Absolute Flash #13: Year Two Begins

Absolute Flash #13 slows down after the havoc of issue #12 to tell a more personal story. The issue focuses on Wally and Linda Park at the Dibny Youth Mission, who are currently married in the main DC universe.

Issue #13‘s focus is on the characters. Ralph is portrayed as a caring yet kind of oblivious figure, while Linda is a bored teenager with nothing but time on her hands. The issue’s story moves smoothly from start to finish. Instead of taking detours to set up future villains, story threads come out of the dialogue scenes. For example, a particular name on a card that government agents left with Ralph Dibny teases upcoming story arcs without taking anything away from issue #13.

Wally has plenty of dialogue too, which for the most part is reactive to the characters around him, like Ralph and Linda. But it’s in what the issue doesn’t say, where Wally’s character is portrayed the best. After choosing to be a hero for the first time last issue, Wally still feels like a fraud.

The issue may be focused on the characters, but the dialogue doesn’t overtly try to hammer this home; it lets the art and the colors do it instead. Even after stepping up to try and protect everyone at Fort Fox, Wally lost his father, who’s currently stuck in the Still Point with Eobard Thawne and Barry Allen; there is nothing pushing Wally forward other than a desire to run from his past.

Haining takes over from Nick Robles for issues #13 and #14. The new artist brings an anime style to the artwork that works well for the kind of slice-of-life issue that Lemire pens for Absolute Flash #13. Haining’s art bleeds across the panels deliberately, and different panel arrangements are used to stack multiple snapshots into one scene that works well without slowing down the issue’s pace. Adriano Lucas’ colors add a layer of warmth to Haining’s more laid-back art style, like the pink and orange sky above Central City or the roof of a rundown old drive-through.