The Flash Annual #2

Too Many Speedsters

Joshua Williamson – Writer
Scott Kolins – Artist
Luis Guerrero – Colorist
Wes Abbott – Letterer
Kolins & Guerrero – Cover
Andrew Marino – Assistant Editor
Paul Kaminski – Editor
Marie Javins – Group Editor
Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel Family.

Our cover shows Barry Allen battling Godspeed, while Impulse looks down from the top of a statue of Wally West. While it's true that Impulse is a guest star of this issue, he doesn't actually see his grandpa. It's a splashy, but sadly sloppy cover. I've never been a big fan of Kolins, but this one is downright messy. Barry's face is grotesque. And why are staring up Wally's big, ugly nostrils?

Our story opens with Impulse excitedly running through the streets to reunite with his family. We know this takes place before Young Justice #1, but it's unclear how much time has passed since Flash #50. One would think Bart would have ran straight to his family, but he obviously has stopped at least long enough to change his costume (except for the gloves). Perhaps it just took Bart a few days or weeks to figure out when and where he was.

In any case, Bart realizes it's been such a long time, he's worried that his family might not recognize him anymore. He also reveals that he remembers being Kid Flash and the Flash (the Fastest Man Alive). This is quite the significant development, since we have never fully known how much Bart remembers of his "previous life." Anyway, Bart reminds himself to heed the advice of Max Mercury, then runs through a house (unclear whose), but is unable to find his grandparents or Wally.

Barry, meanwhile, is caught in the middle of Heroes in Crisis and a fight with Godspeed. So we'll skip ahead to Bart's next move. He visits Max's house (hopefully still in good, ol' Manchester, Alabama), Mount Justice and Titans Tower. But he is still unable to find Max, Conner, Tim, Cassie, Jay or Jesse. Bart is so frustrated, he even uses the 30th century curse word, "sprock."

Finally, Bart does find someone — Godspeed. Bart overheard August Heart speaking to his boss, saying there are no more speedsters left for him to "collect" from. Naturally, that's suspicious enough for Bart to treat him as an enemy. He immediately begins beating up Godspeed, demanding to know who he is, and venting his frustration that he isn't Wally or the Flash. August is shocked to see that Barry has yet another sidekick (he had just barely beat up Wallace and Avery — as the story says, there are too many speedsters). August decides to "collect" from Impulse like he did the others, but Bart easily dodges his initial attack.

Suddenly, Godspeed's unseen boss tells him he's not ready for this speedster, and orders him to enter the Speed Force now. August obediently takes off, leaving a perplexed Bart behind to wonder who he was talking to. But Bart doesn't seem too bothered by that, as he doesn't attempt to chase after Godspeed. Instead, he chooses to go find some answers.

First Epilogue.

Bart figured the best place to find the answers he seeks is the Flash Museum. He realizes this world isn't like the one he left behind, as it's missing something. He stares at the giant gold statues of Wally and Barry in front of the building, saying Wally's new costume is "super cool." (Bart's completely wrong, but we won't hold that against him.) He laments not being able to talk to Wally right now, recounting the long time they spent trapped in the Speed Force together. Although it was scary, Bart was able to feel hope, knowing Wally was with him. But when Wally left during Rebirth, Bart was left alone, like he is now. And now he wants to talk to someone about what happened to the two of them.

Bart looks at Barry's statue and admits that they were never really that close, since he grandpa was so cold. But Wally wasn't like that, which is why Bart wants to talk to him. Bart then quickly checks out the inside of the museum, seeing how much has changed. But these changes can't simply be prescribed to time passing or people missing — it's something bigger than that. So Bart continues his run, telling himself that his family would never give up hope. He knows he'll eventually see Wally again, but for now, he hopes he can find his friends. Which he did, in Young Justice #1.




One interesting aspect of Joshua Williamson's run on The Flash is how often he portrays Barry Allen as basically the worst ever. It's almost as if Williamson always wanted to write Wally and can't contain his disdain for Barry, which is slightly unfortunate since Barry is the main character of his series. Granted, this issue sort of deified Wally, since at this point in Heroes in Crisis, everyone thought he was dead. Bart' relationship with Wally was downright awful in the early days, I don't think it ever reached the level of adoration he's now talking about. Unless we're to surmise that Bart and Wally grew a lot closer while they were stranded in the Speed Force between Flashpoint and Rebirth. Although I'm now wondering why Max, Jay and the others weren't in the Speed Force as well.

Anyway, this was actually a heartbreaking issue for Bart. He's finally free of the Speed Force, but he has no one to talk to. One idiotic villain to briefly fight, but that's it. On one hand, it's wonderful to see that he remembers everyone; on the other hand, it's incredibly tragic that he's being tormented with these memories. All in all, I'll say Bart was remarkably composed in light of all this. Which leads me to believe he's essentially an adult in a teenager's body. If he remembers the year he spent as a 20-year-old, including who knows how long he was in the Speed Force, then he's actually quite mature for his apparent age. Yeah, he's still fun-loving and impulsive, but deep down, he's kind of an old soul. I think. We'll see how this slowly plays out in Young Justice. Hopefully Williamson didn't say anything that caught Brian Michael Bendis off guard.

Let's check out the ads:

The collected edition of Mister Miracle, which won Eisners for best writer and best artist.

The future of the Fourth World is female. Female Furies.

DC Nation interview with Wonder Twins writer Mark Russell.

Next time, we'll return to the Young Justice series. Impulse technically didn't appear in issue #2, but I'll still give it a quick look.