Okay, so I've been reading up on Waid and Johns' Flash stuff, based on the recommendations that Anubis gave me a few pages back. And I've got to say, I am really unimpressed with Johns' run so far.
I have only read the first couple trades, but it seems more like a Rogues book with the Flash guest starring. Not that Johns doesn't do a solid job at writing the Rogues, but the book is called "The Flash." And anytime Johns does write him, he sounds more like a generic Flash, than Wally West--you could just as easily substitute Barry Allen into the book (which would probably explain Flash Rebirth). And honestly, I don't think the stories so far have been all that interesting, just kind of generic superhero vs. supervillain plots.
Contrast to that, I thought the Waid stories were excellent, the best easily being "The Return of Barry Allen," probably one of my favorite comic book stories of all time now. Unlike Johns, Waid really focuses on Wally's character and depicts his growth as both a superhero and a man. His relationship with Linda; with Bart and the other speedsters; his connection to the Speed Force and the new abilities he gains from it; his hang ups on trying to live up to Barry's legacy while also trying to preserve his own. The villains were never all that interesting, except for [blackout]Zoom[/blackout] in "Return of Barry Allen," and the stories kind of fizzled out after "Terminal Velocity," but that never really bothered me all that much. The real attraction to Waid's Flash, for me, was watching Wally develop and grow as a character.
So getting caught up on the Flash has kind of had the opposite effect; I wanted to read these older stories to prepare for Flash Rebirth. Now, I'm kind of dreading it.
