Warning: SPOILERS for The Flash #791There's a new alien enemy invading Earth, and they have the perfect weapon against the Flash and other speedsters: a giant wall. One Minute War is putting the entire Flash Family to the test, and this anti-speedster wall is one of their toughest problems.
All speedsters, including the Flash, have standard superspeed powers, but the DC Universe's speedster characters are unique in their connection to the quasi-mystical Speed Force, which imbues their bodies and mind with incredible speed and other abilities. The new One Minute War event plans to make ample use of this connection as the Flash Family confronts their new enemy: the Fraction, an invading alien force. Though readers don't yet know everything about the Fraction, it appears as though they, too, have a connection to the Speed Force. This new enemy has crash landed on Earth, and now the Earth's speedsters, as the only characters fast enough to even move during the invasion, are the planet's only defense against the mysterious Fraction.
Because this new enemy has knowledge of the Speed Force, however, they also have plenty of defenses against the speedsters' usual powers and abilities. Kid Flash and Impulse encounter one such (massive) defense in The Flash #791 by Jeremy Adams, Roger Cruz, Wellington Dias, Luis Guerrero, and Rob Leigh. The two young speedsters encounter a massive wall right after they're caught in the initial impact of the Fraction's arrival. Kid Flash tries to run up and over the wall, but can't and describes it as "frictionless." Impulse then tries to vibrate through the wall—a unique speedster power that normally comes naturally to him in particular—but ends up crashing right into it, face first.
The Flash Family Will Have Serious Trouble Taking Down the Fraction
Seeing as speedsters—and especially the Flash—are deceptively some of the most powerful heroes in the DC Universe, it's rare for them to encounter an enemy ready to counteract their specific powers. The Fraction's wall seems to defy the kind of physics the Flash's powers usually rely on—or the wall works under a completely different kind of physics unique to the Fraction. In any case, something as innocuous as a giant defensive wall could be the key to taking down the Earth's speedsters; it's certainly giving Kid Flash and Impulse a literal run for their money.
One Minute War is already off to an explosive start, seemingly killing off a key Flash Family member and putting all the speedsters in a genuinely difficult situation. While readers can expect the Flash and his allies to figure out some of the Fraction's secrets and mysteries, it's hard to predict just how they will literally overcome this anti-speedster wall—which is what makes it the perfect challenge and the perfect tool for the Flash's new enemies.
Check out The Flash #791, available now from DC Comics!