Flash Forward

Flash Forward #1-6

by Scott Lobdell, Brett Booth (Illustrator), Norm Rapmund (Illustrator.)

When the border between the Multiverse and the Dark Multiverse starts to buckle, Wally West must answer the call and journey to these worlds and purge them of this darkness, but the greater darkness is that from within.

His name is Wally West--and he was the Fastest Man Alive. That is, until the Multiverse was rewritten without him or his family in it. Wally returned and tried to make it work, but the damage was done. Spinning out of the events of Heroes in Crisis, follow the man who called himself Flash on an adventure to find redemption in a cosmos that has fought so hard to destroy him.

Collects Flash Forward #1-6, Generation Zero: Gods Among Us Special Edition #1.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Comic Book, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

144 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 2020

About the author

Scott Lobdell (born 1960) is an American comic book writer.

He is mostly known for his work throughout the 1990s on Marvel Comics' X-Men-related titles specifically Uncanny X-Men, the main title itself, and the spin-off series that he conceived with artist Chris Bachalo, Generation X. Generation X focused on a number of young mutant students who attempted to become superheroes in their own right at a separate school with the guidance of veteran X-related characters Banshee and Emma Frost. He also had writing stints on Marvel's Fantastic Four, Alpha Flight, and The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix mini-series with artist Gene Ha. He wrote the script to Stan Lee's Mosaic and an upcoming film from POW Entertainment featuring Ringo Starr. He also participated in the Marvel Comics and Image Comics (from Jim Lee's WildStorm) crossover mini-series WildC.A.T.s/X-Men.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an attempt by DC to course correct all of the horrible shit they've done to Wally West since Flashpoint. Making his wife forget him, erasing his children from existence, making him a mass murderer in Heroes in Crisis. Now DC's version of the Watcher, Tempus Fuginaut, is sending him on missions across the multiverse to stop dark matter incursions related to all of the Dark Nights: Metal stuff. Wally universe hops for four issues before Lobdell tries to pull at your heart strings. The one thing I'm curious about was that last page of the book, especially if you recognize that symbol on Wally's forehead.

The trade strangely also included the Generation Zero: Gods Among Us FCBD book that DC pulped after firing Dan Didio and scrapping the 5G plan. It's included in the book as if it's canon so I am curious if DC will use any of it or if it just gets forgotten.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was such a fun read I loved it!

It starts with Wally being taken by Tempus to save worlds from incursions as the dark matter is fusing them so we have Wally on alternate worlds and I love that aspect of the book like him going to the world of vampires and fighting Barry (the vampire version) there or teaming up with Roy and some other high stake drama and everything but the main thing being his emotional turmoil and then one with Marvel characters, that was funny or even travelling to the world where he meets an alt version of his wife and I Love the way the writer shows the emotional side of wally!

But the main story is when he has to go to a final world where he meets his kids and the actions that he takes that will change him forever and I love the sequence of events and again acting as a precursor to Death metal, its awesome and does well to comment on the legacy and confusing timeline of DC but you know flash books tend to do that!

So overall an amazing read and I loved it, from showing his sides as a father and husband and ultimate what it means to be a hero and the sacrifice that comes with it, its an awesome Wally book and does well to redeem the character really well!

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry, but least Heroes in Crisis had good art.

Seriously, I hate when a company goes one direction and decides to try and 'fix" it. Heroes in Crisis pissed off a lot of Wally Fans (Which I am a huge one but still loved it) and DC decided to try and "fix" this and give Wally redemption. Instead of hiring a competent writer to do this they hired Scott Lobdell. The guy who nearly tanked the entire Superman franchise in New 52.

So Wally is feeling bad for himself. But don't worry, a magical god like creature comes down, plucks him from prison, and lets him save the multiverse. In doing so he asks him to go through many universes, even one with a vampire Superman (So shit) and save everyone. This leads to the final two issues which mostly revolve around his family and making a huge choice on what the rest of Wally's life will be.

