The Reverse Flash has been jailed, Henry Allen is now a free man, and the world is going to turn right back to normal, right? Let’s take a moment to praise…no, make that ARREST The Flash! Yes, the Flash’s troubles are far from over, as the Mayor has ordered the CCPD to set up a task force to take down the Scarlet Speedster. Joining that task force? None other than the Rogues! Before we say anything spoilery, let’s skip past the jump…
SOME SPOILERS AHEAD
The future-Flash finds Overload…and the kind of trouble from which he can’t run away, while present Barry finds a surprising source of danger while trapped in the Speed Force. The twin storylines are moving forward in significant ways in one of the stronger issues in the Venditti-Jensen-Booth era of THE FLASH.
MILD SPOILERS AHEAD
While the Future-Flash continues his lethal hunt for those who might kill BEFORE they commit their crimes, his own charade may be fraying at the edges. Meanwhile, the Present-day Barry remains trapped in the Speed Force…but is there a way out? That’s where we begin with issue #38 of THE FLASH!
Mild Spoilers Ahead!
This issue of THE FLASH finds Barry trapped in the Speed Force, future Wally out of the picture (though present Wally does have his moments), and Future Barry taking over in present day Central City. If you thought the big battle between present and future Barry would end this arc, you were very wrong – it’s just the beginning. This issue also represents the last artwork in comics from an excellent illustrator, Andre’ Coelho, who died far too young at age 35. Coelho took on the “future Barry” pages while Brett Booth handled present Barry’s tale in the Speed Force, in a generally excellent issue of THE FLASH.
LIGHT SPOILERS ONLY
After the last issue of The Flash, Newsarama and Comic Book Resources spoke to the writers and penciller of the series about the just-finished and upcoming stories.
CBR: Venditti and Jensen Form “The Flash” Fight Club with Four Flashes.
Regarding future Barry:
…what we’ve explored with this future version of Barry is that he has decades under his belt of seeing the justice system fail. What happens when he decides that course of trying to make things right doesn’t work? Now, he’s taking matters into his own hands.
As far as present-day Barry Allen’s current status:
Barry has quite a journey that he must undergo from the end of “The Flash” #35 to where that story ends — not only in terms of where Barry is but that fact that he is without his powers. He has quite a journey to get back to Central City and Patty and the life that he is supposed to have, and how different he is when he gets to that point is as much a part of the journey as how far he has to travel.
They talk about the Rogues, and how we’ll be seeing some new villains soon, including the two that future Flash name-dropped: Overload and Plague.
Newsarama: Brett Booth on Redesigning Wally West & Bringing the Future Flash
On designing future Wally West’s Flash outfit:
Wally’s costume is actually based on a proposal I did years ago. He’s sort of a hybrid between Flash, Kid Flash and Max Mercury. I had to talk very fast to get them to change the open top to the regular skullcap.
And on designing the future Barry Allen’s costume:
I used Barry’s current costume as the base, I added in a bit of tech, and that was that. I wanted a more armored look, a darker look, but I also wanted to show him being more in control of the Speed Force.
I covered his face in the energy to keep who he was a secret — didn’t know they were going to reveal it in the first issue.
I did pull a bit of John Fox for the earpieces, a nod to the old universe.
Regarding Wally in general:
The purists aren’t happy because he was changed, but the rest of folks seem to be OK and even happy with the change. I know some bi-racial fans are very happy; they are now represented in the Flash Universe.
My hope is to get him some powers and maybe a spin off book! Wally was cool because he was an out superhero, and while the secret identity works for most characters, he is simply the Flash; you get what you see, warts and all. Doing that with a teen would be interesting and could be a lot of fun!
This FUTURES END tie-in gives us a battle we’ve been waiting for months to see – Barry versus Future Barry! Oh, but don’t think that’s all here, not in this jam-packed issue of THE FLASH! There’s a reason for what you see on the cover…and if you think that’s the only big deal here, you are very, very wrong.
LIGHT SPOILERS ONLY