The Flash, Vol. 3: As Above

The Flash (2023)

by Simon Spurrier, Ramón Pérez (Illustrator)

Family forward! The events of Absolute Power have left the Flash family reeling and in need of a desperate regroup. Where better to do so than Skartaris, in the center of the Earth! A brand new Flash story arc starts here.

The Flash family must grapple with a new status quo thanks to the cataclysmic events of Absolute Power, and the tectonic shifts have left Wally West on the precipice of an evolution into a new form. Thankfully, these powers may be something he can share with his family! The Flash family is ALL IN and a can’t-miss story arc starts here, kicking off a brand new chapter of Flash history.

Collects The Flash #14-19.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes

136 pages, Paperback

First published June 24, 2025

Reviews

[Bill Riggs · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series is heading downhill fast. It’s all over the place. Confusing and just all around not interesting.

[Roman Zarichnyi · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Флеш, Том 3: Як угорі» від Саймона Спарріера та Рамона Переза став для мене приємною несподіванкою, враховуючи "продирання" сюжетом попередніми арками серії. Після двох томів, сповнених складних космічних інтриг і непростих наративних ходів, цей комікс відчутно легший для сприйняття. Спрощення сюжету зробило його більш доступним і дозволило більше часу приділити емоціям та сімейним зв’язкам Воллі Веста.

Сюжет починається з того, що Воллі вирішує взяти Лінду та дітей у відпустку після подій Абсолютної Влади. Місце для відпочинку обране не зовсім типове — Скартаріс, світ із динозаврами та чарівниками, який виявляється небезпечним і дивним. Попри це, Спарріер вдало балансує між пригодницькими елементами із повсякденними сімейними моментами, що створює відчуття легкості та гумору. Родинні сцени, маленькі конфлікти та кумедні ситуації, як-от участь нового собаки родини у подіях, додають історії шарму та людяності.

Незважаючи на деякі сюжетні складнощі та часом надмірну деталізацію, сценарист умудряється втримати баланс між пригодами та сімейними відносинами. Воллі продовжує демонструвати свої супергеройські здібності, водночас показуючи емоційну сторону героя. Його прагнення поєднувати обов’язок і любов до родини робить його персонажа більш багатогранним. Ідея про поділ Воллі на дві версії, одна з яких лишається виконувати справи Ліги Справедливості, а інша проводить час із сім’єю, цікава та дозволяє глибше зрозуміти внутрішній конфлікт героя.

Загалом, оце спрощення сюжету дозволило отримати більше задоволення від персонажів та їхніх взаємодій. Це поки найцікавіший том серії.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4 stars

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the cover suggests, there's a bit of a genre shift with As Above. No longer are we messing with space-time (as much, at least), instead we're having a (somewhat) straightforward fantasy adventure to fix something gone wrong in Skartaris. Flash (Wally West) and his extended family (plus the Justice League, some other Flashes, anyone else who raised their hand...) are the stars here. Spurrier's fun, dense dialogue is here, and the artwork is solid for zippy action sequences.

What actually happens in the plot? Woof, wish I could tell you. That simple adventure is turned on its head almost immediately as the Flash is revealed to have split himself and the kids both go on sub-quests that explore their new-ish power sets (post-Absolute Power). Then the Warlord, leader of Skartaris, is revealed to be Eclipso, trying to mend his ways after all that jazz with the Spectre and Darkseid in the All-In Omega issue. Hope you read that!

Affairs get even weirder from there and, wouldn't you know it, by the end we're back to messing with space-time. The cliffhanger conclusion certainly seems like a big one, another Justice League-level threat among the many being introduced in these All-In series reboots. Overall: I had fun, but I'll be damned if I remember the details, even immediately after setting the book down.

[André Habet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Darkseid died and somehow that’s made this book a lot less interesting. New flash status quo is confusing. He’s godlike now but still can’t do shit. Now they have nerf him in every story or have him exit like in Titans so he can’t fix every problem immediately. Also Barry lost his powers but he’s happy about it so no conflict there. Also, the art here isn’t working for the original tone of this book. Feels like DC’s answer to fantastic 4 but not a family I can root for. Wally doesn’t even like them much.

[Keegan Schueler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great change of direction for the series and the family dynamic with Wally is what carries this over the actual plot.

