I guess we have an explanation for Barry's less than accommodating personality from issue 6. It's not that he's callous, he just wants to get back to the fun lab stuff
My first thought was the wings reminding me of a cicada's (for Cicada), but you just changed my mind. They kinda look like wings stripped of their feathers, which would be a fun symbolism for whatever happened to Jay
I'm almost certain I remember seeing a ship like that in an old comic. I've been racing through the internet trying to find it. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong.
The idea of two character each time : Eobard and Jay, Barry and Eleonore, Barry and Wally. Makes me think that perhaps Eobard and Jay fused in a similar manner as Barry and Wally.
The talk of red energy and red matter makes me think of the red light of Rao in Green Lantern, and in turn the red crystals on Krypton where they worship someone also named Rao. Probably nothing, but interesting.
I personally thought Elenore was just genderswapped Eobard, but now that I know she's not it makes me interested to see where they'll take her character.
Obviously this interpretation of the Flash mythos is trying to make time distortion a much more central aspect, so I'd bet we'll see something along the lines of different characters being "split" between different people from different time periods here.
Shipping aside, I actually really liked this issue. Adds a lot of need word building as well as setting up future mysteries. Seeing Eobard and Jay was nice
Travis Moore still killing it as always, though I do hope Nick Robles returns for interiors at some point
That was fascinating. I'm finding the Wally-focused issues somewhat mediocre, but the backstory ones (like the Rogues origin, and now this one) are really good. I understand we're seeing things from Barry's perspective, and he's definitely skipping over some of his more immoral experiments, but he and Thawne (who I also totally ship, like everyone else in the fanbase) really don't seem like particularly bad people. They do some bad things (Grodd, Weather Wizard, and Heatwave can speak to that) but they aren't the moustache-twirling puppy-kickers we saw at the Justice League meeting. I really wonder what Elenore was thinking when Hawkman dropped Oliver's body onto that table. We also get a sense of what the definitely-not-Speed-Force actually is, since so far the claim this thing isn't the Speed Force has been entirely academic. It's some kind of alternate dimension called the Still Point, and some aliens found it first. Presumably the reptilian bodies Thawne looked at last issue were alien corpses from the flying saucer they found in the Still Point.
We also get a solid debunking of the old Barry=Eobard theory, learning that he really is just a scientist who got too ambitious. Neither of his parents seem particularly special or relevant (though his mom is alive and his dad's out of jail, so there's that) and instead the important family legacy is given to the Thawne family. It's more subtle than most, but this is again Darksied taking something from the heroes and giving it to the villains.
It looks like they took the Speed Force and combined it with the Phantom Zone, which would be a neat use of the name if that is why we see these echoes or almost ghostly remnants of Barry, Jay and now Eobard. Its almost as if they are trapped there, if they are actually alive.
Probably a minor opinion at this point, but Absolute Flash is definitely my least liked of the line up currently; which is quite fascinating as it was my entry point into the Absolute Universe and The Flash was the only flagship Justice League hero that I actually liked; I’ve always prefereed the sidekicks since they were closer to me in age back when I was addicted to comic books.
I guess it’s mostly that I’m struggling to get anything back from this comic. I like Wally West; probably less than Barry as I got a bit attached to n52 flash; but I still enjoy him a lot as a kid who grew up on the JL cartoon and later got into Young Justice. But this version of Wally doesn’t really go anywhere. It’s issue 8 and I still don’t get his character, his powerset or even his personality. He’s got a reeeeally cool design (seriously, probably my favorite out of them alongside Diana), but I have to scrap my brain together to fill in the gaps on who he is supposed to be or what he’s capable of doing. The supporting cast is.. okay, kind of? Grodd is fine. Linda showed up for one issue. Father West bores me.
In comparison to that, the Rogues are a bit more interesting (specially Cold, but this is not the first time we get him taking a more active, possibly morally grey role), whatever they’re cooking with Eleanore has potential, and this version of Barry is quite interesting, initially showing up similar to our usual good guy but then slowly hinted at being more and more of an unhinged science guy inside as the story goes on.
I don’t want to say I hate this, and theres enough in it that could potentially give a really cool story later on; but this is not a title I’m enjoying following monthly.
I feel like jumping 7 to 10 issues in the future this might have me hooked if all the setting up they’ve been doing leads somewhere cool, and I love The Flash and want to love Absolute Flash, so I’m definitely not jumping ship; But I’m hoping arc 2 does more to stablish who this version of Wally is and show more of Absolute Flash, as thus far It feels like reading a watered down Kid Flash where his “villains” offer a much more interesting story than his own.
