Tag Archives: Bart Allen

Review: Flash: Rebirth #1 — “Lightning Strikes Twice”

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Flash: Rebirth #1

Now that I’ve had time to read it through a second time, Geoff Johns & Ethan Van Sciver’s Flash: Rebirth #1 didn’t bowl me over quite as much as it did on the first read-through, but it still won this Wally fan over at least for the duration of the miniseries. Some things bothered me more this time through, and ironically enough, it’s actually pretty slow for a book about speed.

On the other hand, it’s much faster-paced than Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #1 or Flash vol.2 #231, the first issues of the 2006 relaunch with Bart Allen and the 2007 relaunch with Wally West.

The book opens with a scene that starts out looking like a retelling of Barry Allen’s origin, but quickly becomes apparent that it’s taking place in the present day with someone trying to recreate the circumstances of the lightning strike that turned a police scientist into the Flash. After that foreboding opening, it moves onto the main segment of the book: introducing all the characters and the key concept of the speed force.

Oddly enough, everyone is introduced separately: Barry, Wally, Bart, Jay Garrick, and Barry’s wife Iris are all in different places. Jay is preparing for a welcome-back party with the Justice Society, Wally with the Titans, Bart with the Teen Titans, and Iris is setting up for a family dinner, while Barry visits the Flash Museum (a mainstay of the series since the Silver Age) to catch up and runs into Hal Jordan. So they all talk about Barry, and how they relate to him and each other, but you don’t actually see them interacting.

Within this framework, Johns and Van Sciver touch on the nature of Central City and Keystone City, the way they appreciate their native super-heroes, a number of the villains who populate the Twin Cities, and even address the Wally/Barry/Bart debates (Jay is so often left out) that thrive on the internet.

Near the end, Barry suits up, flashes back to a traumatic childhood memory, and the real threat makes its appearance.

Things I Liked

Flash: Rebirth #1 followed the golden rule for a chapter that’s mostly setup: Open with an exciting hook, and finish with an exciting cliffhanger. (Come to think of it, Flash:TFMA #1 and Flash v.2 #231 tried to follow this structure, but didn’t work as well.) By the end of the issue, you know key elements of Barry Allen’s personality, what his powers are, see him in action, and have a sense of the threat he’ll be facing, even if that threat’s identity and nature are still mysterious.

Referencing Barry’s lab accident right at the beginning is a good way to start things off, and the villain introduced is suitably creepy.

Continue reading →

More NYCC Flash Hints

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Not a whole lot from the DC Universe panel on Saturday, but CBR and Newsarama had slightly different bits of information.

Newsarama’s take:

Johns gave some hints about Flash: Rebirth. “It starts April 1, April Fool’s Day. It will come out.” The writer talked about the return of Bart Allen, and said the goal is to have fun in the Flash universe in the same way they’re currently having fun with the Green Lantern universe.

CBR’s take:

Geoff Johns then discussed “The Flash: Rebirth,” which comes out on April 1, confirming that Bart Allen is back and will play a big part in the book.

Also: CBR has a picture of the Kid Flash fan with George Perez from Friday’s DC Nation panel.

Flash Hints from DC Nation at NYCC

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Mostly from coverage at Newsarama, though there’s more on CBR:

First post-resurrections reunion of Barry Allen and Hal Jordan? Blackest Night #0 and Flash: Rebirth #1, said Johns, who added that Blackest Night #0 will be free—as part of Free Comic Book Day.

“If Wally West is just going to be in Titans and guest starring in Flash, aren’t you basically making him Kid Flash again?” “Who said those would be the only books he’d be in,” asked Sattler.

Thank you, Ian Sattler, for at least implying that Wally isn’t being stuck in Titans alone.

Starman or Golden Age sequel? “I think the best sequel to the Golden Age was done by Mr. Darwyn Cooke,” said Robinson, referring to New Frontier. “As far as Starman, probably not, but I am doing a Shade origin miniseries.”

DiDio then brought a fan in a Kid Flash outfit up to the dais to pose for a picture with George Perez. The fan asked about the future of Bart Allen: “He’ll be in the 31st century in Legion of Three Worlds,” said Johns, adding that he’ll be back in the Flash universe as of Flash: Rebirth.

And from the lightning round of questions:

Max Mercury? “Uh…maybe,” said Johns.

Kid Flash back in Titans? “We have to fight about that.”

“How many Flashes will you kill in Blackest Night?” “Not enough,” said DiDio.

“Any chance of a Young Justice trade paperback?” “Not at this time,” said Wayne. The crowd didn’t like that much (or at least the vocal portion).

Anything coming up for the Rogues? “Yeah, it’s called Flash: Rebirth“

Quick Look: Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #3

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This will be less of a full review and more of a first reaction to the issue.

I’m sure some people won’t believe this, but I actually felt more lost reading the first half of this book than I did reading Final Crisis itself. It’s been months since the last issue came out, and I’ve never been very familiar with the three incarnations of the Legion of Super-Heroes. The only time I read them on a monthly basis was the “Five Years Later” period that started around 1989 or so — and it’s not represented in this story! I have read the occasional issue of other series, particularly the “Reboot” Legion with its connections to Impulse. After a while I just went with it.

