Well, if Wally West’s series had to end — again — at least he got a decent send-off. Flash #247 concludes Alan Burnett’s four-part “This Was Your Life, Wally West”. This story wraps up threads from the current run of the series, looks back on Wally’s entire super-hero career, firmly establishes his roots in the Justice League and Titans, and sets up a few beats that can be picked up for future stories with the characters.

It picks up immediately after the previous issue’s cliffhanger, resolving the threat to Linda before rushing headlong into battle with the Queen Bee. This month does feature another flashback, this time to the West family’s time on the planet Savoth, but it’s only two pages. It ends with a conclusion that’s not quite an ending, but a place to stop. DC isn’t burning any bridges here the way they did with “Full Throttle” and the end of Bart’s series.

It’s also much better than “Finish Line,” the four-parter that wrapped up Wally’s series the last time it was canceled, from Flash #227–230. It was better written, better researched, and actually made an effort to tie together the rest of the series. The only thing “Finish Line” has over “This Was Your Life, Wally West” is consistent art.

While the first issue of the arc was penciled entirely by Paco Diaz, and the second and third were penciled entirely by Carlo Barberi, this issue was done by committee. Barberi gets the cover spot, but is joined by J. Calafiore and Andre Coelho. I’m not familiar with either of their work, so I couldn’t tell who did which pages, but the shifts in style were jarring. Normally changes in artist don’t bother me, especially if their styles are similar or if the change is done for thematic effect. (An example in The Flash would be Race Against Time, in which each issue used one art team for Wally’s storyline and another for John Fox’s.)

Brian Stelfreze’s cover, on the other hand, has got to be one of the best Flash covers since the relaunch. (I’d also include issues #243 and #246, both by Freddie Williams II) The starkness of it, with the plain white background, the shadow of the grim reaper, and the Flash standing barefoot with his boots off, says everything that needs to be said about what he’s up against. Honestly, I think it would work better without the “Wally West — Finished?” caption, or even the title logo.

Spoilers after the cut:

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SPOILERS AHEAD!

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I was glad to see that they resisted the urge to actually kill off Linda, Iris, or Jai. I figured they probably wouldn’t, since all indications are that Final Crisis takes place later and has them all still around and healthy, but DC has had some, shall we say, high-profile mix-ups in continuity lately. And of course, they could all die in Flash: Rebirth or the last two issues of Final Crisis for all I know.

Speaking of Linda and her death, taking the near-death experience to satisfy the Spectre’s proclamation from last year seemed a little easy (and made me think of the “Prophecy Girl” episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, not that it hasn’t been done a million times elsewhere), but they took it somewhere thematically appropriate, with her love for Wally guiding her back to life. It’s a nice counterpoint to the times that Wally has nearly died in the speed force, only to be guided back to this plane by his love for Linda.

I have to admit, as a long-term Titans reader (1984 through 2005, plus back issues all the way to the beginning), I got a kick out of seeing the Titans going up against the H.I.V.E. once again.

Structure-wise, it was good to see that the device the Queen Bee stole proved to be more than simply a MacGuffin, and was also (as I suspected) the solution to the “speed disease” problem. It seemed appropriate that Iris was the one who figured out how to use it to restore her father’s connection to the speed force, mirroring the conclusion of “Fast Money.”

The way Zazzala manipulated Iris was just plain creepy. Yes, she was hypnotized. But pretending to be her mother, and forcing her to kill people (assuming the HIVE drones were people) is seriously disturbing. It makes sense that she’d still be having nightmares. That, and Jai’s eagerness to fight, are themes I’d like to see explored in future stories, whether in Flash: Rebirth, subplots in the post-relaunch Flash series, or in the second Flash series I keep hoping will follow like Green Lantern Corps followed the relaunched Green Lantern.

It’s tough. I’m still not happy the series is ending. I’ve followed this character for twenty years, and while I’ve read every issue of Barry Allen’s series, he just doesn’t click with me the way Wally does. But at least he went out with a good story this time.

Review: Flash #247: “Incubation” (Final Issue) is a post from Speed Force.

We’re moving into the home stretch, with the second-to-last issue of the current Flash series. Part 3 of “This Was Your Life, Wally West” is written by Alan Burnett with art by Carlo Barberi.

The book was originally solicited with a more story-related cover by Brian Stelfreeze. Normally I prefer covers that have something to do with the story over iconic covers, but I have to say this is one seriously impressive cover by Freddie Williams II.

Carlo Barberi’s art continues to work surprisingly well with the serious tone of the book (I’d previously known his work only from Impulse), and the cast list is combined with the issue’s splash page.

The threats of the Queen Bee and power loss take a back seat to a more personal story: Wally West faces the possibility that he might lose the love of his life, Linda Park West. Much of the first half of the issue is a look back at Wally and Linda’s relationship, starting with their first meeting as reporter and story subject at the end of the “Porcupine Man” saga (Flash v.2 #24–28), working through their tumultuous courtship, interrupted wedding, all the way through to the worldwide memory wipe between Blitz and Ignition.

The flashback is well-integrated with the main line of the story, as it brings up several elements that factor into the second half of the issue as the Queen Bee case takes center stage again.

Oddly, I noticed my local comic store didn’t have any copies of this issue on the shelf. I meant to ask, but forgot, whether they had reduced their order, whether they’d sold more than usual, or whether they simply hadn’t finished putting everything on the shelf. (They were still sorting through customers’ pull lists at the point I got there.)

Spoilers after the cut:

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SPOILERS AHEAD!

