying to kill itself. Loved their interactions.

- The story pretty much steatlh-established itself as an exploration of the Flash Legacy. We go from what was probably the first speed powered human (and possibly a time traveler) to Impulse. We're gonna have Jay, we may have more. So iot's clear to me that the Flash dinasty aspect is gonna be brought back, as the importance of each of those characters. A breath of fresh-air after the Barry-exclusive cosmology of the Didio years.

- The DCU feels like a place again. The league feels like the League. These characters know each other.

- Barry Allen is not an ass. Seriously, I just loved some lines from Barry in this comic. Might be the best shape I've seen him in a while (and I liked Willianson's run)

- Supportive yet reluctant Linda. Gotta love Linda!

- How self-aware the comics is. I actually had a grin in my face when I read "That's a bad outfit" or "the speed force is trying to reboot itself".

- The fact that Wally and Barry are doing this big, life defining thing while they race and yet solve all this crimes along the way is just so in character for both of them!

- The comic pretty much just assuming readers know who Barry and Wally are. "Cause God, I was SO FREAKING TIRED of Didio's obsession with origin stories. Felt like the last ten years were either "Year One" or 'Year of the villain". This was a Flash comic, not a Flash "who's who", and that's pretty great in my book.

DA`CONS

- I get it. It's Roy. It's painful and all. But I'm not crazy about using Ollie as a foil whenever something like this happens. (Dixon's Outsiders come to mind). I mean, if all canon is cannon again, Ollie knows Wally. Like, really knows him. They were on a black ops team together and Ollie screwed that up, for Jesus sake. It's not out of character for him, but I really don't like when this side is so highlighted.

- The whole "Wally has a special connection to the speed force" thing, and whatever he and Barry did screwing over everybody's powers. I don't like when a character is conceptually put aboive others (Wally can "be" the best without a mystical justification that makes others inherently "worse than him"). That said, if this goes where I think it's going, there's probably a very good reason and resolution for this plot point. So we'll see.

Overall, I give a solid 8/10. We can see that Adams is learning the ropes of being in a high profile monthly, but he's doing so amazingly well. There's a lot to unpack in this comic, including some very subtle bits of characterization that made my day.

I'm looking forward to this run.

[BohemiaDrinker]

The Flash franchise is littered with failed revamps.

It isn't really.

The revamps that kind of failed were Bart's title and Vendittis run. (and both sold from great to decently anyway). Now, what we did have were a bunch of revamps that were utter crap, yes; but most all of those were under the direction of a certain someone. (I honestly try not to blame everything wrong on Didio, but now that he's out, creators are speaking more and we have more solid base of comparison... It's hard. Sorry Dan! :P )

[BohemiaDrinker]

Oh yeah, and what about those parts when Wally starts talking to himself out of nowhere.

I'm guessing you're not an only child?