Written by: Jeff Lemire
Art by: Nick Robles
Colors by: Adriano Lucas
Letters by: Tom Napolitano
Cover art by: Nick Robles (cover A)
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: April 16, 2025
Absolute Flash #2, by DC Comics on 4/16/25, finds Wally West fleeing from a squad of Rogues while his powers begin manifesting in strange and confusing ways.
Is Absolute Flash #2 Good?
Recap
When we last left Wally West in the universe spawned from Darkseid energy in Absolute Flash #1, the troubled teen struggled to adapt to life with a military father who hopped from base to base. When Wally made friends with a research scientist, Barry Allen, he took a shine to a man who saw his potential. After a heated argument with his father, Wally decided to make an unplanned visit to Barry's lab for guidance, interrupting a dangerous experiment that left Barry dead and granted Wally strange powers. The issue ended with an eclectic military team hunting Wally through the desert.
Plot Synopsis
In Absolute Flash #2, things go from weird to weirder. The issue begins with Wally struggling to get a grip as the Rogues hunt him for capture, presumably to bring him back to Fort Fox. During the chase, we get a closer look at the Rogues members - Captain Cold, Trickster, Glider, and Boomerang. When Captain Cold traps Wally's leg with a hit from his ice gun, Wally unconsciously unleashes a wave of energy that blasts everyone away.
In the melee of energy, Wally is contacted by Barry Allen in a special suit, trying to reach Wally and get him to refocus and reconstitute back at the lab. It's unclear what's happening. Barry's rescue attempt is interrupted by Wally's father, who attacks Barry out of anger for endangering his son.
Back in the desert, Trickster traps Wally with a forcefield bubble, but Wally easily phases through it out of instinct and runs away. When Glider pursues Wally and almost catches up, he kicks into overdrive and catches glimpses of alternate periods in Time.
Captain Cold, frustrated, orders his teammates to finish the hunt by unleashing Grodd from a containment truck. The issue ends with a very different-looking Grodd.
First Impressions
On the whole, Absolute Flash #2 is a mostly positive mixed bag. There are a lot of positive developments and interesting action scenes to grab your attention. However, Lemire intermixes time shifts and location displacement to make Wally's experience (and the reading enjoyment) more than a little confusing.
How’s the Art?
Nick Robles ups the ante with ana action-heavy issue that showcases Wally's chaotic and emerging powers. When Wally shifts into superspeed, the effect is cool, and the waves of speed power (Is it the Speed Force?) project the intended sense of wild, chaotic energy. Visually, this issue is a big improvement over the first issue.
What’s great about Absolute Flash #2?
Flash's Rogues Gallery is one of the most memorable and recognizable collection of villains for any DC hero, possibly as good as Batman's, so this issue creates a great vehicle to introduce the Absolute versions of those characters in a compelling way. Plus, Wally's struggles with using and controlling his powers feels realistic compared to every speedster origin we've seen before.
What’s not great about Absolute Flash #2?
Jeff Lemire attempts to make Wally's origin unsettling by creating more than one mystery that feels more frustrating and awkward than engaging. Is Barry dead, or isn't he? Is Wally traveling through time and space, or is it all in his head? Why is Barry wearing a super suit, what is the experiment, and how does any of it fit together?
In effect, Lemire opens up multiple questions that are loosely tied together but not cohesively. The result is a comic that benefits from a lot of entertaining flash (pun intended) but confusing substance.
For the naysayers who insist on pulling back on criticism until the story unfolds, that argument only works for free Webtoons. When you're paying $4.99 per issue, every issue has to work well.
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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Final Thoughts
Absolute Flash #2 is a mostly positive mixed bag, with great art to showcase Wally's nascent powers and the Rogue's abilities, but multiple mysteries add up to a head-scratcher. Jeff Lemire's script imagines a more realistic reaction to someone suddenly gaining powers, but the confusion and chaos go overboard. Thankfully, Nick Robles's energetic art takes the rough edges off Lemire's execution.
6.5/10
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