The Flash (2016-) Vol. 8: Flash War

Excellent graphic novel, full of emotion. Highly recommend.

Great product .

Stunning artwork and a good read

“The Flash – Flash War” collects issues #46-51 and a 10-page short story from Annual #1 to open the proceedings.When I started reading the opening short story, I had to check that Keith Giffen hadn’t sneaked in, as the scenes of devastation in the 25th century had all the hallmarks – and looks – of one of his future histories.Anyway, we open in the ruins of the Flash Museum, where the time police are investigating the murder of Eobard Thawne, and they want to interview their chief suspect, one Iris West…Now, I read the Flash from the early 1960s right up until cancellation and his ‘death’ in the first Crisis, and in my aged memory I always thought that Professor Zoom was also known as the Reverse-Flash. I never read the Wally West Flash series, as I have given up on mainstream comics by then, and only returned about the time of Flashpoint. Therefore, imaging my surprise when I discover that they are two separate characters, and if they haven’t always been, they certainly are now.Anyway (again), there are continuing time-disturbances in the museum, and the head of the time police sends his 25th century Rogues – now time-police agents – to arrest Iris, who is in the middle of a family crisis due to her remembering who Wally One is, and that she’s married to Barry…Then it really gets complicated, as both Professor Zoom and the Reverse Flash get together to try and fix the collapsing timeline – and along the way we get the explanation for the many deaths of Eobard Thawne – along with the revelation that it wasn’t/isn’t just Wally One lost in the Speed Force…And then it gets even more complicated, with five different Flashes in various colours running around, in what really felt like the opening moves in the next crisis/flashpoint.SPOILER ZONEWell…END OF ZONENow (again), I started to wonder just how DC was going to deal with the fallout from the ongoing Doomsday Clock catastrophe – it is running at least six-months late, apparently, and disrupted any number of major developments that were going to be spinning-off from it – as well as the fall-out from Metal and the destruction of the Source Wall that is rocking the universe in the Justice League at the moment.And then some pretty major cosmic stuff happens here too, on a par with the above, with major timeline changes for the future – the 25th Century future, as opposed to future continuity, that is, though, as it turns out…And in conclusion, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I would just like to say that you really don’t want to miss this book, not just for the Flash’s continuity, but for DC in general.Oh, and the scripting, plotting, character development and artwork are all superb too.THE OTHER SPOILER ZONEA couple of years ago, at the San Diego Comic Con, Jonathan Hickman told his audience at a talk that DC had asked him to do a reboot of their universe…I wonder what his reply was.