That settled out later in the issue, especially as it began to focus on XS and the various lightning-powered Legionnaires as they learned about the legacy of Barry Allen’s brief sojourn in the 30th Century. Geoff Johns attempted to clear up some of the questions of whether Bart Allen was from an alternate universe, and while I think the answer ended up being more complicated than was necessary (since they had already established that sometimes time travelers will end up in an alternate universe), I suspect it’s in the service of setting up threads that will tie into either Flash: Rebirth or the inevitable Flash ongoing that spins out of it.

And speaking as a Flash fan, the conclusion of this issue was fantastic.

Spoilers after the cut: Continue reading →

Looking Ahead: The Flash in 2009

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While The Flash is currently on hiatus, it’s clear that DC is making a major push this year to promote the Scarlet Speedster.

Flash: Rebirth

Flash: RebirthThe centerpiece of this push is Flash: Rebirth, a six-issue miniseries by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver. In addition to re-integrating Barry Allen into the modern DC Universe, it’s described as an attempt to revitalize the Flash franchise and expand the Flash mythos. More info: what we know so far about Flash: Rebirth.

It’s a given that a new Flash ongoing will launch after Rebirth finishes, almost certainly starring Barry Allen. While Geoff Johns has been strongly hinted as the new writer, there have been no hints as to who might draw it, and DC has not confirmed a creative team or even a start date.

Of course, with Barry Allen taking over the main series, what happens to Wally West? All we know is that he’s getting a new costume.

Collections

2009 is going to be a huge year for collected Flash books.

First up is Emergency Stop in January, collecting the first half of the Grant Morrison/Mark Millar run on the book from the late 1990s. (They filled in for a year while Mark Waid went off to do JLA: Year One.) The second half of their run comes out in June as The Human Race. This includes the introduction of the Black Flash, who figured prominently in the last few issues of Bart Allen’s series.

Justice League of America: The Lightning Saga, the story which brought Wally West and his family back from limbo, also gets a trade paperback this month.

March brings The Flash Archives Volume 5, picking up 1962–1963 (see also: write-up of the contents).

In May, the first Impulse collection in a decade will be released in the form of The Flash Presents: Mercury Falling (more info).

June, concludes the Morrison/Millar run with The Human Race.

July sees the release of two Flash hardcovers: DC Comics Classic Library: The Flash of Two Worlds collects the first few team-ups of Jay Garrick and Barry Allen during the Silver Age. Then Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge collects last year’s miniseries. [Edit: fixed date for Flash of Two Worlds.]

Seven collections — and that’s just half the year!

Around the DC Universe

All indications are that Jay Garrick will continue to appear in Justice Society of America, and that Wally West will stick around in Titans.

Justice League of America is another question. It looks like Wally will be there at least until the series catches up with the events of Final Crisis. What happens afterward, and when Barry Allen becomes DC’s primary Flash, remains to be seen. The two most popular theories:

  • Barry replaces Wally in Justice League of America, bringing us back to the Silver-Age status quo of Barry in the JLA and Wally in the Titans.
  • Barry joins the new team in James Robinson’s soon-to-launch Justice League, alongside Hal Jordan, Oliver Queen, and Ray Palmer — the heroes he knows best — and Wally keeps his spot in JLA, ensuring that each team has a Flash.

The Flash will probably continue to appear in Super Friends, and Kid Flash in Tiny Titans.

No one seems to know what’s in store for Bart Allen. Despite strong hints of his return in Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds, delays have prevented us from actually seeing it. We know he’s one of very few dead characters who have been ruled out as potential Black Lanterns in 2009’s big event, Green Lantern: Blackest Night.

Other Media

Animation: With Batman: The Brave and the Bold featuring regular team-ups with other DCU heroes, there’s a good chance of seeing the Flash on the small screen again this year. Articles about the soon-to-be-released Wonder Woman animated feature have indicated that an animated Flash movie is in the works. (Though at two a year, we aren’t likely to see one until at least 2010.)

Live Action: The long-planned Flash feature film seems to be stalled at the moment, but if this year’s big Flash push succeeds, its fortunes may turn around again.

Video Games: The Flash appears in Sony’s DC Universe Online MMORPG. A firm date hasn’t been set for release, but the earliest quoted is late 2009.

Who is the Fastest Flash?

Flash v.2 #75 cover: Barry Allen, Jay Garrick and Wally West together.It’s the eternal question among fans. Who’s faster, Flash or Superman? (Answer: Flash, just barely.) Who would win in a fight, Wolverine or Batman? And of course, which Flash is faster? Wally West? Barry Allen? Jay Garrick? Bart Allen?

The truth is that which Flash is fastest changes over time, but there’s an easy pattern to follow: unless he’s been deliberately de-powered, whoever headlines the current series is the fastest Flash. After all, why focus on the second-fastest man alive?

When Jay Garrick was the one and only Flash around, he was, of course, the fastest man on Earth. When Barry Allen burst onto the scene, Jay was a little older, and had slowed down. So Barry was faster. When Wally West first took over as the Flash, he’d been pushed down to near the speed of sound…but as he kept going, breaking through his psychological blocks and eventually learning about the speed force, he reached that #1 rank. Then during Bart Allen’s brief tenure as the Flash, he absorbed the speed force and became not just the fastest man alive, but the fastest man who had ever lived.

All signs point to Barry Allen being the star of the Flash series that’s sure to spin out of The Flash: Rebirth. No doubt once the dust settles, he’ll once again be the Fastest Man Alive — and even faster than his fellow Scarlet Speedsters.

Until the next relaunch, of course…