The Flash Barry Allen Reacts To Finding Out About Wally West's Death

In the latest issue of Heroes in Crisis, Barry Allen learned what fans have known for a month now: that his nephew and former sidekick, Wally West, was among those killed at the massacre at Sanctuary.

Sanctuary was a mental health facility for the metahuman community, created by Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, and designed to be fully anonymous and off the grid. References to Sanctuary were planted in various DC Comics throughout the year before September kicked off Heroes in Crisis, where fans got their first glimpse of the place -- in shambles, and surrounded by the dead heroes who had been there to seek help.

Harley Quinn and Booster Gold each believe the other did it, and Booster is beginning to question his own sanity and whether he may be the guy. Meanwhile, word is just now starting to get around to the metahuman community about just how bad things were.

Wally West being among the dead was not surprising; before Heroes in Crisis began, Tom King joked at Comic Con that it wouldn't be a "Crisis" without a "dead Flash." Promotional images later depicted a small group of fan-favorite heroes who were on the chopping block, and Wally appeared on the list.

In Heroes in Crisis #2, Booster Gold is still reeling from the events of Heroes in Crisis #1. He wonders aloud to Skeets whether he might actually be the killer, even though he does not believe himself to be, and he rattles off a list of names of the dead. All of this is happening while Barry Allen is nearby dealing with some minor villains, but when Booster gets to Wally's name, it attracts The Flash's attention.

Barry speeds off to Sanctuary to confirm what has happened, and when he returns, he slams into Booster fist first at the speed of sound. He demands to know what Booster did, and the next thing we hear is that he has taken Booster somewhere.

Barry will likely take the death particularly hard since it was his idea to send Wally to Sanctuary, following the events of the "Flash War" storyline and the revelation that Wally would almost certainly never get his wife and children back following the events of Flashpoint.

Expect that to be explored next issue; Barry appears, standing beside Batman, on the cover of Heroes in Crisis #3, due out on November 28.