Over at the Source, DC has confirmed what Ethan Van Sciver indicated a few months ago: Flash: Rebirth will run 6 issues.
Almost from the moment it was announced, there was confusion among fans as to whether it was a 6-issue or 5-issue miniseries, until the first issue was solicited as #1 of 5. Then there were EVS’s cryptic remarks about how the book might not be done in September, and eventually he stated that DC was “probably” going to add a sixth issue.
On Friday, Ethan Van Sciver posted two covers to the Jinxworld Forums. One was the cover to Flash: Rebirth #5 which was also released through The Source. The other? Check it out:
EVS doesn’t say which issue the cover is for, but judging by the end of issue #2, it’s almost certainly the variant for Flash: Rebirth #3.
(via Speedster Site)
Update (May 11): DC has posted a slightly larger image at The Source, and confirmed that it’s the variant cover to Flash: Rebirth #3.
Some weekend linkblogging:
Covered features artist James Duncan’s reinterpretation of Flash v.1 #108.
iFanboy’s Great Moments in Comics features a scan of the Flash’s costume begging Barry Allen not to leave it. “The Case of the Curious Costume,” which appeared in Flash v.1 #161 (1966) was a “bonus” story based on the cover from Flash v.1 #159. (Thanks to GCD for the scan!)
Crave Online’s Top 5 Covers for April starts the countdown with Flash: Rebirth #1 at position 5.
Over at Comics Should Be Good, Scott’s Classic Comics Corner has been trying to pin down the start of the Bronze Age of comics (a much fuzzier boundary than the start of the Silver Age), and finishes his series with several less serious suggestions. Among them: Flash #220 (1973), the return of Turtle Man, 17 years after he first appeared in…Showcase #4.
Profzoom has launched a series of Flash: Rebirth Annotations.
Pete’s Rambling Observations suggests that Wally’s kids are “Ewoks on steroids”
Read/RANT considers How Many Green Arrows (or Flashes) is Too Many?
The Weekly Crisis’ Moments of the Week include several “anti-moments” from Flash: Rebirth #2.
Newsarama interviews Geoff Johns about his 10-year run on JSA and Justice Society of America.
DC’s The Source spotlights seven August Covers, including the cover for Flash: Rebirth#5.
It’s the latest homage to the classic “Flash of Two Worlds” cover from Flash v.1 #123, the first meeting of Barry Allen and Jay Garrick — only this time it’s Barry Allen vs. the Black Flash, and the poor hapless construction worker has been crushed by the falling beam.
There are actually two visual references to this famous cover in Flash: Rebirth #1 as well — a parade float, and then a side view in Jay Garrick’s reminiscences.
Also of interest is the cover to Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape, in which it looks like Nemesis is running on the Cosmic Treadmill.
I’ve re-read the first issue of Flash: Rebirth so that the setup is all fresh in my mind, and I’ve gone over Flash: Rebirth #2 again. To follow up on my first impressions: Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver continue to deliver a well-constructed story, though some of the pieces it uses strike me as ill-chosen or a waste of material.
Van Sciver’s art is, as always, excellent — and incredibly detailed. There’s a flashback sequence to Barry’s life before gaining his powers, and you can clearly see how some characters have aged over the years. There are also some nice symbolic images, such as Sam Scudder (the future Mirror Master) and his reflection (and props to the colorist who gave him an orange and green striped tie). At one point Barry and Wally get caught up in a battle with a villain, and half of Wally’s mask is ripped away. This not only makes it instantly clear which Flash is which (it does get confusing in the pages leading up to that point), but gives us a very clear view of his facial expression on the second-to-last page.
And then there’s the cover, an homage to Showcase #4 and Barry Allen’s first appearance.
The story picks up on the appearances of Savitar and the Black Flash from last issue, and the unexpected consequences, framed by a painting ceremony in Gorilla City. It follows through on Savitar’s appearance more than I expected (at least before DC posted the preview pages last week), though I get the feeling that DC and/or Geoff Johns is seeing this miniseries not just as a way to set up new pieces, but an excuse to throw out old pieces, even the ones that have been sitting unused in the back of the closet for years.
Oddly enough, I’ve had no problems with the pacing of this story, even though the general consensus online (at least among people who aren’t long-term Flash readers) is that it’s too slow. This is especially odd because my biggest criticism of the last two relaunches — Flash: The Fastest Man Alive’s “Lightning in a Bottle” with Bart Allen as the Flash and The Flash’s “The Wild Wests” with Wally West and family — was that they started with big six-part stories that were paced too slow for someone whose main claim to fame is speed. I still maintain that if “Lightning in a Bottle” had been condensed into three parts instead of six, fans would have responded much better to Bart as the Flash instead of rejecting him so thoroughly that DC turned around and killed him.
Maybe it’s because of the emphasis on Barry Allen, who has always been slow and steady in contrast to his alter ego of the Flash.
That said, I still don’t understand why they felt it necessary to explain Barry’s bow tie instead of just treat it as an artifact of when the original stories were produced. Modern retellings of Superman’s origin don’t make an effort to explain away Clark Kent’s anachronistic hat — they just leave it out.
I think that’s about as much as I can cover without giving anything away, so keep an eye out for spoilers after the jump. Continue reading
I’ll post a more complete review after I’ve had a chance to get home, re-read the first issue, and read through this one again, [Edit: it’s up now] but here are my first thoughts on Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver’s Flash: Rebirth #2.
Good mix of flashback and mystery.
The simple solution to explain why civilian Barry Allen is back, and where he’s been all this time.
Follow-through on both Savitar and Black Flash — the story’s starting to get going.
Nice to see some familiar faces like Patty Spivot, Barry’s lab assistant. That makes me wonder where she is now, and whether she’s ever met Angela Margolin, who had Barry’s former job during Chain Lightning and the Dark Flash Saga.
Sam Scudder’s green-and-orange striped tie from his pre-Mirror Master days.
During a fight, Wally’s costume is ripped in such a way as to suggest Walter West‘s “Dark Flash” costume.
Another mention of Max Mercury (remember, he co-stars in the Mercury Falling collection that also came out today!)
The Gorilla City paintings as a narrative tie.
I can see where he’s going with the new backstory introduced last issue, but I still don’t like it much. Is retfridge a word? Or retro-fridge?
Was it really necessary to take a page and a half to do the Secret Origin of Barry Allen’s Bow Tie? Honestly, I’d have just ignored it the way modern Superman ignores the fact that Clark Kent used to wear a hat.
On one hand it’s a cop-out to bring back missing characters just long enough to kill them. On the other…I guess it’s better than killing off active ones. And it’s not as if death is (usually) permanent in comics anyway.
The last page ends on a cliffhanger. On one hand, it’s shocking in the “how will they get out of this?” sense. As far as revelations go, it’s only surprising in the sense of, “Really? They actually went there?”
Initial Verdict: Good, could be better.
Stay tuned for my full review later today. Update: My full review is up.