Comic Book Review: The Flash: Rebirth #2

The Revolution enjoyed Flash: Rebirth #1. Yes it had some defects, but all in all, I thought it as a nice start to this title. Plus, I am still all excited over the fact that Barry Allen is actually back. Hopefully, Johns will crank up the intensity on this title with The Flash: Rebirth #2. Let’s hit this review.

Creative Team
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Ethan Van Sciver

Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin in Gorilla City where we see a Gorilla making cave paintings of all the members of the Flash family. A crowd of gorillas stand around and chant as the one gorilla paints the cave wall. Barry Allen is in the middle with lightning coming out of his chest. The Gorilla draws a black line from Barry to Savitar and begins to cross the picture of Savitar out with black paint.

We cut to the Balkan Mountains where Savitar’s temple is located. We see Savitar’s high priestess praying to the Speed Force to return Savitar to her. Lightning crashes down into the temple. We see an image of Savitar appear for a moment and then see him crumble into dust as Barry touches him. The priestess cries out “No!”

We slide over to Barry investigating the crumbly and ashy remains of Savitar. Hal Jordan arrives on the scene. Barry explains to Hal what just happened to Savitar. That once Barry reached high velocity, Savitar tried to use Barry as a doorway to escape from the Speed Force. That Savitar was trying to follow Barry’s footsteps out of the Speed Force.

Barry says that Savitar was Wally’s perp and that Wally would know more about Savitar than him. Barry collects Savitar’s mask and tells Hal to contain the scene. Barry then takes off from the scene before Hal can say a word.

We see Barry racing across the water. Barry thinks how he knows Hal is not happy with how Barry is acting. That Hal is not used to Barry being so distant. (Oh no, the bromance is showing some cracks.) Barry thinks how Hal wants to equate Barry’s return to Hal’s return. The difference is that before Hal came back the Green Lantern Corps no longer existed, Hal had been corrupted by Parallax and everyone thought he was a murderer.

However, when Barry died everything was fine. But now that something is different. Something has changed. Barry says he feels more anxious and driven than ever before. Barry races to Iris’ home and is surprised to see a police car outside her house. Barry flashes back to when he was a kid when he saw a cop car outside his parents’ house the day his mother died.

We cut back to the present with Barry worried about the cop car outside of Iris’ house. Barry’s mind goes into overdrive and he sees his life flash before him. We flashback to Barry working in the forensic lab at the police station. Barry’s boss yells at him and says that Barry is late for court.

Barry is extremely methodical and is making sure that all the evidence for the crime is done properly before he goes to court to testify. Barry’s co-worker jokes Barry for being “the slowest man alive.”

Barry’s boss barks for Barry to dress up so that the jury will view him as someone educated. Barry’s boss yells for someone to get Barry a tie. One of Barry’s co-workers reaches into his desk and hands Barry a bow-tie. The co-worker tells Barry not to worry, that the bow-tie is a clip-on.

We cut to Barry sporting his bow-tie and testifying like a true master forensic scientists before the jury. Iris is watching the trial and comments “Nice tie.” (Oh, c’mon already. Enough with the bow-tie.)

We then see Barry leaving the courthouse. Iris runs up to Barry and compliments him on his masterful expert testimony. Iris says that Barry helped convince the jury to find the defendant guilty. That the juries in Central City rarely come back with guilty verdicts. That the defense attorneys are very slick in this town.

Iris asks Barry for an interview. Barry responds that he said all he had to say in the courtroom and that the case is now closed. Iris says that she wants to interview Barry about his mother. Iris says that Barry is still working his mother’s case even though his father died in prison two years ago. Barry pleads for Iris to respect his wishes and that he never talks about his mother’s case. Iris apologizes and says that she did not mean to offend Barry.

Iris then says that she is new at her job as an investigative reporter and that she is trying to build her name. Iris offers to take Barry to get coffee or have dinner in order to apologize. Iris says that she could really use a friend inside of the crime lab. Barry then agrees to have dinner with Iris. Iris tells Barry to not be late.

We cut to later with Barry at work in the crime lab. Barry is working late and all of his co-workers have left. Barry then opens up a box marked “Allen, Norva” and begins to work on his mother’s case. Barry then sees the clock and realizes that he is late for his dinner date with Iris.

