The Flash family's search for Barry Allen is over ... kind of

The Flash family's quest to find Barry Allen concludes in issue #785, but it isn't the end of the story by any means.

Spoilers ahead for The Flash #785

Although every speedster from Earth-0 has been searching for Barry Allen since Pariah imprisoned him on a planet made from his essence, it's actually Linda West who manages to get through to Barry and remind him who he is.

At the start of The Flash #785, written by Jeremy Adams, illustrated by Amancay Nahuelpan, colored by Jeremy Cox, and lettered by Rob Leigh, Barry is beating Wally West to a bloody pulp, because he believes him to be the villain Thawne in disguise.

Then, desperate to find Wally and help the family, Linda comes flying through a portal and punches Barry in the face. It's quick, brutal, and effective – Barry recognizes Linda, and his memories come flooding back because of it.

a page from The Flash #785 (Image credit: DC)

However, their reunion is short-lived. When Barry learns that the Justice League is dead and Barry describes Black Adam's recollection of their disintegration, Barry immediately realizes the other members of the JLA are on planets just like this one.

He insists on going to find them, and he tells the Wests to go back to Earth-0 and protect it as best they can. He also passes along a message for Iris, and the Flash family once again goes their separate ways.

At the end of the issue, the closing text informs readers that Barry will search for the Justice League in Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #4, which puts writer Joshua Williamson's comments at San Diego Comic-Con into context.

At the convention, Williamson said the JLA will be back in action in Dark Crisis #5, and now we can expect Barry to be the one who brings them all back.

The question is, how many of them will fight Barry because they don't remember him or think he's a villain in disguise? And how hard will it be to break some of them out of their individual "happiness prisons"?

The Flash #785 is available now. Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #4 will be available September 6.

Barry Allen is the best of the best DC speedsters.

Samantha Puc (she/they) is an editor at Newsarama and an avid comics fan. Their writing has been featured on Refinery29, Bitch Media, them., The Beat, The Mary Sue, and elsewhere. She is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative nonfiction at The New School.