Warning! Preview pages ahead for The Flash #9!The Flash’s latest upgrade is slowly pushing the Fastest Man Alive down a dark and dangerous path. Wally West is missing and the DC Universe is rapidly falling apart. To make matters worse, Barry Allen’s mind is being corrupted by his greatest nemesis and it’s putting Flash’s entire world in danger.

In a preview for The Flash #9 by Simon Spurrier, Ramon Perez and Vasco Georgiev, reality is falling apart at the seams, but Barry can’t focus on anything in his mind other than the Crown of Thawnes, a hive-mind of billions of Reverse-Flash variants that has been placed into the Flash’s brain.

The Crown of Thawnes cruelly taunts the Flash and ominously tells him that all things end. Before Barry knows what’s happened, he’s at his home, watching his fiance Iris West. The Reverse-Flash demands that Flash hurt Iris, but Barry hangs onto his senses long enough to run away.

The Flash’s Mind is Being Poisoned By His Worst Enemy

Several of the Flash’s worst enemies have come together and are being led by an unknown presence. Gorilla Grodd, Folded Man, Mirror Master, and Abra Kadabra have been tormenting the Flash Family, primarily Wally West. At some point, they infected Barry with a sinister weapon they called the Crown of Thawnes. This parasitic collection of Reverse-Flashes corrupted Barry’s mind and made him attack Wally, leaving him stranded somewhere in the SpectraVerse. With Wally out of the picture, Flash’s enemies began making bolder attacks on the DC Universe. They even reinfected Flash with the Crown of Thawnes to keep Barry occupied.

Whether it’s Eobard Thawne or Hunter Zolomon, no one in the DC Universe hates the Flash Family more than the Reverse-Flash. This latest development makes it clear that the Crown of Thawnes is a countless number of Reverse-Flash minds all tangled together. And what would be the one thing someone like Thawne wants more than anything? Dragging down the Flash, of course. The Crown is already talking up the idea of hurting Iris and even managed to put him in proximity to Barry’s love. How much longer until the Crown corrupts Flash’s mind and makes Barry do something he regrets?

Flash Has to Ditch the Crown of Thawnes Immediately

The Flash has tried, and failed, to get rid of the Crown of Thawnes before to no avail. But as chaos continues to mount in the DC Universe, people need Barry to be on his A-game, especially with Wally nowhere to be found. If Flash doesn’t get the Crown of Thawnes purged from his mind soon, the evil whispers uttered by thousands of Reverse-Flashes could make Barry do something truly awful, perhaps even to someone he really cares about. Hopefully, the Flash can find some way to get the Crown off before it destroys him for good.

The Flash #9 is on sale on May 28th from DC Comics.