Written by: Mark Waid, Christopher Cantwell
Art by: Vasco Georgiev
Colors by: Matt Herms
Letters by: Buddy Beaudoin
Cover art by: Dan Mora (cover A)
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: January 28, 2026
First Impressions
This issue left me frustrated and deflated, like watching someone promise an exciting ending and then cut to black right when things matter. The concept of Bart Allen becoming the Speed Force itself should be breathtaking; instead, it feels rushed and hollow, as if the writers crammed a story arc into 20 pages and hoped we wouldn't notice the seams.
Plot Analysis (SPOILERS)
Wally West steals a flight ring from the Legion of Darkseid and races to Barry Allen's lab to stop the Legion from disrupting Barry's origin and destroying the Speed Force. Dream Girl, the Legion's clairvoyant, breaks ranks and tries to help, but the plan falls apart when Saturn Girl and her team prevent Barry's lightning strike from landing, causing Wally to intercept the bolt instead. The Speed Force nearly dies protecting Wally, abandoning him and everyone connected to it. Bart Allen, weakened and powerless in the present day, realizes the Speed Force is being "murdered" and borrows Iris West's car to reach the lab and help.
In a collision of timelines, Bart communicates with the dying Speed Force and discovers he himself is the Speed Force, not just someone connected to it. Jay Garrick, partially trapped as a statue after his DC KO tournament fight, guides Bart to reignite the Speed Force from within his own body. Bart transforms into something more eternal and helps Wally and Barry survive the Legion's assault. The issue ends with Darkseid's voice warning Bart that Barry is destined to die during the "Great Crisis" and that if Bart tries to change that fate, everything collapses, which sends Bart chasing a time bubble to try to save his grandfather anyway.
Dream Girl vanishes with promises to meet again at the end, leaving the speedster family battered and facing an impossible choice about destiny itself.
Writing
The pacing is the biggest casualty here. Everything moves at warp speed without breathing room for emotional stakes to land. Wally's internal conflict about being a carbon copy takes up valuable pages early, but by the time Bart becomes a cosmic entity, we've got maybe three panels to process what that actually means before the action pivots to fighting Darkseid's goons. The dialogue tries to balance humor with urgency, but it mostly comes across as quippy filler, especially "I don't have a hat" when the Speed Force is literally dying. Crucial information about Bart's transformation happens in exposition dumps from Jay Garrick that feel clunky and explain-heavy rather than earned through action or discovery. The structure abandons setup for immediate payoff, leaving readers confused about whether this is the climax or just another chapter in a longer story. The final cliffhanger about Barry's destined death feels tacked on, designed purely to force urgency into next issue rather than organically grow from this one.
Art
The visual storytelling remains consistent, with Vasco Georgiev delivering clean action sequences and readable panel layouts. However, the most critical moment, Bart becoming the Speed Force, relies almost entirely on dialogue rather than visual spectacle. When Bart should be transforming into something cosmic and awe-inspiring, we get mostly close-ups of faces and cryptic visuals of "shards" and "paths." The color work by Matt Herms keeps the speed-force moments looking appropriately ethereal, but the overall visual presentation doesn't elevate the emotional weight of what should be a transformative moment. The art succeeds at clarity but fails at conveying the magnitude of what's happening on the page.
Character Development
Bart's arc has real bones: a kid who lost his powers discovering he is the power itself is thematically strong. But we don't earn it. Bart moves from sick and confused to cosmic entity in about five pages without any internal struggle or growth. Wally's carbon-copy crisis is never resolved, just abandoned when the Legion shows up. Barry contributes almost nothing to his own story; he's mostly a background concern to be protected. Dream Girl's heel turn lacks justification; her line about seeing how things end is interesting but underdeveloped. Jay Garrick's appearance as a ghost mentor figure should carry weight, yet it plays as a convenient plot device rather than a earned callback. No character feels like they've learned or changed by the end of the issue, only displaced by external events.
Originality & Concept Execution
The idea of a speedster being the Speed Force itself rather than merely channeling it is fresh conceptually, but the execution abandons that idea before it can breathe. Instead of exploring the philosophical implications, the issue treats it as a power-up button to continue the fight sequence. The Darkseid/DC KO tournament framing gets paid lip service but never integrated meaningfully into this story. The "Impulse Control" subtitle suggests themes about choice and constraint, yet Bart's biggest choice happens entirely off-page within narration boxes. The comic promises exploration of destiny versus free will with that final cliffhanger but hasn't earned the emotional investment required for that question to land.
Positives
The issue's strongest element is Dream Girl's defection and her mysterious knowledge of the ending. Her line "I have chosen my own path away from our master" creates genuine intrigue and suggests larger stakes than the immediate fight. The core concept of Bart Allen being the Speed Force incarnate has real potential and could retroactively justify his appearance in multiple timelines. Visually, the battle sequences are clear and easy to follow, and readers never lose track of who's fighting whom. The connection between Bart's speedster family (Barry, Wally, Jay) across time creates genuine emotional resonance when properly framed, even if this issue doesn't quite nail it. Jay Garrick's appearance adds nostalgic weight for long-term readers, providing a sense of legacy.
Negatives
The pacing destroys any chance of emotional impact; everything feels rushed and transactional. Bart's transformation into the Speed Force lacks visual or emotional climax, happening mostly in dialogue and narration instead of shown action. The constant cliffhangers and scene-jumps make the issue feel like a middle chapter masquerading as a conclusion, leaving no sense of accomplishment or narrative closure. The dialogue leans heavily on quips when the moment calls for gravitas. Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy remain faceless villains with no character work, making them feel like obstacles rather than threats. The final twist about Barry being destined to die is deployed as narrative blackmail rather than a genuine discovery, designed to hook readers into next issue rather than serve this story. For a 4-5 dollar investment, the lack of resolution is frustrating.
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 Twitter
The Scorecard
Writing Quality (Clarity & Pacing): [2/4]
Art Quality (Execution & Synergy): [3/4]
Value (Originality & Entertainment): [0.5/2]
Final Verdict
The Flash #29 is a case of ambition outpacing execution, with concept ideas that could anchor a compelling story buried under rushed pacing and narrative scaffolding that prioritizes setting up next issue over delivering this one. You're paying premium comic prices for a climax that doesn't climax and a revelation that's treated as a plot device rather than a character moment. The Speed Force concept deserves better; Bart Allen deserves better; and your wallet deserves better than a 20-page setup masquerading as a complete story.
5.5/10
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