Knight Terrors: The Flash #2 – Alex Paknadel, Writer; Daniel Bayliss, Tom Derenick, Writers; Igor Monti, Pete Pantazis, Colorists
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: One of the most underrated elements of Barry Allen’s character is that he might be the most naturally unstable members of the DCU core heroes. Despite all the memes about Batman, and all the alternate universes featuring dark Superman, it’s Barry who consistently shows the most willingness to “break bad” and risk the universe for one simple reason—he believes he can fix anything, and someone who believes they’re infallible will always be dangerous. He broke the DC Universe trying to alter the timeline to save his mother, so what would he do when faced with an even worse loss? As Wally lays dying after a mystical injury from Gorilla Grodd, Barry eschews Iris’ request to stay by the boy’s side for the end and instead chases the timestream, trying to go faster and faster until he’s able to outrun Grodd and whatever mysterious force stops him—no matter what it does to him.
Much like the Shazam mini, this story is very good at capturing the feel of horror. Unlike this one, it doesn’t concentrate on a surreal series of nightmares. There’s only one nightmare, and Barry is utterly lost in it until he becomes the nightmare himself. First his body starts warping from the constant exposure to the timestream, becoming something less than human. Then his mind starts going, pushing him to the point he betrays and murders a friend. Then he essentially tries to cannibalize his own future, bringing him face to face with his deadliest enemy. This is one of the most disturbing Flash stories I’ve seen in a while, building to a genuinely horrific conclusion that feels like something right out of Junji Ito until we’re snapped back to reality in a perfect way and the Flashes join the main fight once more. The first issue of this mini was just good, but Paknadel brings it to a close in a truly great way.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
