Written by: Jeff Lemire
Art by: Nick Robles
Colors by: Adriano Lucas
Letters by: Tom Napolitano
Cover art by: Nick Robles (Cover A)
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: December 17, 2025
First Impressions
The opening pages establish menace through Elenore's calm delivery, and the Rogues' combat against Heatwave crackles with urgency. Yet immediate questions surface: Wally is a super speedster, so why does he feel cornered? Why doesn't his signature ability provide tactical escape routes? The issue signals high stakes while simultaneously gutting the character's core advantage, creating cognitive dissonance that undermines tension rather than amplifying it.
Recap
In Absolute Flash #9, Barry Allen and Wally infiltrated Fort Fox to locate Rudy West, discovering that Project Olympus ran far deeper than anticipated. The Rogues, led by Captain Cold, redirected the mission toward their own agenda. Jesse Quick's betrayal triggered explosions and forced retreat. The bombshell arrived when Elenore revealed that Wally was the missing component to an interdimensional machine capable of reopening the "Still Point," a gateway Barry had discovered decades earlier. Thawne had manipulated Barry's protective instincts, using Wally as leverage for purposes far larger than anyone imagined. The issue ended with the team converging on Project Olympus' core, primed for catastrophe.
Plot Analysis
The issue opens with Elenore confronting the captured Rudy West inside Fort Fox, systematically dismantling their hopes for extraction. She explains her grandfather's decades-long work, Barry Allen's complicity from the beginning, and Wally's irreplaceable role in reopening the Still Point after her grandfather sealed the interdimensional doorway shut. Her ultimatum arrives with calculated clarity: Snart and his Rogues forfeited their lives by choosing to go rogue. Lisa seizes a moment of character agency, standing against James Jesse and refusing submission. The confrontation fractures into open combat when Heatwave's arrival triggers a temperature spike that incinerates everything, forcing the Rogues into tactical retreat despite their superior numbers.
Wally navigates deeper into Fort Fox with Grodd as unlikely protector, searching for Rudy West amidst escalating chaos. Their conversation provides emotional scaffolding; Wally admits his relationship with his father has eroded since his mother's death, grounding the story in genuine loss rather than spectacle. Grodd echoes the sentiment, revealing his own distance from Barry, which transforms their mission from mere plot mechanics into something human-scaled. When they discover Project Olympus involves human-animal hybrid experimentation, Wally's guilt intensifies. He realizes he's been instrumental in uncovering something forbidden, and worse, something his father helped build.
The climax accelerates into visceral chaos mixed with cosmic horror. Heatwave's power surge overwhelms every countermeasure; even Lisa's ability to absorb thermal energy fails to contain the output. The Rogues face decimation with no reinforcements visible. Then something impossible happens: multiple versions of Barry Allen's voice echo through the facility, calling Wally's name. Grodd desperately runs toward the sound only to encounter something that isn't entirely Barry anymore. The issue's final pages collapse into interdimensional nightmare where Thawne's grandfather persona manifests with unsettling presence, declaring that "there can be only one" while Wally finds himself transported to an unknowable space. The final line, "Welcome Home," suspends readers in cosmic dread.
Writing
Jeff Lemire orchestrates controlled escalation through much of the issue, with dialogue that crackles with specificity rather than exposition. Elenore's threat carries weight through emphasis on her grandfather's historical connection rather than emotional rage. The Rogues' banter remains characteristically sharp; Lisa's defiance reads as earned because Lemire planted seeds throughout the series. Pacing accelerates methodically through the Heatwave encounter, building toward a breaking point where chaos becomes comprehensible. The fundamental weakness emerges in character logic rather than prose mechanics: a super speedster should not find himself cornered in a facility by non-powered adversaries. Wally's speed is barely acknowledged as tactical advantage, which either means his abilities are severely restricted (unmentioned) or the threat is artificially constructed. This undermines credibility. The final act sacrifices clarity for atmosphere, collapsing into interdimensional weirdness without grounding. Multiple Barrys, overlapping voices, and Thawne's manifesto arrive in rapid succession, leaving readers momentarily disoriented rather than purposefully unsettled. The structure holds across four pages, but that finale demands rereading to parse intent from execution, and repeated rereads shouldn't be necessary for comprehension.
