Spoilers ahead. You’ve been warned.

Josh Williamson and Patrick Gleason’s “Year One” Flash storyline has been in the making for three years. Williamson even said so on the AiPT! Comics Podcast last Sunday. That includes developing and building up The Turtle to be a force well worth respecting. In the latest issue out this week, Williamson and Gleason give the character a proper origin.

Midway through the issue, Barry Allen, who at this point is only beginning to understand the powers he has, decides to talk to The Turtle directly. He’s from the future and now trapped in Barry’s timeline.

We then cut to an epic double page layout featuring 16 panels of The Turtle’s past. In this writer’s humble opinion it’s very reminiscent of Doc Ock.

A tragic sort of story until we find out that if someone has the proclivity to do bad things for the right reasons, they might turn out evil.

Yep, he sucked the very life out of his family. Now that’s next level evil. We soon learn Barry should probably be a bit worried about The Turtle even if he’s locked up in Iron Heights Penitentiary.

He knows your secret, Barry! That’s only the tip of the iceberg — wait until you see the cliffhanger.

This is only a sliver of the story though and I highly recommend you read the entire issue to see just how good this story arc has been.