The Flash: Wally West Gives Barry Allen His Own Parallax Moment - CBR - Comic Book Resources

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Future State: The Flash #2 by Brandon Vietti, Dale Eaglesham and Mike Atiyeh, on sale now.

With Future State in full motion, Future State: The Flash hits the ground running in setting up a dark future for DC’s favorite speedsters. In the first issue of this miniseries, the Flash and his family come to grips with the possession of Wally West at the hands of the entity known as Famine, the Horseman of the Apocalypse.

And in Future State: The Flash #2, the possessed Wally West reveals that he's been feeding on Barry Allen's hope in restoring Wally, and he's been feeding on the fading hope of the other speedsters as well, not unlike the way that the Parallax entity fed on the fears of Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern.

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At the start of Future State, Barry Allen, Jay Garrick, Avery Ho, Max Mercury,and Bart Allen infiltrating the headquarters of Checkmate in search of the Thinker’s old Thinking Cap. Their speed stolen by Wally, the heroes have been gathering the weapons of the Rogues as a part of their plan to free him, with the Thinker’s Cap as the next item on the list.

While they successfully retrieve the helmet, Impulse is killed in the conflict. Bart’s death all but shatters any remaining morale the team has, adding to the five years of tragedies that began after a possessed Wally stole their speed and murdered his cousin, Wallace West. Refusing to give up on their family, Barry, Max, Jay, and Avery use modified Thinking Caps built by Barry to connect their minds through the Speed Force, allowing them to find Wally and help him shake off his possession. However, this interaction allowed the Famine entity to feast on the fading hopes of the remaining speedsters.

They find Wally’s body in Japan butchering the villainous King Snake and draining his life force as Wally’s mind—now a separate entity—looks on in horror. Without control, the creature is free to use his body as a lure to string the rest of the Flashes along, fueling their despair as he forces them to watch their loved one become a monster. The Flashes escape, losing Jay in the process and leaving Max and Avery horribly shaken up. The rest of the family was already hesitant to help Wally after everything he’d done, and now, after everything that's happened, Barry’s no longer the same hopeful hero he’s always been. By the time of Future State: The Flash #2, Barry's vibrant hope and once-large support system has been reduced to one man's last, deserapte hope to save his friend.

Wally West has been through the wringer, and this latest murder spree is just another page in this dark chapter of the fan-favorite Flash. But while this may be Wally’s first encounter with a fear-sucking monster, fans of the DC Universe have come to expect this sort of thing ever since the introduction of Parallax.

Both stories center on fan-favorite heroes that were overwhelmed by a malevolent entity, causing them to act out of character before turning on and killing their greatest allies. Both disasters result in a lack of willpower and hope for the afflicted heroes, tarnishing their once-great reputations in the process. But while the Parallax possession was centered around a brief emotional weakness in Hal Jordan, Famine is having a different effect on the Flashes.

Wally may be the one possessed, but Barry, Wally’s mentor, is paying the heaviest emotional toll. Just as Hal was a symbol of willpower and courage, Barry is seen as a symbol of hope, always inspiring the Flash Family and their allies with a sense of optimism rivaling even Superman’s. But after Wally’s possession, the theft of his speed and the deaths of Wallace, Bart and Jay, Barry's life is now in shambles thanks to Famine, mirroring Parallax's corruption of Hal's world. The Flash loses his hope, just as Green Lantern could no longer overcome great fear.

Whether or not Wally manages to break free of Famine’s possession, the damage has been done to the Flashes' morale. Considering the grim note that the story leaves Barry on, there's no telling if there's any real hope left for the Fastest Family Alive.

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About The Author

Tristan Benns (57 Articles Published)

Tristan Benns is a freelance writer, grad student, and lifelong geek. He's worked as a tutor, an editor, and even a salesman in a comic book store. If he isn't asking you about your feelings on the Oxford comma, he's probably asking you to name your favorite Green Lantern. Then he'll tell you why it should be Hal Jordan.