The Official Flash thread

[yenaled]

Agree with the general gamut; "It was good, but nothing spectacular." Actually, the art is pretty spectacular, and people actually don't look too much like the stilted mannequins that Van Sciver has been drawing for the past few years.

Still, I'm not sure how I feel about the whole "Overabundance of lightning! Lightning goes everywhere! FILL UP THE PAGE WITH LIGHTNING!!!" thing now being the de facto artistic motif for the Flashes. It's very cool; it looks cool and is cool and whatever, but it really makes the Flashes' power seem like "electricity control" or something. If I had never known about these characters before and this issue was the first time I'd ever read about them, I'd swear to Buffy that each one of them had the power to shoot lightning from every orifice at their enemies.

I like how Johns writes Wally as a parent. There's a stern Republicanness about it that was kind of missing before and makes it feel a bit more realistic, not that I think Wally should be that all the time, or that past depictions of his parenting was really that off.

I will say, though, that I dunno who the **** this Barry is. No seriously, who is this emo freak ass? Y'know how GL: Rebirth actually made me like Hal and sympathize with him, at least up until his series? Yeah well that's not happening here. I don't understand this whole emo freak ass nonsense. It doesn't fit the Waid Barry, it doesn't fit Johns' own past Barry, and it especially doesn't fit the optimistic, adventurous, charming Barry that Morrison wrote less than a year ago. So...there had better be a point to this emo freak assness.

And, uh, what's up with the whole "father [maybe framed for] killing mother" retcon? 'Cause I'm pretty sure that's a bigass retcon. Whassamatter Johns, you realized Barry wasn't interesting enough so you needed to force square pegs into his round hole?

...

Heh, I'm being all sarcastic at things but, again, the issue actually wasn't bad at all.

Oh great an emo whiney middle aged man with daddy issues.

Glad I passed on the book.

Also what is it with Johns and dads, it's like Winnick and homosexuals all over again.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Haha, I never thought of that. Who else has he given daddy issues to? I think Hal's already existed, didn't they?

 

[yenaled]

Haha, I never thought of that. Who else has he given daddy issues to? I think Hal's already existed, didn't they?

Issues may already exist (like Alan Scott and Obsidian) but Johns does choose to focus his stories on it.

Hmm off the top of my head...

All of Hal's Daddy Issues, makes Zod a father and then makes Superman a father, makes Wally a father, Booster Gold is Rip Hunter's father, Booster Gold had an abusive father and ends up being the main villain, makes Lex Luthor Superboy's father, Stars and STRIPES main focus was Courtneys step-father and father, Makes Wildcat a wayward father, Ressurection of the Deathstroke family...

I'm sure there is more but it does seem like a running theme in his stories.

 

[BrianWilly]

Ooh! Ooh! Sinestro's a father now too.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Huh, that is a lot. Damn.

 

[yenaled]

Ooh! He killed Superman's father too.

 

[BrianWilly]

Ooh! And in the original GL: Rebirth draft (You can read it in the back of the trade), Kyle had father issues and his father was actually in a lot of the story, which ends with Kyle taking him for a ride in space.

Seriously. I don't know.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

What the f***? Johns really must not like Kyle if that's the best he can come up with for him. Thank goodness he rarely ever has to write Kyle.

 

[BrianWilly]

Oh I dunno. Pretty much the entire original GL: Rebirth draft was hilariously bad. I think the only thing that actually remained was the Parallax retcon.

I hate how I have to distinguish it by specifically saying GL: Rebirth now. Although F: Rebirth sounds like a Enya song title.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

You could mix it up a bit instead. Call it "Hal Jordan Is Super-Awesome and Better Than You, Part 1."

 

[yenaled]

Ooh! Evil Daddy General Lane! Lois Lane's Father.

Also WTH Brian I might have to read the draft now.

 

[BlackLantern]

You could mix it up a bit instead. Call it "Hal Jordan Is Super-Awesome and Better Than You And Will Punch You in the Face, Part 1."

