The Flash #800 Discussion/Spoilers

[Rakzo]

I haven't covered a special of this magnitude in a while and I'm glad I'm able to do it right now due to how important this issue is for both the past and the future of the series. There are quite a few of the most prominent writers that have worked on The Flash franchise and thankfully, most of them deliver a lot of what made them famous.

We open with a little story written by Jeremy Adams about how many different villains see Central City and their heroes and something pretty dangerous. I haven't been a fan of Adams' work on the series and to be honest, this doesn't really change my opinion. Is a fine little tale that offers a few fun moments (and is good to know that Adams' writing is not as heavyhanded as early on) but ultimately is not really memorable and might as well be a little filler story. Fernando Pasarin's artwork is pretty good looking and polished though.

Things get better with Mark Waid writing Impulse once again and curiously this story is suited in the beginnings of his own series with Bart still being impatient as always and making Wally go mad, is just very fun as a whole. Todd Nauck certainly brings that 90s energy to the segment which is appreciated.

Joshua Williamson offers yet another tale about the Flash family and his work is pretty heartwarming, showing how much he loves these characters and demonstrating a lot of important aspects of both Barry and Wally. Carmine Di Giandomenico returns alongside and his work is also very appreciated in terms of detail.

Geoff Johns handles yet another story about Zoom dealing with his whole history while working with some of the revelations under Williamson's run. Sadly, this mostly seems like a set-up of a future story that Johns was to tackle but it could be good to see some appropriate closure on the character since there were a few loose threads that Johns himself left at the end of his first run. Scott Kolins handles the art and of course he's perfect considering his role in Johns' Flash work, is good to know that Kolins can pack a lot of content in each page.

Finally Si Spurrier opens his upcoming run with a love story between Wally and Linda which of course gets interrupted due to his job. First thing you can notice here is that Spurrier is going for a more scientific angle with the Speed Force which is not surprising coming from him but it also ends-up with a bit of an overwritten work that also goes against the nature of the series. Mike Deodato Jr.'s artstyle is also an odd fit since his semi-realistic style can be a bit stiff but he does a solid job at depicting some of the high concept scenes here.

Overall, a solid anniversary issue. Hopefully things get better in the future.

[Frontier]

Scottish Mirror Master is back, baby .

[The Cool Thatguy]

That editor's note in Mark Waid's Impulse story was f**king brutal

[Waterfall]

I liked Spurrier. It's very Morrisonian. Evan McCulloch's return alone makes it up for it. As a Wally fan I think the concept suited more for Barry though. Linda and Wally having marriage problems is fine. It's marriage, all of them go through rough patches, that's kinda how long term relationships work. It also gives a reason to keep Wally away from home a bit and I'm fine with that. Not a fan of the kids, I am here for a run that solely focuses on Wally himself.
The art is so ill fitted though. Just way too dark for Flash. I have no idea what DC was thinking with the approach. Lettering and creative panelling saves it a bit but whatever.

Other than that my fave story was Jeremy Adams one. Capped off the run with a great story on what makes Flash so special. I will miss him on the title.
Mark Waid's Impulse story made me all nostalgic. It made me giggle. Really missed Waid on the book. I know he's done with the character, but I'm always open to idea of him appearing for annuals etc.

Williamson was solid as well. It celebrated Barry and Iris as influences in Wally's life and smoothed over some wrinkles in regards to Barry's parenting.
Geoff Johns however...Sigh... I have no words for this man and his protectiveness over his own creations. He basically put him back into status quo and undid majority of what Williamson did with the character. I'm happy he lost the connection to speed force powers but that's about it. Ashley is implied to be back as well. Usually when this happens it means Johns has a story planned down the line and keeping the characters mentioned away from other writers. I wonder if he will take over the book from Spurrier at some point or will do a prestige book. Considering my experience with Johns, it's hard to imagine this is his way of handing status quo to over to Spurrier. We'll see I guess.

I enjoyed it very much. I hope Wally gets to be the main Flash as long as possible.

[Digifiend]

I liked the Adams, Waid, and Williamson stories. Founds Johns' confusing, probably as I'm not that familiar with Zoom. Didn't like Spurrier's at all I'm afraid. The art was murky, Wally actually looked too much like Barry when not in costume (hair too short), and it looks like there might be marital issues? That's not what we want to see, editors! Gonna miss Adams.

