Linda Park-West gets an origin story, of sorts. Through an admittedly sappy Harlequin Romance-style story, Linda tells her own story. How she met Wally, about their adventures together. It’s a different kind of storytelling by Jeremy Adams – and it works for this annual. That’s even before you get to two important points that will show up in future FLASH stories. Wanna know more? Follow us after the jump!

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Linda and Wally talk briefly about her acquiring super-speed, though they have yet to figure out just how this happened. Struck by lightning? Nope! Although I may have a theory (and you may too) by the end of the story. I’ll leave that to your imagination, though. Back to the story.

Linda is about to become a published author. She has written a romance novel and is just about to go on tour to promote the book. Wally finally sits down to read this novel – and that’s where we get into the main part of this annual.

Linda’s novel is a thinly disguised recounting of her life, centering on her relationship with Wally West. You’ll see familiar friends and foes represented by close approximations throughout. It’s a real treat recognizing all the different characters as represented in Linda’s novel. Jeremy Adams is obviously having a great time with this script.

As for the artwork – the pages from the “novel” are basically spot-on Harlequin Romance, and it’s both over-the-top and epic at the same time. One of the things that caught my attention were the sequences with a closeup of Linda and Wally – and the only things that change are the expressions from panel to panel. It works here – those subtle changes in expression tell SO much about the flow of the conversation, and I enjoyed following along. It’s a pretty cool storytelling device. 

This is a fairly light and fun story that gets across the history of Wally and Linda in a way that is fresh and fun for long-time Flash fans, while remaining somewhat accessible to new readers. There are two major plot points that hit this annual, however.

One is the announcement by the warden of Iron Heights that he is running for Mayor of Central City. That cannot possibly be good news. The other…well the other is a surprise at the end of the Annual that I’ll leave for you to read.  I’m sure we’ll see more of both story threads soon.

SUMMARY:

This was a fun, lighthearted look at the history of Linda and Wally – and it works. I’ll give this an 8/10. Of course, that’s just my opinion. What do YOU think? Leave your comments below!

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