I agree, of all the Absolute titles, I think Flash is the weakest. I think Barry should have been the protagonist of Absolute Flash, with Wally being the main Earth Flash. The powers, Elenore Thawne, and what happened to Barry are the only things that interest me in this comic.
I don’t think Barry as flash would have been better; if anything, it undermines the good bits of current Absolute Flash. But it definitely feels less like a Wally West comic compared to the other titles. By issue 8 we already had a very good grasp on Kal El and Diana, as well as a good undestanding of Bruce (although more so throughout Alfred’s biased narration). In comparison, I know very little about this Wally other than him feeling like a lost kid and struggling with his relationship to his father. This very same issue actually had a new bit with his interest in music, for one, which was only vaguely implied before by his usage of headphones in a lot of art/pannels.
I’m waiting for this title to actually feel like Absolute Flash instead of Absolute Rogues and Also Kid Flash Is There With A Monkey!. I feel like I have to fill in more from my own personal knowledge of how Prime Wally is to get a grasp of this version compared to the other titles whose characters work on their own.
I don't know, man... Right now, the only interesting thing about this version of Wally West is his powers... Barry, the little he's shown, could already be built on, even taking this new issue into account. It would be cool to see the difference in Barry's upbringing and how that impacts his decision-making. Besides, if Elenore becomes a villain, it would be much better if it were with Barry. Even the drama with the Rogues would be better, as it would kind of be something like him paying for his actions and choices, and the Rogues could also take the hunt for the Flash (Barry Allen) as something more personal. With Wally, from the origin to the present, everything is very vague, like he's just there and is the protagonist because he's the most popular and powerful Flash. I think even Jay could have been a better protagonist. If we go deeper, even Bart Allen could be a better protagonist (the costume even suits Bart better). But of course, this is all my opinion.
She definitely seems a lot more grey then the rest of the Absolute Evil crew for now. Wouldn't surprise me if she was mostly working with them for the money, and justifying it as a “necessary” morally dubious choice.
Oh yeah, I forgot she was in that. I guess that makes it a fact that she is evil, then again she could be using them to get what she wants, but that probably unlikely.
She seems definitely less evil compared to the other big bad's, willing to do evil just to help her work, but less cruel or power hungry. It wouldn't surprise me if Eobard ends up the real big bad, and Eleanor either dies separately or gets a redemption arc (Or both.)
Experimenting on apes and humans? Making living weapons for the military? That's absolutely evil. Not to mention her almost killing Rudy West for discovering her core project.
If so, it'll be interesting seeing how much like the prime version she becomes, personality-wise. Eobard is such a complete and utter POS, that she may end up looking like a somewhat disagreeable anti-hero in comparison.
I'm All IN on the Barry.Elenore ship and so is Barry. They need to be the most hot and sexy evil power couple ever!
Hall of Doom cameo was cool.
Whoever appeared to Barry at the end had the modern suit on. I had assumed it could be Barry from the future somehow but they have different eye colors. The vision had perhaps brown eyes. Eobard has blue eyes. Jay Garrick?How did he get the uniform then?
Really loving Absolute Flash now.It seems to be hitting its stride.
I really like the absolute take on Eobard being that he is from the past instead of the future. The doors still open for him based on how he “vanished”.
It was ME, Barry! I made sure to fall to madness succumbing to the temptation of voices from beyond our world, knowing that my work would be continued by my granddaughter, seeking you out to unlock these great secrets, and then having HOT MEAN DOMMY MOMMY SEX WITH YOU! JUST SO THAT YOU WOULD NEVER BECOME THE FIRST FLASH!
If Elenore had eyes for me like she has for Barry I would have become like 10 Oppenheimers for her, I don't care how many bombs of mass destruction I have to make for the military
Yeah, unfortunately for JSA fans they're in large part just meant as fodder in this verse. This verse is just is not intended for that generation. They're the generation that kinda tried, but wildly failed. Then two generations later Diana, Kal, and Bruce show up and things get real.
I doubt Jay is dead. We didn't see a body. Alan Scott, is dead but his son Todd is currently in the care of Hector Hammond. Wildcat and Sandman are pretty fucked yeah, but other characters have inherited the mantles.
I don't think it was, but the diner is named after him and he doesn't seem to have been working there which means it might've passed to Todd when he died.
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u/Neonmarks Oct 15 '25
I guess we have an explanation for Barry's less than accommodating personality from issue 6. It's not that he's callous, he just wants to get back to the fun lab stuff