Flash: Rebirth 1

[sdelmonte]

As noted, the new "Barry Allen is Back" comic debuted. And...I really can't say what I think yet.

The art by Ethan Van Sciver was great. The reactions of the other heroes to Barry's return (especially Hal) was generally spot on. The script was good - Goeff Johns never writes a bad script even when the plot is lousy. Barry's efforts to get up to speed (so to speak) work well, and his has a rather reasonable ambivalence to being back, to taking the place of Wally and Bart, that echoes that of many fans and that could be resolved in a strong way.

But there is a dark tone that is what I expect sometimes from Geoff Johns but not what I expect from a book with Barry Allen. Things immediately turn murderous and grim, and while there is reason to think that maybe Barry will stop running from himself soon, I can't say that this is definite. I am hopeful things will get lighter at some point if only because the Flashes are usually hopeful. There really is no reason to bring back Barry if you just plan to use him the way that Wally was used. Maybe the plot will sweep me off my feett,, though for now, it's just set-up.

So I would say to ask me again in three months. But of this is the direction Barry is going to go for good, I will be displeased.

Comments

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

Booster Gold just told me that you had nothing but raves for the miniseries as a whole. Thank goodness for time travel!

Also, you're apparently enjoying the Question backup stories in Detective Comics.

[sdelmonte]

Never mind that. Did he tell you how Lost ends?

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

Funny that. I was going to ask him about the ending for this season at least, and there was this huge white light that filled the room, and then the time sphere vanished.

Left behind a polar bear, though, and a four-toed statue.

[the_croupier]

I'm in the odd place of having read Green Lantern from the first issue of Kyle and The Flash from nearly the first issue of Wally. Which I guess means I come to Johns' characterizations without prior knowledge. Advantage? Disadvantage? Probably a bit of both.

I was so pleased by the Hal Jordan Rebirth that I know I'm giving this plenty of benefit of doubt. Like you I was pleased to see how he handled Wally and, especially, Bart (who mouthed my PoV perfectly). And it was especially satisfying to see all the nods to Waid's long run--Savitar, Max, and especially Jesse--if only we could have had a sighting of XS! If Johns makes all that relevant again, that alone will make me very pleased by this miniseries. (I will never understand why Waid failed to use any of his earlier work when he came back--no wonder it all felt so flat.)

I hear your point about Barry, though. And yet, I do like the momentous tone Johns is setting. And the strong sense Barry has that this is all somehow very wrong--that his return is not like Hal's. That tells me this isn't going to be a stale Rebirth redux, but (I hope) something in its own right, and that has me intrigued. And there's always the hope that when it's resolved, we might get the Barry you're looking for.