Comic Review: Flash Forward (2019-) #1

Flash Forward #1

DC Comics

Writer: Scott Lobdell

Artist: Brett Booth

Flash Forward #1 was… Interesting to say the least. With equal parts multiversal adventure and solo character drama, let’s look at the beginning of this six-part story. 

Before reading the issue, I knew two things about the story. First, Wally would be recruited into an adventure through the multiverse. Second, he would be dealing with the aftermath of Heroes in Crisis. Those sound like the basis of what could be a compelling narrative but so far, it feels rather clunky. Reading through the story, there’s this sense that something is off. I’m not sure if that’s intentional or not, but it feels like a sense of foreboding. 

Lobdell is at his best when he’s focusing on a guilt-ridden character, a tortured soul. He writes Wally very well in that regard, as you get a sense of how bad he feels. He honestly feels really relatable as someone who did something they regretted. 

The remaining story leaves a lot to be desired. The other heroes in the DC Universe really come off as terrible people. Wally’s now currently in Blackgate seemingly mixed in with gen pop, meaning that he’s now there with all the criminals he (and other heroes) put away. 

While the writing isn’t the best, the art is on point. With Booth on pencils, Guerrero on colors and Rapmund on inks, the art is visually stunning. Throughout the issue, Wally’s full face is not really shown. Even when we do see his face, there are darker shadows running across his face. It really does a great job illustrating how far he’s fallen as a result. The scenes involving the multiverse are absolutely stunning, and I can’t wait to see how the multiverse is shown throughout the series. 

  This book was an interesting start to the series, but I’m hoping that narratively it stops feeling like two very different stories in one book. I love Wally’s start of self-reflection and I love the multiverse stuff. However, they just feel like they aren’t working as well together as they could right now. I know it’s the first issue, so there’s still time to grow the beard. Let’s just hope the next issue is stronger. 

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