WARNING! LOTS OF SPOILERS AHEAD!
Release Date: March 1988
Title: Chunk in the Void
Writer: Mike Baron
Penciller: Mike Collins
Inker: Larry Mahlstedt
Bad Guys: Chunk
The Cover: Steve Lightle
"The Savage Speedster". Flash, spear in one hand, stands proudly over the dead body of some weird winged reptile. His other arm is around the waist of a woman in a tattered dress (with a lot of bra showing) who has both arms draped around him and is looking at him adoringly. Behind them, a bunch of guys holding spears and wearing tattered clothes (I particularly like the guy wearing a tie with no shirt) dance and cheer.
The Comic
Having delivered Flash into the wasteland where he keeps his stuff, Chunk tells Flash that he's going for a walk and not to touch his things. "Chunk, wait!" Flash calls after him, seemingly forgetting that he's the fastest man alive and shouldn't ever need to tell anyone to wait. Anyway, Chunk leaves and Flash is left with three of the other people Chunk has taken there. There's Parker, Chunk's therapist; Karin, who once turned down Chunk's offer of a date; and Eric, a former army ranger who cut Chunk off at an intersection.
Flash learns all about what's been going on. Apparently, Chunk has taken over a hundred people there over the years, and they have formed into two groups. Eric has organised a camp where they have managed to grow some plants and hunt some of the weird flying creatures. Others, who Parker thinks were criminals Chunk deliberately goaded into attacking him, have turned to cannibalism. As Parker and Flash talk, Eric rushes up to tell them he's called a council meeting, since Flash's presence here changes the whole balance of power.
Flash goes back to the camp Eric and friends have established, populated with people Chunk zapped there for various trivial reasons. Flash tells them all that he believes there's a way home, and later over dinner reveals that his plan consists of convincing Chunk to take them home. That night Flash is woken up by Karin, who has decided that they will all have to pair up eventually, and she'd rather be with Wally than with Eric (talk about faint praise). Before Flash has a chance to accept or refuse Karin's tantalising offer Eric strolls in (it is his tent after all, which makes me think Karin might have had some other agenda than just getting into Wally's spandex pants). There's an awkward moment, and Karin heads back to her tent, leaving Wally to ponder the ethics of getting it on with a woman stranded for years in a desolate other dimension.
The next day, Wally heads off to talk to Chunk. Eric is pissed off when he discovers this, as he's just discovered that the other groups are banding together to attack them. "Why?" asks Parker, seemingly forgetting what he told Flash about the other gangs' eating habits. "For our women" Eric replies, leering at Karin.
Meanwhile, Flash arrives at chez Chunk, a luxury yacht (named The Hopgood) that sits amazingly level on dry ground. Flash scouts around and finds some big fancy machine Chunk is building, which Flash surmises is an attempt to return himself to normality. Flash finds Chunk, who is angry and suspicious of Flash at first. Flash demonstrates how much he needs to eat to maintain his speed, and Chunk and Flash bond over their mutual need for constant consumption. Flash manages to convince Chunk to try and take the good guys back, leaving the muggers and cat torturers behind. Chunk tells Flash to get everyone onto the boat, and he'll take everyone back together, but if Flash isn't back in twenty minutes he'll "have to take something".
Flash zips back to the camp, but finds that it is being attacked by the cannibal alliance, keen to get their teeth into all those "succulent tomatoes". Eric tells Flash to pick up a bow and start shooting, but Flash won't take a life. Just as they are about to be overrun, one of the cannibals flies back in the air. We then see Chunk, with the cannibal at his feet and glowing with some weird energy, saying "You waited too long!".
Good Stuff
Flash learns some of the reasons Chunk sent people away:
Bob: "I told Chunk he had to bathe if he wanted to come into my science fiction store."
Lois: "I asked him not to stare at my breasts."
Some guy: "I didn't get out of his way fast enough."
Some guy wearing the sort of shirt I'd wear: "I don't know what I did! I guess he didn't like my shirt."
Flash argues that Chunk needn't fear the legal consequences of his actions:
"Look at G. Gordon Liddy – Watergate conspirator. Now he's guest-starring on Miami Vice."
Flashometer
Flash's current top speed is just under the speed of sound.
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