Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities The Flash (Barry Allen)

Well. 5 is finally out, and we have another full fledged speeder, or two, on our hands. Jesse is back...and there is a new Impulse.

So we have Jay, Barry and Wally...Flashes all. Max and Bart (Kid Flash). Jesse and a new female Impulse. Plus XS in the Legion.

A lot of Speedsters again...but That's okay. I likes all of them.

As far as the story itself...it answers a lot of questions. A lot. I can live with the answer, I mean it is a comic...and someone will eventually come up with something else to explain certain things.

I believe that Zoom is being utilized as the Duex Ex Machina here, and I'm not sure why Geoff is changing some of the things he has. Will wait for final judgment on that until next issue. Will the changes to Barry's life stick, or be reversed again.

6 is out. I personally liked it. I am rereading the entire thing to put it all into perspective. Updates to follow.

Can't wait for the regular series.

Sorry Dev, but this was just a perfect example of why Barry was removed and replaced by Wally. It was just a dull story for me.

John's needs to shorten up his stories a bit if he wants to maintain the excitement level.

I think the failure of Flash: Rebirth had less to do with the fact that it was about Barry Allen and more to do with the fact that Geoff Johns wrote a completely boring story with mediocre art by the internet's most overrated artist, Ethan Van Sciver.

The main problem for me was trying to shoehorn so many little side things into the story, which is odd to say since it felt drug out.

I also think that Geoff Johns is overextending himself at this point.

Have to admit that it wasn't the best story. And having to wait for Ethan's art, while very nice, was not worth the lost of impetus the story suffered.

and while I too have wondered about Iris' deaging, even more is that she was DEAD. There was a Body. She had a Funeral. I'm sure they will say it was faked, but then, how do they account for all this time with Bart? She's clearly been seen by others, and seen while being much older, I might add.

I fear that while we will probably get some great stores, there may also be a mess created by bringing Barry back. I really do feel that he worked best as the Hero In Death that he had become.

^^^ Do you mean Iris' original death at the hands of Professor Zoom way back when before the first Crisis Rick?

'Cause that got explained away years ago in Barry's original series. Can't remember the details now but it had something to do with her returning to the future (where she was born) just before her death and some duplicate body or other being left in her place. Barry eventually discovered this fact and journeyed back to the 30th Century with her at the end of his original series, where they lived happily for a few months (and conceived the Tornado Twins) before the events of the Crisis drew Barry out of retirement.

Unless there's another Iris-death that I'm unaware of.

She was older when she came back with Bart in Wally's series. I think it's a little thing that thery're just kinda glossing over. I don't have a problem with that so much as the alterations to Barry's origin. no need for it to have been done. Zoom has been shown to be a complete psychopath before...this just feels like overkill.

The only thing I will say is that at least Geoff didn't tie in several villian origins to his retelling like he did with Green Lantern. It seemed a little forced there, and would have felt worse here.

I think if this book had come out on time, it would have seemed more fluid and not so easlily taken apart. Coming up with ideas of one's own can detract fromthe story that eventually plays out. The Matrix being a prime example. I heard great theories as to what the ending "could" be at the time...the movie fell flat because there was such an expectation to see something that you wanted to see...not what the creators had in mind.

I also think he overtaxed himself with the Blackest Night crossover, trying to do LSH and Superboy, etc. To many things at once...

"'Cause that got explained away years ago in Barry's original series. Can't remember the details now but it had something to do with her returning to the future (where she was born) just before her death and some duplicate body or other being left in her place. Barry eventually discovered this fact and journeyed back to the 30th Century with her at the end of his original series, where they lived happily for a few months (and conceived the Tornado Twins) before the events of the Crisis drew Barry out of retirement.

Unless there's another Iris-death that I'm unaware of."

Exactly. It was explained to Barry, but what about all the people they knew that saw the body? The people at work that witnessed the funeral. It wasn't a duplicate, a clone, etc. The people that were friends and family, that saw what Barry went through.

Its easy enough to do...chemical induced coma set up by feds, etc. But they still haven't done it so suddenly, a woman that was dead appears and is decades older, only to suddenly be younger again with Barry's return.

In the words of Vinnie Barbarino..."They're so confused....!!!"

I've got to say I was pretty underwhelmed by this whole thing, especially the final issue. I'll admit that I'm against Barry returning, so my expectations were high for Geoff & Ethan to provide one of the greatest Flash stories of all time to get me on board. They didn't.

Now we've got Barry back and with little to get me excited about the new Flash series in regards to the Flashes & the premise. Of course, on the other hand, I love reading Geoff write the Rogues, Keystone & Central, the supporting characters and dig into Flash history.

But this was probably the weakest major Geoff Johns story in quite a long time. Too bad.

It just seemed...lost amid all the "big" happenings from DC. It was dragged out to the point that I really didn't remember the story from issue to issue. Better stories were being told...

Flash: Rebirth really pretty much served the same function as GL: Rebirth did for Hal, which was to set up the new relaunched series and restore a classic character to the mantle that had been filled by another character for many years.

The difference was that Hal's story had a LOT of baggage that needed to be cleaned up, and taking up that challenge resulted in a very memorable story. In Barry's case he'd already been restored in the pages of Final Crisis, so his series was all about re-establishing who the character is. With not that much baggage to clean up, some external conflict had to be injected by John's in the process.

What it boils down to is that both series were designed as trailers to the relaunched series that would follow. There was a lot more story in GL's version because there was a doozy of a knot to untie. For Flash, we mostly get all the set-up without all the zing that Hal's trailer would require by necessity.

