The Flash: One-Minute War Special tells the origin of the speed force villains The Fraction

art from The Flash: One-Minute War Special #1 (Image credit: DC)

DC's twice-monthly The Flash event 'One-Minute War' continues in January 31's double-sized one-shot The Flash: One-Minute War Special #1.

In 'One-Minute War,' the extended Flash Family including Barry Allen is facing off against an armada of aliens known as the Fraction who are also connected to the Speed Force. This means the Flash Family's usual advantage - moving so fast their enemies are almost in slow motion - is nullified because the Fraction moves just as fast.

The Flash: One-Minute War Special #1 cover (Image credit: DC)

The literally-named 'One-Minute War' takes place in 60 seconds of real-time, but that can last an age for a speedster. As writer Jeremy Adams told CBR, "[The Fraction] also have learned to utilize the speed force mechanically. So, they have ships, vehicles, etc. moving at super-fast speeds so they can land and take over without any resistance. And because they are moving so fast, other superheroes can't help. This is an event that solely relies on the speedsters of Earth."

The villainous Miss Murder is hunting the Flash Family too, and she has speed hounds to help sniff them out.

The Flash: One-Minute War Special, written by Adams and illustrated by Fernando Pasarin, Matt Ryan, and Jason Paz, colored by Matt Herms, and lettered by Rob Leigh features a cover by Serg Acuña seen here.

Check out the first 12 pages of the special to read how The Fraction became super fast, who the Admiral is, and why they're attacking Earth.

Image 1 of 10

The Flash: One-Minute War Special #1 — (Image credit: DC)

There may not be a better time to take a fast look at the best DC speedsters.

See what we did there?

I'm not just the Newsarama founder and editor-in-chief, I'm also a reader. And that reference is just a little bit older than the beginning of my Newsarama journey. I founded what would become the comic book news site in 1996, and except for a brief sojourn at Marvel Comics as its marketing and communications manager in 2003, I've been writing about new comic book titles, creative changes, and occasionally offering my perspective on important industry events and developments for the 25 years since. Despite many changes to Newsarama, my passion for the medium of comic books and the characters makes the last quarter-century (it's crazy to see that in writing) time spent doing what I love most.