Flash talk – Post Rebirth

Ok, Flash Rebirth has ended at last… and it’s time to move forward with the Flash again in a regular ongoing series.  Before the new Flash #1 comes out, I want to take a moment to write out some thoughts I have about the future of all the Flash characters, some of the concepts introduced in Flash: Rebirth, and I’ll probably end up addressing some of the negativity on the message boards again.

The changes

• “Barry is the engine that drives the Speed Force with every step.”  As someone who never cared for the Speed Force in general and felt it was just created to prop up Wally West, I feel that it’s ironic that DC has put Barry Allen as the “engine” that drives it.   I’m not in love with this concept, but I’m open-minded enough to see where Johns and DC take it.
• Barry Allen’s mom is dead.   Where I wasn’t thrilled by this, she certainly wasn’t a major player through Barry’s first run as the Flash.  My guess is that this will lead to some future plot devices.  It also reestablishes Barry’s rivalry with Professor Zoom to new fans that might not have known about the years of conflict and history these two shared together.
• Wally West is still around.  This is freaking awesome and the best move DC could have made.  I’ve grown to love Wally West as a Flash too and if he ends up in a team book or his own series at some point, I plan to support him just as vigorously as Barry Allen or Bart.
• Bart Allen as a lead character.  Impulse was a fantastic series that filled a unique niche.  Waid created a character that fans remain passionate about to this day.  If Barry’s series does well, this is the next logical step for DC to take.  Where we will never have Waid’s Impulse again, we certainly can have a new writers vision to move the character forward.
• Jesse Quick.  I would not mind seeing DC play around with her at some point and give her a mini-series.  I like her in JSA, but she has so much untapped potential on her own.  Boys like fast women, now she’s the fastest woman alive!

If the internet would have been around when DC killed off Barry Allen the first time, it would have exploded.  Seriously.  Back then, no one killed off major characters like the Flash or Supergirl and replaced them with lesser characters.  And let’s face it, Wally West was a lesser character at the time.  Sure he grew beyond our expectations to be the character that many fans are passionate about now, but back then he was just a side kick on par with Wondergirl or Aqualad.  Where I have no doubt that DC got hate mail, letters asking Barry to return, and other such reactions, I have to commend them on sticking to their guns for the last 20 or so years.  I hope they do the same this time too and help reestablish Barry Allen as THE Flash for new generations to love.  This opens the door for Wally West to grow beyond the legacy replacement (and let’s face it, a lot of his stories were about trying to fill Barry’s shoes) and become his own Flash without being tied to tight to a legacy.  He need to be more of a family member at this point, and not so much the guy that once filled Barry’s boots.

I’m looking forward to the future of the Flash again.  There is a lot of great things DC can do with all the characters.  And I’m going to do my best to stay out of the negative bashing and positioning that goes on with message boards.  Yep, some people don’t like me and that’s not going to change, but know that if you try to understand where I’m coming from that I’ll do the same.  Talk to me without sarcasm, without malice, and without intent to “heat me up” and I promise to message with kindness and respect.  (Know that my opinion may be radically different from yours too.)

Long live the Flash, long live Barry Allen, long live the Flash family!

-Heater

Flash Rebirth #6 Review

Wrapped up in a nice bow with some extra material left hanging for future stories.  That’s how I’d sum up the final issue of the long (and I really mean long) awaited final issue of Flash Rebirth.  No… it wasn’t Watchmen late, but it  took its time to get to fans.

When this series was released, we got about 10 vocal fans of Wally West throwing hissy fits all over the comic book message boards.  They looked for every reason that this should fail and instead all we ended up with in the end were two realistic complaints:  Wally West is not the lead Flash in this story (which is the opinion of a few), and that the book was late (which now that I can hold the final issue in my hands, it doesn’t seem so late anymore and I’m over it.)

This book had everything a Flash fan could want:

• Wally charging in to support Barry as an equal in status.
• A nostalgic nod to the distant past with scenes from Barry’s wedding and his origin as the Flash.
• Barry’s confidence returned and he became the confident Flash we all know and love (I knew he would).
• Amazing art.  I’ll miss Ethan Van Sciver’s art on a Flash series.  He’s in a class by himself.
• We got some forboding predictions from Zoom about one of Wally’s kids.  A Geoff Johns comic book cliche, but Flash fans love it!
• We got Bart, Max, a new Impulse in Irey, Jesse Quick in a new costume, and Wally West alive for new stories.
• We got a great tease about Hunter Zolomon’s future.
• We got some Gorillas, we got some Kadabra with puppets.
• We got a focused Barry Allen ready to return to his mission.
• We got the Rogues getting ready to “break the glass” in case of Flash.
• And best of all we got Barry and Iris together again on panel.

“Welcome back Barry” the Justice League of America’s sign says.  The Fastest Man alive has returned.

A great ending to a great story.  I look forward to getting the trade.  It will be my personal goal to get it autographed by Geoff and Ethan at some point.  Thank you both for an a fun story that is among my favorite Flash stories. 

Better 24 years late than “never”.

-Heater