Review: Flash Forward

Quick Summary

Pros: Wally West’s story includes some interesting developments. The artwork is mostly positive.

Cons: This volume tries to include multiple plotlines yet does not spend an adequate time turning any into something worthwhile. The plotlines often conflict with and work against each other, in terms of both tone and narrative development.

Overall: This is a messy comic that fails in a number of different ways. It tries to tell multiple interesting stories at once, each of which has some potential. However, these stories are handled poorly, conflict with one another, and ultimately end up just being disappointing. The only worthwhile aspect of the book is Wally’s personal progression, which isn’t that entertaining but at least introduces some interesting developments. Big fans of Wally West may enjoy pieces of this volume but other readers may simply want to skip it instead.

Story

Flash Forward, by Scott Lobdell, feels like a comic that tries to be everything yet ends up being nothing. This miniseries packs in a lighthearted trip through the DC Multiverse, a story about intense loss, a sequel for Heroes in Crisis (Review) (Reading Order), a retrospective of DC Comics history, a tie-in to Doomsday Clock (Review) (Reading Order), and a prelude for another major event into six comic book issues. Having all of this packed together leaves very little time for each story to do anything of value and some even end up conflicting with each other. The only moderately worthwhile narrative within this book is Wally West’s personal journey, which has its fair share of problems but manages to introduce some solid development for his character. Overall, this is a messy book that simply fails to hit the mark.

(spoilers start here)

As mentioned above, Flash Forward has a real problem with the number of stories it tells and the way these stories play against each other. The volume starts by sending Wally on what appears to be a mission for redemption over his actions in Heroes in Crisis; there is even a monument to his fallen allies in Tempus Fuginaut’s base. Then, the implication that Wally is there for those reasons is ignored as it is revealed he is actually there because he feels guilty about losing his children, as the narrative drops any sense of redeeming Heroes in Crisis. After saving his children, the book then becomes a weird metanarrative about DC Comics. None of these arcs work on their own and all of them are even worse together.

Another part of the reason Flash Forward is such a mess is because of its tone. The volume starts with Wally having given up on life due to his depression over what he did in Heroes in Crisis. Then, without actually delivering him any sort of redemption, the next few chapters have him cracking jokes, beating up villains, and kissing alternate versions of his wife in a mostly fun-focused trip through the multiverse. Then, its back to depression again as Wally is forced to separate himself from his children in order to bring them back to life and reconnect them with their mother. The yo-yoing of emotion without proper justification creates more problems in an already messy narrative.

The only piece of Flash Forward that somewhat works is Wally’s personal progression. The volume definitely bungles the response to Heroes in Crisis but makes some development on pieces of Wally’s character that have been present since his return. By the end of this book, Wally has reestablished the lost pieces of his history and is in a very interesting place for future stories. His progression here might not have been that fun to read but I am glad that it happened at some point.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The visuals in Flash Forward are pretty good and end up being one of the more consistently positive aspects of this collection. Brett Booth’s dynamic and energetic work does a solid job in displaying battles across the multiverse. These battles depict a wide variety of characters in a way that each one feels distinct, even though many are based on the same set of core characters. I also enjoyed the creative work and solid structures in the final chapter, which displays a wide array of different events. There are a few places where splash pages end up feeling too cluttered or chaotic but these problems are relatively minor. All in all, the visuals here are nice.

Continuity

Flash Forward mostly continues the narrative from Heroes in Crisis (Review) (Reading Order).

The story here continues in Dark Nights: Death Metal. It also introduces concepts for the upcoming “Generations” event.

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• The reset of the DC Universe in Flashpoint (Review) (Reading Order) and Wally West’s return in DC Universe: Rebirth (Review) are mentioned a number of times throughout this volume.
• Iron Heights was destroyed at the conclusion of The Flash Vol. 11: The Greatest Trick of All (Review).
• Metron’s chair was left vacant at the conclusion of the Justice League: Darkseid War (Review) (Reading Order) event.
• The symbol seen in the sky near the beginning of Flash Forward #3 is a reference to the Justice League Vol. 5: Justice/Doom War (Review).
• The vampire version of Batman’s origins are detailed in Batman & Dracula: Red Rain, collected in Elseworlds Batman Vol. 2.
• Barry Allen’s death in Crisis on Infinite Earths is mentioned a few times.
• The final chapter in this collection makes a number of references to Dr. Manhattan’s attempts to tamper with the history of the DC Universe. These are explained in Doomsday Clock (Review) (Reading Order).
• The final chapter in this collection shows a number of events from across DC Comics history.
  • The first montage page shows:
    • The Anti-Monitor’s attack on reality in Crisis on Infinite Earths.
    • Hal Jordan’s role in the Zero Hour event.
    • The resulting world after the Flashpoint (Review) (Reading Order) event.
    • The deaths of Owlman and Metron at the conclusion of Justice League: Darkseid War (Review) (Reading Order).
  • A page split between two versions of the Teen Titans (Reading Order) shows:
    • The original Teen Titans as they were introduced in The Brave and the Bold Vol. 1 #54, collected in Teen Titans: The Silver Age Vol. 1. 
    • The post-Flashpoint Teen Titans as they were introduced in Teen Titans Vol. 4 #1, collected in Teen Titans Vol. 1: Our Right to Fight (Review).
  • Another montage page, accompanied by the words “Show me everything” depict (starting from the top left and going counterclockwise):
    • Wonder Woman (Reading Order) snapping Maxwell Lord’s neck in Wonder Woman Vol. 2 #219.
    • Batman punching Guy Gardner (Reading Order) in Justice League Vol 1 #5, collected in Justice League International Book One: Born Again.   
    • Supergirl’s death from Crisis on Infinite Earths.
    • The “Flash of Two Worlds” story from The Flash #123, collected in The Flash: The Silver Age Vol. 2.
    • The discovery of Sue Dibny’s death from Identity Crisis.
    • Hal Jordan (Reading Order) fighting Black Lanterns in the Blackest Night event.
    • The Justice League (Reading Order) fighting Darkseid in Justice League Vol. 1: Origin (Review).
    • The introduction of the Batman Who Laughs (Reading Order) in the Dark Nights: Metal (Review) (Reading Order) event.
    • The death of Aquaman’s child in Adventure Comics Vol. 1 #452.
  • The following page, a nine-panel grid, shows:
    • The rise of the Dark Multiverse from Dark Nights: Metal (Review) (Reading Order).
    • The death of Ted Kord from Countdown to Infinite Crisis #1.
    • The death of Superman from Superman: The Death of Superman.
    • Barry Allen’s (Reading Order) death from Crisis on Infinite Earths.
    • John Stewart’s (Reading Order) first time as a Green Lantern from Green Lantern Vol. 2 #87, collected in Green Lantern/Green Arrow: Hard Travelin’ Heroes.