Warning: SPOILERS for The Flash #2
DC has officially revealed its first look at the brand-new character the Stillness, an alien threat that’s expanding the Flash’s world like never before. Wally West has always had his own unique connection to the quasi-mystical Speed Force, but these cosmic beings are challenging everything he’s ever known about that mysterious “place.”
In new preview pages for The Flash #2 by Si Spurrier and Mike Deodato Jr., the Stillness make their official first appearance in the DC Universe. As the preview pages show, these “alien explorers” are massively tall and glowing creatures, each seemingly filled with a different colored light. They’ve taken a distinct interest in the Flash, but not much else is known about these strange cosmic entities — at least, not before this issue hits stands on October 24th. Check out the solicitation and preview pages for The Flash #2 below:
THE FLASH #2
- Written by SI SPURRIER
- Art by MIKE DEODATO JR.
- Cover by MIKE DEODATO JR. and TRISH MULVIHILL
- Variant covers by MIKE DEODATO JR. and BJORN BARENDS
- 1:25 variant cover by JAMES HARREN
- 1:50 variant cover by MATT TAYLOR
- Artist Spotlight variant cover by GABRIELE DELL’OTTO
- $3.99 US | 32 pages | Variant $4.99 US (card stock)
- ON SALE 10/24/23
- As Wally West faces massively powered-up old foes as well as a new, mysterious being, he encounters a group of alien explorers who are very interested in Wally’s powers (which continue to glitch).
- Also, something seems to be literally bubbling up in Keystone City, as the new era for the Scarlet Speedster continues!
The Flash Encounters Cosmic Beings Known as the Stillness
The Flash has recently relaunched with a new #1 and a new creative team led by Spurrier and Deodato. This new take on Wally West and the Flash Family promises to add a cosmic horror element to the typically sci-fi world of DC’s speedsters, especially after Wally’s powers and connection to the Speed Force begin painfully glitching. As for the Stillness, Spurrier calls them, in a statement released by DC:
explorers, of a sort. These ineffable entities stretch our understanding of what it is to be a sentient being in this universe, existing in multiple planes of reality and enjoying – let’s say – a mischievous relationship with time and space. Their understanding of what we know as “the speed force” far exceeds that of any existing Flash or earthbound scientist, hence their enigmatic (and dire) assessment of Wally West’s abilities. And yet, more worrying still, is that for all their immeasurable power their main goal is to attract the attention of an even higher form of life.At the lofty cosmic levels of beings like the Stillness, mundane concepts like “good” and “evil” don’t have much meaning. That these creatures have even stooped to notice a mere human, like Wally West, is extraordinary.
With the introduction of the Stillness, Wally West’s world — and especially the Speed Force — has become just a little more unknowable. It’s certainly interesting to see the Flash grapple with what are, essentially, interdimensional aliens. Though the Flash often encounters people and creatures with strange powers (Gorilla Grodd comes to mind), Earth’s speedsters rarely come face-to-face with true-blue aliens, especially those that seem to be this powerful. And while the Speed Force has always been on the strange side, it can always stand to get stranger, and a shake-up of Wally’s well-settled powers is always an interesting conflict — especially when it comes with a cosmic-horror twist.
The Flash’s Relationship to the Speed Force Is About to Change
The Flash is facing conflict on every level in his new series, from the interpersonal to the cosmic. The Stillness are about to change everything Wally and DC Comics fans know about the Speed Force. With their uncanny design and the inherent threat of their existence, anything could happen next for the Flash; one can only hope he’ll survive the experience.
Check out The Flash #2, available October 24th from DC Comics!
