Flash Proves He’s Way Better as a Mentor Than a Father - Screen Rant

Warning: contains spoilers for The Flash #774!

Wally West just proved that, as the Flash, he's a fantastic mentor to the next generation of speedsters, but he's still learning the ropes when it comes to being a father and keeping his kids out of trouble. Thankfully, his daughter Irey proves a quick study, even without the powers she inherited from her famously fast father, and doesn't need his help to come up with a plan to save the day.

The action of The Flash #774 finds Wally and Irey slowing down for an evening, planning to attend their first father-daughter dance together. Unfortunately, their plans for the evening change when they discover most of the populace of Central City has fallen asleep, thanks to a new Flash villain who dubs himself Dr. Nightmare. Luckily, the gas he utilizes to put the city to sleep doesn't fully affect speedsters like Wally and Irey. Their connection to the Speed Force keeps them awake, but they are stuck moving at normal speed.

Naturally, as a father, Wally's first instinct is to try and keep Irey out of harm's way. Unfortunately, Irey has taken his words on how to be a hero to heart and repeats his words back to him, saying that he has repeatedly told her there is more to being a hero than having powers, and that he wanted to teach her that lesson. Unable to argue with himself, Wally takes Irey with him into the fight.

There is some deep irony in seeing Wally West, who got into the hero business at a young age as the first Kid Flash, being forced to corral a daughter who is as stubborn and impatient as he was. Thankfully, Irey also proves to be as smart as her old man, quickly figuring out the source of Dr. Nightmare's power to make nightmares come to life is the helmet he put on other people. She also comes up with a bold plan to turn the tables on Dr. Nightmare by stealing the helmet and using it to bring her own heroic dreams to life, despite her dad's worries that using the helmet might be too dangerous.

In the end, Dr. Nightmare is defeated, and Wally and Irey finally get to dance together in Paris, with their powers restored. The learning experience proves that Irey is an apt pupil ready for the responsibilities of being a superhero and that Wally West is quite the teacher, even when he doesn't mean to be. (In one cute moment, when Wally asks Irey how she got to be so brave, and she replies "From watching you.") However, while he may be a great mentor, the Flash is equally inept when it comes to fulfilling his responsibilities as a father and keeping his daughter out of danger - ultimately, Wally West will always struggle to keep his family safe, since he spends every day teaching them the merits of running towards danger to help others.

More: Flash's Happy Ending Just Got a Dark Twist (That Most Fans Missed)

The Batman Is Reviving One Of Burton's Best Dark Knight Tricks

Related Topics

About The Author

Matt Morrison (1647 Articles Published)

Matt Morrison has been writing about comics since before the word "blogging" was coined. He got his start writing for the legendary DC Comics digital fanzine Fanzing, before receiving his own column, The Mount. Since then he has gone on to write for over a dozen websites, including 411 Mania, Comics Nexus and The Cult of Nobody. He holds both an MS in Information Science from the University of North Texas and a BFA from the University of Texas at Arlington. Known as a font of comic book history trivia, he has delivered lectures on the history of American Comic Books, Japanese Manga, Doctor Who, and Cosplay at over a dozen conventions and served as an Expert In-Residence for a course on Graphic Novels for Librarians at the University of North Texas. In addition to his work for Screen Rant, Matt is currently the Editor In Chief of Kabooooom.com and writes reviews for No Flying, No Tights – a graphic literature and anime review site aimed at teachers and librarians. He also maintains a personal blog – My Geeky Geeky Ways – which hosts his extensive episode guide for the television series making up The Arrowverse as well as his comedic Let’s Play videos. What little spare time he has is devoted towards acting, role-playing, movie-riffing and sarcasm. You can follow his adventures on Twitter, @GeekyGeekyWays.

Search

Flash Proves He’s Way Better as a Mentor Than a Father - Screen Rant

0 Response to "Flash Proves He’s Way Better as a Mentor Than a Father - Screen Rant"

Post a Comment