[married guy]

I liked Spurrier. It's very Morrisonian. Evan McCulloch's return alone makes it up for it. As a Wally fan I think the concept suited more for Barry though. Linda and Wally having marriage problems is fine. It's marriage, all of them go through rough patches, that's kinda how long term relationships work. It also gives a reason to keep Wally away from home a bit and I'm fine with that. Not a fan of the kids, I am here for a run that solely focuses on Wally himself.
The art is so ill fitted though. Just way too dark for Flash. I have no idea what DC was thinking with the approach. Lettering and creative panelling saves it a bit but whatever.

Other than that my fave story was Jeremy Adams one. Capped off the run with a great story on what makes Flash so special. I will miss him on the title.
Mark Waid's Impulse story made me all nostalgic. It made me giggle. Really missed Waid on the book. I know he's done with the character, but I'm always open to idea of him appearing for annuals etc.

Williamson was solid as well. It celebrated Barry and Iris as influences in Wally's life and smoothed over some wrinkles in regards to Barry's parenting.
Geoff Johns however...Sigh... I have no words for this man and his protectiveness over his own creations. He basically put him back into status quo and undid majority of what Williamson did with the character. I'm happy he lost the connection to speed force powers but that's about it. Ashley is implied to be back as well. Usually when this happens it means Johns has a story planned down the line and keeping the characters mentioned away from other writers. I wonder if he will take over the book from Spurrier at some point or will do a prestige book. Considering my experience with Johns, it's hard to imagine this is his way of handing status quo to over to Spurrier. We'll see I guess.

I enjoyed it very much. I hope Wally gets to be the main Flash as long as possible.

I really hope not.
I haven't enjoyed a Geoff Johns Flash story since first first run ended in #224 eighteen years ago!

[Waldo]

I liked the Adams, Waid, and Williamson stories. Founds Johns' confusing, probably as I'm not that familiar with Zoom. Didn't like Spurrier's at all I'm afraid. The art was murky, Wally actually looked too much like Barry when not in costume (hair too short), and it looks like there might be marital issues? That's not what we want to see, editors! Gonna miss Adams.

I think is less marital problem and more Spurrier not getting Linda like Moesner or Jeremy.
He wanted to show that Linda get that so she isn't angry at him just another day to her.

I really hope not.
I haven't enjoyed a Geoff Johns Flash story since first first run ended in #224 eighteen years ago!

Also , Geoff doesn't get that much Wally.
Is a weird case, he get all(central city, Cold, Zoom and Reverse flash) but his style work more with Barry or Jay(and with Barry , Williamson spent years fixing things like his Mother dead being the reason he wanted to be a hero).
I would prefer if Geoff put Barry and Hal in a team up in a multiverse book after Jeremy end his run with Hal.

[Hol]

Loved the issue! So much fun. Read it twice already.

Adams story was my favorite. Reminded me a little of the feel of an episode of JLU. Good stuff. Sad to see Adams go.

Waids Impulse/Flash/Max story was a close second. Really brought me back to the 90's.

Johns was third for me. Geoff writes a great ZOOM (which makes sense since he created Hunter) and I think Geoff writes Wally and his world MUCH better than Barry. Which, to me is clear, since that run is beloved and Geoffs return with Barry tends to be thought of in a negative way.

I am not a fan of Williamsons Flash run or most of what he has written honestly. But I did enjoy this. Cool to finally see Barry address things with the Tornado Twins.

And Spurriers preview was GREAT! Felt like a Morrison plot and it is great to see McCullough Mirror Master. He is way more interesting than Scudder. And I do not get anyone having issue with Deodatos art. It is beautiful and fits the book in an unexpected way. Wally is very lucky to have a superstar talent like him on the book.

Overall, a great tribute to Wally West and the Flash family! Can't wait for the The Flash #1 in September. Never thought we would be this lucky as a Wally fan ever again.

[Coop]

I think this was a fantastic comic. Adams story was in my opinion the best he's done with the character and he's done some solid stuff. It was a nice riff on "Almost Got 'Em" from Batman TAS with a great positive Flash twist.

