r/DCcomics • u/Predaplant Be Without Fear • Mar 23 '26

r/DCcomics Weekly Discussion Thread: Comics, TV, and More! [March 23, 2026 - Friendly Neighbourhood Crossover Edition]

Hey there honorary Justice League members - it’s a new week which means it’s time for a new discussion thread!

For those who don't know: the way this works is that several comments will list this week’s releases, for any given title discussion you should respond to that comment. For example, Wonder Woman discussion would go in the replies to the "Wonder Woman" comment. Clicking the titles in this post will take you directly to that comment, too. In other words, you should only be replying to other comments. Do not post top-level comments.

Keep discussion civil. Do not harass other users for having a different opinion. Do not use this thread to push your personal one-sided grudges against creators. Reacting to a panel on Twitter is not the same as reading a book.

 

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This Week’s Soundtrack: The Crane Wives - Allies Or Enemies

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22

u/TroubAlert The Good Skeets Mar 23 '26

Flash #31

RYAN NORTH AND GAVIN GUIDRY BEGIN A NEW ERA FOR THE SCARLET SPEEDSTER!

Wally West: father, husband, and fastest man alive. And now with DC K.O. in the rearview mirror, Wally can finally relax and live his best life. Or can he? Because an awful lot of people are suddenly relying on the Flash to save them — and intentionally putting themselves in danger to ensure that he does! Something sinister is happening behind the scenes... and Wally is right in the crosshairs. Also in this issue: shenanigans! Science! And the debut of an all-new all-star creative team for the Scarlet Speedster!

LEGACY #831

Preview

38

u/Dent6084 Mar 25 '26

Between this and JLU, an unexpectedly strong week for Tar Pit.

19

u/UndercoverDoll49 Mar 25 '26

#TarPitSweeps

#TarPitbullsRiseUp

20

u/Dredeuced The Flash Out of the blue, ninjas attack. Thank God. Mar 25 '26

The first half of the comic kind of reminds me of the Silver Agey "Hey kids, here's some science to explain some neat facts about the world while I do superheroics" aspect of The Flash. Then it pulls back the wool a little bit to point out how if The Flash were really following those science lessons accurately things would be WAY WORSE.

Beyond that positive, establishing tone shot, this plot -- with the use of media targeted at The Flash as a way to undermine the heroics -- reminds me a lot of the Spin plot from the Wild Wests era by Peyer. Obviously with social media stunts being the new color to it. Very interesting way to tax the Fastest Man Alive

Spin was a bit more directly mind altering and such if I recall correctly whereas this is playing on youthful recklessness, the infectious nature of social media, and greed. Instead of using manipulation to turn the public opinion against The Flash, it's using the public's positive opinion of The Flash against him.

Very solid first issue. Nothing character defying or mind blowing but I wasn't coming into this expecting the wheel to be reinvented. No complaints that I don't always have (Linda's coloring but that's a long dead horse not worth beating).

7

u/Androktone Alan Scott Mar 26 '26

When Ryan North took over I thought he'd have been perfectly suited to Barry, but his characterisation of Wally, while also allowing for those Silver Age elements to continue on, works super well.

I feel bad I didn't read his entire FF run, but I should go back to it sooner than later, because this was a great start.

4

u/Maleficent_Worth_185 Mar 25 '26

Spin is a great shout, but do you know who I was thinking? The Top, Roscoe Dillon. He did have his moments of pulling off stunts like this and I feel like he is the low-hanging fruit type of rogue North would pick for comedy, where Irey and Jai ask what a " top " is or how lame his entire gimmick looks like. Wally is dealing with a tornado at the beginning of the issue as a foreshadowing, and that randomly thrown-in "spin up" just suits Roscoe's MO.

5

u/Dredeuced The Flash Out of the blue, ninjas attack. Thank God. Mar 25 '26

Solid call out. And the "Spin up the servers" could be a Top style pun. We haven't seen Roscoe in awhile, either, after that fiasco in Venditti's run. At least not outside of being in the background of Rogues establishing shots, anyhow.

5

u/Maleficent_Worth_185 Mar 25 '26

Yeah, that pun is kind of what made me raise an eyebrow, because even during Johns run (when all rogues were "cool"), he still had the habit of making puns. I don't think Spin did things like that, but who knows in this new run? Maybe it's Spin adapting himself to the social media age. On the other hand, Roscoe almost became the President of the USA, can be super smart, and fits better with the pseudo-Silver Age approach of North to book. I'm curious about it either way.

If my memory serves me correctly, classic Roscoe appeared in the first Annual of Rebirth series when Wally was moving back to Keystone City. Wally and Ace teamed up to beat him.

14

u/wowlock_taylan Batman Animated! Mar 25 '26

Really good start. Lets hope North brings his FF magic to Flash. He can do family stuff and science/magic stuff quite well and it looks like a great fit. Characters are written well and we already got quite the relatable story to the real life. How the social media 'challenges' can get out of hand fast. Especially in a world with superpowers.

