The Flash: A Nightmarish New Villain Targets Wally West's Daughter - CBR - Comic Book Resources

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Flash #771 by Jeremy Adams, Kevin Maguire, Howard Porter, Berat Pekmezci, Bryan Hitch, Max Raynor, Scott Kolins, Tom Derenick, Fernando Pasarin, Oclair Albert, Brandon Peterson, Michael Atiyeh & Steve Wands, on sale now

The Flash will introduce Dr. Nightmare, a new villain who has his sights set on none other than Wally West's daughter, Irey.

According to Issue #774's description, readers will see "bad dreams come to life" as Wally accompanies Irey to a "daddy/daughter dance," where the new villain will strike. The cover depicts the two suited up as The Flash and Impulse, with Wally shielding his daughter from a horde of zombies.

THE FLASH #774

Writer: JEREMY ADAMS
Artist: CHRISTIAN DUCE
Cover: BRYAN HITCH
Variant Cover: JORGE CORONA
$3.99 US | 32 PGS | $4.99 US VARIANT (Card Stock)
ON SALE 9/21//21
Introducing Dr. Nightmare!
Bad dreams come to life and lead to chaos on the streets of Central City on the same night the Fastest Man Alive attends a daddy/daughter dance. Side-by-side with his super-powered daughter, Wally must not slow down, or they risk falling victim to the man named Dr. Nightmare.

It seems this new villain has the ability to bring a person's nightmares into the real world, which does not bode well for Irey. This is reminiscent of the popular Batman villain Scarecrow, one of the primary antagonists of the current Batman storyline who uses chemical agents, as well as simple scare tactics to terrorize the public.

Wally West is very protective of his family and does not take kindly to threats towards them. During the DC Rebirth era, his wife did not remember him and his children had never existed, the resulting emotional pain causing him to lose control of his powers and kill several heroes during the Heroes in Crisis event. His marriage and children were only recently returned to the DC timeline during the Flash Forward mini-series.

In the current arc of the series, "Blink of an Eye," he was ready to give up the mantle of the scarlet speedster, even asking fellow Flash, Barry Allen, to strip him of his powers. He wanted to spare his family of any more pain that comes with him being a hero. However, during the attempt, Wally was thrown into the Speed Force once again, except this time, he has been living moments of time in the bodies of other speedsters, a notable few being Impulse (Bart Allen), Jay Garrick and the Reverse Flash.

In The Flash #771, Wally lands in the body of his son, Jai, in the middle of a conversation with an adult Irey. She explains to him that she knows what he is going through, before donning the Kid Flash suit from the popular Kingdom Come series, revealing that neither her father nor the rest of the family leave the hero life behind. This Irey also claims that she "might be stronger in the Speed Force" than her father ever was.

Despite this future, present day Irey has not harnessed the Speed Force and developed her powers as well as her future self yet. Therefore, handling Dr. Nightmare on her own will be challenging, so Wally will have to put himself on the line to keep her safe.

KEEP READING: The Flash Throws Wally West Into a Fan-Favorite DCAU Plotline

Source: DC Comics

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Sean Gribbin (4 Articles Published)

Sean is a Weekend Comic News Editor for CBR. His typical trip to the comic store always follows the same sequence: promising to limit how many issues he will buy, seeing them on the shelf, and buying them all anyway. Aside from comics and superhero TV/movies, Sean also enjoys musicals (both movie and stage), classic rock, stand-up comedy, and podcasts.