Waid on Impulse, what a gift. What an absolute gift. The best Flash related story he has done since his original Wally run. The best Max Mercury appearance since Impulse was cancelled. This was great.

I really enjoyed the Williamson one too. I think his plots, concepts, story beats, and all of that are not things I personally find enjoyable. But when he hones in on emotional earnestness I think he succeeds on a level close to what Waid achieved on his original run. Really nice story.

Johns, oh Johns. What a road I've been on with this guy and The Flash. The last Comic-Con I attended I shook his hand and said "thanks for coming back to the Flash to clean up this mess" referring to Rogue's Revenge which was step one of the obliteration Wally West within the DC universe. I've not enjoyed his work as his career has progressed. So this story was a bit of a mixed bag for me. It works as a good resetting of Hunter Zolomon and kind of getting him back to a more traditional space where he can continue to operate in the flash universe. But John's repeats himself a lot and this is another instance of that. Another character giving an overwrite narration about their life while floating through the speed force or whatever cosmic void we've been here we've done that and it doesn't really do anything new for the character. It works as a reset but I think he's well past his prime and isn't offering anything fresh and new in his work.

Spurrier was good EXCEPT I really don't want Linda to be written as like an anti-flash nag who wants Wally to just be a normal husband. The friction and their relationship isn't going to work and I really hope it's not going to be a driving emotional center point of his run or I'll get tired of it real fast.

All in all this was great. Finally treating Wally West like he should have been treated for the last how many years it's been since Flash rebirth. When I read the last page I flashed back to getting off a cruise ship from the best vacation I had had in my life at that point and the first thing I read was the announcement for Flash Rebirth. Would have ruined my day had the vacation not been so amazing. And things for Wally and the franchise only got worse since then and somehow continue to get worse. Even his return in rebirth bothered me because they couldn't even put him in his classic Flash costume. And then immediately trucking him off to Titans where he did nothing and then dumping him in heroes in crisis where he was a plot device It seemed like we were just never going to get here again.

But we did and it's honestly restored a bit of my faith in the DC brand. This franchise and this character have been mishandled I think every step of the way since final crisis. But this issue more than anything else since then I think puts the whole franchise on solid ground and sets up new and exciting concepts for the Flash family including Barry.

I really hope Spurrier does a good job because the character deserves the best.

[Refrax5]

That editor's note in Mark Waid's Impulse story was f**king brutal

Right?! I winced reading that.

[JLH]

Did I blink and miss at least an appearance by Jay?

[Digifiend]

Williamson's story had some cameos from the wider Flash Family.

[SanityOrMadness]

Geoff Johns however...Sigh... I have no words for this man and his protectiveness over his own creations. He basically put him back into status quo and undid majority of what Williamson did with the character. I'm happy he lost the connection to speed force powers but that's about it. Ashley is implied to be back as well. Usually when this happens it means Johns has a story planned down the line and keeping the characters mentioned away from other writers. I wonder if he will take over the book from Spurrier at some point or will do a prestige book. Considering my experience with Johns, it's hard to imagine this is his way of handing status quo to over to Spurrier. We'll see I guess.

I mean, how did he even get his old powers back? He was completely depowered in Williamson's run until he got Speed Force powers (and then the other three "forces"). Johns just plain ignored all that.

[Hol]

I mean, how did he even get his old powers back? He was completely depowered in Williamson's run until he got Speed Force powers (and then the other three "forces"). Johns just plain ignored all that.

Better off. That story was terrible.

[Rakzo]

While at first I was a bit underwhelmed by how Johns basically reset Hunter's development, I think I trust him more nowadays than during the days of Flash: Rebirth because Johns has shown he has grown as writer based on recent works like Flashpoint Beyond and the current JSA reboot. He probably has a few twists planned for the classic Wally and Hunter dynamic.

By the way, considering that this anniversary issue was handled by some of the most important Wally West writers, I'm actually ashamed that I didn't mention how disappointing it is that William Messner-Loebs was absent here. He's easily one of the most influential creators that worked on the character and he was basically the one who cemented the personality of modern Wally.