Running Towards The Darkness
It's the future and some weird things have been going on with our heroes since their Multiverse was recreated and we were thrust into what their lives will become. Let's see how weird things get for Barry Allen and the Flash family in a world where the only speedster left is deranged and looking to fuel his hunger with anyone who gets in his way. Let's jump into this issue and check it out.
I know it's the basis for these stories but it throws me off with each one of these Future State issues having to jump into something that I feel completely lost in. Yeah, it's going to fill me in as we progress but I just hate feeling like I'm clueless. That being said, there is going to be an element about what's up with Wally that will continue to be a mystery by the end of this first issue, but even with that irking me, I really dig the progression of this issue, where our Flash Family are on a mission to save Wally West..... from himself. At some point in this future, someone decided that Wally West hasn't suffered enough and has made the former Kid-Flash a murdering monster again, but it seems that his first diabolical act was stealing the speed from all our favorite speedsters. So how does the Flash Family go up against an evil Wally West?...... By going Rogue.
Yeah, this issue is dark as hell and jumps to some weird conclusions that have to throw the whole "Flash Fact" gimmick into it, but there's a lot of legitimate despair going on in this book and while I know that's not for everyone and not something that I particularly wanted out of this book, but I have to say that the emotion felt real and circumstances that our heroes find themselves in have never been more dire, especially since it concerns someone that they love and feel that they can still save.... or can they?
All in all, the art in this issue is amazing, but when the Flash Family confront Wally West in a psychic plane at the end of the issue I found it a bit hard to understand exactly what was going on with the style that was chosen to depict this action, but beyond that, I loved what I was looking at here. As for the story... Yeah, it's dark, depressing, and doesn't shine a hopeful light at the future of our heroes of Central and Keystone City, but even with this aspect, I found myself compelled with this dark future, even if DC just keeps kicking Wally West while he's down. How do our heroes be heroes without the Speed Force? Well, you get to see it here and it's pretty fun, not to mention that you get the Flash Family going on big missions to save one of their own and it's pretty epic, even if things don't exactly turn out the way you want. Yeah, there's a bit of hokiness overall with some of the reasoning behind things, but you'll get that with the Flash and it didn't take away any of the enjoyment I took out of this book.
Bits and Pieces:
While it isn't the brightest future you'd want for the Flash Family, it is a compelling story that I want to see more of...... mostly so I can understand the things that led up to this point I was dropped into, but the art is amazing and the characters feel right, which is pretty solid all by itself but you also get some cool action and a Barry Allen who's done taking any shit by the end.
At first, I was taken back by the whole "Wally is the villain again" angle. I was expecting to hate this book, and I hate it less after reading it. I get what you mean about the despairing tone, but for me, if a book's going to have an emotional atmosphere of despair, than it's got to feel real or it's just window dressing. In this book, it's in the middle of feeling genuine and artificial because the idea of Wally being a villain, even against his will, is too tainted for me by Heroes in Crisis. I'll definitely read the website's reviews before I buy the any of the next issues.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it felt like an odd choice for what's been going on lately and a bit of a kick to the face for Wally fans, but since this is an isolated story in a possible future, I can go for it, especially since I thought it was written well and looked great.
DeleteDefinitely one of the better future state stories but wally being a villian agian killing wallace before the first issue then bart and jay ...good story but such a downer
ReplyDeleteI was saying the same thing on twitter today - if you can get past yet another downer and focus on the story itself, it's pretty good. Some will write it off just for the continuing darkness around the Flash Family and really, I may not blame them
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