[Alex Sarll]

The cover isn't kidding with that Genre Shift! spinner; after two volumes which took the (more successful than it had any right to be) decision to throw the bright, cheery Flash into a cosmic horror story, this kicks off with a family sitcom, the Wests taking a well-earned holiday...in Skartaris, the dinosaurs-and-barbarians world inside the hollow DC Earth. Except things get considerably stranger from there. Partly this is a response to the standard DC problem where the series you're reading gets upended by events in some dreadful event book you wouldn't touch with someone else's bargepole, so all of a sudden the multiverse is inaccessible and one of the book's erstwhile leads is depowered and happily retiring – though if you think that might deal with the problem of two leads with the same name who looks very similar in costume, LOL. But Spurrier responds to the situation like a more sarcastic Al Ewing, attempting to explain how generations of different primal cosmic forces interact with each other, only to wink to camera when the answer immediately falls apart. Part of what makes it work, though, is that he's never taking the piss in a reductive way, more channeling the exasperated shrug that seems entirely plausible for people who have to live in this madhouse; I especially enjoyed the jockeying non-explanations when both a gnomic occult character and an enigmatic super-science type turn up at the same weirdness. Plus, after a career spent working with untrustworthy leads, Spurrier finally stretches himself and has scenes narrated by the goodest boy of all!

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you've alienated your loyal Speedster fans, what do you do?

Regroup (repackage?) your lead!

We've dragged Wally and the Speed Force users out of Absolute Power and their own chaos. It's been a confusing time. Wally is fastly becoming 'one' with the universal forces....or something. His ability to sidestep dimensions is a new power shift that we, and probably himself too...barely understand. Better send him off to dinosaur country aka Skartaris (the home of Warlord) to rest up. That sounds safe, right?

I guess we've gone beyond, 'HE'S FAST!' and, 'HE CAN TIME TRAVEL!'

Now we've got all kinds of odd things happening. We've got a depowered Barry Allen that is instantly cool with having no speed. We've got a family dog that isn't a family 'dog'. We've got the future version of the newest West kid poking his head in to be vague and mysterious. We've got TONS of exposition on Eclipso's future plans after his last meeting with Darkseid.

This is less 'Fastest Man Alive!' and more 'Fantastic Four' family...
Is that where we're going now?
====
Bonus: Of course the Atlanteans get blamed for leftover magic stuff in the DCU
Bonus Bonus: What if Wally is using borrowed Speed from depowered speedsters? (Godspeed)

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wally takes Linda and the kids on vacation to chill out after Absolute Power, not realising that Skataris is probably not the best place to do that. I mean, I could have told you that, but no one asked me. Also, why do the Wests have a dog now? All this and more!

I like the Flash. I like Simon Spurrier. But I really do feel like there's something off about this run. It's up and down, and while the core of what's going on here is neat, I feel like Spurrier's usual execution doesn't hit as well as it should. It feels like we glaze past some plot points and spend pages and pages explaining others, so things get a bit lost in the shuffle. And this is just the first half of a bigger story which continues into the next arc, so it all feels a bit like prelude.

Vasco Georgiev joins the book as the official series artist, and he's a good fit. His art's dynamic, and a little stretchy where it needs to be, kind of like a tamer Humberto Ramos.

Decent, but not my favourite Flash series in recent memory. Hopefully the second half of this arc's better.

[Jamie Revell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third volume of this collection isn't as good as the previous two, lacking some of the imaginative weirdness. That isn't to say that there isn't some good writing in it, with Linda and Irey both being handled well and a central theme of the power of emotions running through the plot. It takes some of the duality of Wally's double life and makes it literal, as well as showing the characters working through some of the fallout from the world-shaking events they have just been through. There's fun with dinosaurs and lizard-women and some digs at technobabble and its magical counterpart... but in the end, the main villain isn't especially interesting and there's not much to raise this above the average. It's a decent enough story, and certainly not one to skip if you're following the larger arc, but it lacks the spark we've had up until now. It's also clear it's a prelude to something bigger coming in the next volume, and consequently ends on a cliffhanger.

