Tag Archives: Ethan van Sciver

Flash: Rebirth to be Extended?

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Flash: Rebirth artist Ethan Van Sciver has been answering questions over at the Green Lantern Corps Message Board, where he left this response to confusion about the length of Flash: Rebirth:

It was always going to be 5, but we’re probably going to add a 6th issue.

This actually would better explain the artist’s remarks that the series might not be done by September, but that it would be “a good thing.”

Thanks to SpeedsterSite for the link!

Update: Speedster Site has collected the Flash Q&A posts in one place.

Geoff Johns and EVS Talk Flash: Rebirth at IO9 and Newsarama

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A couple of new interviews popped up over the weekend with Flash: Rebirth‘s writer and artist.

First IO9 interviews Geoff Johns. The answer that I found most intriguing from this interview was this:

Is the tone similar to Green Lantern: Rebirth? Because Green Lantern has a tone of, I don’t want to say “space opera,” but it’s been very grandiose and the stakes have never been small.

Green Lantern is to Space as the Flash is to Time.

The backdrop is, big and epic. But it’s a little bit more character-focused, though, the difference being, I gotta get into Barry Allen’s history more because he’s more of an unknown to people.

Let’s look at that again: “Green Lantern is to Space as the Flash is to Time.”

Next is the Blog@Newsarama Q&A with Ethan Van Sciver.

EVS: The reader can draw his own conclusions, but again, I don’t think it’s cynicism on Barry’s part, but a sense that something is very wrong. We’re not seeing the Barry we’re used to here, and there’s a reason for that.

I’m reminded of the fact that Bilson and DeMeo said the same thing about Bart at the beginning of Flash: The Fastest Man Alive. Of course, no one listened to them.

EVS Talks Flash at Word Balloon

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The Word Balloon podcast interviews Ethan Van Sciver about Flash: Rebirth and Blackest Night. The post has a few excerpts in which he talks about Barry Allen’s origin pre-figuring the Marvel-style accident-based origin (of course Jay’s fits the same pattern), about returning to draw Bart Allen years after his run on Impulse, about the Flash Museum and Central & Keystone Cities’ obsession with the Rogues, and about the challenge of drawing a monthly comic.

I’m really going to have to listen to this when I get home (or maybe at lunch if I can find a USB cable).

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.

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Flash: Rebirth #1 – First Impressions

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Comic stack topped with Flash: Rebirth #1

I’ll have to wait until I get home to write up a full review [Edit: it’s up now], but for now let me say this: Geoff Johns & Ethan Van Sciver’s Flash: Rebirth #1 has almost won me over, at least for the duration of this story. It was very well-written and drawn, introduced all four major Flashes and the concept of the Speed Force, and set up a threat right at the beginning.

Some parts seemed a bit too familiar — the opening reminded me a bit too much of “Blood Will Run,” for instance, and a flashback reminded me a bit too much of Zoom’s backstory. And it was kind of strange watching internet arguments played out on the page with Barry, Bart and Hal taking up different viewpoints.

There were some nice easter eggs for long-term readers — iconic images from throughout Wally’s career, references to Barry’s hometown of Fallville and Wally’s hometown of Blue Valley, a mention of Barry’s old boss, Captain Frye.

The one thing that really bothered me was a major retcon to Barry’s history that completely changes the character of his family life — similar to retcons made to Wally West’s family after Crisis on Infinite Earths. I’m sure Geoff Johns has somewhere he’s going with it, but it seems unnecessary to give Barry Allen a dark tormented past, particularly one that contradicts dozens of Silver-Age and Bronze-Age stories, including one that he used himself in “The Secret of Barry Allen.”

Update: I’ve posted my full review.