The Flash: Rebirth #1

Lightning Strikes Twice

Geoff Johns Writer
Ethan Van Sciver Artist & Covers
Brian Miller of Hi-Fi, Alex Sinclair Colorists
Rob Leigh Letterer

Our main cover by Van Sciver with Moose Baumann shows Barry Allen putting on his boot. And that's it. For some reason, he's also surrounded by copious amounts of lightning. And because this is a Van Sciver piece, Barry looks like the bad guy. Frankly, I've always felt this was an overrated cover. Maybe that's because I can't stand the way Van Sciver draws boots (they always look so weird), or maybe it's the overall generic nature of all the heroes Van Sciver draws. Not only do they usually look like villains, but they all have identical body types. Compare this image to the covers Van Sciver did for Flash: The Fastest Man Alive, and you won't see any difference between his take of Barry and Bart.

Our variant cover by Van Sciver with Alex Sinclair shows Barry popping his costume out of his Flash ring. I think this is a bit more dynamic, with some nice motion to it. But I'm still unnerved by how evil and stiff Barry looks. I got this image and the next one from dc.wikia.com.

This last cover by Van Sciver with Sinclair was made for the second printing of this issue. It also shows Barry putting on his boot, but from a different angle. All the unnecessary lightning has been removed, and Barry's expression has been downgraded from evil to creepy. This cover, unfortunately, emphasizes Van Sciver's inability to draw natural-looking boots, as well as his propensity for cramming as many muscles as possible onto his figures. I'm not going to lie — Van Sciver's artwork is going to be a major challenge for me in this miniseries.

Our story begins with Eobard Thawne brutally murdering two Central City police scientists with the sharpened end of a lightning rod. He then arranges the necessary chemicals to spill on him after he summons a bolt of lightning to recreate the accident that gave Barry Allen (and Wally West) super speed. Now fully charged, Eobard claims responsibility for Barry's return, saying it's the worst thing he could do to him.

We then get a brief glimpse of a bunch of gorillas painting the Flash on a cave wall, before quickly checking in on the Rogues reading about the upcoming celebration of the return of both Central City's Flash and Kid Flash. Mirror Master says they're going to need more Rogues. Abra Kadabra begins dusting off his old Flash puppets, and Dr. Alchemy wonders if the Flash even remembers him.

In addition to the massive celebration in Central City, several superhero teams are planning parties of their own. We start with the Justice Society of America in New York, where Jay Garrick is telling his teammates that Barry inspired him to come out of retirement. At Titans Tower in New York, Wally is trying to tell his former Teen Titan teammates about his relationship with Barry, but he's interrupted by Irey and Jai fighting over a Gorilla Grodd piñata. Wally laments how difficult it is to raise his super-powered twins, saying he never thought he'd look back and say training Bart was easy.

Bart, meanwhile, is at the Teen Titans' tower in San Francisco, complaining about everyone making a big deal of the return of his grandfather. Cassie and Tim arrive to see Bart has already decorated the tower with banners welcoming himself back. Cassie tells Bart the rest of the Teen Titans are in Central City, hoping to meet the Flash. Bart angrily responds that Wally is the Flash, and Cassie points out that Bart was the Flash, too. Bart says it wasn't fun at all, and he came back from the future so everything could go back to the way it used to be, with Wally as Flash and him as Kid Flash. Tim reminds Bart that he was Wally's biggest detractor not too long ago, but Bart says Wally earned being the Flash. He knows everyone sees Barry as some sort of messiah, but he says he barely knows his grandpa. Cassie begins to mention Barry's sacrifice, but Bart asks what Barry exactly sacrificed, since he's back now. Lightning begins to emit from Bart's eyes as he finally gets to the real issue he's upset about: "Why's Barry the only one that escaped the Speed Force?"

We then head to the home of Iris West-Allen in Central City, where we see the post-Final Crisis continuity has made her about 30 years younger. Iris is telling Joan Garrick that she's too happy with the return of Barry and Bart to ask any questions, when she gets a phone call from Captain Frye. He says he knows Barry's back and asks for his help with a murder case.

The man of honor, though, is currently hiding from all his parties at the Flash Museum. Hal Jordan tracks him down, and the two have a little fun catching up, before Hal ultimately tells Barry to relax and enjoy being back in the world of the living. But Barry refuses, saying he only came to the museum to get caught up on all the villains he missed. He asks Hal to tell everyone he's going to skip all the parties, as he throws on his Flash uniform and races out the door to get back to being a superhero.

In Fallville, Iowa, two boys come across a disintegrating skeleton wearing a Black Flash uniform. As Barry runs, he remembers how his mother was murdered when he was a boy and his father was arrested, despite protesting his innocence. Suddenly, Savitar appears right in front of Barry, proclaiming his freedom from the Speed Force. Barry recognizes Savitar from the Flash Museum, and he immediately chases after him. Savitar becomes frightened by the sight of Barry and begs him to stay away. Barry reaches out and grabs Savitar, but when he touches him, Wally, Irey and Jai become surrounded in painful lightning. And Savitar begins to rapidly age in Barry's grasp. As he dies, Savitar says Barry was the beginning and now he's the end. With Barry standing dumbfounded over the disintegrating bones of Savitar, we see that Bart, Jay and Jesse are also experiencing painful lightning attacks.




I'm not sure what to make of this issue. On one hand, it's a great celebration of all things Flash. Everyone in the Flash world is here, whether in person or in the museum. And the stage is set for a rather interesting mystery. But everyone comes off as insufferably grumpy — and that's not just because of Van Sciver's artwork. Barry refuses to allow his family and friends to celebrate his return. Wally is annoyed by his kids. And Bart is mad that everyone has already pushed Wally aside (something that DC will unceremoniously do for the New 52).

I really sympathize with Bart's frustrations, but it makes me sad that Johns chose to present this as the whining of a spoiled brat. It feels like he's telling all the Wally fans to just get over it and accept this new world where Barry is the Flash again. And even now, in 2018, Barry is still the Flash in the comics, movies and TV shows, and Wally has basically been in limbo for the past decade. Anyway, Bart's main complaint in this issue was that Max Mercury hasn't returned. But the phrasing of his question was a bit odd. Bart himself escaped the Speed Force when the other speedsters gave him all their speed so he could chase after Superboy-Prime. And Wally escaped the Speed Force many times, most recently with his whole family on the night Bart died. But, the main point remains: Barry's back. What's the big deal?

Next time, we'll return to the happy world of Tiny Titans, where Inertia is alive and well.