The Flash #30 answers the question that so many comic fans have: what’s the most important story in the history of DC Comics? Besides key first appearances during the Golden Age, or your favorite ’90s extreme character reinvention, the answer has to be Crisis on Infinite Earths, right? Comic fans know that. The writers at AIPT know that. Hell, even Darkseid knows that. It’s a Flash Fact.
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If you get headaches when you read time-travel stories, don’t worry, you’re not alone (but also, strap in). While Bart is in the past trying to step in for his grandfather Barry Allen to destroy the Anti-Monitor’s Antimatter Cannon, Darkseid is hoping that he will.
Since becoming the living embodiment of the Speed Force, Bart thinks he has the power to go back in time, stop Barry Allen from dying, save the Multiverse during that specific Crisis and stop Darkseid during the current mega event.
But since he is the living embodiment of the Speed Force, if he dies, the Speed Force will die with him, and Darkseid will be able to replace the Speed Force with Omega Speed, his own brand of extra-dimensional energy that will give him control over all of time and space. A recently re-powered Wally West refuses to let that happen.
So, for those keeping score, Darkseid is in the future of an alternate universe and trying to stop Wally West Flash, who has to stop Bart Allen Impulse from stopping Barry Allen Flash, who’s trying to stop the Anti-Monitor from destroying all known life in every universe 40 years ago.
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You’ll be forgiven if you think that sounds silly, because it kind of is, but I just wanted to catch you up on one of the more fun DC K.O. tie-ins to date. Also, I’m truly sorry for the amount of times I said “Darkseid”, “Flash”, and “Speed Force” in the previous few paragraphs.
This arc, written by Mark Waid and Chris Cantwell with art by Vasco Georgiev (and colors by Matt Herms) has been such a breath of fresh air for this Flash series. The pace moves as briskly as its lead characters between scenes, with breakdowns that are fluid, dynamic, and honor the tight George Pérez paneling perfection from Crisis on Infinite Earths while still feeling modern and in keeping with DC’s current house style.
The characters don’t just run, they bounce with kinetic joy and you feel the weight they’re putting down with each step as they speed on to the next problem, the next fight. They shift and contort and you can see them try to squeeze out every extra picosecond of time they can because they know that makes a difference.
While the heroes are drawn fluidly, the villains are almost statuesque, in a good way. They appear like lumbering roadblocks meant to impede Wally and Bart (and Max Mercury, too – along with a few other surprise allies) at every turn.
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You can tell Vasco Georgiev had a blast drawing Darkseid in particular because he bleeds out of almost every panel he appears in. Literally, he cannot be contained by something as simple as a comic panel – he’s bigger than the form of storytelling he’s in. All this is topped off by the vibrant, beautiful colors of Matt Herms, truly the sprinkles on top of a two-scoop cone.
That same excitement is on display by Mark Waid and Cantwell, who manage the impressive feat of packing so much new heart into the climax of a story that centers on one we already know the ending to. The Flash gets a new creative team next month and it’s easy to be excited about what the future holds for the character, but I’m just so impressed at how they handled what the past already held for him.
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