See here's the thing. Heroes in Crisis didn't all work. The murder mystery was just okayish. It had a good start but as it went on didn't really keep my interest as much. I also think the end result of who it was, well, too convoluted for its own good.

Now saying that I actually enjoyed a lot of the character moments. Depression, life traumatic events, alter and change people. Imagine you're a hero of an entire city, on the justice league, and all around great guy. Then imagine having your wife taken away, kids, and NO ONE remembers you. Then you begin to remember all this but no one else. Your powers go out of wack, your level of grief is uncontrollable.

This is what happened to Wally in Flash series and then heroes in crisis. They could have done a great redemption arc for this character who caused a lot of death. Instead we get to focus on multiuniverse adventures that are lame, and a main plot device that's both silly and stupid. The art is also pretty bad at points.

The one saving grace is Lobdell doesn't butcher Wally's voice. He's upbeat and happy, and always trying his best to do the right thing. The moments with his wife and kids are easily the best part of the entire book.

But it isn't enough to save this. The rest is silly and stupid and a waste for the character. The big twist at the end could be interesting but I guess we'll see.

Overall a 2 out of 5.

[Will Robinson Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great reminder of the incredible legacy in DC comics. It's funny that I grew up in the 80s & 90s where for most of it Wally West was the Flash. Heck, I really enjoyed the dynamic Wally brought to the Justice League animated series created by Bruce Timm for Warner Bros. animation. I have always felt that the CW version of Barry carried much of the personality of Wally. They even ripped many of the plotlines from stories featuring Wally in the comics. It greatly saddens me that DC entertainment did not keep Wally as the main Flash. Do not get me wrong I know there are big Barry Allen fans out there. I think the MCU did a wise thing by choosing to treat Ant-man as a legacy character. There is mystery there. You are curious about Hank Pym's history and its effects on Scott Lang. The same can be said if DC applies this approach to the Flash. The Flash is a legacy and this ideal fights well with the time travel elements of the Flash's place in the DC universe. Lobdell has without a doubt written a great love letter to the Wally West fans. The artwork by Brett Booth is great to look at and the colors were amazing as well. Eventhough this was a small character driven adventure there are some bigger plot threads that will have a huge effect on the DC universe going forward. I really enjoyed the storytelling in this series. Definitely a must read for DC comics fans.

[Ronald · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was a fun read. Wally West is back (Again!) trying to save the universe despite himself being all gloomy for losing his reality during one of the many recent dumb DC reboots. The story is just a romp across the DC Multi-verse as Wally the Flash saves the day time and time again.
Sure this is all a setup for some dumb DC universe reboot that was interrupted by the real world pandemic, but until the dumb reboot happens at least this was a fun read.

[Darren Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I grew up reading about Barry, when I came back to comics as a young adult, Barry had just died in Crisis, and I really got to enjoy Wally's Flash. After Flashpoint, Wally got screwed by the machinations of the evil overlord of the multiverse at the time (yes, Dan DiDio), but post-Convergence, they've been working on bringing him back, with varying degrees of success. This comes off the heels of Tom King's messy Heroes in Crisis, but it's a much better story.

There are moments which I found confusing, even though I've read Dark Knights: Metal, Doomsday Clock, and the Return of Wally West in Titans, but there's also a good sense of fun, and some great emotional rewards for those of us who missed Wally's family, too.

No spoilers, but the end sets up some neat possibilities for the future!

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a 3.5, rounded down.

No matter your feelings on Heroes In Crisis, Wally West as a character has such a big heart that it's hard to count him out entirely. Scott Lobdell takes Wally on a quest for redemption, battling across the Dark Multiverse to try and save a few lives, including some very familiar ones, with the Tempus Fuginaut (I love that name) by his side.

