Review by Karl Verhoven

By and large Flash’s adventures feature threats up to planetary levels, and a whole bunch of super villains, but they’re still fun. Not every writer pulls that off, but Jeremy Adams does, and managed in magnificently in The Search for Barry Allen. The One Minute War, though, takes a turn to the dark side, and even with it being pointed out, the tone switches so rapidly you won’t see it coming.

Until now the Speed Force has been categorised as a vague universal and other dimensional power existing outside the physical plane, but which can be accessed, and is responsible for powering up all speedsters. However, there’s also a destructive empire that travels within it known as the Fraction, who’ve now arrived on Earth and apparently caused time to stand still.

Roger Cruz is an experienced artist and excellent storyteller, but the style he uses here is angular and unattractive, people jagged and locations even more so. Nor is he effective at distinguishing between adults and children, which is a series requirement. Despite several other artists being noted Cruz draws almost all the main event, with some others restricted to short chapters dealing first with how the Fraction became merciless conquerors and then looking in on some speedsters not featured in the main story. Even among a good artistic line-up Fernando Pasarin sparkles with his rendition of a complex alien society. Toward the end Pasarin and George Kambadais also draw a few pages. While Kambadais’s elongated style works fine on a self-contained piece, it’s intrusive during the main event.

“That’s the problem with heroes”, drones the primary villain, “they put their heart into everything thinking if they just try hard enough it will all turn out okay”. Needless to say, he has other ideas. It’s an injection of darkness, and one character in particular is designed by Cruz to look like something out of Darkseid’s nightmares. However, regular Flash readers will figure out Adams has left a tiny crack of light and realise how matters will eventually be rectified. That doesn’t mean it’s not an exhilarating release seeing it happen.

Unlike other stories where assorted speedsters congregate, which is fun, Adams contrives a clever reason why The One Minute War needs them together. However, as formidable as the threat is, by the end the story’s become extremely crowded, and reasons for featuring those doing the crowding aren’t as well conceived. Still that’s being picky, and this is another thrilling outing, but it would have looked far better for Cruz using the cleaner styles he’s used in the past.

Time Heist concludes Adams’ stay on The Flash.