[Clint · Rating 3 out of 5]

The “genre shift” advertised by the cover is quickly apparent, and while there’s still some of Spurrier’s typical wit and cleverness here, these issues feel like a flimsy diversion from this run’s initial promise. These issues also seem more concerned than I’d like about the broader DC crossover events recently used to setup their Absolute comic line; whether that was by dictate or just Spurrier trying to tie-in with the pieces that interested him, I can’t pretend to be interested in whatever latest plot contortions DC is doing with their multiverse to justify a new publishing initiative.

The art also sees a huge “genre shift” that, while fine enough out of context, is way too cartoony and doesn’t fit at all with the tone I was previously enjoying from this series.

[Aidan]

I think the art here, while competent for superhero books, really lets down the more complicated internal worlds Spurrier likes to imbue his characters with, whereas Mike Deodato added a haunting weird atmosphere in the first arc. The best moments here happen when characters tell little lies where they’re trying to convince not just others but themselves of something that’s not quite true. Spurrier does this better in his other work though, and here a bit too much of the page count gets taken up by him trying to spin the expected superhero action sequences that have long gone stale in this genre without a fresh spin.

Great covers. Wish Mike Del Mundo did interiors

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spurrier's run returns to its earlier heights thanks to a renewed focus on the West family, after the higher level of abstraction of the previous volume (though a lot this that is drawn from All In goes right over my head). There's a neat trip to Skartaris, great interesting between Wally and Linda, and terrific characterization for the kids. Overall, a fun read, even if much of it's a setup for what's next.

And it's great to see Foxy again!

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
New suit is awesome, family vacation is a cool idea, but you know some stuff is gonna go crazy when you can split yourself into two....
Seeing as I just read B/S WF V7, I was quite surprised to see Eclipso show his face here. That and he consumes a piece of the Spectre (who was masquerading as the West family dog) to become incredibly powerful.... I'll be honest, I'm a bit lost. This run by Simon Spurrier hasn't been great for me.

Guess we'll see what happens next time.

[S. Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wally West wants some family time, but it turns out that family time for the Flash family means heading into the centre of the world to try and stop a big bed evil guy. Or does it?

Flash is another one I've not really spent much time with in the past, but I have to admit I did enjoy this one. It's a bit silly, but sometimes silly is good, and in this case, it's just the right sort of silly. And Foxy is a very good boy.

[L · Rating 3 out of 5]

What's fun with Spurrier is that you think it will be a fun little trip and you end with a "End of the Universe" story.
I still am not very interested in Wally West and his super-powered family, but there is a dog. I love dogs.

[Andres Pasten · Rating 3 out of 5]

entretenida, sale del enredo de volúmenes anteriores

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75. Trippier than it needs to be. Foxy is a nice addition to the family.

[George Zakka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still unfortunately a lackluster run, hopefully the setup of this arc leads to a much better next volume.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story and interesting new direction for the character!

[Will Cooper · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt this one was too all over the place.

[Skum Back · Rating 2 out of 5]

no clue whats going on, is this the flash or power rangers???

[Scotts Shelf · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of you already know The Flash is my favourite hero. Specifically Barry Allen, though I’m not opening that debate here! I’m also more than happy to read about Wally, and I’ve generally enjoyed what Spurrier’s done with him so far.

That said, I’ve started to struggle with this third volume. I can’t quite put my finger on why. Maybe it’s because this is the only DC: All In title I’m following, so I’m missing some wider context? Barry Allen suddenly has no powers and seems perfectly content about it. There’s a new family dog who’s apparently been there forever (but also… hasn’t?). And Eclipso’s conflict with Darkseid left me scratching my head.

On top of that, Wally’s powers are getting really complicated. He’s no longer just the fastest man alive... He’s tapping into multiple forces, splitting into duplicates, shifting between planes… it’s a lot. These new abilities still don’t feel clearly defined, which makes it tough to stay grounded in the story.

The bright spot for me has been Jai’s development. I’m genuinely interested to see how his abilities evolve and where that’ll lead.

There’s one more volume left for Spurrier, and I’m hopeful now that Mark Waid has taken over, we’ll see a return to the Barry I know and love, powers and all.

[Ziyad Baksh · Rating 3 out of 5]

darkest before the dawn

a family vacation turns into juggling an old villian's scheme on Skartaris.

a fun read but also confusing due to overuse of technobabble.