As Barry Allen and Wally West run into the Future State era, The Flash Family suffer some serious losses, as three speedsters meet grisly ends.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Future State: The Flash #1 by Brandon Vietti, Dale Eaglesham, Mike Atiyeh & Steve Wands, on sale now
The Future State era is already revealing some major changes that could be on the horizon for the heroes and villains of the DC Universe. Perhaps one of the most radical transformations is the fate of the Flash family, who now find themselves hunting down one of their former members — and losing many of their number in the process.
Over the course of Future State: The Flash #1, three speedsters — Bart Allen, Wallace West, and Jay Garrick — all meet gruesome, grisly ends.
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In the world of Future State, Wally West has once again turned against his fellow heroes. This is revealed to be a result of the mysterious force known as Famine, which has taken possession of Wally’s body. Using him, Famine is able to drain the speed powers from the other speedsters. Making matters worse, the corrupted Wally is revealed to have assaulted the Teen Titans five years previously — and used his powers to drain Wallace West of both his Speed Force connection and his life. All that the possessed Wally leaves behind is a withered corpse and a heartbroken rest of the family. The rest of the speedsters spend years trying to figure out how to defeat the corrupted Wally and restore him, even utilizing the weapons of the Flash’s Rogues to great effect.
Finally breaking into Checkmate, the group of former speedsters are able to confront their old enemy the Thinker and steal his helmet. This could be the key to reaching to Wally and finding out what power has taken over his body. But before the heroes can escape, Thinker is able to fire a laser blast at Impulse. The blast is strong enough to shatter the Rainbow Rider’s tech that Impulse was utilizing and send shards of light straight through Bart’s back, leaving the young hero to die in Flash’s arms. The death shakes the remaining speedsters, with Max Mercury and Avery Ho particularly affected by the loss of Bart. However, Barry refuses to let it slow him down fully, and he completes his modification of new thinking caps.