‘Flash: Rebirth’ Review: Welcome Back, Barry

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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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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