Fixed

 

[hippie_hunter]

I found the first issue of Flash: Rebirth to be decent. I have a feeling though that the new Flash book is going to start out alright and end up picking up around issue 9 or 10 just like Green Lantern did.

 

[WompuM]

Man, them's some daddy issues.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Read Flash: Rebirth #1 today, and overall I'd say I liked it. It wasn't knock-your-socks-off fantastic, and didn't have any jawdropping hook to make the wait for #2 unbearable, but it was a consistently interesting story from Geoff Johns, with some gorgeous art from Ethan Van Sciver.

Being a GL fan (like most of us, I'd imagine!) the highlight of the issue for me was the conversation between Barry and Hal. But though this conversation was the issue's centrepiece, the little scenes throughout the book with other characters all served to show us Barry Allen's place in the DCU, and (re)introduce him as a living, relevant character. Still not quite sold on him as The Flash yet, but I'll keep an open mind.

I saw a complaint elsewhere about how unlike Green Lantern: Rebirth, there was no mystery here. But I disagree. We were presented with an intriguing mystery, peppered across various points of the story. This mysterious, unknown individual who brought Barry Allen back and has replicated his powers... the Black Flash lying dead in a field... Barry killing speedsters with a simple touch. I have a feeling this story is going to go in unexpected directions, and in future issues, we may be in for a left-field surprise of "Parallax is a yellow fear demon" proportions!

Overall, while I don't think Green Lantern: Rebirth should be worried about being topped just yet, I think Flash: Rebirth is onto a strong start, and was at least good enough for me to be invested in the rest of the mini-series.

 

[sinewave]

I must have missed it when it happened, but when and how did Bart come back? Which book was it in? Is it the real Bart?

 

[BlackLantern]

I must have missed it when it happened, but when and how did Bart come back? Which book was it in? Is it the real Bart?

Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds....a combination of multiple Lightning Lads and Lasses, some Lightning rods and XS running on the Cosmic Treadmill....its Bart (Kid Flash costume) because Superboy Prime nearly crapped himself when he saw Bart

 

[sinewave]

Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds....a combination of multiple Lightning Lads and Lasses, some Lightning rods and XS running on the Cosmic Treadmill....its Bart (Kid Flash costume) because Superboy Prime nearly crapped himself when he saw Bart

thanks.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I have a feeling this story is going to go in unexpected directions, and in future issues, we may be in for a left-field surprise of "Parallax is a yellow fear demon" proportions!

I hadn't even considered something like this, given that there's really nothing Barry did wrong that Johns would want to right with such a huge retcon. But thanks for reminding me that it's a possibility. As if I weren't dreading the rest of this series enough...

 

[BrianWilly]

I have to amend something mentioned earlier that said Barry was being whiney. He's not really being whiney. I don't remember him actually whining about any specific thing. He's just being an ***hole, really.

 

[Keyser Soze]

I have to amend something mentioned earlier that said Barry was being whiney. He's not really being whiney. I don't remember him actually whining about any specific thing. He's just being an ***hole, really.

I get what you're saying. Though of course I'm not familiar with Barry's actual tenure as The Flash, I always gathered that he was the quintessential GOOD GUY, a cheery, never-say-die eternal optimist who inspired others with his overwhelming goodness. I dunno, like a male version of Frances McDormand in Fargo. As a result, this moody, morose individual we got in Rebirth was something of a surprise to me.

 

[MadVillainy]

Did Wally West make an appearance in REbirth?

 

[BrianWilly]

He appeared for three or four pages, and is referenced quite a bit.

 

[BlackLantern]

The fundamental differences in Wallys Flash costume and Barrys?? to me Wallys was a deeper shade of red....anyone care to share any?

 

[BrianWilly]

Wally's "belt" resembles in two lightning bolts aiming downwards in a "V." Barry's is a single bolt in a diagonal zigzag across his waist.

Wally will be getting a new costume during this series, though.