This is mostly just a universe-hopping romp. Some of the worlds have more potential than others - the one that brings Wally face to face with Roy Harper again is pretty neat, but the others don't really live up to their story possibilities until right at the end. Without spoiling things, the last issue or so will do more than tug on your heartstrings, it'll play them like a harp.

Brett Booth's on art, and he's Brett Booth. It's mostly the same as always. He has a lot of practise with speedsters at this point after his runs on Flash and Titans, and he has some fun with the stupidly complicated design of the Fuginaut, but it's pretty much standard Booth-fare.

This is definitely a means-to-an-end type story; it positions Wally in a new place in the larger DCU, attempting to make all he went through in Heroes In Crisis a bit more palatable along the way. The art's pretty great, and there are a few gem moments, but overall it's kinda just a transition story. Good for what it is, but not really much beyond that.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basic Plot: Wally West is tapped to redeem himself and save the multiverse after the destruction of Sanctuary.

This short series surprised me. While it was extremely fast-paced (what else would one expect from the fastest man in the multiverse?), it had a surprisingly effective emotional/heroic arc. The art was solid throughout, with some very interesting characters used. It also pushes the multiverse narrative forward, so if anyone follows the larger events of the DCU, this would be a good arc to read.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collects Flash Forward issues #1-6

This miniseries is a (sort-of) sequel to "Heroes in Crisis," starring Wally West, the man that epitomizes the DC Rebirth initiative. This story ties into the pre-Flashpoint universe, and sets things up for the future of the DC Universe. There are even connections to Geoff Johns' "Doomsday Clock" and "Darkseid War." I really enjoyed this multiversal story, and I love the character of Wally West when he is depicted as a uniquely special individual in the Multiverse.

[Christian Zamora-Dahmen · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was poorly written, stretched way too much, and, God, was that Tempus Fugit character annoying-- it felt like those old comics where the narrator had to tell absolutely everything that we were seeing.
Anyway, this was a series that was created just as a way to bring back Wally into the fold, in a way that was redundant to the other Flash, but with an unnecessary and uninteresting story.
I really hope this becomes something readable once it reaches Flash 750.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flash Forward is basically a way for DC to retcon the last few decades of their stories and relaunches leading into two new events. It is always interesting to see how the Big Two handle the history of their lines, the kind of creative endeavors they employ to move forward in new directions or fix things they did not like. It also makes it glaringly obvious that the whole model of these companies is a clusterfuck. There was way too much exposition in this, too many pieces that felt redundant, too many double page spreads that were messy and unneeded, and yet, I still kind of enjoyed it.

[Kris Ritchie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounded down, for a lot of unnecessary recaps and still running Wally ragged.

A romp through the multiverse ends with another status quo change for Wally, and a happy reunion for others. Really glad to see Jai and Iris again, although the DOc Manhattan/Mobius/Wally mix is going to be weird...

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not surprising that they wanted to release a volume where they would attempt to redeem Wally's character following the tragedy that he goes through in Heroes in Crisis.

It's a very linear story that essentially explores the feeling of loneliness in Wally as he tries to deal with what he did in Heroes in Crisis. The solution here is to give him a brand-new role that will have huge consequences on how the DC universe works.

The artwork is mostly decent and explosive and I think the biggest inconvenience in it is the facial expressions where they made everyone have some truly exaggerated facial expressions.

Yours truly,

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/

[Alan · Rating 2 out of 5]

What puzzles me the most is that I think Lobdell is turning in good work on Red Hood, and this is well, a bit weak.

With Red Hood Lobdell has taken a minor character and at least made him, at the worst, a fun read. And, at best a little more interesting as a character. Working with Wally West, here it feels like editorial dictated the story to Lobdell (like that never happens at DC or Marvel).

I wasn't thrilled when the reboot of the DCU essentially wrote West out of continuity completely. Making him the mass murderer in Heroes in Crisis was one of the areas where I felt Tom King missteped. Not because West doesn't have a reason to snap, but because it was not handled well.

