Struggling With Death And Undeath: Flash Foward #3 Reviewed
by Josh Davison
Mild Spoilers Ahead
The Flash, aka Wally West, has just arrived on another new world. The first thing he sees is an entire cruise ship’s worth of people falling from the sky. He manages to save all the people, and then he meets the being responsible for this chaos: a vampiric Superman. The Justice League of this world have all become vampires, and Wally has come face-to-face with this world’s Superman and Flash (Barry Allen). He fights them off with the help of an old friend: Arsenal, aka Roy Harper. Arsenal points Wally in the direction of the one responsible for all of this, Batman, who is also a vampire. The two heroes go to bring down the Batman.
Flash Forward #3 brings Wally to a world of vampiric superheroes where one of his closest friends, Roy Harper, is one of the last survivors fighting against the vampire hordes. The Flash is happy to see Arsenal, but he’s also racked with the guilt of killing the Roy Harper of our reality.
Personally, I’m happy to see Roy Harper wherever I can, and this Arsenal is every bit the man from Wally’s home reality. He’s reckless, bull-headed, and dedicated to the very end.
Beyond that, there is also the campy fun of Superman, Batman, and the Flash appearing as garish, giant-fanged bloodsuckers.
Watching Wally grapple with the mixed emotions of meeting another Roy is interesting. He’s wrestling with the guilt over the abominable things that he’s done, and he comes to an interesting conclusion about Roy and his relation to Wally. I’m not sure it’s the correct conclusion to draw in this situation, but it does give Wally and, by extension, the comic some degree of closure.
Brett Booth continues to be very possibly the perfect artistic choice for this comic. He has a special knack for rendering the Titans, and he knows how to construct an action sequence with one or more speedsters for sure. This issue looks great, and it’s aided by the talented inking of Norm Rapmund and the atmospheric color work of Luis Guerrero.
Flash Forward #3 is another emotional and action-packed installment for this Wally West-focused mini-series. He continues to grapple with his sins while trying to find a way to live with himself in the aftermath. He also gets to kick vampire ass, and that’s generally pretty awesome. This one gets a recommendation for sure. Check it out.
Flash Forward #3 comes to us from writer Scott Lobdell, artist Brett Booth, inker Norm Rapmund, color artist Luis Guerrero, letterer ALW’s Troy Peteri, cover artist Doc Shaner, and variant cover artist Inhyuk Lee.
Final Score: 8/10