Art
Nick Robles maintains visual coherence despite narrative descent into body horror and interdimensional physics. Panel layouts guide the eye through Heatwave combat with precision; foreground action remains legible against background chaos through smart use of white space. Adriano Lucas' colorwork operates in distinct registers: clinical sterility of Fort Fox in cool blues and grays, violent reds and oranges erupting with Heatwave. That tonal shift through color becomes storytelling tool itself. When cosmic elements arrive, Lucas shifts into ethereal purples and spectral effects communicating "wrong" without narration. Grodd's final desperation is conveyed through body language and positioning; his small frame surrounded by institutional scale amplifies vulnerability. The hybrid experimentation reveal handles restraint rather than gratuitous excess, allowing discomfort to emerge from implication.
Critical weakness: background details in the underground facility blur together, occasionally making spatial relationships unclear during chase sequences. This repeatedly disrupts comprehension and requires second looks to orient yourself within the space. During sequences where Wally should be moving at super speed, the facility's size and layout should work in his favor, yet he appears as constrained as any non-powered character would. Visually, this undercuts his speed advantage; Robles doesn't establish sightlines or spatial dimensions that would explain why a speedster feels trapped.
Elenore emerges as a complex antagonist, transitioning from mad scientist to calculated inheritor of her grandfather's legacy. Her motivation connects to genuine historical weight rather than generic power-hunger. Wally's character arc accelerates dramatically; learning his father's involvement fractures his certainty. He moves from willing infiltrator to horrified pawn, and this emotional trajectory lands because Lemire established his relationship with Rudy as emotionally distant before revealing its dangerous dimensions.
Character Development
Elenore emerges as a complex antagonist, transitioning from mad scientist to calculated inheritor of her grandfather's legacy. Her motivation connects to genuine historical weight rather than generic power-hunger. Wally's character arc accelerates dramatically; learning his father's involvement fractures his certainty. He moves from willing infiltrator to horrified pawn, and this emotional trajectory lands because Lemire established his relationship with Rudy as emotionally distant before revealing its dangerous dimensions.
Yet Wally's core characterization as a super speedster becomes inconsistent. If he can access his speed in other contexts, why doesn't he attempt velocity-based escapes through Fort Fox? If his speed is somehow nullified or restricted, that deserves explanation, not silence. This inconsistency weakens character believability. Grodd functions as emotional center, but his protective instinct toward Wally creates internal conflict that reads authentic. Lisa's defiance might register as isolated development, but Lemire planted her arc across the series. Captain Cold remains tactically sound but compressed; the Rogues function as ensemble rather than individual protagonists, which serves structure but leaves them less explored. Secondary characters like Digger receive minimal development beyond functional roles.
The merging of quantum mechanics, interdimensional horror, and personal family trauma remains potent and unexplored in Flash comics. Lemire's premise that Wally serves as literal bridge between dimensions rather than purely metaphorical hero adds conceptual freshness. The human-animal hybrid experimentation touches horror conventions without becoming derivative; it's body horror inflected with scientific purpose. The cosmic entity manifestation risks familiar territory but carries enough unique detail to differentiate itself. However, execution falters when character capability consistency crumbles under narrative pressure. If Wally is a speedster valuable enough to anchor Project Olympus, he should demonstrate why through action; instead, he's repeatedly positioned as cornered and unable to escape a non-powered opposition, which either contradicts his established ability or suggests he's not the threat the story claims he is. The "Welcome Home" final line succeeds as unsettling punctuation, but it arrives attached to plot mechanics that don't hold internal scrutiny.
Absolute Flash #10 delivers strong emotional character work in Wally and Grodd's father-centric conversation, transforming potential filler into thematic machinery. Elenore's calculated villainy distinguishes her through multigenerational family history rather than personal revenge. Lisa's defiant moment signals the ensemble isn't merely reactive. The Heatwave combat sequence maintains visual clarity through smart color usage and panel composition. The tonal shift toward cosmic horror registers atmospherically, and the "Welcome Home" final line succeeds as genuine unsettling punctuation without explanation.
