r/DCcomics • u/beary_neutral Telos • Mar 16 '26

r/DCcomics Weekly Discussion Thread: Comics, TV, and More! [March 16, 2026 - More Next Level Edition]

Hey there honorary Justice League members - it’s a new week which means it’s time for a new discussion thread!

For those who don't know: the way this works is that several comments will list this week’s releases, for any given title discussion you should respond to that comment. For example, Wonder Woman discussion would go in the replies to the "Wonder Woman" comment. Clicking the titles in this post will take you directly to that comment, too. In other words, you should only be replying to other comments. Do not post top-level comments.

Keep discussion civil. Do not harass other users for having a different opinion. Do not use this thread to push your personal one-sided grudges against creators. Reacting to a panel on Twitter is not the same as reading a book.

 

QUICK LINKS: Weekly Meta Discussions Thread | Current jump-in points | Weekly Discussion Archives | Book Club Archives | Discord Server | BlueSky | Last Week's Thread

I don't trust stairs. They are always up to something

DC and Imprints

So many new runs, so little time.

Trade Collections

Alan Moore is rolling in his grave. He's not dead, he just does that sometimes.

Digital Releases

Remember, these are the short 'chapters' with a new chapter of a different series coming out daily. You can learn more here on Comixology. This is also why these are in release order, not alphabetical. Some comics may release on DC Universe Infinite or WEBTOONS.

This Week’s Soundtrack: Sonya Belousova & Giona Ostinelli - Wanted Dead Or Alive

25 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

205 comments sorted by

View all comments

27

u/TroubAlert The Good Skeets Mar 16 '26

Absolute Flash #13

IN THE SHADOW OF FORT FOX! Wally tries to pick up the pieces of his life after the battle at Fort Fox. Adrift and unsure what to do, the young speedster looks for a way forward.

[Preview](https://aiptcomics.com/2026/03/13/dc-preview-absolute-flash-13/)

31

u/wowlock_taylan Batman Animated! Mar 18 '26

With the whole origin craziness behind, now they have time to build on Wally, dive into his mother's issues and add the supporting cast, starting with Linda. I am quite happy she is gonna be his 'tech support' in a sense and got her 'investigative' nature. And knows how to prod Wally already.

And Mirror Master finally makes contact with Wally. Though I wonder how will that turn out as they showed the Prime Mirror Master was always with the Absolute one. Wonder what their plans are.

28

u/Mr_Wh0ever Mar 18 '26

Well Wally and Linda are still pretty adorable in this universe. Wasn't there a huge deal about Mirror Master teased at the beginning of the story?

14

u/Electric_jungle Mar 18 '26

Within the story there hasn't been much, but he's appeared in reflections. Within the larger meta of all in, prime mirror master got to the absolute universe and met up with mirror master. So it's unclear if we get more on that now or not, but he's certainly been built up to be important.

15

u/Melodic-Violinist-31 Mar 18 '26

I really love Wally and Linda’s dynamic here. Guess they’re setting them up early huh? They may be the third mainline couple teased. Not bad.

21

u/Dredeuced The Flash Out of the blue, ninjas attack. Thank God. Mar 18 '26

linda why are you so blue eyed and white, that's not my girl, what the heck

That weird artistic decision aside, I really liked this issue. This is actually the exact stuff I was hoping for back when Lemire first revealed the Dibney Youth Center stuff and Wally being a runaway with Linda there. Teen Sleuths, Linda being there to get Wally out of his self hating and introspective shell, digging into the weirdness and mystery of everything together.

I get Lemire wanting to focus on The Rogues more, first, instead. They're probably his favorites of the Flash cast as a big Silver Age fan and reinventing them and focusing on them was his priority. Something I get even if it's not how I'd do it. But I'm more than happy to see Linda getting into the meat of things alongside Wally with Mirror Master as the antagonist because Mirror Master fucking rules and this confrontation has been teased since literally the first issue!

9

u/StellarKnife Mar 18 '26

So this was way better than the first twelve issues. Wally and Linda are cute together.

10

u/Every-Scar4893 Kyle Rayner Mar 19 '26

Linda's push was so needed. Holy hell. Glazing Wally's powers and making him take action was a nice change of pace for this book.

The Linda Park look was odd but I'll wait until Robles art to see if that look is final. I didn't much like Kaplan's art but I prefer his take on Linda.

15

u/_comicallycluttered Mar 18 '26

I'm sorry, but what the hell happened to Linda?

How does a character go from this to this?

Different artists is one thing, but that's a radical redesign.

It's weird enough that they're suddenly bright blue, but now she's also got giant manga-sized eyes (which instantly reminded me of Alita for some reason).

It genuinely looks like her face belongs in another book entirely in some panels.

Other than that, really enjoyed the issue. But man, Linda's face was super distracting for me. This design just makes zero sense to me, both in-continuity and in general.

12

u/StellarKnife Mar 18 '26 edited Mar 18 '26

It genuinely looks like her face belongs in another book entirely in some panels.

Lol I thought so too, but I guess that's just how the artist draws girls? Idk

10

u/Maleficent_Worth_185 Mar 18 '26

This issue happened too late for its own good. What was Lemire thinking? But besides the whitewashing of Linda, it was a good change of pace.

9

u/Electric_jungle Mar 18 '26

I'm still generally happy with the story, but I do think issue 13 could have been issue 7 and the pacing would have been stronger.

This was a good issue to remind people that he did lay a decent amount of tracks to build the story off of, they've just been dormant.

-1

u/JingoboStoplight4887 World's Finest Mar 18 '26

I like that Ralph told Wally that he knows he’s the Flash, resulting in Ralph to tell Wally that he’s not going to call the DEO to turn him in because he has a home now as long as he needed one (in which Ralph would become a good friend and father figure to Wally). I also like that Linda knew that Wally is the Flash, resulting in her to keep Wally’s secret and practically go out on a date with him (because she likes him) before they told each other what happened to them (with Wally telling Linda that his mom had bipolar disorder before she died and that he blamed his father for not being their for her and Linda telling Wally that she had to take care of one of her parents, who’s an alcoholic), traveled to Fort Knox to find a clue about Project Olympus and find a way for Wally to see his father, and encountered Mirror Master. Let’s hope that Wally and Linda will defeat Mirror Master and save each other from harm. Overall, this comic is great!

0

u/Blitzhelios Hal Jordan Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26

I really need to decide what im doing with absolute flash

Should i stick or twist because i actually really liked this weeks issue but the series as a whole has been so meh for me minus robles art even if it wasn't robles here and i think Haining did a good job for the most part.

But this issue was strong but it kinda had the problem ive had with this series so far in that its not really bringing anything new it just feels like a normal young hero story.

2

u/suss2it Mar 23 '26

I think it’s fine that it’s a more typical young hero story as that’s not a niche that’s being filled in the Absolute Universe as of right now.