Some thoughts about The Flash #762

How can The Flash finally defeat his nemesis?

Barry and Thawne have been hating each other for years now and the only way to stop this race is to do the worst for Thawne, something worse than death.

"Eobard... I forgive you".

And that, THAT is how you perfectly conclude years of hate as well as the themes that you have been working over the course of a run. With a simple line, Joshua Williamson was able to represent what his work on The Flash has been all about.

Right from the beginning, the idea of this run has been about moving forward, and while other writers post-Geoff Johns' Rebirth have tried the same concept before (particularly Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato), nobody managed to be as successful at it as Williamson. This run has not only been about moving forward the retcon of the death of Barry's mother but also developing The Flash family and world, there were some missteps of course (particularly the ones imposed by Scott Snyder's derivative Justice League direction) but there's no doubt the heart of this era has always been in the right place.

It's hard to deny how much Williamson has done for The Flash mythos, mostly for the return of most of The Flash mythos. Sure, one could argue that any author could have done the same and get the same acclaim (although I could argue against that considering Ben Percy tried to do the same with Green Arrow with way less successful results) but Williamson always managed to get the characters and continuity right, especially the continuity since there's a respect to history in his work that is difficult to see in any other writer's titles, I don't think even Geoff Johns has this respect for continuity.

This particular chapter manages to give closure to most plot-points of this run while at the same time weirdly leaving a few for the future (Heather Thawne, Thawne's future, Godspeed's return?) and of course, giving that warm feeling of family that has always been prominent in this book. Not to mention that that initial line was the best way to defeat Thawne, is such a simple, yet effective tactic that I'm surprised nobody else thought about it before.

Howard Porter's artwork has always been ideal for The Flash and this issue is no different thanks to the great amount of energy and expression that he's able to bring to every page.

Great chapter, great finale, great run. Joshua Williamson is up there with William Messner-Loebs, Mark Waid and Geoff Johns now.