The core power-scaling contradiction undermines nearly everything built around Wally's supposed value. A super speedster should not be easily cornered by non-powered adversaries in a facility setting, yet the issue presents him as trapped and pursued without acknowledging how his speed becomes neutralized. This inconsistency transforms tension into logical frustration. The final act abandons clarity for cosmic weirdness; multiple Barrys and Thawne's grandfather manifestation arrive too rapidly without sufficient grounding. Grodd's character function vanishes in the climax, leaving his fate ambiguously unearned rather than intentionally mysterious. Background details in underground sequences sacrifice spatial clarity, making it difficult to track character positioning during pursuit. While the issue compresses secondary characters into tactical roles, the fundamental problem remains character capability contradiction: either Wally's speed works or it doesn't, and the story can't have it both ways without explanation. That absence of explanation is a structural failure, not an acceptable ambiguity.
Originality and Concept Execution
The merging of quantum mechanics, interdimensional horror, and personal family trauma remains potent and unexplored in Flash comics. Lemire's premise that Wally serves as literal bridge between dimensions rather than purely metaphorical hero adds conceptual freshness. The human-animal hybrid experimentation touches horror conventions without becoming derivative; it's body horror inflected with scientific purpose. The cosmic entity manifestation risks familiar territory but carries enough unique detail to differentiate itself. However, execution falters when character capability consistency crumbles under narrative pressure. If Wally is a speedster valuable enough to anchor Project Olympus, he should demonstrate why through action; instead, he's repeatedly positioned as cornered and unable to escape a non-powered opposition, which either contradicts his established ability or suggests he's not the threat the story claims he is. The "Welcome Home" final line succeeds as unsettling punctuation, but it arrives attached to plot mechanics that don't hold internal scrutiny.
Positives
Absolute Flash #10 delivers strong emotional character work in Wally and Grodd's father-centric conversation, transforming potential filler into thematic machinery. Elenore's calculated villainy distinguishes her through multigenerational family history rather than personal revenge. Lisa's defiant moment signals the ensemble isn't merely reactive. The Heatwave combat sequence maintains visual clarity through smart color usage and panel composition. The tonal shift toward cosmic horror registers atmospherically, and the "Welcome Home" final line succeeds as genuine unsettling punctuation without explanation.
Negatives
The core power-scaling contradiction undermines nearly everything built around Wally's supposed value. A super speedster should not be easily cornered by non-powered adversaries in a facility setting, yet the issue presents him as trapped and pursued without acknowledging how his speed becomes neutralized. This inconsistency transforms tension into logical frustration. The final act abandons clarity for cosmic weirdness; multiple Barrys and Thawne's grandfather manifestation arrive too rapidly without sufficient grounding. Grodd's character function vanishes in the climax, leaving his fate ambiguously unearned rather than intentionally mysterious. Background details in underground sequences sacrifice spatial clarity, making it difficult to track character positioning during pursuit. While the issue compresses secondary characters into tactical roles, the fundamental problem remains character capability contradiction: either Wally's speed works or it doesn't, and the story can't have it both ways without explanation. That absence of explanation is a structural failure, not an acceptable ambiguity.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
Follow @ComicalOpinions on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TwitterThe Scorecard
Writing Quality (Clarity and Pacing): [2.5/4]
Art Quality (Execution and Synergy): [2.5/4]
Value (Originality and Entertainment): [1/2]
Final Verdict
Absolute Flash #10 builds ambitious thematic architecture atop a foundation of internal contradiction. The emotional character work is genuine, and the cosmic horror elements arrive with real menace, but these positives rest on character logic that collapses under scrutiny. A super speedster repeatedly cornered by non-powered enemies without explanation is a credibility killer that no amount of atmospheric pacing can fully repair. For readers willing to overlook power-scaling inconsistencies in service to plot momentum, the emotional stakes and visual spectacle will satisfy. For readers who expect character abilities to function consistently as established, this issue asks too much suspension of disbelief.
6/10
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