Flash:Rebirth #1 (June '09)

Flash Rebirth: #1
Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Ethan Van Sciver
Colors: Alex Sinclair
Letters: Rob Leigh

I may as well start with the issue that re-ignited my love for comics. I picked it up on a whim and the rest, as they say, is cliche...or something.

I came to this issue unencumbered by canon or continuity. Thirty years out of the game will do that to you. I didn't know that Barry Allen had died or had stayed dead for a good long while. I didn't know that Wally and Bart had taken up the mantle and had established years of (storyline and sales) success of their own.

In the three years since, I have read just enough trades and seen just enough DC television to recognize many of the heroes and Rogues in this issue. At the time I first read this issue, I admit to being lost...and immediately at home.

The Flash was among my favorite superheroes as a kid. I read an issue somewhere along the way where he figured out he could escape certain death by vibrating his molecules fast enough to "phase" through a brick wall. That was a cool superpower. And, he could race Superman to a draw.

It was the cover of this issue that drew my eye on that fateful day in the Coliseum of Comics. All scarlet and lightning. The man behind the counter told me this was one heckuva return for The Flash. The guy at the counter in Milwaukee said the same thing when I went to buy #2 the following week. Surely, they had to know what they were talking about, right?

The first seven pages are a dark homage to Barry Allen's origin as The Flash. Someone is recreating the events of the accident that gave Barry his super speed, but killing several crime lab techs and police officers in the process. All the while, this being (whose pose mimics the cover art) is having a one-sided conversation with the absent Barry that portends sinister intent...a warning of sorts that this resurrection will be anything but easy for our fleet-footed protagonist (just in case we were thinking otherwise).

Next, we are treated to the news that the world is aware of The Flash's return (and Kid Flash, too, who has also apparently been AWOL or dead) and that parties are planned to celebrate. The Rogues seem none-too-thrilled, as several are seen hand-wringing or plotting. Various super groups are discussing the good news, though Bart seems petulant in questioning the fairness of his grandfather's return.

Hal Jordan, recently returned to his Green Lantern persona, and Barry Allen have a few moments to catch up as Barry explores The Flash Museum in Central City to catch up on what he missed. There is a nice moment as he realizes that life has sped up ("People are doing six things at once.... It's exciting.") during his time away. He wasn't dead, just trapped in the Speed Force, "the extradimensional lightning that ALL speedsters access" (also, an excuse I plan to use somewhere down the road - I'm not late, I just couldn't tear myself away from the Speed Force).

Barry becomes less and less comfortable as the conversation wears on. A touch of his ring reveals his signature costume, which he dons with alacrity and sprints out into the world in search of someone who needs his help - with apologies to all of the Welcome Back parties he plans to skip.

We are privy to a memory of Barry's father being taken away in handcuffs after supposedly killing his wife, Barry's mother - the only "open case" he left behind. His chest emblem crackles with lightning and Savitar bursts forward with a cry of freedom. Realizing that The Flash is just behind him, Savitar races away in terror. Did that guy just emerge from Barry's chest? Kinda, yeah. Cool? Kinda, yeah.

The Flash cannot allow this criminal to escape and pursues with single-minded purpose. He grabs the villian...who explodes into dust and vapor, but not before exclaiming, "...you were the beginning, Allen...and you're the END."

The last page shows Barry running through bones and ash as the other speedsters in the DC universe are struck and incapacitated by some kind of Speed Force feedback, leaving Barry to wonder, "What the hell did I just DO?"

Whew! A lot can happen in a Flash.

This is a beautiful book. The reds and yellows are vibrant and kinetic. The flashback scenes are reminiscent of the comics style from my youth. One of the things I realize now (that I wasn't thinking about upon first read) is how difficult a book ostensibly about speed is to put into this static format. Van Sciver does a great job of capturing energy and motion in 2D. And, Johns gives him plenty to work with, pulling from The Flash's past and setting up several directions for his fast-forward future.

I'm ready to go back and read the other five issues of Flash:Rebirth. I think I'll take my time.

Re-Leaf Review (out of 5):