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

Actually, he was going back in time to undo what Zoom had changed.

Barry, while I agree he may not have thought it through fully, is also more experienced at time travel than all the other Flashes combined. the one person/people he should have talked to is Booster and Rip...although only Batman knew what they were up to, so that wasn't really an option.

I'd have to go back and reread it to really comment further, but I seem to think that he just returned from the dead (so he may be a little out of sorts), was immediately involved in Final Crisis, then went into Blackest Night. Followed by the man that killed his wife coming back to life as well (for seemingly no reason that he knew of - the white light just chose him) and then had his mother killed when she hadn't really been killed.

So, given what I just remember off the top of my head, he was dealing with a lot of crap, and reacted from the gut.

Aside from that, it's what Johns needed him to do to set up Flashpoint, and in turn the new DCU.

In regards to Barrys' sainthood status...that was all developed after he died. he was never the all knowing hero. He killed his arch nemesis, and tool off to the future afterward.

It's something that attached itself to him after he sacrificed himself to save the universe. It was a selfless act to be sure...but the sainthood thing developed over time. There is no way that he could ever have lived up to it. He was never that type of hero...he was just a man that did the best he could.

I agree that (A) Barry has been written OOC under John's pen, and (B) the plot of Flashpoint was pretty silly and doesn't hold up.

The sequence where Barry had Thomas Wayne electrocute him? Sure it might have looked cool (to 13 year olds). But how ridiculously stupid was that?

Sarky, you're on to something calling DC out on their bullshit.

Barry was totally written to fulfill Johns purposes, and honestly...fans of Wally should be glad that Wally took a backseat to that. I agree that Flashpoint was bunk, but there you go.

That being said, and I am a huge Barry fanboy, I wish he had not come back at all in the old DCU. I am however enjoying what they have done so far in the DCnU Flash book...and no, I cannot believe I am saying that.

I never realized the sainthood thing only came about after he died. And, yes, I think maybe it was a gut reaction because of the crap he had to deal with.

Final Crisis - Rebirth - Blackest Night

I can see what you mean in terms of emotional burdens. He comes back, learns Zoom effectively changed time and killed his mother, then learns Ronnie, Ralph, Sue, and Solovar are all dead and reanimated as corpses at the behest of the personification of the void.

But I still think Barry should've talked about this with Jay, Max, and Wally, and maybe even Bart. Regardless of their experience in time travel (hell, Bart's from the 31st Century), going up against Zoom by himself after the good professor put most of them through the ringer in Rebirth seemed incredibly stupid. And, there is of course, Superman, when you realize that a good chunk of his childhood was spent in the 31st Century.

Gut reactions regardless, I find it hard to think Barry suddenly decided "have to go back, have to stop Zoom, have to save Mom" like it was all he could think of. It probably wasn't a random idea. He'd have to have put some thought into it beyond going from point A to point B. He's a forensics scientist, and it's been stated that he's the one who always took the longest to make sure everything was thought out.

There's also something else that's been nagging me regarding Flash: Inertia and Owen Mercer.

I'm starting to get on board with those fans who're mad at recent writers, specifically Johns, for what he did with them. Inertia had the possibility of turning around after his last appearance in Impulse. When they brought him back he helped orchestrate Bart's death. That wasn't Johns, but then he solidified it by having him turn into a child murderer in Rogues Revenge. Then he was killed by the Rogues.

Then we have Owen Mercer, the second Captain Boomerang. He seemed to have fallen into a perfect niche as a functioning anti-hero, even as a big brother figure towards Supergirl (yes, I know it was the Super Brittney phrase). We never got to explore whatever connection he may have had with Bart and Jenni, and he did try to fix things (at least I think he did) with Tim over what happened to their respective fathers. And then to usher in the return of his dad, Johns wrote Owen as completely willing to feed his Black Lantern father victims because he thought it would bring him back. Including women and children. The Rogues let his dad at him, and he died. And when Digger did indeed come back, he could've cared less about his son, regardless that the two were starting to bond in Identity Crisis.

There's Barry acting OOC, then there's Johns turning Inertia and Owen into child murderers just before he killed them off.

This honestly seems like more of a Geoff Johns issue than an actual Barry Allen thing Sarky. He is the one that wrote Barry into a corner and had him act out of character at all the wrong moments.

I also did not like what was done to Owen or Inertia either...especially Owen as I feel he had a ton of potential.

Well, the Owen and Inertia thing I just threw in, to be honest.

I guess I'm just trying to avoid saying "Barry Allen ruined the DCU to save his mom."

No, that's not right.

It's just really nagging me that this seems like another example of a comic writer professing love for a character but writing them as completely alien in order fulfill their own ends.

And then I stop to wonder about what Johns was actually setting up to happen in his Flash run had Flashpoint not happened. We all know he was aiming at something, with the vague mentions of Zoom's "speed soldiers", Doctor Alchemy, Abrakadabra, and how one of Wally's kids was going to betray him.

I wonder if Johns was genuienly happy writing Flashpoint, or how he wrote Barry. Didn't they say Flashpoint was only going to change a couple of things?

Another reason: I've been mulling over that idea for a Titans story I had, and I've been wondering if it would be right to have Wally mad at Barry if he learned that Barry is the one responsible for changing the universe, and essentially put his family and everyone in existence in complete danger to stop Zoom.

There are several books and things that make me think that the Flashpoint / DCnU thing was not planned all that far in advance.

There was so much build up happening in books that just got tossed out the window with no warning. I also wonder what Geoff had planned for Barry if Flashpoint had not happened.

