The Flash #790 is published by DC Comics and written by Jeremy Adams. Pencils are by Roger Cruz, inks by Matt Banning & Wellington Dias and colours by Luis Guerrero. Letters are by Rob Leigh. Main cover art (left) is by Taurin Clarke.
The Flash #790 is available now in print and on digital where all good comics book are sold.
Synopsis
As any super-speedster worth their salt will tell you, time can move pretty slow for the incredibly fast. So what happens when an entire armada of conquering speedster aliens shows up on Earth’s doorstep? The most intense battle the Earth has ever waged in the span of 60 seconds begins!
Review
New year. New arc. This month the One Minute War kicks off with what is nothing short of a blockbuster issue of The Flash from writer Jeremy Adams. If issue #790 is anything to go by then this is going to be one of the most compelling arcs of 2023, kicking off the year in massive style.
Adams is no stranger to the DCU having written plenty of comics and movies featuring the full pantheon of heroes. Here the focus is well and truly on the Flash-family. As a title, The Flash has been known to focus on one or two of the speedster heroes with the odd cameo here and there. For the first time in a long time, we’re seeing the full family being drawn together for an event which sits squarely in Flash rather than Crisis territory.
Setting the scene, there’s plenty of time to catch up with all the a-lister members of the family whilst a mysterious threat looms overheard. It’s only right that the issue kicks off with Wally given he’s been shouldering the book for a some time now. Given everything he’s been through in the past few months it’s nice to see a moment of downtime for Wally, Linda and the family.
Even Max Mercury is getting in on the action. Yes, Adams isn’t leaving anyone off the table for the One Minute War. Obviously there’s plenty of time to catch up with Barry, Wallace, Bart and Jesse. Each one is setup individually which adds to the sense of scale that Adams is injecting in to the story.
Bubbling in the background is a captivating teaser. A mysterious craft headed to Earth at break-neck speed. Its impending arrival adds a ticking clock to each character introducing. Edging ever closer to a literal big bang later in the book. As teasers go it certainly added a sense of anxiety that had me turning pages as fast as possible.
The fallout comes fast, again touching on each of the Flash-family albeit far more briefly. The book crescendoes in to a gut punch of a final page. Particularly given the dialogue shared between two specific characters earlier on.
Roger Cruz, Matt Banning & Wellington Dias and Luis Guerrero come together to be an unstoppable visual force. Easily matching scale of Adam’s story with some epic artwork. Said teaser of the craft headed to Earth is spectacular, whilst each of the smaller character beats makes sure not to pull focus from the personality at its core. The Flash #790 packs a punch exactly where it needs to. This is truly exciting stuff!
Verdict
The latest arc kicks off in blockbuster style with a story that involves the entire Flash-family. An epic, large-scale story is met with dynamic, cinematic artwork.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