In this mini it seems like when all is said and done, a mild redemption arc is built into the story with a DCU copy of Marvel's Watcher (and pretty lame one). A little multiverse traveling, and by the end it feels like this was setup for the rumored DCU reboot coming late 202/early 2021.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes you get lucky and read the book you need to read at the right time. While I may always find redemption stories to my liking, they're never more relatable than when my depression is rising.

The art did take some getting used to. Something about it felt off, but eventually I warmed up to it. I will say there were some fun details in the art. For instance, there's a scene early on where a room gets blown up and a couch in the room is getting scattered, Well, under those cushions are a couple of dollar bills. That helped make the world feel lived in, for me.

If you like Wally and you want to have some warm-fuzzies along with some heartstring-tugs, give it a read.

[Dave Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series was excellent! And the way it tied things in with Dark Nights Metal and Doomsday Clock was a fun bonus. Plus Wally West is one of the greatest characters in DC Comics.

[RG · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was terrible

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este encadernado serve, basicamente, para consertar a imagem manchada de Wally West na minissérie Heróis em Crise. Nele, o presidiário Flash Wally se encontra com o Senhor do Tempo, Tempus, que pede para que ele seja um consertador do multiverso que está sendo invadido pela Matéria Escura do multiverso negativo. Wally está mais interessado em resgatar graça, sua família, sua mulher, Linda, e os gêmeos Íris e Jay. No caminho para salvar os universo, ele vai se deparar com versões dos heróis da Terra e também com versões da sua família. No final do encadernado, entretanto, temos uma mudança no status quo do herói. Esse encadernado lembrou bastante o segundo da Justiça Jovem, mas claro, com menos graça, porque foi escrito por Scott Lobdell e desenhado por Brett Booth, que, na minha opinião delineia os personagens como se fossem balões de salsicha, tal é a desproporção entre comprimento e largura. Esse é um encadernado só para aqueles que são de alguma forma grandes fãs de West ou ainda da DC Comics como um todo. Não é imperdível.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

For any fan of The Flash and Wally West, in particular, this is the story you need to read. The story feels not only like a redemption arc for the very lost and tragic hero of the Rebirth era but feels like a return to the more upbeat and self-assured Wally that fans know and love in many ways. The multiverse has never been more alive than in this story, and the threats and allies Wally makes along the way all help lead into the Dark Nights: Death Metal event.

[Todd Gleason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apart from the epilogue, where Lobdell attempts to address the issues of reintroducing pre New 52 Legacy into post New 52 continuity, this book does very little for me. That being said, for that epilogue alone I give it three stars and consider it an important read. Where Flash Forward fails is to get me interested on any level in the Wally West redemption story it is was meant to be.

[German · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, Wally. What have they done to you?

[Justin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was my least favorite lead in sometime. I didn't like the new character, the art, the new direction for Wally West, or the endless recapping. It serves as a link between an almost-successful event and one that never properly happened (I guess), while also connecting to a whole other storyline I haven't read (which doesn't really matter to this story, except to make it feel even more editorial driven).

The constant retelling of Wally's story and endless references to past DC crises just bogged everything down until it was almost unreadable.

[Mariano · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brett Booth??? My eyes hurt. Sorry, not my style. This could be a fun read with some artist that is a better visual narrator.

[Cristhian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Según Flash Forward fue para solucionar el problema causado por King con Wally pero creo que quedó peor todo.

[Acton Northrop · Rating 4 out of 5]

In which perennial Big 2 hack Scott Lobdell performs the thankless task of taking the last ten years of the miserable continuity of modern DC Comics and trying to make it into a silk purse. He succeeds though, mainly by stealing and building on ideas from Grant Morrison’s Multiversity, one of the only highlights of the past decade of DC. It works by giving a focus to redeeming and transmuting Wally West into a cosmic hero, a milieu that I hope sticks around, despite the ignominious ties to Doomsday Clock, as it gives the character his own badly needed distinction from all the other “heroes who can run fast.” The epilogue/bonus issue is a strangely rewritten prelude, formerly a lead-in to another goddamn reboot changed to a lead-in to the Dark Nights: Death Metal event, wherein we already find Wally a broken shell of a man yet again in issue 1. Disappointing but can’t hold that against this book’s creators, I suppose. (Any chance this book could get a do-over to put cover artist Doc Shaner on interiors? No? Too bad.)

