Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Flash #247... The End

I read this comic a few hours ago, so if I miss a few things, blame my faulty memory.

Overall- I opened this comic book filled with dread for what potential tragedies were awaiting the West family in these pages. Before I get into how this comic ended, let me first tell you what this book was all about.

We open with Wally pleading with the Spectre to spare Linda's life, but the Spectre refuses to help Wally out and teleports him back to Earth. Wally gets word that Linda's life signs are crashing and rushes back to her, and watches as her life signs fade. Linda starts to head into the light(literally), but is stopped by the combined powers of Zatanna and Raven, who send her word that Wally still needed her among the living. Dr. Mid-Nite manages to revive Linda, but tells Wally things are still very touch and go.

Red Arrow walks in and tells Wally that Queen Bee kidnapped his children(at the conclusion of the last issue). Wally snaps at Roy, before remembering that the kids have a link to the Speed Force, and that it was possible that through that link, Wally could possibly locate his kids. Wally's Titan teammates arrive to help him out(which was a real nice touch if you ask me)and Roy brings Wally to the exact location where Queen Bee abducted the kids, while in the guise of Linda. Wally can't concentrate enough to locate the kids, but Raven uses her powers to take away the pain and guilt he was feeling over Linda's condition, and Wally manages to re-open the portal Queen Bee originally used to capture the kids. Wally and the Titans enter the portal and are attacked by a horde of drones.

Meanwhile, Queen Bee is using Iris to use the Speed Force device she had stolen several issues ago. QB, while in the guise of Linda instructs Iris to use the device to slow or speed up time in a localized area. While Wally and the Titans battle the drones, QB takes Iris to the Hall of Justice and attacks the JLA, telling Iris to freeze time around the JLA members, which Iris hesitantly does, since QB is still in the guise of her mother.

Wally realizes QB's plan, and after freeing his son Jai from captivity, he leaves the rest of the Titans and rushes to the Hall. QB attacks Wally on sight, and upon seeing this, Iris uses the Speed Force device to power her father up, making him fast enough to defeat QB and free the JLA members QB had imprisoned.

The rest of this issue deals with cleaning up the end of this comic series. We discover that Linda survives and the JLA fixes up the West family home. Iris is plagued by nightmares, due to her time with Queen Bee, and Jai begins to train harder then ever, in order to make sure that if his family is ever threatened again, he'll be more of a help. The comic ends on a happy note as Wally decides he needs to get himself and his family away from the super-hero life for a while and decides to take a well deserved vacation.

I can honestly say that after reading this comic I did indeed breath a sigh of relief. Wally deserved to live "happily ever after", for now at least. Killing off Linda or the kids would have really been a horrible way to conclude Wally's series, and I'm truly happy that DC did the right thing in the way they closed up shop here.

Of course, I'm still really pissed off that Barry Allen is going to be the Flash post Final Crisis, but at least Wally and his family weren't sacrificed to make room for Barry's return. For me, Wally West will now and forever be MY Flash. He's really the only Flash I know(besides poor Bart Allen), and I don't think anything will ever change my mind concerning that. Barry Allen may be a great character, and he may be Wally's predecessor, but to me, he's not the Flash anymore. Wally West IS the Flash, no matter what DC does to him. For a score, I'll give this comic a 9 out of 10. What can I say, I'm a sucker for a happy ending.

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