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This issue really highlights Wally’s heroism as he has to take on multiple roles in crisis: husband, father, and detective — despite his fear and his downgraded powers. He has to be there for Linda. He has to hold it together for their kids. And he has to keep working the case that put her in harm’s way in the first place. Ultimately, while he needs help with each of these tasks, it’s help from his friends and teammates and never once seems to diminish him.

I loved the moments with Roy and Lian hanging out with Jai and Iris. I’m not sure how old Lian is at this point, but this made me realize how much I’d like to see an occasional “Junior Justice League” backup feature with Iris, Jai, Lian and any other children of JLA/Titans members getting into adventures. Sort of a cross between Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius and Tiny Titans set in normal DC continuity. (I do wonder how popular the Olsen Twins’ movies are with today’s kids, but it’s at least thematically appropriate.)

The flashback does gloss over the period in which Wally was still dating Connie, and he and Linda were first grudging allies and later friends, but it was nice for this long-term fan to see references to the Porcupine Man, “Terminal Velocity,” and the dimension-hopping connected to the Dark Flash (Flash v.2 #152–159). Also appreciated: mention of Linda’s career as a journalist! Burnett’s research (for which he credits his editors Eddie Berganza and Rachel Gluckstern) makes a better showing in this issue than last. On a related note, the comment about Wally’s bio being “more complicated than Aquaman’s” certainly sounds like a meta-reference!

One gaping plot-hole: Raven. Linda is on her death-bed, with minutes or less to live. Wally zooms to Raven seeking help…to contact the Spectre, since that cosmic being helped them out before by wiping everyone’s knowledge of his identity. Why bother with the Spectre? As far as I know, Raven hasn’t lost her ability to heal people. Even if she can’t fully heal Linda, she could at least bring her back from the brink to the point where JSA-level medicine can save her.

On the other hand, ending the issue with the larger-than-life Spectre declaring that “your wife dies today!” — that’s a seriously dramatic cliffhanger.

Review: Flash #246: “Infection” is a post from Speed Force.

Last month I was pleasantly surprised to find the first issue of the four-part “This Was Your Life, Wally West” was quite good — in fact, the strongest opening chapter of a Flash arc in years. So does part two hold up?

For the most part, yes, with some reservations. Admittedly, I read it right after reading the conclusion of Rogues’ Revenge, which is a tough act to follow.

Carlo Barberi (Impulse, Casey Blue) replaces Paco Diaz on the art an issue earlier than expected. He’s dialed down his usual style to the point that it actually took me several pages to recognize it, but once I knew what to look for it was instantly identifiable. It works better for Flash than I expected, though he isn’t quite as effective as Diaz at making the deadly bee weapon genuinely scary. (They still appear as a credible threat, despite Amazons Attack.)

This issue brings in guest stars galore, both in the present day and in flashbacks, linking Wally’s two super-teams: the original Teen Titans, and the Justice League of America. Members of both (and the JSA) show up to help him deal with the new development revealed in part 1, while the Titans appear in a retrospective of his Kid Flash career.

It seems thematically appropriate to team up the Flash and Black Lightning: someone who got his powers by being struck by lightning, and someone who generates electricity. Similarly, Red Arrow, while serving as a literal link between the two teams, was once known as Speedy — a name that would have worked just as well for a young speedster as it did for an archer with quick reflexes.

Spoilers after the cut:

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SPOILERS AHEAD!

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On to the story. The bug man’s name is revealed as Carapace, and it turns out he’s working for Queen Bee, who fought the Flash and Wonder Woman in a spotlight story in Justice League of America #20. We also learn why the Queen Bee is going after the Flash — or rather, why she will, because the prototype that Carapace stole for her manipulates the speed force. So far, Queen Bee is acting purely in evil mastermind mode, and the major threat is still the “speed disease.” Speaking of which, the stolen tech could turn out to be just be the missing piece needed to solve that problem.

There’s an interesting sequence in which Raven shows up and uses her empathic powers to calm Wally. He flashes back to the time they were both on the team and he was “crazy about her,” then she vanishes just as Linda walks in…with other ideas on how to soothe his anxiety. That’s got to be a bit awkward.

I have to give props to the writing for making the threats to Linda’s life and Wally’s powers seem credible even though we know she’ll be around, and he’ll be faster, in time for Final Crisis.

Finally, I know I shouldn’t get too bent out of shape over retcons, especially when we’ve got a major retcon-inducing event (Infinite Crisis) in recent history, but one thing really bugged me about this issue: Wally’s speed was apparently limited to Mach 1 throughout his entire Kid Flash career, and he gained full speed when the Anti-Monitor blasted him during Crisis on Infinite Earths. All the original stories showed him being as fast as Barry up until the point that the disease kicked in during late adolescence, and then the Anti-Monitor’s blast cured him of the disease, but lowered his speed to Mach 1. He slowly worked his way back up to top speed over the course of the first few years of his solo book.

Overall, it’s still a solid issue, though it doesn’t leave me as wowed as the one before it.

Review: Flash #245: “Invasion” is a post from Speed Force.

I talked to Todd Nauck briefly, and asked for the sketch, but I had a panel to get to so I couldn’t pick it up. I went back Saturday around 1:00 or so to pick it up. He was doing a sketch of Secret for someone else. He mentioned that when he started doing Young Justice, he was a huge Impulse fan, but got to really like the other characters over the course of his run on the book. By the end, Wonder Girl had become one of his favorites, because of all the character growth he got to portray.

Impulse Convergence is a post from Speed Force.