The Flash Annual #2, which is published by DC Comics, is written by Joshua Williamson, drawn by Scott Kolins, with colors by Luis Guerrero, and the lettering by Wes Abbott. This comic serves as a tie-in for the current Heroes in Crisis series. Having found out that Wally West died at the Sanctuary, in the first issue of Heroes in Crisis, Barry’s completely heartbroken.
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He refuses to tell the other members of the Flash family until he’s able to figure out a plan to save him once again, even if it means searching around the world and even inside the Speed Force itself. However, as he makes his way through the Speed Force, he inadvertently causes his former ally Godspeed to break free. As Godspeed plans to attack Wallace West, Barry must once again track down his old friend and confess the truth to the rest of the Flash family.
It’s always interesting to see how writers take on characters dealing with loss and how that loss affects everyone around them. Fortunately, this comic handles that task very well. Barry is understandably broken having just lost one of the most important people in his life. As he’s running, desperately trying to figure out what to do, his inner monologue perfectly demonstrates just how he’s feeling.
It’s not just the monologue, but he seems to be running faster and faster, which shows his need to save his friend even more. It’s also leading me to believe that he blames himself for not being able to prevent this from happening. This sort of inner struggle is depicted better here than in the live-action show. The emotion that comes from his increasing speed and his reflection made me empathize with him. Major props to Williamson and Kolins for accomplishing this.
Seeing Barry having to inform the rest of the Flash family about Wally’s death was a pivotal moment in the comic. They are honest with him about how they feel and even lash out at him for what’s happened and the decisions he’s made that led up to this. That interaction was very interesting to see play out. Seeing Barry hold back his emotions for the sake of everyone else was a great choice on the part of the writer. He’s still The Flash and is a leader but for them to see him broken could very well hurt everyone. Regardless, it seems like the Flash family has been broken. I’m excited to see how this plays out in further stories.
One of the few things that I enjoyed from the DC Rebirth Flash run was Godspeed. Having one of Barry’s best friend and fellow CCPD coworker turn out to be the villain was a unique conflict for Barry to deal with. Seeing him make a return was really exciting. He’s up to his villainous ways, tracking down speedsters under the orders of a mysterious figure. It seems as if Barry will have to once again fight him or at least find a way to reason with him. I hope this means that we get to see more of August in future stories. He tried to seek redemption, but I’m still hoping he finds it.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this comic. It sets up the different story plots that The Flash will include and even story arcs from other comics. From this comic, it seems as if future stories will have a much darker tone. Plus, Barry still has to deal with the Force dilemma he learned about in issue #63. This might be Barry’s toughest challenge yet. And with the announcement of a Year One story for Barry, there’s definitely a lot to look forward to this year.
The Flash Annual #2 is now available everywhere comic books are sold.
The Flash Annual #2
TL;DR
It sets up the different story plots that The Flash will include and even story arcs from other comics.
