The Flash #26 - A Review

The Reverse Flash has revealed the truth to Iris West - that her boyfriend, Barry Allen, is The Flash and that he has been lying to her for years! That's just the start, however, as Eobard Thawne plays professor yet again to show Barry and Iris the dark future that is now forged from their relationship. Will Barry and Iris have to sacrifice their love for the sake of Tomorrow?


Ironic as it may be to say this, The Flash #26 may have moved too quickly. Last month's issue presented an interesting conceit - that Eobard Thawne is uniquely suited to note the changes to the time-stream forged in The DC Universe Rebirth reality. Apart from the amusing metatextual gag of turning the comic world's most obsessive fanboy into a continuity cop complaining about how everything changed and is ruined forever, it's a heck of a story curveball.

Unfortunately, that conceit - and our brief glimpse of a dark future where Barry and Iris' kids became Rogues due to Barry's neglecting his family for The Flash - are quickly tossed aside in favor of what seems to be "The Real Plot". Unless there is another swerve coming, which is entirely possible with Joshua Williamson's writing.

The artwork is similarly uneven. Howard Porter is a great artist and the colors by Hi-Fi are nice and vivid. Unfortunately, there is some discontinuity between the story and the artwork, as in one panel where The Flash is being dragged off by The Reverse Flash when the dialogue indicates they ran off together. There's also a few bits where the bright colors don't quite match up with the heavy inks indicating deep shadows.

The Final Analysis: 7 out of 10. A serviceable issue, let down only by some quirks in the artwork and a story that is moving a bit to quickly.