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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Flash and Substance, May 5, 2010
This review is from: The Flash: Rebirth (Hardcover)
Of the many questions this volume leaves me with, I'll focus on one: why bring back Barry Allen, the Silver Age Flash?
The short, flippant answer: nobody stays dead in comics. A better answer, provided by the superstar creative team of writer Geoff Johns and artist Ethan Van Sciver: Barry Allen is central to the Flash franchise, both ontologically and morally. "Flash: Rebirth" has so many plot twists and major revelations (including, at last, an explanation of how the "speed force" that all Flashes draw upon works) that it's difficult to suggest how good this story arc is without dropping any spoilers, so let's just say that in the aftermath of the Final Crisis, Barry Allen returns to Central City, which is more than happy to welcome back its original Flash. The moment Barry confronts his first supercriminal, though, things go catastrophically wrong.
Time and physics are always, uh, flexible concepts in a Flash story, and when I wasn't trying to wrap my head around this book's grim time travel/murder mystery plot, I found page after page of smaller pleasures to enjoy; for instance, Barry's conversation with Hal (Green Lantern) Jordan in the Flash Museum; Iris West's first meeting with Paul Gambi, tailor to the Rogues; another Superman/Flash race, ending with a SMALLVILLE-inspired punch line; even a thoroughly delightful explanation of why Barry Allen used to wear those goofy bow ties in his early appearances.
Geoff Johns, whose 2000-2005 run on the Flash comic book convinced me that Wally West was THE Flash, now imagines Barry Allen as "a man out of step with everyone else," from his quirky sartorial and social habits to his old school sense of morality. His reintegration into a grittier, somewhat more corrupt 21st century Central City will be a treat to watch. Ethan Van Sciver's artwork, a blend of photorealism and wild exaggeration, is in a class by itself; "Rebirth" looks like a six-issue riff on Carmine Infantino's spare, stylized Flash pages from the 'sixties and 'seventies. Like their previous collaboration, Green Lantern: Rebirth, the Johns/Van Sciver Flash is an exciting, must-read update of a classic Silver Age hero.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A very strong but also somewhat confusing book, May 4, 2010
This review is from: The Flash: Rebirth (Hardcover)
I have never read a Flash book in my life until I read The Flash: Rebirth. But I did learn somethings about their history from Infinite Crisis and Teen Titans. The Flash: Rebirth is very similar to Green Lantern: Rebirth in the way that both heroes had to adjust to a changing world, but I was glad that they were both distinct from the two heroes personalities. First of all the art in this book is amazing. I honestly feel like it might be as good as Jim Lee's.
While I liked the book as a whole I did find certain aspects of it confusing. One of The Flashes is the grandnephew of one of the others from the future, and how sometimes the Speed Force sometimes won't allow them to change time. I just felt lost a few times throughout the whole thing. I'm sure that I sound like some idiot to all the hardcore Flash fans out their. But as someone new to the mytho's it got me interested in The Flash which I honestly thought would never happen.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Barry Allen is now my Flash, July 2, 2010
This review is from: The Flash: Rebirth (Hardcover)
I'll start off by saying I'm not a big Flash fan. The main purpose of this book was to justify bringing back Barry Allen, the Flash who died saving the universe 25 years ago in Crisis on Infinite Earths. That death was considered sacred to comic book fans in that it was one of the few deaths that stuck in comic books.
After Barry died, his sidekick Wally carried on the legacy as the Flash in the 90s and 2000s, becoming the Flash for that generation. That doesn't apply to me because I wasn't a comic book reader until 2006 so I have no definitive Flash. So Johns can persuade me to accept any Flash he wants, whether it be Wally, Barry or Bart. If you are a relatively new comic book reader with no definitive Flash, you will probably dig this. If you are a rabid Wally West fan, then probably not. But you should try to give this a chance, regardless.
This book is very similar to Green Lantern: Rebirth, due it being by the same creative duo of Johns and Van Sciver. Throughout both books, Barry and Hal struggle with a changing world and have to play catchup with all their relationships. Johns basically makes his argument for bringing them both back right in the book. Hal regrets his actions as Parallax while Barry regrets a murder trial. The difference though is that Barry died a hero in the eyes of the DCU. Iris tells Barry to calm down and just spend time with the people he loves, and not to worry about why he came back. Jay Garrick recollects how if it weren't for Barry, he would not have returned to superheroing and there would not be a JSA anymore. Bart is upset Barry is back and considers Wally the real Flash (kind of like the fanboys who hate the idea of Barry coming back). Johns used retcons extensively in both Rebirth books, which I will get to now.
SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The story establishes that the Speed Force wasn't tapped into by Barry when he became the Flash, rather he created it and he actually is the Speed Force. With this revelation, there is no doubt he is the central figure in the Flash franchise. There's also a retcon that Barry's mother was murdered, supposedly by his father, and he becomes a forensic scientist to prove his father's innocence.
There was a really cool moment where Johns establishes that a race between the Flash and Superman would be an easy Flash win, he leaves Superman in the dust. I really dug that, because if Superman is as fast or faster than Flash, than there is no point to the Flash.
END SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's addressed whether Barry Allen is boring and he's not, he's just introverted and a slower, methodical person who has a great love interest in Iris. There is all kinds of neat nods to Flash stories of the past, and while I didn't quite understand the whole plot with the Reverse Flash, I got the gist of it and didn't let all the little things that I didn't let it bother me. I think a re-read and some research will more than iron out the confusion.
I liked this book, I can see myself sticking with the franchise with Barry Allen as my Flash. I loved the art as well, Van Sciver is definitely one of the top three artists DC has right now.
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