[Eskana · Rating 5 out of 5]

TLDR: Did you hate Heroes in Crisis? Well, here's DC's attempt to fix things... And it was fabulous. I'm not even a Wally West fan, but you can feel the love in here- and while that can't erase what happened, it's an excellent and satisfying step in the right direction.


Synopsis: Wally West is in prison for his crimes in Heroes in Crisis (a terrible, out of character book that you shouldn't read unless you just want to see how bad it is in so very many levels.) He is overcome with guilt for what he's done and grief for everything he lost when the universes were reset in New 52 (such as his family.) However, "dark matter" is seeping into the multiverse from the Dark Multiverse, poisoning world after world, and a hero needs to save it. So Wally is recruited by Tempus Fuginaut, a monitor-like watcher who is supposed to protect the spaces between multiverses. He gives Wally a baton-thing that destroys the Dark Matter, and then shuttles him from one multiverse to the next.

Review: Solid art. Fabulous story. A great attempt at everything that's been thrown in the blender since the New 52 and Rebirth. I loved the character moments as Wally finds friends and family on alternate worlds, and has to deal with it. I loved Wally's new mission (making him basically a multiversal Booster Gold, dealing with anomalies in realities instead of time.) I loved seeing the alternate worlds, especially the Marvel pastiche world.
I don't want to dump on the New 52, which was, after all, my entry point into comics. But once I started to go back, I saw just how much history, character development, and story was erased. I found new favorite characters, and then found that they'd already been "disappeared" by Flashpoint. I got my hopes up when Rebirth was supposed to undo the New 52, but then still, people and stories were missing. As a JLI fan, it was really disappointing to see that that whole period seemed to have been altered and/or erased, but Wally became the symbol of these changes. He had been erased in the New 52 and replaced with "Wallace", only to come back due to fan demand.
But things still weren't normal. What many people loved about Wally was still gone- his legacy, how he was one of the only superheroes to be happily married with kids, etc. Now, hopefully, all will be rectified, although this collection seems to be leading to a confrontation with Batman Who Laughs (which I haven't been following.)
How much an alternate Batman can really do against the godlike powers of Wally West in the Mobius Chair remains to be seen. But I don't even care. Wally is back, and he's brought the history of the DC universe with him (I hope.)

[Mohamed Metwally · Rating 2 out of 5]

This looks like an attempt to redeem the character of wally west after his hideous actions on the pages of 'Heroes in Crisis' and at the same time, prepares him for a future role in the adventure of 'Death Metal'

Anyway, it's my first read of a Flash story, and I wasn't that hooked on it, but he wasn't scoring big points with me through the JL stories, and reading this was my honest attempt to give the Flash a fair chance by reading a dedicated adventure

MiM

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

So DC panicked after Heroes in Crisis and this is their attempt to "fix" it. More specifically, to fix Wally, a character who probably shouldn't have been brought into this version of DC at all and who was truly hard done by in the comics. The thing is, none of those stories mean anything if we're just going to fix them all as soon as possible.

[Tim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Everything about this book was bad, the writing, the art, you name it. If it was possible to give something zero stars, this would have earned it. Thank god this was a Hoopla borrow and I didn't pay actual money for it (not that I would have given money to someone who is a noted abuser, but still).

[Jeremy Bautista · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flash Forward spins out of the event of the Heroes in Crisis story arc which spun out of the events of Flash War which kinda loosely spins out of the events of DC Universe Rebirth which ties back to Flashpoint only to the point that Wally West was lost (errr, editorially forgotten about) when DC's New 52 publishing initiative began in 2011. Why all history? So it seems... Wally West is finally getting a chance to be... himself (or some version of himself) again... after all these years.

