Warning: SPOILERS for Batman: Last Knight on Earth #2
The Flash family may be famous for cheating death, or attaining a ‘higher level of existence’ through the mystery of the Speed Force, but now that the fates of Barry Allen, Wally West, and Jay Garrick have been revealed… perhaps death would’ve been better.
Fear not, Flash fans: Barry and Wally are still alive and kicking in the current DC reality. But in the grim future of Batman: Last Knight on Earth, the Justice League fell when mankind rose up against them. While Wonder Woman survived to lead what remains of humanity below the surface, the mortal heroes were torn to pieces. Unfortunately for The Flash, the chilling third option has now been discovered by Batman, proving that there are things much, much worse than death for a DC speedster.
The ‘final story’ that Bat-Legends Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo have to tell, Batman: Last Knight on Earth shows what happens when Bruce Wayne is the last hero left, fighting back against doom. He’s too late to save the people, the land, or his fellow heroes. And when he stumbles across a ‘Speed Force storm’ in Issue #2, Bruce learns he’s too late to save his friend, The Flash. Well, any of them.
It’s the Joker’s head Batman is carrying with him that offers an explanation for what Bruce is witnessing (we don’t have the answers, so don’t bother asking how). Calling it an aforementioned ‘Speed Force storm,’ the red tornado fires out electricity that instantly turns Batman’s horse to dust–perhaps better than the alternative, de-aging it instead. But before Bruce or readers can ask why The Flash would allow such a storm to wreak havoc on the landscape, the calls for help are heard loud and clear. Barry Allen, Jay Garrick, Wally West, and Bart Allen are the storm itself, crying out in agony and begging Batman to save them.
In a book so far filled with haunting imagery, this bleak vision of the nightmare speedsters endure in Batman: Last Knight on Earth’s future may take the cake. Certainly for any speedster fan who hoped that becoming one with the Speed Force would be a peaceful experience… as opposed to torture. Yet another reason fans will line up for the final issue of Last Knight on Earth, hoping Batman can defy the odds one last time.
Batman: Last Knight on Earth #2 is available now at your local comic book shop, or direct from DC Comics.
BATMAN: LAST KNIGHT ON EARTH #2 (OF 3)
Written by: Scott Snyder
Art by: Greg Capullo
Inks by: Jonathan Glapion
Colors by: FCO Plascencia
Cover by: Greg Capullo
Bruce Wayne wakes up in Arkham Asylum. Young. Sane. And…he was never Batman. So begins this sprawling tale of the Dark Knight as he embarks on a quest through a devastated DC landscape featuring a massive cast of familiar faces from the DC Universe. As he tries to piece together the mystery of his past, he must unravel the cause of this terrible future and track down the unspeakable force that destroyed the world as he knew it…
The world has been destroyed, and Batman is on a quest to find out who’s responsible. But when villains from his past begin to complicate things for the Dark Knight, he finds an unlikely ally in a place known as “the Plains of Solitude.”
MORE: Will The FLASH Survive The Death of DC’s Speed Force?