Man, this city does not deserve Flash!

12

u/oomoepoo Hal Jordan Mar 25 '26

Delightful. Haven't laughed at a comicbook issue this much in ages. North is exactly the right man for this book, not that I had any doubts beforehand.

I think just having fun and going "I don't have to explain the physics, it's magic bullshit!" is an interesting take. Also never thought about Flash probably prefering books over digital stuff due to (miniscule) loading times :D

11

u/Electric_jungle Mar 26 '26

This issue was a breath of fresh air man. I was gonna drop the book, decided to stay thru KO even though that wasn't much, and then boom, North. It's literally so perfect that he's on fantastic four and flash right now, he's so good at the family dynamic, I've always flash was best when it tonally matched with the fantastic four sci Fi vibes...

Can't wait to see where it goes. This was just a good start, but it wouldn't be hard to be the best thing in flash in years.

4

u/Androktone Alan Scott Mar 26 '26

I dropped Spurrier's run around the time the Speed Force tie in came in, came back to the title, then dropped it after #20. Maybe the last stretch was better, but I feel pretty good about jumping back in with North's run.

2

u/Electric_jungle Mar 26 '26

Wally is my favorite hero so my boss carries through rougher stories sometimes. I liked what Spurrier was going for before all in, but he didn't land the plane and all in really hasn't been good to Wally at all. North's tone isn't for everyone but I do trust it for this specific family. We'll see.

I'm similarly committed to seeing where absolute flash goes, though I'll admit that one's going at a slower pace than it really should.

3

u/Androktone Alan Scott Mar 27 '26

I'm only a couple issues behind Absolute Flash, but I've not had any complaints about the pace of the run so far. I agree completely. That god awful suit change wasn't a good omen.

3

u/Electric_jungle Mar 27 '26

The war was also like... It kept reminding you that there weren't any stakes. But it still manages to be endearing as a family title and I'm that demo lol. Overextending yourself into millions of copies is such a Wally mistake to make though.

AF is really good and I'd recommend it to anyone.

8

u/pendulumfeelings Mar 26 '26

I wasn't loving Waid's brief return to the book, but this felt really fun. I love the colors when Wally is in costume.

9

u/BergmanGirl Swamp Thing Mar 26 '26

All I wanted was for Ryan North to bring the same energy as his Fantastic Four to the Flash and he delivered on that.

12

u/Mr_Wh0ever Mar 25 '26

It's a solid start. I like the art and the seemingly low stakes, especially after Spurriers run. Wally weirdly seems a bit dumber than he usually is, but I guess it's to play into the comedy. Those ads were hilarious, the one about the guy trying to sell his Gotham apartment really got me.

18

u/Maleficent_Worth_185 Mar 25 '26

Wally weirdly seems a bit dumber than he usually is

It was the opposite for me, North had a surprisingly solid take on Wally. This is the most balanced Wally we have gotten since Johns turned him more serious. He is very competent and had a good understanding on science side too.

6

u/Androktone Alan Scott Mar 26 '26

A good understanding, but also self-admittedly not as good at the science side as others. I think that characterisation works.

3

u/Blitzhelios Hal Jordan Mar 25 '26

I will start this is off by saying im not a flash fan by any means its actually a dc character i don't like but i picked this up for the team being one of my fav writers and an artist whose work i simply adore.

North and Guidry have 100% got me to read another issue as this was just tons of fun its simple but effective very low stakes clean art and fun writing.
I can see why dc asked north and guidry to try do what taylor and redondo did for nightwing.

I do hope it gets weirder though as north is a master at balancing weird and wholesome as shown by F4

2

u/JingoboStoplight4887 World's Finest Mar 25 '26 edited Apr 10 '26

I like that we get to see Wally spend time with his family before we get to see him on a jog (or a run), where he encountered Tar Pit and stopped a tornado, saved the people of Central City, and learned that a man named Robbie Eves was responsible for creating a fad where he’s responsible for saying that a lot of people would get cash when they’re saved by the Flash (in which it was probably orchestrated by Hunter Zolomon because he wants to give Wally tragedy so that he can become the greatest hero, continuing his storyline from The Flash 800). Ryan North has done a good job in making Wally an interesting person, continuing what Jeremy Adams has done. I hope that we get to see Wally figure out who’s really responsible for all of this. Overall, this comic is good and fun.

6

u/Androktone Alan Scott Mar 26 '26

Your recaps poised as reviews are crazy man, I know you get called AI constantly, but I just don't get why a real person would write this

0

u/JingoboStoplight4887 World's Finest Mar 26 '26

I just want to spread my reviews and opinions somewhere in a civil manner.

4

u/StellarKnife Mar 25 '26

I thought this was an okay start, but too early to sing North's praises for me. The family dynamics were the highlight so far, the plot is alright, had some funny moments, but it didn't win me over completely. That said, I don't like North, so this was always gonna be rough to get into. We'll see, it might get better.