DC’s new blog, the Source, is reporting that Flash: Rebirth #1 has sold out at the distributor. Local comic stores may or may not still have copies.
A second printing will follow on April 29, featuring the “missing” variant cover by Ethan Van Sciver — the front view of Barry putting on his boots, rather than the side view from the initial promo image and the first printing — that appeared on DC’s solicitations for the issue.
CBR interviews Geoff Johns once more about Flash: Rebirth, now that the first issue is on the shelves. It’s cryptic, but two remarks that stood out for me are:
“Barry Allen was a man before his time in a lot of ways. Now is his time.”
and
“Barry Allen is a wrench being thrown into the Flash Universe and that’s what the series is about.”
He also talks about Barry’s emotional state, Wally’s and Bart’s roles, and the nature of the Superman/Flash race coming up. Read the rest at CBR.
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.
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.
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.
Flash continues to take the internet by storm! I’ll stick with non-spoiler posts here (except for the preview below), and save links to people who’ve actually read it for the next round-up. Buzz on Twitter has been extremely positive so far.
Newsarama has a list of Top 10 Flash Stories as chosen by Geoff Johns, Mark Waid, and Ethan Van Sciver
DC’s new blog, The Source has a new 8-page preview of Flash:Rebirth #1 — different from the 5 pages released for New York Comic-Con.
Nerduary wonders, Do We Really Need a Flash: Rebirth?.
Another one I missed over the weekend: The Flash-back podcast previews Flash: Rebirth.
Ervin Anderson says that Batman is dead and DC is dying (hint: Batman isn’t really dead — the last few pages of Final Crisis make that clear), but that what is good about DC is “anything written by Geoff Johns.”
Newsarama plugs Mark Waid’s Irredeemable in its Best Shots Extra column.
Progressive Ruin lists this week’s “staff picks” with (naturally) some, shall we say, interesting commentary on Flash: Rebirth.
YesButNoButYes looks at this weeks’ comics and contemplates Flash: Rebirth‘s chances for success at redefining Barry Allen as the One True FlashTM.
Ever since Barry Allen’s return from the dead was confirmed nearly a year ago, comics fans have been wondering who would be next to get the Rebirth treatment.
Now, the wait is over. With Flash: Rebirth hitting stores today, DC has announced that December 2009 will see the launch of Vibe: Rebirth, by the now-familiar team of Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver.
In the early 1980s, the Justice League of America took on several new members as the “big guns” left the team. Paco Ramone, a Detroit gang leader with the ability to generate shock waves, decided to give up his life of crime and join the League as Vibe.
Vibe was a member of the Justice League from 1984 until 1987, when he was killed by one of Professor Ivo’s androids during the Legends crossover. He was the first member of the Justice League of America to die in the line of duty.
On Tuesday, Ethan Van Sciver posted on his forum at the Comic Bloc:
Based on pre-sales success of Flash: Rebirth, Dan [Didio] has given me and Geoff the go-ahead to move forward with the next chapter in the Rebirth trilogy: Vibe: Rebirth.
Based on pre-release? It’s certainly not unprecedented. Just a few days ago, Paramount hired a writing team to write a sequel to the new Star Trek film, which won’t be out for another month.
When asked whether the artist would be able to hold to a schedule for another monthly project so close on the heels of Flash: Rebirth, he explained, “DC gave us a lot of lead time on Flash, so I should have plenty of time to get started on Vibe.”
“I hope this lays to rest any fears fans have about me being a ‘Silver-Age fanboy,’” Geoff Johns said. (Personally, given the tendency among many fans to think the Silver Age lasted right up to 1985, ignoring the Bronze Age entirely, I wouldn’t count on it.) When asked if he could provide any details of the story, he simply said, “Wait and see.”
More detail came from Dan Didio, who told Newsarama:
It was really a melding of events. First of all, with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash and Green Lantern all leaving the Justice League, Dwayne McDuffie wanted to try and bring back some of the feel of the Detroit-era League. And what character is most associated with that League? Vibe! Plus we had some very positive fan response to his appearances in Trinity. And orders for Flash: Rebirth have been phenomenal. We want to strike while the iron is hot, so I asked Ethan if he’d be interested, and he just jumped at the opportunity. Literally, he jumped. I could hear the thump on the other end of the phone.
There is a downside, though. Just as Ethan Van Sciver had to scale back his involvement with Blackest Night in order to do Flash: Rebirth, Geoff Johns won’t be available immediately for the post-Rebirth relaunch of The Flash. “I’m sure the fans will be happy to know,” Didio said, “that for the first six months of the ongoing, the Flash will be in Judd Winick’s capable hands.”
Winick himself was unavailable for comment.
Once Upon a Geek has more information, including an interview with Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver and background on Vibe and his successor, Reverb.
Update: The blogosphere is starting to hum with commentary: Crimson Lightning is disappointed to hear that Geoff Johns will be leaving the Flash once again. Justice League Detroit is upset, asking “What were they thinking?” Fortress of Baileytude, however, has been won over to enthusiastic support.
Update 2: This is, of course, an April Fool’s joke! Thanks to the Irredeemable Shag of Once Upon a Geek for planning the event — it was a lot of fun coming up with the fake quotes and trying to make things almost fit!
