Knight Terrors: The Flash #1 Review

   

    

Written by: Alex Paknadel
Art by: Daniel Bayliss
Colors by: Igor Monti
Letters by: Simon Bowland
Cover art by: Werther Dell'Edera
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: July 11th, 2023

Knight Terrors: The Flash #1 finds Barry Allen summoned to the hospital after a young Wally West clings to life after a solo battle with Gorilla Grodd.
Is It Good?

Well, chalk Knight Terrors: The Flash #1 up as another odd issue in a series of odd issues in the Knight Terrors event. Alex Paknadel's first issue in Flash's two-parter imagines what would happen if Wally is mortally wounded in a fight with Gorilla Grodd, which isn't all that nightmarish in the first place. In fact, there's very little about this issue that seems nightmarish at all besides one or two things out of place.

Paknadel's script centers on an indeterminate point in Barry Allen's past when Wally West still went by Kid Flash. Barry receives a frantic call that Wally was mortally wounded by Gorilla Grood during a fight. Jay Garrick arrived too late to stop the damage, and now Wally fights for his life in a hospital room. Wally's wounds refuse to heal, and Wally keeps mumbling something about a lightning monster that caused him to slow down at a critical moment.

Without options, Barry races back in time to witness the fight and stop whatever may have interfered.

As a standalone story, Paknadel's take on Barry, Wally, and the rest is captivating stuff. You feel a real sense of urgency in Barry's plight, the steps he takes to make things right make sense, and you can feel a genuine sense of emotional desperation from Barry, Iris, and the rest of the Flash-family.

Better still, Daniel Bayliss's action art is outstanding. This is the first time in recent memory anyone has portrayed Flash's appearance in the past with "temporal friction" to give the appearance that time is pushing against him like a current. The effect looks great.

As a whole, this is a grim, white-knuckled Flash story that would work as a stand-alone adventure. Conversely, the down point is that this issue is NOT a stand-alone adventure. Besides a few bits of the surrounding that are clearly out of place (snow in June), there's nothing to indicate this story has anything to do with Insomnia or the Knight Terrors event.

Why did the main Flash title get put on hold to be part of Knight Terrors when the story has practically nothing to do with Knight Terrors or nightmares in general? The world may never know.

About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

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Bits and Pieces:

Knight Terrors: The Flash #1 is a solid, urgent, emotional adventure for Bally Allen and his Flash-family. The issue contains great writing from Paknadel and fascinating art from Bayliss, but oddly, this issue has almost nothing to do with nightmares, Insomnia, or Knight Terrors.

8/10