The Flash #791

The One-Minute War – Part Two: A Ten-Second Week

Script: Jeremy Adams

Pencils: Roger Cruz

Inks: Wellington Dias

Colors: Luis Guerrero

Letters: Rob Leigh

Cover: Taurin Clarke

Variant Covers: Daniel Baylis, Marco D’Alfonso, Kim Jacinto, Taurin Clarke

Editor: Chris Rosa

Group Editor: Paul Kaminski

Once again, we’re stuck with a terribly bland, generic cover. Bart, Wallace and Wally are pinned down behind a brick wall, hiding from the painfully generic Miss Murder, who, by the way, doesn’t show up until the last page of this issue. It really bugs me that a story with so much potential is laden down with these subpar covers that look like they were thrown together in one of those AI generators. And once again, none of the variant covers show Impulse, so let’s get to the story.

We pick up with the West family, where time is frozen for everyone except Wally, Irey and Linda (who has powers now because of course she does). Slightly surprising is the freezing of Jai, who somehow managed to pull down a large tree to protect the barbecue party from the worst of the blast. Last issue clearly showed that time froze before the Fraction’s spire hit the ground, but whatever.

Speaking of the spire, the first speedsters to investigate it are Kid Flash and Impulse, who have found a massive wall around the structure. Wallace tried to run up the side of the wall, but found it to be frictionless. He suggests turning their attention to finding out why they can’t slow down, but Bart insists on finding out what’s on the other side of the wall. He assures Wallace that he’s learned a few tricks through his time as a superhero, namely how to vibrate through things. But when Bart tries to show off this skill, he crashes right into the wall. Wallace admits he’d laugh if this situation wasn’t so serious. Suddenly, the wall begins to split open, releasing a seemingly endless supply of alien tanks and aircraft. Jay Garrick arrives out of nowhere and pulls Wallace and Bart behind a wall. Wallace says this is an invasion, but Jay darkly says, “No, boys … this is war.” I always thought an invasion was just a part of war, but what do I know?

Wally begins investigating the wreckage and quickly comes across Barry cradling Iris’ body. The two are promptly attacked by a Fraction fighter jet, but Wally quickly destroys it by throwing a rebar through it. Bart, Wallace and Jay, meanwhile have drawn fire from the Fraction’s forces, mainly because Bart revealed their position by waving at the aliens. Bart explains that he thought they might have been friendly aliens, but Wallace angrily points out that they have tanks. Jay suggests they retreat, but Wallace worries they won’t be able to outrun the aliens, since they seem to be moving just as fast as them.

Jay pulls the boys down just as a particularly large blast takes out the wall they were hiding behind. Coming face-to-face with a tank and dozens of ground troops, Bart wishes he just stayed in the future. Jay immediately prepares for a fight to the death, urging Wallace and Bart to be brave and proud and go down like men. Bart asks if there’s a second option, and right on cue, Jesse Quick arrives, saying there’s always a second option. I’m not exactly sure how, but she seems to flip the tank over on top of the ground troops, removing the immediate threat from our heroes. She also conveniently explains that she and Max recently encountered the Fraction on another planet and witnessed the destruction they left behind.

The Fraction, meanwhile, has begun to strip Earth of its resources, including any metahumans they can find. They are, however, surprised to learn that at least five people on Earth can keep up with their speed, so they decide to capture them all alive. One of the Fraction scouts is captured by Max, but rather than answer any of Max’s questions, he presses a button on his chest that electrocutes him. So Max decides to regroup with the others.

Jay, Jesse, Bart and Wallace all make their way to the West house, where Linda and Irey are carefully pulling their frozen barbecue guests inside. Bart asks where Wally is, and when Linda says he went into the city, both Bart and Wallace decide to go help him. But Jay says the worst thing they can do is split up right now. Max, who suddenly arrives, agrees with Jay.

Bart gives Max a big hug, making me wonder just how long it’s been since they’ve actually spent any time together. Bart jokes about having to babysit Kid Flash, and then he either senses or merely suspects that Max was recently trying to run into the Speed Force again. Max admits this is true, saying his attempt will have to wait until after they sort out this mess. Wally and Barry arrive before too long, with Barry still dramatically carrying Iris’ body. And the issue ends with the Fraction releasing the over-the-top Miss Murder, whom they apparently captured from another world.

This is still a fun story, even if it may not be written as tightly as I’d like. And despite the incredibly boring prospect of this Miss Murder person, I am still interested in seeing what’s going to happen with the Fraction and all this. Mostly, though, I am having a lot of fun with Bart and Wallace. They’re the comic relief this story needs and Adams has so far avoided the common mistake of making the comic reliefs completely inept.

The next issue in this story is The Flash: One-Minute War Special #1. Bart doesn’t appear in it, but he does show up on the incredibly beautiful cover by Serg Acuña.

This should have been the cover of last issue. I imagine it’ll be the cover for the trade paperback of this story. I also wish Acuña had drawn all these covers. I want my comics to look like this, not the computer-generated schlock Taurin Clarke is giving us. Oh well. At least Roger Cruz is turning out decent work on the interior pages, even if he can never remember what Impulse’s gloves are supposed to look like.

Next time, we’ll continue this One-Minute War in The Flash #792.