DC has released a 5-page preview of The Flash #1. The Geoff Johns/Francis Manapul series launches on April 14 (after a Flash Secret Files and Origins special this month).
It’s…better than I expected, actually. Geoff Johns is finally writing that book about speed that he always wanted to do but somehow didn’t get around to. I like Francis Manapul’s art, though I think it needs a bit more in the movement department (the Flash looks like a statue compared to the car he’s pacing). And I’m beginning to think I’d happily read a story about Iris Allen, Caffeinated Reporter (though as a journalist, I’d like to think she’d be using actual words while texting).
The preview describes the first storyline, “The Dastardly Death of the Rogues” (and now we have a definitive statement on whether “Death” is singular or plural in that title), as follows:
…coming back may have been the easy part. When one of the Flash’s deadliest foes turns up dead, can the newly-returned Scarlet Speedster scour Central City to solve the crime before the elusive killer strikes again?
DC goes on to add that they’ll be “talking more Flash” soon.
(The Source’s images sometimes don’t work on Internet Explorer. If that’s the case, you might have some success with CBR’s copy or Newsarama’s copy of the preview.)
I have been skeptical about bringing back Barry as the Flash — I haven’t read any of the lead-up yet, and darn it I liked Wally as the Flash — but these pages made me smile. Cute, fun, bright, easy — loved the “Iris Allen, Caffeinated Reporter” bit, and also the idea of speed and instantaneous communication between Barry and Iris; this has made me a lot, lot more hopeful about the “new” Flash.
.-= collectededitions’s latest blog post: Review: Titans: Lockdown trade paperback (DC Comics) =-.
Barry Allen is finally back in a big way. I can finally sleep at night.
If you haven’t been able to sleep since 1985, I’d say you have a worse problem than simply who’s wearing the Flash outfit.
I’m in love all over again.
I was born in 1990. so the only Barry stories (aside from Crisis) I’ve ever read were pilfered from my grandma’s friend, and they were missing pages.
But this I like.
I can get behind this series 100%, just from these opening pages. I’m a sucker for scenery shots and small talk between minor (read as: not the main) characters. Then there’s the Trickstermobile, and the bad guy in it. I’m interested to see how a first confrontation between Axel and Barry will go. I also wonder if Barry will simply take apart the car, like Bart did back in an issue of Teen Titans.
Man, Manapul draws female’s so awesomely. He makes them look cute, not hot or overly sexy, which is sooo good to see. CANNOT WAIT.
Say what you will, after Rebirth, I am still a bit on the skeptical side of things with the return of Barry Allen and the retirement(of sorts) of Wally West. Hopefully both characters will get equal treatment in the new title.
It’s a Barry Allen book. I’m sure Wally will guest star from time to time, but there’s no way DC would even consider giving him “equal treatment.”
This leaves me concerned about Axel’s fate… considering that the story is supposed to center on the death of a Rogue… Johns hasn’t treated the ‘new gen’ Rogues very well in the past.
Geoff already tried to swap Axel Walker for James Jesse way back in Flash #225… then Countdown screwed it up.
Still, it was Geoff who co-created the character, and it was Geoff who brought him back after James Jesse was killed off.
Basically, I think he has a slightly higher survival rate than the Evan McCulloch Mirror Master!
Forget about Azel; if Weather Wizard gets offed, I’m going to be pissed…
I was a little concerned with how vibrant the colors would be based on Manapul’s previous work but the preview looked pretty juicy.
What? Barry doesn’t have to wait 100 issues before getting “The” placed in front of “Flash” on the book’s banner? What. A. Surprise.
The preview didn’t really do it for me, but I can say, without sarcasm, that I’m glad so many of you dug it.
I still don’t know why Iris is so young. It’s a constant distraction that I can’t easily ignore.
And then there’s the apparent ease with which these two time travelling, LITERALLY death-defying characters have reintegrated themselves back into society and their careers.
Bugs the $#!+ out of me. It’d take a damned good story to make me forget that.
.-= West’s latest blog post: MIA =-.
I thought John’s tried to explain that with the Reverse Flash’s comments in Rebirth about Iris and Barry staying young due to contact with the speed force, and using that to explain Bart’s constant aging, yet still being alive, and Wally’s kids.
It might seem lame to some and a cop out of an excuse, but since they’re going with Barry being the speed force, I kind of like it.
“but since they’re going with Barry being the speed force, I kind of like it.”
The less this is mentioned, the better.
Man, I wasn’t hanging around message boards when Hal came back and took over from Kyle, but I wonder if this is what it’s like. We’ve got some CRAZY hate and some pretty wild moaning about Wally.
Everyone from DiDio to Geoff Johns has said they have BIG plans for the Flash franchise coming in the next 2 years, through 2011. Wally will be fine people. DC isn’t going to relegate him to only guest spots in books from time to time. Let’s all take a breath, and see where Barry can take this book.
“DC isn’t going to relegate him to only guest spots in books from time to time.”
No?
So, when DiDio says Barry is our Flash fix for 2010, we’re misreading that? We’re misreading the cancelling of the Wally back-up feature and the Kid Flash book?
When we’re told that Barry IS the speed force, that doesn’t relegate every other speedster to second-best? That they wouldn’t have their power if it wasn’t for Barry?
When the Rogues say they have a plan for when The Flash returns, it’s not supposed to mean they didn’t consider Wally The Flash?
