Fast Talk: Universal Annihilation

Universal Annihilation: Ahh, true love knows no bounds. We all know that Barry Allen would travel a mere 3,000 miles--the distance from Central City to, say, Anchorage--in the span of a heartbeat just to be with his beloved Iris. "The Thousand-Year Separation!" by Cary Bates and Irv Novick shows us that the romantic scarlet speedster would travel across even 3,000 years to rescue his soul mate! What I love about these particular adventure-ending panels, however, are the staggering implications thrown about concerning the Flash's arch-nemesis. After foiling Professor Zoom's latest scheme, a reprehensible plot intended to initiate unimaginable destruction, the Flash observes that the Reverse-Flash has undoubtedly made his getaway. "If the universe were to be annihilated, he must have prepared an escape for himself!" Only in a four-color comic book world could one hope to design and implement a strategy for escaping the destruction of the universe itself! Let this stand as further testament to the staggering strength and imposing ingenuity of those foes who oppose the fastest man alive! Professor Zoom's resurrection, during or after the events of The Flash: Rebirth, would seem a certainty. "We can count on it!" Despite such overwhelming scientific assertions, however, the crimson comet convinces us that there's no reason to fear. Even though the brilliant and evil Eobard Thawne may be at large, whilst the lovely Iris is in Barry's arms we're provided with "the best of all endings... a happy one!"

Issue: The Flash #237 (November 1975)