The Flash #770 – Jeremy Adams, Writer; Jack Herbert, Brandon Peterson, Kevin Maguire, Artists; Michael Atiyeh, Colorist
Ray – 7.5/10
Ray: Wally West’s journey through time in the body of other Flashes continues, with Barry and his allies barely appearing in this issue aside from some brief scenes. This time Wally’s trip takes him to World War II, inside the body of Jay Garrick—who isn’t having a great time. Jay and the original Ray, Ray Terrill, are on the trail of the Spear of Destiny, which has religious ties and may be the secret weapon Hitler needs to win the war. This leads to an odd extended debate between the two JSA members over whether the Christian origin story of the Spear is accurate. The hyper-realistic art doesn’t really help the tone, making it feel overly grim with none of the lighter touches that the previous two issues had. Still, it is good to see the JSA in action, but it’s well into the issue before Wally actually makes his entry and takes over the plot from the real Jay Garrick.
Wally continues to be a compelling lead, as he spends most of the series trying to find his footing in new timelines. But World War II stories are tricky to do, because they have to be addressed with a certain level of seriousness due to the horrors that occurred. Hitler being a full-on supervillain who obtains a magic spear and flies around threatening people doesn’t really fit that bill for it. It feels awkward at points. While the previous two adventures were light, this one feels deadly serious and doesn’t really allow for much comic book action or fun. But at the end of the issue—with a surprise appearance by Kevin Maguire on art—we find out who the next speedster Wally will be swapping bodies with is. This is actually a really clever twist that should set up a fun, much lighter issue. But it feels like this story is losing momentum a bit, repeating the same gimmick without doing anything new with it.
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