Basically, Rebirth reads more like the beginning of the ongoing than its own event, and I think that's where a lot of the disappointment stems from. I mean, the first half of #6 quickly resolves the Reverse Flash problem, and the rest is a series of quick scenes teasing events coming up in the regular series.

Maybe if they'd held off bringing Barry back 'til Rebirth, it would've helped. In Final Crisis, with the limited attention it got, Barry's return felt more like a footnote. I mean, could it have been downplayed any more than it was in FC?!?! We should've gotten some shock and awe, but we never did. There was no way for Rebirth to provide that when the opportunity was already missed! Geoff tried to find a way to deliver that emotional punch, but it was already too late.

So I appreciate Flash: Rebirth for what it really was: the first 6 issues of the new Barry Allen Flash ongoing series. Hopefully, next month's number 7 will continue to be a decent read.

Flash Secret Files and Origins 2010 (at least it was only 3.99)

The story in this issue could/should have been in the final pages of the Rebirth mini. It's a bridging tale from the mini to the regular series, essentially to explain why Barry could not undo what Zoom had done.

I almost would have liked to see a page or two of vignettes of different Flash supporting characters and villians reacting to the Flash's return.

The "In case the Flash returns...Break Glass" thing in Scudders old haunt should prove to be interesting.

The profile pages were nice to look at, if not a bit boring in contect...except for:

John Fox is lost in time...interesting to see that Geoff seems to revisit this Flash from the future.

Capt. Boomerangs profile blocked out...why? Is it not who we all think it is?

A good read overall, love that Kollins artwork on this series.

Issue #1.

Good issue, establishing the status quo.

Witness protection to explain his absence...and probably Iris' as well.

Great scene with Boomer (who I'd love to see meet up with Waller at some point.)

New threat from the future...cool.

i thought john fox was with justice legion in dc 1 million?

Maybe he was...but something apparently happened. Hopefully he'll get to it sooner than later.

I got 1, but it will be my final issue if the series doesn't drop to $2.99 with issue 2.

I am just unwilling to pay the extra dollar for 3-4 unecessary splash pages and a double-page spread for a shot that would work in an oversized panel!

JUSTICE LEAGUE of AMERICA better watch out, too...

It drops with issue 2 to 2.99.

Good! I'll get it then..

Flash Fact: I loved Geoff's Flash run with Wally, which I consider some of the best work he's ever done.

Flash Fact: I was both (A) annoyed and underwhelmed by the idea of Barry coming back and (B) incredibly disappointed with Flash: Rebirth.

I have now picked up both the Secret Files and #1. Regarding the Secret Files, I remember in the 90's when they would come out all the time and I really liked them a lot. Over the last few years I can't remember the last time I enjoyed one, to the point where I hardly ever buy them anymore. However, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit! It was good to catch up on the Rogues, on the Flash mythos and on the supporting cast (old and new).

Flash #1 was also a pretty good start. Manapul's art continues to improve. Where it was once the only good thing about the threeboot Legion (too bad he had to waste it on such a crappy Legion), here he has a bit more direction to work with and it shows. His city views are great and the action & speed really flow well.

For the first time since his return, Barry is someone we can relate with and try to pin down and that is refreshing. I really like the way Manapul draws him and Iris--they look young and attractive. Manapul's art and Geoff's brief interaction between the two of them helped solidify in my mind their relationship a bit more. That's a hurdle that Geoff will have to overcome for me, because the Iris/Barry relationship is not one I know well anymore and I'm used to the excellent Wally/Linda relationship.

Very glad to see the set-up for Central City's CSI unit. The characters and scenarios stemming from there could help make the Flash a much more interesting comic. I like the idea of unsolved cases and innocents being put in prison--it gives a huge backlog of things Barry is going to have to correct. I hope we see a lot of that too; I want a good mix between Rogues & supervillain craziness, combined with some good CSI type stuff (sci-fi related naturally). So Barry is doing all kinds of different things, like the old old days when Robert Kanigher would write as many stories as John Broome so some stories were completely different than the others.

The Rogues, of course, as awesome as always. *That* is the thing I'm most anticipating from Geoff, as its just one of the best things he's ever done. I want all of them--favorites & obscure. Even the new Trickster I like. Weather Wizard, one of the Rogues that used to be one who I thought least about, became a favorite during Geoff's run with Wally.

I thought the Mirror Master in the issue for a minute was Scudder and it would mean the return of the original Mirror Master (who in my mind is the true original nemesis for Barry, not Zoom).

Really looking for a Gorilla Grodd appearance.

I hope we don't get too right into Zoom. I feel even though he was dead for years, he's been very overused for awhile. I expect a solid Zoom story down the line but I don't want to rush into it too much.

All in all, a good start. I'm glad its reverting to $2.99 though. As Lash points out, there were way too many splash pages for one issue. Like I said, I like the art, but that many splash pages feels a little like laziness.

After the disappointment of Rebirth I'm purposely not buying the new Flash ongoing.

Watch out for me scrambling to buy back-issues a couple of years down the line when Johns turns this book into the DC lynchpin that he turned Green Lantern into.

Francis' art is worth the buy.

Why don't you at least Byrne read the first issue and then decide?

^ I don't have a fast enough computer to do that Dev. I wouldn't even know where to look anyway.

My old shop let people read comics in the store so I'd get an idea if a book was one I wanted to follow that way.

I think I'll just follow online reviews for the next few months and then decide whether I want to get into it then.

Preview for issue #2. Looks very cool.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=5158&disp=table