Is life stranger than fiction? Or is it the other way around? Wally West will have to figure that out. Your Major Spoilers review of The Flash 2022 Annual #1, awaits.

THE FLASH 2022 ANNUAL #1

Writer: Jeremy Adams
Artist: Serg Acuna
Colorist: Matt Herms
Letterer: AW’s Justin Birch
Editor: Chris Rosa
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: August 30th, 2022
Cover Price: $5.99

Previously in The Flash: It’s been a wild time for Wally West and Linda Park-West: their children are regaining their powers, Wally is bouncing between realms, and Linda is dealing with a mysterious power surge

SPEED READING

The Flash 2022 Annual #1 opens with Wally and Linda West sitting at home watching TV. The two discuss how it’s been difficult finding time together and how complicated things are going to be with Linda now developing superspeed of her own. One point of contention is that Wally hasn’t read her book yet. After she leaves Wally sits down to read it. The majority of the remaining pages are framed as events from her book. In it, a young woman sets out on her own after graduating high school. She completes college, gets a job at a newspaper, then works her way up to reporter. Out on assignment she’s suddenly face to face with a monster, but is rescued by an adventurer with bright red hair and a red suit. He whisks her to space where she is drawn into even more adventures. After completing Linda’s book, Wally races to her and takes her on a date. During which they make a shocking realization.

CHEESY, BUT SWEET

It should come as no surprise to those who are familiar with the stereotypical romance novel, the scenes that take place in Linda’s novel, are pretty cheesy. The dialog is hamfisted and dripping in melodrama. The fact that this is framed as being from a romance novel saves it and makes it more humorous than cringey. It’s also nice to see some light shone on Linda, as the events in her novel are clearly supposed to be reflective of her own life. Also, the bits that tread into traditional comic book territory, with heroes fighting a villain with a grandiose plan to destroy the universe, was fun. The problems I had with this issue happened in everything that happens outside of Linda’s book. While it’s obvious that this is supposed to be a sweet chapter in the lives of Linda and Wally, it doesn’t get that balance quite right and ends up coming off as saccharin. All the tension between the two is immediately defused in the next panel due to some cutesy proclamation of love and commitment. It leaves these portions feeling hollow and lacking any sort of lasting impact on the characters beyond these pages.

NOT ENOUGH DIFFERENCE

The issue with the art in this book is that there just isn’t enough to differentiate the events happening outside of Linda’s book with the “real world”. The art is identical which means the only thing that separates the two settings is a strange filter placed on top of the art that makes things just look fuzzy.

BOTTOM LINE: GOOD FOR A COZY READ

Like Linda’s book, The Flash 2022 Annual #1 is a cheesy but enjoyable read. It has some action, some romance, and a nice little dive into the thoughts and life of a character who hasn’t always received the exploration she deserves. Beyond that though, this issue is lacking. With no real tension, it feels very much like a throwaway story. 3 out of 5 stars.

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