The Flash #230

Last Man Standing

Joey Cavalieri ... Writer
Val Semeiks & Joe Cooper ... Pencillers
Livesay & Drew Geraci ... Inkers
Pat Brosseau ... Letterer
James Sinclair ... Colorist
Stephen Wacker ... Editor
Harvey Richards ... Asst. Editor

Our cover by Art Thibert shows Wally West quite literally shedding off the mantle of the Flash. It's a pretty cool cover, and it would have been even more significant if this actually had been the final issue of The Flash, closing with Wally simply choosing to no longer be a superhero. And for about a year, this really was Wally's finale — until someone *cough, cough* completely failed in his run as the Flash.

Our story begins with another one of Wally's nightmares — this one showing what life would be like if Vandal Savage's asteroid actually did hit Earth. In the real world, he had been momentarily knocked out by some of Savage's super-powered congregation. Luckily, Wally is able to recover quick enough to battle the people. He gets a helping hand from Detectives Chyre and Morillo, but the most valuable assist comes from the curator of the Flash Museum, Dexter Myles, who discovered the schematics to the Summoner.

Wally reads the schematics and figures out how to put the Summoner in reverse to send the asteroid away from Earth. Vandal Savage freaks out at this and jumps in front of the device. He's caught up in the beam and is carried away toward the asteroid out in space. Wally tries to save him, but Savage refuses, insanely rejoicing in this experience.

Once Savage and the asteroid are gone, the police arrive and arrest Savage's congregation. Wally speculates that they'll eventually lose their powers without receiving periodic injections of Savage's blood. Wally returns home to find Jay and Bart waiting for him. Bart is giving Jay a hard time for mocking Savage's goons when they were chained up, but Jay says he didn't want to sit there listening to Savage monologuing. Wally's confused by this phrase, and Bart explains that he got Jay a DVD of "The Incredibles," which the elder speedster apparently enjoyed once he learned to use the remote.

Bart promptly crashes on the couch to play some video games, teasing Jay that he couldn't have played them when he was a kid because he needed two hands to steer his covered wagon. Jay takes the joke in stride, saying he's just impressed that a boy from the 30th century can still find enjoyment from this ancient technology. Jay comments on how everything is constantly changing, and he wonders aloud how anybody can raise kids these days. Wally says everyone has always had a problem with knowing how to prepare for the future. He then turns this conversation toward himself, saying, "But there'll always be a Flash ... even if it isn't me." Bart is shocked that Wally's quitting, but Wally clarifies that he's not officially quitting just yet, but is going to slow down for now to take care of the kids.

I could tear this comic apart for so many reasons. But I'll just say that this was not the ending Wally deserved after 19 years and 230 issues. If I could rewrite this I would have emphasized Wally's crippling fear of his twins. Really play up the nightmares — reduce the whole Vandal Savage story into just another nightmare — and show Wally constantly running back to check on his babies, while being unable to deal with the most basic of bank robberies and traffic accidents. And then for the final issue, I would have done a proper crossover with Infinite Crisis, adding more detail to the very emotional scene we'll get to next time.

I do have one more odd complaint — the "Incredibles" DVD. I know this story was written before Disney acquired Marvel, but it still feels weird for a superhero comic to reference a real-life superhero film. Would actual superheroes enjoy watching a cartoon about superheroes getting hit with so many lawsuits they were forced into hiding? Wouldn't the average citizens of the DC Universe watch this and think, "Hey, I should sue the Flash for all the damage his battles cause?" I don't know. This is really the least of my concerns with this issue, but I've decided not to criticize every little detail of this story. Joey Cavalieri likely faced tight deadlines and a lot of editorial restrictions. So I guess the blame should go to Geoff Johns, who likely could have ended his run on The Flash with a clean transition into Infinite Crisis, but for whatever reason, chose not to.

Next time, we'll get back to that massive event and will learn why Wally's run had to end in Infinite Crisis #4.