Barry Allen is back (along with his Bart, his grandson from the future) and everybody’s buzzing. Central City is throwing the biggest parade the city has ever seen and the whole world is clamoring to be a part of the celebration. The Rogues are plotting new strategies and everyone from the Justice Society to the Titans (both Teen and adult) are throwing him a party. Hal Jordan is pleased as punch to have his old buddy back while Wally West, Jay Garrick and Alan Scott are waxing poetic about the impact that Barry had on their lives. The funny thing is, the people who seem the least excited aren’t even the Rogues; they’re Barry and Bart.
Oh yeah, and some dude with a lightning bolt staff seems to have successfully replicated the accident that turned Barry into the Flash and he’s killed a few cops too.
Back to Barry and Bart. Interestingly enough, Bart seems to be echoing the statements of a lot of fans. Wally West is the Flash. He earned it. Barry’s the “messiah” and someone Bart barely even knows – why should we be so excited about his return? Hey, I’m geeked about this series, but I have to admit that I know where Kid Flash is coming from. Meanwhile, Barry is visiting the Flash Museum and catching up on old times with his old buddy Hal Jordan. Unlike the rest of the DCU, Barry doesn’t seem so excited to be back. He doesn’t see his return from the Speed Force as divine intervention or anything more than a simple mistake. He ends up skipping out on the parties and parades and takes off running in an attempt to ensure he’s not late for “whatever the rest of the world needs me for”. So yeah, he seems a little obsessed.
Cover art to Flash Rebirth #1 by Ethan Van Sciver
© DC Comics
I really appreciated the way Barry Allen was recognized as being the “shot heard ‘round the world” that kicked off the Silver Age of comic books. Homage was paid to both him and Green Lantern without being all preachy and corny. But it was there and it was a nice touch.
The little speeches from Jay Garrick and Alan Scott made you realize that without Barry (both in the real and in the fictional world) there wouldn’t be a DCU as we know it. The conversation between the Titans added some nice insight into the friendships and relationships between the heroes, both young and old. I’m a huge fan of the “human touch” and the family aspect of the Flashes, so I really dug this stuff.
Barry’s appreciation of the fast pace of the modern world was also a nice touch, as were the surly attitudes displayed by both he and Bart. Think about it: the guy is a scientist. He’s looking for cold, hard facts regarding his return and the fact that he can’t find them is bugging him. He’s a guy who’s been given a second chance and rather than waste time on parties and parade floats, he wants to get back to business.
There was just something off and I can’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe it’s simply because I’m not as well-versed in Flash lore as I should be? Maybe it’s because the first issue sets a lot up and promises a lot more for the future but delivers very little? Maybe I’m a victim of hype? Could it be that my beloved Geoff Johns has let me down (only slightly) and it’s magnified because I have been so blinded by love in the past? Or could it be that I just didn’t dig Ethan Van Sciver’s artwork on this book? I’m actually a huge fan of his work, but it kind of felt a little too stiff. Someone with a more fluid style might’ve worked better. Or it is that, for as legendary of a character as he is, Barry Allen is more-or-less a stranger to me, and I’m not entirely sure I even like him? Was it a little bit of everything?
I’m not really sure. But for a first issue comeback spectacular, I felt like it wasn’t as flashy as it should’ve been.
I’m giving it the grade of B- and writing “please see me” in the margins - I want to discuss. I definitely liked it and I’ll definitely be back for the next issue and for that matter, the entire series. While the story didn’t punch me in the gut and leave me swooning, it has stuck with me since I read it yesterday. As I said in “The Bad”, it was really a lot of set up and very little actually happened; but the things that were set up were so fascinating, I can’t imagine missing an issue from here on out.
I liked it, even though I'm not a fan of Van Sciver's art. Yeah, I said it. Barry should be a nice touch to the big guns of the DCU. He's got old school clout and Johns is writing him like he's a nice guy but there's a touch of all business (like Batman). I'm glad to have him back.
I felt the same as you Chad. I wasn't really sure if I care that Barry is back.. at least not yet. I think after GL: Rebirth everyone is expecting more from this but it just doesn't have the same feel. Of course having Barry come back in another book and no being explored here isn't really working for me either. I did like some of the dicussions as you mentioned. However I will obviously reserve further judgment until issue #2 comes out.
Although I am really intrigued by the thought that Barry may now be the Black Flash, or a variation thereof.
goldeneyez - couldn't agree more. I still think they should have left Barry dead and Wally as the Flash. It was until FInal Crisis the best thing either DC or Marvel has done with the death of a character. The mantle was successfully transfered and accepted. Why mess with that? Because it's Johns there is still hope that he will pull this out of the fire make for really cool stories with Barry but I just don't see it right now.