The key for me is the current Flash comic is fantastic without Geoff. Manupal and Buccelato have made it DC's best series.

Gorilla Grodd as a Flash? Wild idea, huh? Solovar makes his 52 debut... doesn't look like it'll be an extended stay, though.

Wasn't Piper left for dead on the streets, like, issues ago? Did I miss follow-up to that?

The layouts on this title, along with BATWOMAN, ANIMAL MAN and SWAMP THING are the best visual things in the new DCU.

Flash is one of those rare series where I buy it, barely skim through the dialogue and writing but rather sit back and enjoy the outright incredible art by Manapul and Buccelato. Those two really *are* that stunning, where I can enjoy the issue solely on art and not regret the purchase.

The story itself I'm not enthusiastic about, and in fact stopped caring completely awhile back. So Flash isn't even in the top 40 comics I buy. And if F&B aren't on art duties any given month, it outright sucks.

But man, when they drawing the series, its the best looking comic produced by DC.

Also, holy CRAP The Flash #15 was sick as hell. Manapul's art in the second half...:D

Just finished the first volume and must agree that it is visually remarkable!

What's interesting in the story is how Flash is learning new things about his power, how to enable his mind to work with his physical speed and how the speed force affects him and Earth overall.

The villains Mob Rule were interesting enough in a horror story kind of way; Captain Cold was okay, especially since he had a direct effect on Flash's abilities. I really don't like Grodd, so don't know if I'll go for the second volume.

I wonder if they're really going to sideline Iris, or if Patty will get killed off. I sort of like how Iris is a pesky, pushy reporter; Patty is sweet but a bit dull.

This book is like Batwoman - love the artwork, but the story isn't really screaming for my attention.

The one good thing about the New 52? I think so.

Founding member of the JLA!






He's got a killer rogue's gallery ... but that dosn't slow him down.



Also Carmine Infantino was just amazing on that book ...

I like Wally more, but Barry's a great guy too! Loved the "Barry is always late" characterization and how personable he was

One of the most gripping story lines EVER.



... and I got to read it the first time around.

Barry Allen didn't have a lot of luck in the '80s. Iris was killed. Barry killed Professor Zoom before he could kill the next love of his life. He was put on an extended trial. He had his face smashed into a pulp and the jury found him guilty after they were infiltrated.

The League even voted on whether to expel him, before they broke up to form JLA Detroit while he was on another Earth.

He got a whole month of happiness with a restored Iris West, before the Crisis came. He vibrated through time to warn his friends about the anti matter clouds. He was then captured and tortured by the Psycho Pirate, on the Anti Monitor's world. Yet even after all this, he selflessly died a hero saving our universe. He appeared to his friends as his efforts to defeat the Anti Monitor warped time and space.

From his lateness to his down to earth but fascinating Police Scientist role. From Flash facts to the Rogues Gallery. From close friendships with Ralph and Hal to his relationship problems with Iris and his mentoring of Wally West.

Barry Allen, the first hero of the Silver Age and one who gave up his life so that the Post Crisis age could live.

Wonderful summary of Barry Allen's career, thoth.

One of the first comics I ever bought was a Flash (212, I think; it featured Mr. Element as the villain). I already knew The Flash from a cartoon series, and I thought super-speed was one of the coolest powers. Yet the Flash comic itself never became one of my favorites, perhaps because of the way it was written. Green Lad's post on Page 1 of this thread contains as clue as to why. In saying he preferred Barry to Wally, Green Lad says nothing about Barry. But he does enumerate the Flash's rogues gallery. It was the villains who were more interesting than Barry himself.

The series really took off during those last few years when Iris died and Barry was put on trial for killing Professor Zoom. At last Barry had serious challenges to face. At last he seemed like a real character instead of a cardboard cutout who fought Captain Cold every now and then.

I hated it that he was killed in Crisis so soon after reuniting with Iris. (I guess that's good writing--if a reader feels anything toward a story.) Super-heroes can't live happily ever after, it seems. But if Barry had to die, at least he had one of the best comic book deaths ever. And his legacy even lived on through Wally. What more could a hero ask for?

I haven't read the stories of his return, and I don't want to. I'm happy with Barry's story coming to a resolution (even a tragic one).

Yes, Barry's death was great and heroic, and he was forever remembered. It's just sad that he never had his happily ever after.

As with He Who, I felt Barry's story had come to a great (though sad) ending. There was closure, and that was why his return didn't exactly elate me.

On another note, in the foreword to the COIE collected edition, Marv Wolfman did say he'd written in a plot device to allow Barry to come back. It was probably his traveling through time while trying to destroy the Anti-Monitor's machines. I suppose that would have allowed writers to pluck him out of the timestream for future stories, albeit only temporarily; he'd always have had to return to fulfill his role in the defeat of the Anti-Monitor.

I think that's indeed what it was. I remember Wolfman saying something along the lines of "knowing that he could return at any moment to his death would give another series real momentum."

Barry always had great visuals and clever uses of his power when facing his horde of kooky foes. The Rogues were always lots of fun, while Batman's enemies became darker twisted versions of themselves.

I skipped through his blossoming romance with Zatanna the other day, and it was sweet. The first character, in my first JLA story was Barry in a few solo pages and he's been a favourite ever since.

Looking back at his regular series I still have that little bit of resistance to Infantino's art. That's not a comment on it's quality, so much as the very distinctive look it gave the book.

Beautiful!





Here's some more great Flash images:

Some of these old covers are truly great:

I LOVE THESE TWO!

Supes dosn't stand a chance.