Customer Reviews

The Flash: Rebirth

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I haven't read a comic in 15 years and just recently started getting back into them and I just finished reading this mini-series so that I could catch up before the new Flash regular series started. Let's just say that The Flash is much more complicated than he used to be. While this book did bring me up to speed, I am still somewhat confused. I'm hoping the new regular series will help fill in more of the holes in what I have missed. What is good about this book is they do explain what is going on in the Flash family and how all the speedsters are connected. Since I've been catching up it seems like the DC universe has a bad case of the multiples. Multiple Flashes, Robins, Green Lanterns, Supermen, Supergirl/Power Girl and Earths. It's a little daunting, but I enjoy Geoff Johns writing and hope the on-going series is even better.

The silver age of comics started with Showcase #4 back in 1956. This was during a time that superhero comics were on death's bed and could have disappeared forever. Showcase #4 saved superhero comics with the creation of the Flash, Barry Allen, by DC Comics. In 1985, this central character to the DC universe was killed during an event called the "Crisis on Infinite Earths." This "FLASH: REBIRTH" story is about the return of this great character to the DC universe, and how he will now fit into it during the modern times of the 21st century. There have been a lot of changes during the 23+ years that he was gone, and this story addresses many of them, while giving modern a update to the character. I highly recommend this to any comic book or graphic novel fan. The writer (Geoff Johns) and artist (Ethan Van Sciver) are at the top of their game and you get to see a classic character, the iconic Barry Allen Flash, returned to the DC universe where future movies, TV shows, and more stories await!

I got this book because I have always liked the Flash - all of them, but especially Barry Allen (the "first" true Flash) - and I was hoping for a single comic to capture the character, the heart, of the Flash that makes him such a spectacular character despite his somewhat uninspiring powers. The Flash is a good man, tied to his duty as both a hero and a police officer, and a man utterly tied to a strong sense of justice. He is also a man, he doesn't always stick perfectly to his morals, and snaps on a few occasions, which marks him as human as well as a hero.

This book is not what I was hoping for, and sadly reminded me very strongly of why I got out of mainstream comics.

SPOILER WARNING!!

THE GOOD:

- The story isn't bad, it's not great, but it's not bad. It's convoluted, a little rushed, much too crowded, and in the end far more straightforward and less interesting than it could have been, but not bad.

- The artwork is excellent, there's no two ways about that, it's simply fantastic comic art!

- It is about the Flash. All of the different Flashes (Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West, Bart Allen, and even Max Mercury) get their page time, and show us their different characters and what each brings to the Flash legacy. They have individuality, they have heart, they are the characters they should be and are very well portrayed.

THE BAD:

- The story. This story professes to explain the Speed Force, the source of power for all speedsters, and it does. Sort of, but the explanation is just plain bad. That, and even though it's the center of this entire comic collection, that explanation is remarkably understated compared to all of the other personal struggles in the story. Despite the fact that the Speed Force and changes to it have huge ramifications for ALL speedsters in the DC universe.

- The characters. My biggest gripe here is that this book isn't just about the Flash and his struggles, there's a bit part for *every* superhero and supervillain the Flash interacts with. They're just suddenly THERE popping out of the woodwork left and right throughout the story. And to be brutally honest, I couldn't care less about the other heroes and villains besides the main ones of THIS story, this isn't their story and I feel their constant presence somewhat detracts from the personal journey of the main character.

- Pacing. Another huge issue. Some lame conversations go on for pages on end without being very good (although some of the long dialogues are excellent) while some truly epic moments are completely glossed over. The introduction of the villain is excellent, as is the fight to take said villain down. But at one point it's introduced that Barry (BIG SPOILER HERE) is the new Black Flash. I mean, WHOA! The greatest hero of the Flash legacy is suddenly the Grim Reaper?! But that revelation gets maybe a page, and that could have been fleshed out into something incredible. That, and this book kills the real Black Flash. Black Flash is a fascinating character who I think should not be killed out of hand, but that's a personal quibble.

