Absolute Flash #16 wins the award for fastest read of 2026 so far. While thematically on brand for a character like The Flash, it was over before I knew it, and I’m not sure much more than the ending ultimately mattered to the issue.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s dial it back and talk about what works in this issue, which is admittedly, a lot, and let’s start with my favorite part of this issue.
DC
I just love this version of Wally and Linda. I think that with the ages of the characters, Absolute Flash is hitting a lot of the same beats that Silver Age Spider-Man did for a whole new generation. The dance between danger and sweet is so well struck that it’s sometimes easy to forget they’re in an upside down universe where the epitome of evil has been made the supreme arbiter of morality and justice in a world that is still strikingly similar to our own.
The dialogue from Jeff Lemire in this issue borders on cheesy and probably a little dated, but it worked for me because we’re talking about archetypal characters in some form of a hero’s journey. As someone who’s been revisiting Dawson’s Creek lately, the cadence and the word choice feels familiar. Nothing said breaks the mold of their counterparts from the main DC Universe, and like many people/all five of my dogs; I happen to like cheese, and I’m also a little dated.
DC
Their banter and care for each other is what really drives this issue, an issue that thankfully picks up a plot line I’ve been hoping to see addressed.
After seeing the future version of himself tell Wally to drop his hunt for answers about Still Point, Wally is ravaged by a psychic lash from his old friend, Grodd. Realizing he did Linda dirty last month, he goes back to pick her up and brings her along on his quest to find his fellow escapee. On the hunt for him, he comes across a cadre of highly armed police officers who are under some kind of mind control that is eerily similar to what it’s like interfacing with Grodd.
And that’s pretty much the entire issue. Super quick, super breezy, super fun, super light, super over before you know it. The ending has semi-major implications for the world and where the greater Wally-Linda story is going, but hey, that’s next month’s problem.
The art is, yet again, stunning. Haining on art wand Adriano Lucas on colors really create a beautiful world that makes it so you can’t turn the page fast enough. Even panels with no backgrounds are given bold pops of color to contrast the characters and just look interesting, energetic, and fun. There’s heavy use of colors I don’t feel like I see too often in other Absolute titles, especially saturated like it is in this book. With greens, purples, oranges, and yellows that help put you in the mood the book is trying to set.
DC
I also want to shoutout the letterer, Tom Napolitano. Grodd doesn’t communicate with speech bubbles, it’s almost more like an E.T.-ish telepathy where people feel his feelings. That’s demonstrated with body language, sure, but it’s also expressed in dialogue that has this really interesting Y2K-era like layout that feels futuristic and new, perfectly incapsulating the idea that this is a new way of communicating. It’s a really smart choice that’s visually interesting.
Absolute Flash #16 rushes to its cliffhanger conclusion at a breakneck pace but I still felt treated to small, intimate moments between characters I care about each month. Bright and vivid colors accentuate a dark (visually and metaphorically) world and brings reinforces the theme of youthful optimism and hope. The most interesting part was the ending, but the buildup, though quick, was still a satisfying way to read a comic in record time.
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