The Flash: One Minute War Special #1 Review: Blink And You’ll Miss It

Crossover tie-ins always have a difficult road ahead of them when it comes to superhero comic books, as they need to justify their existence by supplying new information or a new perspective on what is taking place in the aforementioned massive event. While the very premise of The Flash‘s “One-Minute War” makes it impossible to touch on the vast majority of DC’s heroes, it’s the perfect springboard for a Flash Family event that sees speedsters, good and evil, reacting to a super quick threat to the world. 

The special issue focuses on several different members of the Flash family, including the Flash of China, Avery Ho, Wally’s children Jai and Irey in a far-flung future, the villainous Godspeed, and a look into the creation of the alien force knocking on DC’s door, the Fraction. Like so many comic anthologies, reviewing this issue comes down to breaking down each individual story and then culminating the different stories into one overall ranking. With Jeremy Adams writing all the segments, joined by a number of big DC artists, there are segments that definitely click while others are unable to cross the finish line in terms of justifying the need for their existence. 

The first segment, “Past,” is the one that might be considered the most important to the crossover series, as the story dives into how the Fraction was able to gain super speed and why they’ve been conquering worlds. Unfortunately, this story makes for one of the weakest of the special issue, as there simply aren’t many surprises when it comes to how the aliens found super speed and why they’re doing what they’re doing. “Past” could have used a bit more mystery or curveballs to make it a tad more engaging, and somewhat gets lost in its “boilerplate” methodology in breaking down the villains themselves. Effectively, the Fraction’s origin story is so straightforward that it almost feels like it was completely unnecessary to pull back any layers whatsoever.

The next story focuses on an ally of Wally West and Barry Allen in Avery Ho, the Flash of China, who is dealing with some problems immediately preceding the arrival of the Fraction, leaving her quite confused when her super speed kicks in and an alien invasion that only she is privy to has begun. This segment is one of the more humorous, as Avery attempts to figure out what is going on while simultaneously attempting to race to get her own soul back, simultaneously expressing her confusion and frustration as she goes to some hilarious lengths to get back what is hers.  

Chapter three’s “Present” is easily the best short story here, focusing on one of the Flash’s most powerful villains as he stalks the alien forces that have wandered into his domain. Artist Lisandro Estherren really deserves the major credit here for presenting a style that truly accentuates the horror of the story, while making readers feel bad for the invaders who are being picked off. There’s not a lot of meat to the bone in the third chapter’s story, but what it lacks in material, it makes up for in aesthetic and overall mood. If nothing else, this story is the one that should justify a purchase of this special issue. 

The “Future” chapter is perhaps the most interesting, giving us a look at both Jai and Irey long into their superhero careers, but it also makes for one of the more confusing entries. This final story incorporates time travel and multiverse shenanigans that might leave readers scratching their heads in attempting to figure out how to put all the pieces together and what this adds to the One-Minute War since it takes us to a far-flung future that most likely will never come to pass. 

Ultimately, there are some pieces of this moving tapestry that are worth eyeballing if you’re a diehard Scarlet Speedster fan, have been digging Jeremy Adams’ take on Wally West and family, and/or want to see more ancillary material to pad out the One Minute War, but at the end of the day, this does feel like material that isn’t a necessity in understanding the grand picture of the latest Flash crossover. With a $6.99 price tag to boot, this might be an issue that you can narrowly avoid at light speed.

Published by DC Comics

On January 31, 2023

Written by Jeremy Adams

Art by Fernando Pasarin, George Kambadais, Lisandro Estherren, and Serg Acuña

Colors by Matt Herms, Patricios Delpeche, and Rebecca Nalty

Letters By Rob Leigh

Cover By Serg Acuna