- Numbers. So there's one villain, and how many Flashes does he fight by himself? SEVEN. How can we respect our heroes if they only win fights that are seven-against-one in their favor?

- MY BIGGEST COMPLAINT however, is that there is no resolution to this story. New characters are introduced, but much more often, old ones are brought back. Just for the heck of it, they just reappear as if they were on vacation, even though they were supposedly dead. Barry's return is cheapened by the fact that everyone else seems to come back along with him, so much so it hardly matters that he made it out of being dead because EVERYONE did. And the end? All the villains are massing again, a new hero is introduced, and the central villain of the story is barely beaten at all, despite the tremendous threat he represents, he is almost out of prison the second he's put in it.
Overall, I'm glad I read it, but I would be just as happy not to own it.

*********Spoliers***********

Geoff Johns Flash Rebirth story fell apart as soon as he retconned the murder of Barry Allen's mother as his reason for being a police forensic scientist. It's always the same with Geoff Johns and super heroes; someone close to the hero has to be murdered (or die) to "inspire" the hero. It's become tiresome. Hal Jordan's father now dies in front of him. His JSA run was a veritable bloodbath. So, to see the same cheap stunt used to build drama in Flash: Rebirth was disappointing.

It's become chic to retcon Silver Age characters in attempt to make them more relevant to 40 and 50 year old comics readers who have now experienced some of life's hard times. Rather than leave these childhood memories in the past, Flash Rebirth, Identity Crisis and Green Lantern Rebirth come along to make these characters "more realistic". Geez, guys, read new comics or pick up a novel.

As other reviewers have mentioned, in Flash Rebirth it was sometimes difficult to tell which Flash was speaking and the Reverse Flash was so eeeeeeeevvvvvvviiiiillll that he was more of a parody than the character who was actually sort of scary back in the 1980's. I really wanted to like this but it was a disappointment. I'll give it two stars because Ethan van Sciver's artwork was very nice.

If this is the first Flash story you read, you'll likely wind up a little confused. There's a lot of plot twists from previous stories that are woven into this story. All in all though, it was still good and was a fun read.

In 2000, Geoff Johns succeeded Mark Waid as the writer for the "Flash" monthly book. Over the next 5 years, he would receive acclaim for his focus on characterization and for adding depth to Keystone City and the Rogues. It appeared that the epic "Rogue War" would be his swansong to the Flash, but the recent "Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge" proved that lightning could strike twice. Johns follows up on that return with his longtime collaborator Ethan Van Sciver for "The Flash Rebirth".

Right off the bat "The Flash: Rebirth" is a different beast from the team's previous success, "Green Lantern: Rebirth". The latter was concerned with restoring Hal Jordan to life and absolving him for his role in the Green Lantern Corps' destruction in 1994. "The Flash Rebirth", is different as it follows up on the events of Barry Allen's resurrection in Grant Morrison's "Final Crisis" (in addition to story threads from Johns' "Legion of 3 Worlds"). Johns' previous Flash stories aren't forgotten and are acknowledged. But the focus isn't on Wally West this time. It is on Barry Allen readjusting to his return and trying to discover a sense of purpose in a world that has left him behind. But it is not an easy adjustment as new transformations and the return of old enemies will propel Barry and the other Speedsters into a new era.

Like "Green Lantern Rebirth", the story is well steeped in Flash continuity and can be a bit convoluted and confusing. The end result, however, is the same: a new take on the familiar elements of the mythos, one that will play out in the ongoing book (like Green Lantern: Rebirth, we get teases of stories to come) and in turn, offers a new Flash for the new millennium. In addition, Ethan Van Sciver's artwork is as detailed and crisp as ever thanks to the coloring of Alex Sinclair and Hi-Fi.

While it would not hurt to hunt down Geoff Johns' previous Flash stories, this is a decent introduction to the world of the Scarlet Speedsters for newcomers.

Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver are a great team. I do not like this as much as their Green Lantern Rebirth, but that is likely as much a product of my preference for Green Lantern over Flash.