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"Issue One: Strange Attractor": After the One-Minute War, Max Mercury and Impulse attempt to travel into the future, but as they reach the time barrier, Max has a vision of a huge buffalo with three hunters closing in on it. They crash into the time barrier and bounce off it, landing injured bac

Quote1 You know how some heroes have like a-- brain guy? Nerdy type, dishing out gadgets and advice. Strictly subordinate. Mine is my boss. Quote2
The Flash (Wally West)

The Flash (Volume 6) #1 is an issue of the series The Flash (Volume 6) with a cover date of November, 2023. It was published on September 26, 2023.

Synopsis for "Issue One: Strange Attractor"

After the One-Minute War, Max Mercury and Impulse attempt to travel into the future, but as they reach the time barrier, Max has a vision of a huge buffalo with three hunters closing in on it. They crash into the time barrier and bounce off it, landing injured back in the present. Max believes that the vision was a message from the Speed Force: "Help me. It hurts."

In Central City, Wally West battles a band of gorillas with high-tech weapons who call themselves the Askari. However, he can tell something is wrong as tapping the Speed Force is causing him pain. The Askari create stasis bubbles that imprison thirty civilians and send them shooting off into the sky. Wally is about to confront the gorillas when another speedster runs between them and knocks the Askari down. The Askari recognise is as the "Indigo Streak", which they have encountered before. The streak veers wildly all over the street, smashing into breaking things, before disappearing. The streak smashes into a wall and a civilian falls from a second storey window. Wally catches her, but then momentarily phases out of sync with reality and she drops from his arms to the ground. Gorilla Grodd appears wearing new gear, revealing that he is the leader of the Askari. They teleport away, but before they go Grodd cryptically offers Wally his condolences, telling him that breaking up is the purest pain.

At the West's home, Linda is having trouble adjusting to being a full-time mother. She feels unfulfilled and bored without her work; and isolated from the rest of her family as she no longer has powers or is part of their adventures. However, Wally is oblivious to Linda's feelings. After Wally and the kids leave, pipe music begins to play through the house.

At Terrifitech, a mysterious figure known as the Inspector tells Mister Terrific that the Speed Force has become unstable and threatens to destroy all of reality. He casually suggests murdering every speedster on Earth just to be safe, much to Holt's horror. Mister Terrific is sure there is another way but the Inspector tells him that the "strange attractor" is a fixed point that exists outside normal space and time and can't be changed. Wally comes in to work and the Inspector warns Terrific not to tell Wally about him.

Mister Terrific tells Wally that Grodd has attacked four sites so far and kidnapped other people, and even attempted to capture Jay Garrick recently. He asks Wally if he has noticed any fluctuations in the Speed Force and Wally claims he hasn't, despite the pain and the momentary slips in strange alternate realities he has been experiencing ever since his encounter with the Mirror Master a month ago. Holt says that the readings they have been getting from the Speed Force lately make no sense, almost like it is trying to be contrarian. Wally assures Terrific, and himself, that the Speed Force is a power for good and they need to keep faith in it.

At school, Jai gets called to the principal's office but does not return by second period. Irey sneaks out of class to look for him, and after a super-speed search finds him crying in the boiler room with his shirt off. After they leave, a tiny figure appears in the boiler room.

The Askari attack again and form a shield wall around a seemingly random spot to allow an unseen "asset" to perform some kind of calculations. Wally responds and fights Grodd, but finds that his enemy is somehow able to move fast enough to dodge his blows and even strike back. Wally momentarily phases into another universe when Grodd hits him, and when he returns the "Indigo Streak" zooms in. The Streak turns out to be a boy named Chad who tries to attack Grodd, but the force of his punches are not enhanced by his speed like Wally's are, and so Grodd is unharmed. Grodd creates a stasis bubble around Chad, but it is clear that something is going wrong as Chad begins to warp and twist. Grodd and most of his forces teleport away, leaving a soldier named Nahodha to make sure Wally doesn't try to stop what is happening.

Chad says that he "took too much" and, to both Wally and Nahodha's disgusted horror, his body seems to blow apart and reforms into a red figure covered in spikes.

Appearing in "Issue One: Strange Attractor"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

  • Bradley (The Wests' schoolmate) (First appearance)
    • Bradley's dog (First appearance; unnamed)
  • Central City Police Department
  • The Deep Change (First appearance; unnamed) (In a vision)
  • The Indigo Streak (Chad) (First appearance) (Apparent Death)
  • Mathshrooms (Realm of Fungal Geometry) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
  • Mr. Sinnet (First appearance)
  • The Widows/"Cosmic Spiders" (First appearance; unnamed)
  • Clifford Baker (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
  • God (Mentioned only)
  • Gods (Mentioned only)
  • Gremlins (Mentioned only)
  • PJ Holt (Real name revealed) (Mentioned only)

Locations:

Items:

  • Gorillas' Gauntlets (First appearance)
  • Hermes' Helmet (On a TV or computer screen)
  • Psychic Flayer (Mentioned only)
  • Velocity 9 (Behind the scenes)

Events:

Concepts:

  • Animated Homunculi (First appearance; unnamed)
  • Fixed Point in Time (Mentioned only)
  • The Red
  • Strange Attractor (Mentioned only)
  • Time Travel (Mentioned only)

Notes

  • This issue also carries the legacy numbering of The Flash #801.
  • This storyline continues from the "Between Love And You" story from The Flash #800 which takes place one month before the events of this .



See Also


Links and References

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