Absolute Flash (2025-) #1

Absolute Flash (2025-) #1

by Jeff Lemire, Nick Robles (Artist)

Without the mentor…without the family…without the Speed Force, what’s left is the Absolute Scarlet Speedster!

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

36 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 19, 2025

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Jeff Lemire is a New York Times bestselling and award winning author, and creator of the acclaimed graphic novels Sweet Tooth, Essex County, The Underwater Welder, Trillium, Plutona, Black Hammer, Descender, Royal City, and Gideon Falls. His upcoming projects include a host of series and original graphic novels, including the fantasy series Ascender with Dustin Nguyen.

Reviews

[hater ★ · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved how the story starts!!! can’t wait to keep reading this run :))

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starring the mopey Kid Flash!



So Wally is your average angry teen who, it appears, has been yanked from place to place by his military scientist dad. He's wandering around in classified areas when he meets up with Barry Allen, a chill science guy who befriends him, right before his dad breaks up the party and kicks him out of the facility.



ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!
Something explodes, spoilery stuff happens, and somehow Wally has Speed Force powers.
Now, everything is being told backward and forward and I don't know if that's going to end up being cool or just plain annoying.
We'll see.

OMG!ISTHATCAPTAINCOLD?!

[Lili°❀⋆⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚ (hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

the absolute runs are some of the best things DC has given us in awhile

[ComicBookCult Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

See, I was hopeful on this one. The Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman first wave has rounded out as a solid show of talent now that all 3 have finished their first arcs.

This issue was great in terms of artistic talent, with Nick Robles on art & Adriano Lucas on Colours, it just seems like a perfect fit for The Flash, bright colours, beautiful scenery, fluidity and some chaos, which pairs well with the muted tones where the characters are static.

In terms of writing, it isn’t bad, it’s just good. The story jumps and judders, I understand this is our introduction but some level of context would be preferred. It jumps and flops about and at times makes little sense and feels cluttered.

I was left wanting more, a few extra pages, something with a bit of oomf. I understand they don’t want to put all the cards on the table one issue in, but apart from the art side, nothing really grabbed me. I’ll give issue #2 a whirl and hopefully that picks the pace up a bit.

[tyrosine · Rating 4 out of 5]

GOOD BUT I NEED MORE

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid but not great start. Good art, good characteristics for Wally, but the jumble narrative can be confusing. However, excited to see the future of this series. I have a feeling it's gonna get stronger as we go on.

[sofs · Rating 5 out of 5]

me encanta me encanta me encanta

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short but fast-paced.

[Machiavelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid enough start—intriguing mystery, decent art, and a good Wally voice—but it doesn’t match the energy or memorable characters of other Absolute titles quite yet.

[Murphy C · Rating 4 out of 5]

12/5/25

[Luca Mendes · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s fun.

[Lilli W. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the art, especially the bold yellow and red coloring in some panels. There were two typos. The story seems interesting with the nonlinear plot, but Wally is a bit more angsty than I would like. This is the first comic I've read in DC's Absolute line.

[James B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the emphasis on using red and yellow. typical flash comic, you're left with lots of questions and very few answers.

[Zoey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m already so excited about this one. Barry Allen is dead, and now Wally can only run from the guilt. However, unlike the canon universe, it doesn’t seem like he’s running fast enough.

[Abel Allwein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!!! I am very new to Flash, but omg I think one of my new favorite characters has gotta be Wally West. From what I have heard about Jeff Lemire as a comic writer, he seems to be very good at writing/portraying mental health issues in his work and this lived up to the hype.

The first three pages hooked me immediately from the art style to Wally’s character design (he is very trans-masc coded imo) to it being a cyclical narrative (aka starting with the aftermath of a big event and then going back) to his overlapping thoughts.

I NEED to know what happens next.

[Carrietta · Rating 3 out of 5]

O ritmo tá muito corrido (flash reference?) e essa última página: "1 ano depois" muito ruim, sendo que no cap dois vai voltar pra onde tava como eu vi aq, não faz sentido mostrar isso agora, já que já tá fazendo esse lance de passado e futuro. não me cativou tanto igual os outros.

