Review: ‘The Flash’ #770 Punches Nazis

Wally West has been bouncing around the timestream with the Speed Force trying to use him for something. However, in The Flash #770, the Speed Force tasks him with the best thing he could do: punch Nazis.

The series has been sort of aimless for a few months now, even prior to Future State. However, now that the new creative team has found their footing, this is exactly the sort of Flash series we need, thanks to Jeremy Adams, Jack Herbert, Brandon Peterson, Kevin Maguire, Michael Atiyeh, and Steve Wands.

Wally’s latest ricochet through the timestream has landed him in the middle of World War II in one of Jay Garrick’s adventures. However, he’s jumped right into the situation right as the out-of-control Speed Force storm empowers Hitler himself. There’s only one thing he can do: PUNCH HITLER.

This is just a fun issue. In his third issue, Adams has gotten his feet under him, and (pardon the pun) has taken off running. After two issues using the same basic formula, he switches things up. The majority of this one is more focused on Jay Garrick and Happy Terrill (aka the Ray) completing their mission, while Wally and Barry play more of a supporting role. It keeps the story arc fresh, brings an important Flash supporting character back to the forefront, and it’s simply a lot of fun (even if involving Hitler in a story just to give the lead an excuse to punch him is a little cliché).

Herbert handles most of the issue, and does a great job. He uses just enough realism to evoke the grim nature of World War II, and paces the story to build tension. His style is a little bit more serious than the tone of the script, but that helps sell the gonzo nature of the entire story especially when Wally giddily takes the wheel. Atiyeh’s colors are largely a greyish palette that evokes the feel of war movies, which sets the tone wonderfully. Peterson and Maguire’s pages are really solid too, even if they are much more scarce (though I hope Maguire is drawing the Wally pages next month given the issue’s cliffhanger).

This is a fun issue and really shows what this creative team is capable of doing. I hope this tone continues as the series progresses.

The Flash #770 is available now from DC Comics.