Absolute Flash #14 Review
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Haining
Colorist: Adriano Lucas
Letterer: Tom Napolitano
Cover Artists: Nick Robles; John Timms; Sean Izaakse &
Trish Mulvihill; Stephen Segovia & Elmer Santos
Editors: Ash Padilla, Andrew Marino, Katie Kubert &
Chris Conroy
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $4.99/$5.99 Card Stock
Release Date: April 22, 2026
Wally West used to ignore his father's phone calls. Now,
Wally replays his dad’s messages, wishing he could respond. Although he’s
staying at the Dibny Youth Mission, Wally doesn't want to tell Ralph Dibny what
he's going through. Still, Linda Park drags it out of him. Then, she offers to
help.
Leaving Central City behind, Wally and Linda return to Fort
Fox, the base his father oversaw, and where Colonel Rudy West sacrificed
himself to save his son. Can Linda help Wally rescue his father? Or will they
succumb to the dangers Elenore Thawne left behind? Let’s put on our protective
suits and goggles, leap into Absolute Flash #14, and see!
Story
Wally West traveled wherever his father’s work took him.
While Rudy West oversaw Fort Fox for the military, Wally wonders if the
personnel assigned there were all a cover for Project Olympus. When her
operation got out of control, Elenore Thawne vanished, along with the remnants
of her staff, subjects, and experimental weapons. But while Wally doubts they
learn anything in the remnants Elenore left behind, Linda reminds him that it
doesn’t hurt to look.
In Absolute Flash #14, Wally finds himself in a realm of
mirrors. While some reflect their images, many glass pieces reveal other people
and places. The dimension seems keyed to the entrants, as Wally and Linda make
connections with the people and places they see. But they don't have time to
study the mirrors. People wearing goggles are searching for someone, and they
kill anyone else who gets in their way.
After his mother’s death, Wally pushed everyone away. While
Mary West endured her own struggles, she helped Wally cope when life threatened
to overwhelm him. After the accident that transformed him, Grodd helped Wally
endure the stress and trauma of coping with his new abilities, the loss he
suffered, and evading capture from Elenore’s people. As the fifteen-year-old
struggles to navigate this strange realm, he and Linda must draw on the similar
hardships they’ve endured to help each other through their discoveries and
ordeals in Absolute Flash #14.
Art
As Wally evades his pursuers, a five-sided mirror reflects
their images, while an oval reveals Ralph Dibny’s sanctuary for teens. The
mirrors extend upward as they race through corridors, as if navigating a maze.
Yet the mirrors angle around them, offering no means of escape. Gravity gives
way to the Speed Force as Wally carries Linda across the mirrors, and they lose
their sense of up and down. Then, Haining lays out the mirror-like panels
across pages, as the inhabitants of this realm float through space or rise from
mirrors.
Wally leaves afterimages and lines in his wake as he races
like Alice through this realm of Looking Glasses. As red lines streak between
green air and light-blue mirrors, Linda wears Wally’s red jacket. Wally’s
orange hair glows yellow, linking him with their pursuers’ goggles, and evoking
how he defended Linda and Ralph from another of Elenore Thawne’s test subjects.
A flash of pink connects with Linda’s lavender shirt, while giving Wally hope
of finding his father in Adriano Lucas’ brightly colored Absolute Flash #14.
Tom Napolitano fills white dialogue balloons with black
uppercase letters. The words grow bold for intonation, and turn upside down
when Wally and Linda defy gravity. Linda's exclamations swell, distort
balloons, and produce lightning bolt arrows. Sound effects accentuate a fist
shattering a mirror, and a resumption of the Speed Force. Thanks to DC Comics
for sharing this story with us.
Final Thoughts
When life threatens to overwhelm us, it's easy to feel like
we're pawns in someone else's game. While Wally West and Linda Park have seen
their worlds fall apart, they're also survivors who have refused to give up on
life. As they search for clues to find Rudy West, Wally learns more about
Elenore Thawne's operation and why Linda ended up at the Dibny Youth Mission in
Absolute Flash #14.
Rating: 9.8/10
For what happened last time, see my review of Absolute Flash #13.
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