It’s just a coincidence that Barry is always drawn a step ahead of Wally?
Wally fans are supposed to accept this deliberate downgrading of the character?
No, many people are disappointed and justifiably so.
You do have some good points, but I just don’t think it’s necessary to get so glood and doom and Wally’s future. People probably did the exact same thing with Hal and Kyle in Green Lantern. Kyle didn’t get a solo book right away, but he was put in a team book shortly after Hal returned. I can see a similar thing happening here. Not a Flash Corps, but still, why not an All-Flash like some have discussed.
From a creative point of view, they want to get Barry back as the main Flash, it’s true, so that’s why we’re getting Barry as our Flash fix for this year. They do want him front and center like he was for 20 some years prior to his death. He’s the main Flash. We’re going to have to deal with it. Wally was his side kick and even though he’s grown beyond side kick status, Barry is still his better.
Same situation with Dick, Donna, Roy, and Garth. They’re no longer side-kicks, but not up to par with their mentors.
Why does it have to be viewed as a downgrade of his character? I see it as just bringing back his mentor, the person who helped him to run fast. Wally is still Wally, but now his uncle is back. If we want to look at it in terms of the story, let’s just say he’s spending more time with his family now, like he’s been talking about. 🙂
“Barry is still his better.” “Why does it have to be viewed as a downgrade?”
Are you actually reading what you’ve written?
Yeah, and throughout Wally’s series, he was always shown looking up to Barry, trying to live up to Barry. This stayed true. He did grow to “fill Barry’s shoes”, but at the same time, Wally was always shown to try to emulate Barry as the Flash.
I’m definitely not saying this is a natural progression for Wally’s character. Far from it. I’d have been totally happy with Wally’s series continuing. But still, Wally’s always viewed Barry as something to strive for. Always looked up to him. To me, this is more of how it’s always been, not a downgrade.
It’s a downgrade in how often we’ll see him, at least for a while, but not as a strong character for DC.
It’s viewed as a downgrade because, unlike Donna, Roy, and Garth, Wally had assumed the mantle. Donna didn’t spend 245 issues as Wonder Woman. Wally WAS The Flash (even if it took 100 issues for the title of the book to go from “Flash” to “The Flash” 🙂 So, now that his predecessor is back, he has to take a step back … because, why, exactly?
I, and many other Wally fans, understand that Barry is back. It would be easier (and more fun) to deal with it if the elevation of Barry wasn’t accompanied by a simultaneous denigrating of Wally, both in-story and from real-world people. That’s the part of this that has irritated people, it’s unnecessary, especially from real-world people.
Because DC didn’t think The Flash was selling to its potential with Wally or Bart.
The only excuse I’ve heard for bringing back Barry that I agree with at all is that the writers had done just about anything and everything possible with Wally.
On one hand I agree with this– what more would the writers put Wally through. The poor guy has been through the ringer a few times during his tenure as The Flash maybe he deserves a break– some time to step back and spend time with his family (like he wanted to do back when his title initially ended… before it was brought back again).
On the other hand I see it as a cop out for a lack of creativity. No more stories to write for Wally? That’s ridiculous!
In the long run I’d like to see Wally and Bart team up and Barry team up with Iris/Impulse II. Parents and grandparents tend to be too close to their own kids/grandkids to be objective. By Bart continuing as Wally’s sidekick and Iris becoming Barry’s sidekick there’s an interesting new dynamic thrown in….
But I think that’s looking ahead to 2011 or farther at this point.
I have to say I liked the preview and that I’m glad Barry’s back but I can sympathize with Wally fans because DC editorial (to borrow from TV Tropes) put him on a bus. Personally, Geoff’s previous run on the Flash is what got me to reading the title on a regular basis so I’m naturally irked by this development.
I started reading Wally back in the Messner-Loebs era (when the CBS TV series first came out). At first I was disappointed as the TV series featured Barry but the comic featured Wally. It kind of made me feel like a Johnny Come Lately. So I started hunting down comics from Barry’s run as The Flash… This was around Flash #32 or so… but around Flash #49 and #50… When Vandal Savage “killed” Wally anad Kilg%re essentially resurrected him he started to win me over… Then when Mark Waid took it over I was suddenly in a “Barry who?!” frame of mind. Waid’s portrayal of Wally won me over and I never looked back.
DC has severely mishandled The Flash as a character since they initially ended Wally’s run. I wouldn’t have minded their rapid-fire aging of Bart had the explanation for Wally’s absence seemed so arbitrary. I thought the Bilson/DiMeo portrayal of Bart was kind of hokey but Bart as Flash was really starting to grow on me after Marc Guggenheim took over (although, I do tend to agree with Kelson regarding Guggenheim’s writing of the Rogues– quite out of character– he gets an A from me for how he wrote Bart but a D- for how he wrote the Rogues).
I wanted Barry to stay dead… not because I dislike Barry, but because his death meant something as long as he remained dead. His sacrifice meant something it gave the whole Crisis on Infinite Earths an added weight that seems to have lessened substantially in Barry’s recent resurrection.
Oh and just a question to anyone who chooses to tackle it– Since Eobard Thawne is from the 25th Century originally and Hunter Zolomon is from the 21st Century wouldn’t that make Zolomon Zoom I and Thawne Zoom II? How exactly does that work?