[Lmaoo.Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

amo a wally west

[ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

jiji qué diver leer cómics de nuevo <3 estos me los voy a coleccionar

[MPM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adore the character design and the broken timeline elements. I love Wally already and am excited to continue with this series!

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

GOD THIS WAS SO GOOD. THE ART, THE PACING, THE CHARACTERIZATION. WHY HAS THIS GOT SUCH MID REVIEWS THIS IS THE MOST APPEALING AND INTERESTING A FLASH STORYLINE HAS BEEN SINCE YOUNG JUSTICE. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!

[Haris Kozo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid

[Ariana Lim · Rating 5 out of 5]

First off I heard this was Wally and got like 100x more excited to read this. This is a such a cool take on Wally, I love the art and am intrigued to see what happens next to the scarlet speedster.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounded down to 3 stars.

Absolute Flash #1 is a DC Comics issue written by Jeff Lemire, art by Nick Robles, and colors by Adriano Lucas.

Teenager Wally West is just trying to survive in the middle of nowhere after his military father has moved them again. After witnessing top secret government experiments he was not supposed to see, Wally is on the run for his life.

This first issue’s story is very disjointed, jumping back and forth through time. I think it will be much easier to read when it’s eventually collected in a trade paperback. The art in the book is incredible though: bright and vibrant colors, unique page layouts, beautiful scenery, fun character designs, fluid action, and so much more. Even if the story doesn’t pick up, it should at least be a fun book to look at.

[Jacob Robert Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great start I think! The Absolute line of DC characters is my first time diving into single issue comics, so I’m not quite sure what to expect. I’ve never really gotten into the Wally West character, but I’m enjoying this fresh take with the mullet and earrings. His “suit” so far looks awesome, and the visuals were overall superb! The back-and-forth story telling was a little cliche, but I bet it’ll make a lot more sense once further issues come out.

I’m trying out Batman and Flash so far, but I plan to check out all of them when I get the chance. I’ll try to read and write reviews for each as long as I have time and can afford it!

[Cybernex007 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful start, I especially love that we are keeping everything regarding flash and time and what went down especially confusing. This issue opens up in the aftermath of something terrible as Wally descends from his super speed in the middle of the desert. He doesn’t seem control of his powers in the slightest and it’s like the speed force is jumping out of him.

As he calms down and slows everything down around him we then jump back to two days ago. Wally West is 15 years old at this point and has no friends. He is a military brat who is forced to travel around with his dad, and his mom used to be the one there for him to calm him down..but she has since died. It’s crazy to think that in just 2 days the weight of the world and something that sends a very young Wally West spiraling will occur. As soon as Wally walks back in the dark to the current military base he is staying at he is stopped to give his ID to the guards. But that’s where Dr. Barry Allen sees him and walks him through to have a chat. Everyone knows the base knows that Wally’s dad will have a fit if he catches him out this late…but Barry seems something else. A smart kid bored out of his mind…so Barry asks if Wally wants to see something cool. Isn’t that how all crazy things start?

He brings Wally over to the mountain where they have an underground base and lab where Barry introduces Wally to Project Olympus. Immediately I think about the gods of Olympus and wonder if Wally’s speed has anything to do with Hermes. But I digress, as Barry really can’t say anything about the project other than the groundbreaking they are making everyday. But he might be able to share more if Wally comes and works part time every once in a while. But Wally’s dad would never agree…and overhearing the conversation that is one thing Colonel West does agree with…absolutely not letting Wally work down there and he shouldn’t be there in the first place. After a quick argument, Wally is sent to bed and Barry is left quite defeated.

We cut back to the present where we find Wally regretting everything that has happened to this point out in the desert. He regrets going with Barry and mentioning that he should have run when he had the chance. But it seems that he is about to regret it even more, as he looks on the horizon he sees an all terrain vehicle barreling towards him…with a giant boomerang flying overhead tracking him. Barry runs for the hills and retreats to the caves. It seems in this universe the rogues are working for and outfitted by the military. This squad consists of Harkness (captain boomerang), Lisa (golden glider with some awesome turbo boots), Jesse (is this the trickster?), and they are all lead by a buff Captain Cold who makes it very clear they want Wally alive.

