The Flash is Getting The Powers of a GOD in DC Comics
Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Flash Forward
The new Flash Forward series is taking former Flash Wally West on a journey through the multiverse that promises to change him forever. But a new preview of the coming story shows he's about to get godlike powers that could change him even more: the Mobius Chair, originally belonging to Metron of DC's New Gods.
While the old gods of dozens of world mythologies have always played a role in DC's Universe, Jack Kirby's New Gods have been the most central, and even the most powerful, of them all. After creating most of Marvel's most popular characters in the sixties, Kirby moved to DC, where he was finally able to write the epic story he had originally planned as a sequel to his and Stan Lee's The Mighty Thor. One of the many new gods he introduced was the scientist-philosopher Metron, pilot of the cosmic 'Mobius Chair' which he used to search for the Source of all life (though the recent Darkseid War storyline revealed it was actually a gift from its namesake Mobius AKA the Anti-Monitor).
The chair has taken its owners on many adventures since then, most memorably when DC's green guardian Swamp Thing took Metron to the Aleph--a point in the universe where all other points are visible at once (based on the story by Jorge Luis Borges). When Metron died in Darkseid War Batman took over his Chair, and was overwhelmed with the knowledge of... well, basically the answer to every question one could possible ask. It was that godlike wisdom that revealed the existence of the upcoming Geoff Johns/Jason Fabok Three Jokers, comic. And on the cover of Flash Forward #5, newly revealed in DC's January solicitations, Wally West is enjoying the same upgrade.
Fans will have to wait and see how Wally does with this new power, since it's become clear recently that even the amount he has is more than he can handle. After the universe rebooted in 2011, Wally disappeared before finally returning in the DC: Rebirth special five years later. There was a price, though; his family didn't make it into the new universe with him. In Tom King and Clay Mann's Heroes in Crisis, Wally's survivors' guilt was only worsened when his trauma caused him to lose control of the Speed Force that fuels his powers, killing a dozen bystanders. how can he cope with knowing the answer to his (presumably tragic) questions about his new place in the universe?
Readers will find out when Flash Forward #5 arrives in January. For now, they can enjoy the cover art by Evan "Doc" Shaner above, and the full solicitation details and plot synopsis below:
- FLASH FORWARD #5 (OF 6)
- Release Date: January 15th, 2020
- Written by: Scott Lobdell
- Art by: Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund
- Cover Art by: Evan Shaner
- Wally West has gotten to the heart of his mission to save the Multiverse...and the heart he found was his own. When it's discovered that the dark multiversal world that's threatening all of existence is the world in which Wally's children are alive, our hero must overcome his greatest fears, regrets, and anger to do what's right. But what's right is the hardest thing anyone would ever imagine doing...letting go.
Flash Forward #5 will be available from your local comic book shop on January 15th, 2020.