Wally West's life has gotten complicated to say the least. He's been arrested for murder after suffering a mental breakdown and killing several heroes, pulled back into the Speed Force, and now, has apparently become the new Doctor Manhattan. If that weren't enough, it seems that Wally is being targeted by the Batman Who Laughs! Now, the Flash family is pulling out all the stops to save their friend.
Dark Nights: Death Metal Speed Metal #1 (written by Joshua Williamson with art by Eddy Barrows and Eber Ferreira and a cover by Howard Porter) will show the efforts of the speedsters to save Wally and stop the Batman Who Laughs from gaining the powers of Doctor Manhattan. The one-shot will place after Dark Nights: Death Metal #3 alongside two other one-shots - Dark Nights: Death Metal: Trinity Crisis and Dark Nights: Death Metal: Speed Metal.
Described as a "drag race from hell", the one-shot will see the various speedsters allied with one goal - to save Wally West, perhaps from both himself and the Batman Who Laughs. Fortunately, Wally West has not one, not two but three Flashes in his corner. Barry Allen, the current, Flash will lead the trio, with an assist from Wally's alternate timeline counterpart Wallace West, the current Kid Flash, alongside the Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick. Unfortunately, the Batman who Laughs is never to be outdone, and the cover seems to indicate the four Flashes (including Wally) on the run from dozens of what look to be zombie Flashes, who are apparently the Lightning Knights. The cover also shows Batman Who Laughs looming large in the background. All of the Flashes are boosting new costume updates, fitting Death Metal's hard rock post-apocalypse.
The one-shot looks to be a thrilling race for Flash fans, and it's awesome to see so many generations of the character in play here, including fan-favorites West and Garrick. Given that Wally was last seen trying to finish Doctor Manhattan's work of resetting reality, it seems likely that Wally West will play a big role in Death Metal, or perhaps, undoing the twisted reality the Batman Who Laughs has unleashed altogether. While the story is somewhat limited in how much ground it can cover in a forty-eight-page one-shot, the stage has been set for an awesome race between the forces of good and evil. Just who will cross the finish line remains to be seen.
Dark Nights: Death Metal Speed Metal #1 is in stores on September 22, 2020.