As Wally runs deeper in the cave he couldn’t believe his father would send them after him. Which just goes to show he already knows who they are. As Wally’s speed picks back up we see him start to lose control again…as we are thrust to a day ago. That next day Wally’s dad came to visit him to talk about the previous night. He admitted that he is worried, what they are working on is dangerous and he doesn’t want Wally anywhere near it…but he has a responsibility to be here. Wally is understandably upset, he has been dragged here and it seems like his dad isn’t showing him enough care. At the very least Barry saw potential in him. As Wally storms out into the rain he is suddenly stopped on his tracks by a trail of red doorways leading up to the mountain. As Barry follows them he makes his way into project Olympus where an alien hybrid looking monkey startles him and send him running when it jumps towards him in its enclosure. As Wally makes his way down the hall he suddenly finds himself in a testing chamber with red swirling lights, and Barry in the middle telling Wally to get away and run away!

We are thrust back into the present as Harkness and Cold chase Wally through the cave system…with Digger sending a boomerang after Wally. As the issue comes to a close we see Wally admitting that he messed everything up and no matter how far he runs it will never be far enough from what he did…he thinks he killed Barry Allen. And at the end of that same cave system we can see Barry’s Skelton wearing a flash suit. That test must have gone horrifically wrong. As the issue comes to an end we flash forward 1 entire year to the ruins of project Olympus as we see a hand phase through a reflective object and use the password “blue trinity” to access the computer files. Obviously this is mirror master and the files show some shocking things. A giant molten monster, Wally making friends with the weird monkey, more speed tests like the one Barry conducted, a city overrun by green apes…and Wally putting on the flash suit Barry was wearing. And we see left with a promise from mirror master that all of this will fall. What does he mean, do things work out for Wally?! I’m really excited!! Also that password, blue trinity. Not sure what that could refer to, but it reminds me of the three Russian speedsters that wore blue costumes and were called the same thing when the Russians tried to develop their own speed. Blue trinity was 10x worse than red trinity and I hope I’m right.

[Naseef]

No idea what is going on here but art is amazing and looks like it's setting up for some sick storylines

[Celina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fact that it is not about Barry Allan almost put me off, but the start was also better than the other less bigger 3.

[Paxton Holley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should have waited until a few more issues were out. This was good but I don’t know what the hell is going on and of course this explains nothing.

[Sam Larkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll admit it — going in, I was skeptical. How could normal-speed villains possibly threaten someone like Wally West, a teenager gifted with powers that let him run at supersonic, even near-light speeds? How could Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, or the Trickster be anything more than a brief blur in his rearview mirror?

But Absolute Flash #1 masterfully convinced me.

This issue doesn’t just showcase raw speed; it explores naïveté, inexperience, and the hidden mental limits that come with sudden, godlike power. Wally, only 15, isn’t just fighting external foes — he’s grappling with his own inexperience with the Speed Force. The creative team understands that raw velocity without control or understanding is a recipe for chaos, not invincibility.

What really impressed me is how the narrative balances the fantastical with the believable. We watch Wally fumble through situations where, logically, he should dominate, but his youth, overconfidence, or lack of finesse opens the door for “normal” villains to challenge him. It’s not just a fight of feet — it’s a fight of wits, adaptation, and personal growth.

And here’s the kicker for me personally:

> Just as Wally West is learning to harness the sheer, overwhelming power of the Speed Force, I’m learning to harness the overwhelming power of AI, especially ChatGPT.



Every breakthrough Wally experiences — every stumble, every moment of awe at his own potential — mirrors my own journey of mastering this technology. We’re both standing at the edge of something massive, something world-changing, and learning how to rise to the challenge.

I can’t wait to see where Absolute Flash takes Wally next. What happens when a boy learns to truly master unstoppable power? And more provocatively: how will the world react when it realizes it can no longer defeat him?

This isn’t just a superhero comic — it’s a metaphor for anyone grappling with newfound potential.

Absolute buy. Absolute 5 stars.