Writer: Simon Spurrier; Artist: Vasco Georgiev; Colourist: Matt Herms; Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhoua; Cover: Mike Del Mundo; Editors: Chris Rosa, Paul Kaminski
The Flash Wally West has taken his wife and kids on holiday to Skartaris. Meanwhile, The Flash Wally West is hanging out with the Justice League on their Watchtower via his new quick-cloning power. As we join them this issue the family have just been rescued by US air force pilot turned Warlord Travis Morgan from a Weather Wizard attack. But Wally’s older son Jai, who has whatever power is needed by the story, has noticed that something is off…
Travis Morgan’s comic used to have the slogan ‘Enter the lost world of the Warlord’. Well, I’m certainly lost with this story, Simon Spurrier really does seem to be making things up as he goes along. This issue we have a surprise villain, one of DC’s most insidious and pompous, but he sounds like a college jock, and his evil scheme is ridiculous.
Wally’s ugly new costume apart, the visuals are great, with Warlord looking the business – who doesn’t like a chap in a leopardskin loincloth with big wings on his head? The cover is stonkingly good. And the comic does have one excellent page, with Nightwing and Black Canary taking the mickey out of Inspector Pilgrim and Dr Occult.
Really, though, this is another headscratcher of an issue – I wish Spurrier would slim down the sprawling story and remember that Wally is supposed to be the star of this comic… there’s not a super-speed stunt to be seen.
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 
Spurrier loves to confound apparently. It’s all down to if you connect somehow. I loved his Legion solo series that replaced Rogue (thank god) in X-Men a few years back. I loathed the Krakoa book that he did mainly starring Legion. Go figure. At least the strife from out of nowhere between Lind and Wally turned me off enough in one issue to skip this book. I’m not even a fan of Wally as Flash or ever read much of his earlier adventures. And just going by the art you included, it seems the artist isn’t suggesting Travis Morgan has a very small unit like Grell did. The loincloth drawn back when wouldn’t have hid a gherkin!
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And oh my god that cover is terrible! Madman and heat stroke victim Travis Morgan attacking Wally West. The former looks like he’s huffed Pym particles while tiny Wally’s face shows both ennui and apparently motion sickness.
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The out-of-nowhere tension between our marrieds did become a story point, outside forces etc.
I don’t like being confounded! I tend to drop the book… I’ve dropped this series twice already.
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I like this storyline more than the previous one — there’s definitely some fun stuff here. And even though I don’t like the power and question his use of it, I have to admit that using speed duplicates to be in several places at one time is SUCH a Wally solution to his work-life balance problems. I could see any version of Wally, from Mike Baron through Jeremy Adams (and everyone in between) tell a story where Wally tried this trick and it blew up in his face. They’d all be different stories…but the premise is solid.
And yet… I’m still not completely on board with this book. The art’s good, but the stories never feel like they’re MOVING. And the Flash needs motion.
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That’s actually a very good point about Wally being willing to duplicate himself – but is there a prime Wally? Are they as powerful as each other? Given the number of heroes in the League now, several of them speedsters, why is he there?
And I still don’t understand the horrible new outfit.
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Oh, that costume is a disaster. And that’s a good question about there being a “prime Wally.” Who knows? I always liked this idea from the movie Multiplicity that clones start to deteriorate once you make more and more of them, but would that apply with Speed Force duplicates? And how does that even work, really?
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Did Absolute Power give Wally Bart’s power to do that?
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That hasn’t been said explicitly, Steve. Maybe it did!
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I’d love that to be the case, it’s better than random power swapping.
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