It’s been one thing after another since Wally’s Rebirthed existence, but after a long, hard road, he’s finally ready to settle down to the dual life of a family man and superhero. Now that his family’s been restored, he’s got bills to pay, but while he speeds through one interview after another, arsonist foe Heat Wave finds out he’s not long for this world and decides he’s going to go out in a blaze of glory. The Flash #772 is written by Jeremy Adams, drawn by Will Conrad, colored by Alex Sinclair, and lettered by Steve Wands.
I have been waiting for this comic for a very long time.
We open this issue to see Iris chasing her twin brother Jai through peaceful, lovely, suburban streets and into the West family home. Two children, finding the simple pleasures of just running as fast as they can. For too long, the stories of DC’s premiere speedster has lacked the fun of a man who can run really, really fast. I’m happy to report that The Flash has finally found its feet.
Speeding Along a Broken Career Path
After a whirlwind tour that culminated in a much-needed retcon of Wally’s culpability in Heroes in Crisis, we’re able to start the adventures of Wally West without that baggage hanging over his shoulder. While his children may be able to enjoy running for running’s sake, Wally himself has got a few responsibilities weighing him down. The bills have been piling up, and his wife Linda can’t pay them all on her own – Wally needs a job.
Thing is, unlike other superhero friends, he’s never had a job that defines his civilian identity. He’s not a journalist like Clark Kent, or a detective like John Jones, or a…billionaire like Bruce Wayne. No civilian expertises, and an unexplainable gap in his resume that comes with being erased from existence, so after speeding through a number of interviews, he takes on the first job that’ll have him whether or not he’s the best man for the job.
Fortunately, Mr. Terrific has much better use for the unique skills Wally does have, setting him up in Terrifitech’s temporal and multiversal research wing. As someone whose own career path is…fractured, to say the least, I love the idea of someone’s unconventional life skills being put to practical use. As we’re seeing over in Infinite Frontier, the Multiverse is public knowledge now, no longer just the realm of superheroes, and Michael Holt wants to be on the forefront of understanding it.
Wally may have had no formal training, but there is no one in the Omniverse more practically experienced in the idiosyncrasies of multiversal and temporal travel. Added bonus: Wally working for someone who knows his secret identity makes his work-superhero balance that much easier – no having to make excuses for his constant disappearances whenever there’s a crisis in town.
And that’s where Heat Wave comes in. There’s not a lot to his story yet: he’s been told his cancer has progressed to a point where he doesn’t have long to live, and he’s decided to spend his last days burning things down. With all the job searching this issue has, Flash and Heat Wave barely have a moment together before the issue ends – but not in a way that feels unsatisfying.
Energy Off the Page
This issue’s a perfect jumping on point for Flash fans. It’s a return to basics, taking the time to re-establish who Wally is: an earnest superhero who moves through his life with an energy and speed that’s not just a result of his powers. We see Wally as a family man. We get the promise of weird science shenanigans somewhere down the line.
The comic brings back a low stakes, classic villain and allows room for Wally to empathize with him – this isn’t going to be a simple punch and prison solution. An important part of what defines a superhero is how they interact with their villains. Superman tried to find a better way forward, Batman unlocks his villains psyches like they’re puzzle boxes to be solved and Wally’s been League voted as Hero Most Likely to Share a Beer With His Villains more often than not.
I am enjoying the vibrancy of Alex Sinclair’s colors, even if I don’t quite enjoy how much the shine on things makes everything look like it was sculpted out of play-doh. They’re colors that work great for action scenes, for lightning bolts, Flash-red and flames, less so for the more mundane bits that make up most of the issue.
The same applies to the art, to an extent – there is an inconsistency to the facial expressiveness of Will Conrad’s art; every so often a human face just looks odd. Once the Flash is masked, however, this goes away – we get such an endearingly earnest Flash here. Masked faces seem to come more easily to Conrad, which works, honestly, for a superhero comic. I do enjoy the solid feel of the backgrounds, especially in contrast to how dynamic they make the action feel. The art of The Flash lives and dies by how much energy you can feel coming off the page, and by that standard, the art team is nailing it.
All in all, I’m really enjoying the promise that this first issue of a new arc brings: a Flash that’s fast, a Flash that cares, a Flash of sci-fi shenanigans, and most of all, a Flash that’s fun.