Guys, I was 110% against the return of Barry Allen until I found out that Geoff Johns was on the book. Hearing and reading interviews with him and Van Sciver, I realized just how geeked they were to be working on the project, and it got me really geeked as well.
That being said - Wally West is the Flash and there's absolutely no need to bring Barry back. goldeneyez, I think it was Mark Waid who said that business about Wally being the one exception to the "replacement hero" rule (probably because Waid was the guy who brought him up to that level). As far as "big guns" go, Wally is a big gun. But Barry's got the history and with Ollie and Hal back, you gotta complete the secondary trinity. There's no need to bring Barry back, but I'm interested to see how it plays out. After all, it's Geoff Johns!
Like I said in the review, I really enjoyed Bart's whole "Wally West is the Flash" rant because it felt like my POV. So many of us are wondering why the hell Barry needed to be brought back and it seems that that's going to be the whole point of Rebirth - to show us exactly why this guy is so important. I say bring it on!
Well I always wanted Barry back. He was my first Flash and I actually never kept up with Wally once he took the mantle. I stayed away from Wally in large part and wasn't thrilled with the book and the way it was going lately anyway. Especially once they gave his kids powers. So I guess I'm in the minority.
Another thing is that I don't like sidekicks taking over roles. Why not just become your own hero. You don't need the title to try to live up to those standards. Did Wally have to be the Flash, he couldn't come up with another name. Rhetorical question, I know the answer is the company has an established name and doesn't want to get rid of it.
I liked it overall. The story and art were about what I've come to expect from the people involved. I'm curious to see how it all works out at this point. Who will end up being Flash and who will move on is the BIG question. Barry is the Flash in my eyes, so he's got my vote. That last panel was a great teaser by the way.
I picked up GI JOE: Origins # 2 and JLA # 31 at the same time. Out of the three Origins is the one that stuck with me. Larry Hama is the man. The whole sequence with the thieves in the motel room was awesome.
Cool - I was hoping the Barry fans would pipe up. Hey, what can I say? I loved the guy on Super Friends, but most of my time has been spent with Wally. It's nothing personal. He seems like an alright guy.
Who's gonna be the Flash when all is said and done? Well, there's already two Flashes, why not add a third? That's typically how DC handles things... Wildcat has a son? He's called Wildcat too. Alan Scott is Green Lantern... and so is Hal Jordan! (and Kyle Rayner and John Stewart and a billion other guys). And so on and so forth.
darkheart00 - G.I. Joe:Origins has been great! By far the best of the new bunch. That sequence with the thieves was pretty cool... actually, the whole damn book was cool. Just give Hama his own Joe series again and get it over with! I also read the 4th issue of the main series (by Dixon) and I think I'm done. It hasn't been offensively bad, just a little too "meh" for my tastes. If I'm feeling generous, I might make it to issue 5 or 6. We'll see.
This issue was MEDIOCRE. The big event of the story has already happened in some other disappointing "event." Barry should have returned in the Flash book, not some overblown mega-event with 2,1987 other "YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS!!!!" selling points.
Wally was a great Flash. This is just an excuse for another GL-style reboot. Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with Barry being back. My problem is holding 32 pages of story that could/should/(would have in the eighties) have been executed in 8.
This style of storytelling is poorly paced, and takes a pre-existing love of Barry for granted. You know the problem with that? This generation doesn't know/give 2 shits about Barry! Wally isn't like Kyle. HE FIT THE ROLE. He was a well developed character that no one saw as unworthy or unlikable.
Peter David is to Hulk as Mark Waid is to Flash.
Everyone else, back the fuck off.
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I picked this up & it was pretty blah... I would actually go ahead and give it a C. The speechs by Barry, Wally, and Bart didn't make me think any differently. I remember Barry more from the television show than from the comics, and I think I've had time to accpet Wally more as the Flash now. I think this was actually a mistake on DC's part. I think they're just trying to shake things up, but I just don't see the point with this one.
Actually, I can't remember where I read it... it might have been here, someone made the comment that DC actually had done something unique in that they finally had a second tier sidekick "graduate" to become the top dog. Most people accepted Wally as the Flash. In comics, this just doesn't seem to happen that much. Bruce Wayne will always be Batman, and for most Steve Rogers will always be Captain America.
Before I digress into some sill fanboy rant, ultimately, I don't care if Barry is the Flash. I just think they need to come up with a compelling reason & make good comics as opposed to mediocre reasons and comics. If it's a good story, anything is possible.