Review: THE FLASH #756
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Christian Duce
Colours: Luis Guerrero
Letters: Steve Wands
Reviewed By: Derek McNeil
Summary
The Flash #756: At last-the Flash is free of Paradox, but that freedom came at a great cost. For years, the Reverse-Flash has wanted Barry Allen to suffer, but he’s always been defeated by the Flash Family! Now the Reverse-Flash is going to build his own family to help him get the revenge he demands! This issue kicks off a new, epic story that will force the Flash into what may be his final race!
Positives
Last issue ended with Eobard Thawne murdering Godspeed right in front of The Flash. In The Flash #756, we see Barry and Iris at the gravesite of Barry’s fallen friend. While grieving, Barry recalls the words that Thawne spoke to Godspeed as he killed him, “No one will remember you. I have seen your future”. If these words sound familiar, it’s for good reason.
A few months ago in The Flash #750, Thawne is shown whispering in Jay Garrick’s ear “They’ll forget you, Jay Garrick. I’ve seen your future….”. And going all the way back to The Flash #9, Thawne is seen whispering to Barry, “You are destine to run alone forever. I’ve seen your future…”. Clearly Thawne has been terrorizing The Flash and members of the Flash Family with similar taunts for awhile now.
I wonder if others have received similar taunts that we’ve not seen. My suspicion is that Thawne has taunted Wally when he was at his most vulnerable. I don’t recall seeing any other occurrences, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Thawne hadn’t whispered in Wally’s ear during his lowest point during or in the aftermath of Heroes In Crisis. Clearly, Williamson has been setting up for an epic confrontation between Barry and Thawne from the beginning of his epic run as the writer of The Flash.
We also see Thawne preparing to fight Barry and the Flash Family by recruiting his own Reverse-Flash Family, or “The Legion of Zoom”. He enlists Grodd, Captain Cold, Golden Glider, the Trickster, and the Turtle. All of these are either longtime major threats, or have been recently redefined as such.
Positives Cont.
However, the last two members of Thawne’s family are actually part of Barry’s literal family. Thawne travels to the future to enlist Barry and Iris’ future villainous children Don and Dawn Allen, also known as the Tornado Twins. Thawne has not only chosen them as a major threat, but pitting Barry against his future children is serves to twist the knife in the wound.
There is also an especially worrying revelation about Barry’s current state of mind. Barry attempt to force Kid Flash and the Flash of China to flee Central City until after he’s dealt with the threat of Thawne. But when they refuse to leave, Iris reveals the real reason Barry want them to leave. She explains, “He’s not worried about losing. He doesn’t want you to see what he’s going to do… Barry doesn’t want you to see him kill the Reverse-Flash”.
And the scary thing is that Barry doesn’t deny it. It appears that Thawne has finally pushed Barry to the point where Barry can see no way to put a stop to Thawne except by killing him. This is especially significant, considering that as recently as last issue refused to kill Paradox, even though it seemed certain that not doing so would lead to the destruction of time itself.
Barry’s clearly letting his emotions cloud his thinking. Hopefully, he can pull back from the brink of the abyss and find a non-lethal way to deal with the Reverse Flash.
Negatives
Absolutely no complaints. This has always been a high-energy title, but Williamson has managed to kick it up another notch. It looks like Williamson is planning a real blowout confrontation between the Flash Family and the Legion of Zoom.
Verdict
Williamson has clearly been building to a huge finale to his overarching Flash story, and it looks as if we’re finally heading into the thick of it as he enters the final few months of his tenure as writer. This is a great time to be a Flash fan.
