Flash Introduces the Grossest Anti-Speedster Contingency in DC History (Arachnophobes Beware)

Warning: SPOILERS ahead for The Flash #7

The Flash is one of the most powerful characters in the DC Universe’s already stacked pantheon. With his connection to the Speed Force giving him access to incalculable speeds and the new ability to shift through the layers of existence, there’s very little that Wally West and his fellow speedsters can’t handle. But unfortunately for the Flash, speedsters aren’t the only power in the multiverse – and they have a new natural predator.

The Flash #7 by Simon Spurrier and Ramon Pérez catches fans up with Max Mercury and Impulse as they are rescued from the realm of Ickto by the Linear Men. Debriefed by Inspector Pilgrim, the duo meets the Linear Bureau of Investigation, described as a group of time cops — who then capture the heroes using one of DC’s creepiest anti-speedster “weapons” yet.

Unfortunately, the heroes also meet the Bureau’s greatest weapon against speedsters – tamed cosmic spiders – when the dark truth of their rescue is revealed. With beasts like these at their beck and call, the Linear Men are a greater threat to the Flash and his family of speedsters than anyone realizes.

The Flash Should Definitely Have a Natural Predator Like These Spiders

Speedsters Are Reality’s Most Dangerous Creations

Once the speedsters are immobilized, these giant arachnids manage to web and capture both Max and the former Kid Flash faster than they can even process. Yes, the Linear Men had already used their time travel technology to place them in a limited stasis, but that stasis must wear off eventually. If these cosmic spiders are powerful enough that they can giftwrap and contain some of the fastest beings alive for a seemingly indefinite period, then they’re far more dangerous than anything the members of the Flash Family regularly face — and for good reason.

With unfathomable speed and near-complete control over their molecular structures, the Flash and his fellow speedsters are inherently dangerous on a cosmic scale. Despite the weapons of many of the Flash’s most dangerous Rogues, if the Scarlet Speedster ever snapped and truly went all out, there’s very little that could defeat him. But the Speed Force is a naturally occurring phenomenon within the DC Multiverse, and as such, the Multiverse is also going to have natural predators should the Speed Force’s users ever get out of line. It just so happens that these predators are massive cosmic spiders.

The Flashes Are Too Dangerous to Be Left Unchecked

But Are DC’s Checks and Balances Too Creepy?

The Flashes are some of DC’s greatest heroes, but the speedsters are also some of the DCU’s most dangerous superpowered beings. It’s no wonder that the universe would create a natural defense for some of its wayward children, but these Lovecraftian horrors are surely more disturbing than anyone was expecting. Should Wally West come face to face with the cosmic critters containing his family, then the Flash will have to prove that two legs are better than eight.

The Flash #7 is available now from DC Comics.