Fight The Future In The Flash #71

When DC Comics advertised a retelling of Barry Allen’s origin, I didn’t expect that we would also get the end of his career as well. That, however, is exactly what The Flash #71 gives us.

Joshua Williamson, Howard Porter, and Hi-Fi Color take Barry back to the future this issue.

Barry finds himself face to face with his future self in the far future of Central City, now ruled by the Turtle. While his future self tries to teach him a few tricks while keeping him alive long enough to get him home. However, back in his own time, he soon finds himself facing his first villain on his own!

I’ve often thought that the Flash should be considered as much a time cop as Green Lantern is a space cop, and Williamson weaves a fun story all about Barry’s first experience with that exact trope. Barry is perfectly disoriented by the experience, but it also cements one of his core personality traits. It’s an exciting action story that also shows us a young man with all the building blocks of the hero we love, and puts him on the path to becoming that hero.

Porter’s eye for motion is fantastic here. He uses a variety of tricks to portray Barry’s speed, and gives both versions of the Flash a lot of personality just through how they move on the page. Young Barry is nervous and unsure of himself, and we see that in his body language, while his older self is much more confident and self assured. It’s great work from one of the best Flash artists.

There are clearly a lot of surprises in store for the rest of this story, and I’m excited to see what they are from here.

The Flash #71 is available now from DC Comics.