Knight Terrors: The Flash #1 // Review
Wally West is wounded. Seriously. Given what he’s capable of withstanding, it’s pretty ominous that he would be able to be seriously injured. He was up against a gorilla with a spear...Of course, the gorilla was named Grodd, and that spear? It was the Spear of Destiny. All of this would be really ominous if it wasn’t in a dream. That doesn’t mean that it’s not dangerous in Knight Terrors: The Flash #1. Writer Alex Paknadel weaves a clever horror story that is channeled to the page by artist Daniel Bayliss and colorist Igor Monti. Paknadel puts together a remarkably sophisticated story that manages a very clever perspective on the mind of a scientist who just happens to be the fastest man alive.
Even in dream, there’s no reason why Wally West couldn’t have dodged the Spear of Destiny. He speaks to Barry in his hospital bed. Evidently, Wally felt a problem with the power. There was a monster in the lightning of the speed force that slowed him down. Could have been some kind of hallucination. Could have been something real. There was ONE other person who was there at the time...and he’s a large gorilla who is being held in a maximum security facility...
Paknadel’s writing is refreshingly smart and articulate. Barry Allen isn’t always given credit for being the clever scientist that he is...even in the pages of his own book. Paknadel allows Barry to be a resourceful investigator while allowing the reality of the dream world he’s in to slowly seep in around the edges in a strangely warped sense of peripheral drama. It’s very magnetic storytelling that feels sharp and sophisticated...even if it’s only a simple investigation into a crime that hasn’t really happened outside of the realm of nightmare.
Bayliss and Monti keep the emotional end of the conflict solidly grounded in a sober reality. This isn’t exactly easy given the fact that the villain is a large gorilla and the investigation happens to involve powerful energies in a world of very dramatic physics. There are a lot of beautiful peripheral visuals. The power signature of Doctor Fate sticks out of the hospital where Wally lies in critical condition as Barry and Iris talk, and it’s just...kind of poetic in its own way. The sudden trip to the Justice League orbital station is given a breathtaking kind of reality as well. For a single issue, this particular Knight Terrors crossover feels beautifully sweeping in its momentum. Bayliss and Monti capture that beauty admirably.
Barry’s heroism comes across quite vividly. Paknadel even allows him a chance to completely mess with the speed force if it will allow him to save the life of Wally. There are some truly touching moments in an issue based on a dreamlike reality that rests beyond the tapestry of DC’s tattered continuity to speak to something a bit more real and emotionally resonant. It’s impressive stuff.
