Unlike some of the other comic book companies out there, DC takes the deaths and resurrection of their characters a bit more seriously. Not much more, but enough to make their returns as important as their deaths.
That’s why it took Barry Allen 23 years to escape the speed force and rejoin the DC universe as comic book fans know it.
And that’s why you’ll end up remembering the trade that brought him back for twice as long.
In spite of starting up a bit slow, as it builds up the back story needed to reconnect new and old fans alike, Geoff Johns ends up penning one of the best stories on the character, ever.
Because of this, “Flash: Rebirth†is a must read for any wanna-be speedster or anyone who thinks DC’s main stable of heroes can’t cut the mustard anymore.
Every super hero needs an arch-nemesis to be truly enjoyable, right? For every Batman, there has to be a Joker, right? Not exactly. While battling the likes of Gorilla-Grodd, Captain Cold and countless others over the years, Barry Allen’s Flash is a bit different. Nevertheless, the way Johns ends up bringing in Reverse Flash is extremely enjoyable, as well as the way he finds a way to intertwine their fate, making them end up in a battle that has to come to some sort of end.
As a result, you have Allen getting right into the thick of things after being gone for over two decades, with his super hero friends, including the Justice League and Society and family worried sick about him. Over the course of the trade, you’ll appreciate Allen’s bravado, his sense of right and wrong. With him, there are no gray areas, but he’s no boy scout either. A great cop and Allen goes to whatever lengths needed to find out the truth and once he finds it, he gets his man faster than…, well, anybody on earth.
Getting to reconnect with a character in just one trade, after 23 years is no easy task, but Johns, DC’s main man, gets the job done yet again, in what can easily be considered one of his best works ever.
However, Johns is outdone here by the jaw-dropping visuals of Ethan Van Sciver, who almost redefines the splash page in this trade, amassing a plethora of them by the end and channeling Allen’s sense of speed and the dangers of the speed force simultaneously in one of the best looking trades DC has put out in quite some time.
It’s not often that Johns is trumped by anyone in the industry, but considering the fact that he’s easily at his best here and Van Sciver is matching wits and managing to bring his words alive better than anyone else has before, “Flash: Rebirth†is a trade that can easily be recommended to any comic book fan out there, regardless of their affinity for the character or not.
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