If you didn't read any of those stories or don't really know Wally West terribly well, you may just think that this is a down-on-his-luck guy who feels responsible for the deaths of some of his friends and fellow heroes, and by the way, why the heck is he getting wrapped up into this journey to save the Earths of various Universes in the Multiverse? What makes him so special? Unfortunately, to read this story for its full effect, you might need some background knowledge.

A bit of background (that you can skip if you already know)... After Crisis on Infinite Earths of 1985-1986, Barry Allen "died" and Wally West took on the mantle of The Flash until Flash Rebirth in 2009-2010 when Barry returned. In those 25 or so years, many (and some of the greatest) stories were written about The Flash with Wally as the main character. And like so many DC characters, he had his family as central to his character and personality. He was married to Linda Park and had twin children, Jai and Iris. These 25 years (and his entire existence starting in 1959) were completely lost and unaccounted for after Flashpoint marked the beginning of the New 52 in 2011. It wasn't until DC Universe Rebirth in 2016 when Wally finally reappeared and has literally been trying to regain memories of himself. But in Flash War (2018), things took a turn when Wally went over the line at the newly realized loss of his twin kids. He was then sent to Sanctuary during Heroes in Crisis (2018-2019) only for things to go even worse for him as his power spikes and others are killed in the aftermath. And this is where Flash Forward begins.

A final thought before getting to the story... IMHO, DC has not really had a good plan on what to do with Wally since they brought him dramatically (and awesomely) back in 2016. That was an amazing moment where Barry Allen finally REMEMBERED Wally and Wally was pulled back out of the Speed Force and back into reality. But since then, Wally, IMHO, hasn't really had much to do. He's pretty much still depressed that Linda Park doesn't know him and he doesn't know where his kids are. So, for 4 years he's just been moping around? DC brought back Wally to mope around? I think this story finally gave Wally some direction that looked forward rather than always looking back.

As for this story itself, it does take a few issues to establish why the Tempus Fuginaut has chosen Wally for this mission and that he's the ONLY one who can accomplish this mission. And those issues read more like an abridged version of Multiversity (by Grant Morrison) or Multiplicity (Superman, by Peter J. Tomasi), but from a Flash perspective. It's kinda fun, but kinda, huh? Flash visits this Earth, does his thing. On to the next Earth... The story really only picks up in issue 4 when he meets an alt-version of Linda Park and we see Jai and Iris. Then the overarching plot finally comes into view and the drama of making a choice between (avoiding spoilers) something he wants and something everyone else needs comes front and center. The aftermath of this decision has an epilogue which is interesting as a review of the history of the DC Multiverse, but also as what it may have tried to be--as so many others have as well--that is, a launching point for the next publishing initiative for DC.

I think Scott Lobdell wrote this epilogue in the same vein as Geoff Johns wrote the end part of Doomsday Clock with this setup to bring in a new generation of heroes and stories that fully embraced the past (hence all the ink spilled on the history of DC storylines), but set to go forward with a new status quo for, in this case, Wally West, to carry on into this new era. Unfortunately, the 5G initiative died as the Pandemic hit and staff cuts hit DC publishing hard. Almost the most disappointing part was how it instead pivoted at the last moment to point readers to Dark Nights Death Metal to continue the story.

If you made it this far in reading this post, I would say that if you are not well-read up on Wally West or recent Flash storylines like Flash War or Heroes in Crisis, this book will likely not carry your interest enough to get you to the end in any coherent manner and final reveals will mean almost nothing without understanding the depth of storytelling that Wally West and his family was a part of that was simply "erased" from existence for almost 10 years. That said, if you are a fan of the Flash and want to keep up, it seems like this is a big change for Wally going forward and could even be an entry point into the Dark Nights Death Metal story arc.