Wally West’s soul is being used by the Speed Force to heal itself – and for reasons unexplained, this involves throwing him into the body of Bart Allen, centuries in the future, for a Flash/Gold Beetle team-up for the ages as they fight a giant, Speed-Force-imbued Dominator. Written by Jeremy Adams, art by David Lafuente and Brandon Peterson, colors by Mike Atiyeh and Luis Guerrero and lettering by Steve Wands.
Most of the time, The Flash is a safe bet comic. Drop in, read some silly sci-fi, enjoy the art and hope that Barry Allen’s overdramatized sense of guilt isn’t too distracting from the fun. With the promise of Wally West restored to title lead, I was hoping for something more. The previous issue ended up being a colossal disappointment, however – so when this issue played around with time travel, a giant Dominator and mostly took the focus off of Barry Allen, I was relieved for it to at least be going back to its safe bet comfort zone.
While we’re no closer to understanding why the Speed Force is doing what it’s doing, or how shunting Wall’s soul through speedsters across history is meant to heal it, none of that matters when the enlarged Dominator threatens to explode and take most of the Northern Hemisphere out with it. Fortunately, Wally doesn’t have to deal with this threat alone – he’s got Barry advising him from the present, and the delightful Gold Beetle assisting Wally in the future he’s stuck in.
I don’t know a lot about Gold Beetle, aside from her being an obvious mashup of the time-travelling Booster Gold and the affable, gadget wielding Blue Beetle. She seems to embody the best of both characters, and she’s fun enough that I don’t mind her getting more of the spotlight than either of the two Flashes. She might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but she’s certainly got the energy a book like this needs.
I’m enjoying the art that’s set in the future. David Lafuente’s art has a blockiness that takes a moment or two to get used to, but captures the chaos well. Even a scene as simple as Gold Beetle talking time-travel shenanigans with Wally is rife with energy, aided by coloring that shines soft, but vivid. The colors also add a depth to Lafuente’s art, which usually looks a lot more simplistic. It’s a visual delight.
The same can’t be said for the art set in the present by Brandon Peterson, however. While I still enjoy the colors, the body language and facial expressions of Barry, Mr. Terrific and Green Arrow are off-putting. I like the backgrounds a lot, there’s great detail that goes into them, but the expressions of the characters are far too over-the-top for me to be able to focus on anything else, and thankfully less time is spent in the present than there was last issue.
Overall, I had fun with this issue – though with an art change for next issue as Wally’s sent to the past, and the threat of more warped expressions from Peterson means that it’s a largely a coin toss as to whether or not I will enjoy the The Flash #769. There may be fun, or it might be exhausting – for the moment, though, The Flash is no longer DC’s sci-fi safe bet.
Armaan is obsessed with the way stories are told. From video games to theater, TTRPGs to comics, he has written for, and about, them all. He will not stop, actually; believe us, we've tried.
