Flash #768 Review

by Carlos R. on March 30, 2021

Flash #768 Cover Image
Written by: Jeremy Adams
Art by: Brandon Peterson, Marco Santucci, David Lafuente
Colors by: Mike Atiyeh, Arif Prianto, Luis Guerrero
Lettered by: Steve Wands
Publisher: DC Comics

After Infinite Froniter #0, I had high hopes for the Flash family; Barry was off to be a representative of Earth to the omniverse and Wally’s family was back, and it seemed like he was going to take on the role of Flash once more.

And yet here we are, Wally wanting to retire from the hero life and Barry staying on Earth until a replacement is found. Which fair, but are there not like dozens of other members of the League and hasn’t it functioned without Barry before? A slight nitpick, but the events of the book would have occurred whether Barry agreed to stay on or not.

And I don’t mind Wally wanting to retire, after everything that’s gone on in his life, I’d want to as well! But Barry’s reaction seems so far from his character, I understand him wanting to prove to everyone that Wally is a hero, but he came off so insulted and is typically such an empathetic person. Adams does capture Wally’s and Oliver’s voices well, I like how Oliver is grounded enough to talk Barry down and show Wally support. In the latter half of the book, we get to see Wally in action and the book has a bit of fun with this caper, mostly in the form of a speedforce-imbued velociraptor, which by the way, is as terrifying as it sounds.

The opening page to this book is fantastic and serves as a guide to bring new readers up to speed on the major events of Wally’s life thus far. The running sequences are top notch as well, especially the splash page of Barry and Wally taking off, I enjoyed the insight we got from their thoughts as they race and details how much these characters care for one another. The only issue I had with this book in terms of art is with Barry’s expressions, especially in the early half of the book, the lighting on his face have him come off as disgusted when he should be confounded by Wally’s choice. Other than that, this was one great looking book, the sequences in the speedforce are vivid and magical, which highlights the remarkable journey these two have been on. And I love the design of this run, having the Flashes race around, doing good along the way, it was lovely.

The setup for the story is intriguing and enjoyable at times, but it has a filler vibe to it and doesn’t feel like much of a new beginning for our heroes. Though the story is not what I’d hoped it’d be, the issue still has its moments and has some fantastic pages to gaze at.
 

Our Score:

5/10

A Look Inside