Future State: The Flash #1 – Brandon Vietti, Writer; Dale Eaglesham, Artist; Michael Atiyeh, Colorist
Ray – 7.5/10
Ray: Things are grim for the Flash family in Future State, as Brandon Vietti and Dale Eaglesham bring the Speed Force to a bad end. When we begin, the Speed Force has seemingly been taken from most of the Flashes, with only Wally West still having it—and seemingly using it to kill people around the world. Barry and the others have been using tech to stay active as heroes and chase after their fallen brother, but when Bart dies in battle against the Calculator, we start seeing the bonds of the team fray. Barry is determined to save Wally by any means necessary, but Avery, Jay, and Max doubt he can be saved. Flashbacks show that Wally was the one who attacked Titans Tower and killed Wallace West (although I’m not sure if he was behind the main attack that killed most of the students), so it’s not hard to see why. I don’t think Wally fans will be very happy to see the character used like this.
Fortunately, there’s more to it than meets the eye. Evidence indicates that Wally may have been possessed by a dark supernatural force, and that leads Barry and co. to make one last risky attempt to save him—contacting him psychically. This segment feels like a horror movie, and is probably the most effective of the issue. Dale Eaglesham’s art is strong as always, particularly in action scenes, although my one issue is that all his Flash characters seem a bit more buff than they should be as speedsters. Overall, though, while this issue is exciting, it’s best described as grim from the start to the finish. Barry is essentially trying to decide if he can still save his surrogate son or if he has to kill him, and the signs aren’t looking good. It’s a rather depressing topic executed well, and it’s odd that so far it’s Batman of all the big franchises that seems to have the most hope for its hero’s legacy in this event.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