We cut back to the present with Barry racing into Iris’ house. Barry thinks how he always kept Iris waiting. That he was always late. Inside of the house, we see Captain Frye talking with Iris. Barry slips out of his Flash costume in the next room.

Captain Frye compliments Iris on her work as a reporter. Frye then says that he was happy when he got the call from the F.B.I. that Barry was alive and had been in the witness protection plan all these years. Frye says that Barry was his best police officer.

Barry wonders what Captain Frye is talking about concerning him being in the witness protection plan. Barry walks into the room. Frye is glad to see Barry again. Frye reveals that he needs Barry’s help with a homicide case. Frye says that his C.S.I. team along with two officers was killed last night. Frye says that Barry was his best forensic scientist and very meticulous. And Barry is honest. And that is hard to find these days.

Barry says that he is not up to speed with modern day forensics. Barry asks Frye to excuse him and Iris for one moment before Barry gives Frye an answer. Iris reveals that Wonder Woman used her government connections to account for Barry’s absence over the last several years. Iris says that the Justice League of America assumed that Barry wanted to pick up where he left off. Barry comments that he has been “dead” for years and the entire world moved on.

Iris states that Barry is back and that it is definitely a good thing. And that everyone is happy that Barry is back. Barry retorts “I know and they all remember me like I was some kind of saint.” Barry picks up his bow-tie and looks at it. (Dios mio. I never knew that Barry’s bow-tie was so important to the Flash mythos.)

Barry continues that he could never solve his mother’s murder and was too late to prove his father’s innocence before he died in jail. Barry also stood trial for murder after he snapped Professor Zoom’s neck. And then Barry ran away into the future with Iris.

Barry says that he was never a saint. That he was just a guy chasing justice. Barry says that he does not need to be here. Iris counters that sometimes life is not about need. Life is about want.

Wally then calls and tells Iris that there has been some kind of accident. That it started with Jay. That Jay had a “speed seizure” and collapsed. Liberty Belle had a milder version of the same thing. It then happened to Bart, Jai and Iris. And it happened to Wally. The only difference was that Bart, Jai, Iris and Wally’s seizures were longer and more painful than Jay’s.

We cut to Barry and Wally racing side-by-side on their way to Barry’s hometown, Farmington, Iowa. Wally says that the science of the Speed Force is still unknown. Barry says that the seizures all happened at the same moment right after Savitar died. Barry asks “Why didn’t I feel anything, Wally?”

Barry also wonders why there is a strange lightning storm in his hometown. Barry and Wally then arrive at the corpse of the Black Flash. Wally comments that there had been no sign of the Black Flash since they used him as a weapon against Darkseid during Final Crisis. Barry adds that the Black Flash showed up any time a speedster was about to die and join the Speed Force. Like what happened with Johnny Quick and Max Mercury. Barry wonders how you kill death.

Suddenly, Savitar’s high priestess (we learn her name is Christina Alexandrova) appears on the scene and attacks Barry and Wally. Christina takes down Wally. Barry then takes down Christina.

Once Barry touches Christina it happens again. Like some kind of feedback. Wally is in pain. Barry cannot slow down. We see Christina shrivel up into a skeleton and then crumble into dust just like Savitar did.

Barry asks what is happening to him. Wally is still in pain and stares at Barry. There is terror in Wally’s eyes. Wally exclaims that Barry is the new Black Flash.

We see Barry standing there in a Black Flash outfit and crackling with red lightning. We see the gorilla in Gorilla City painting Barry as the Black Flash on the cave wall.

Commentary
The Good: The Flash: Rebirth #2 was a solid read. Johns continues to deliver a well plotted story. Johns is crafting a detailed story that has several interesting plotlines simmering at the same time. And the best part is that Johns is able to unfold the plotlines in an unexpected fashion. Johns has the reader guessing with each step. Johns succeeds in creating tension and a real sense of impending trouble inside of the reader. The reader begins to feel the same anxiousness and nervousness that is plaguing Barry.

Despite the problems I had with this issue, Johns does deliver a technically sound and well constructed story. I liked the use of the Gorilla City scenes to bookend this issue. Those scenes help to give the story a bit more of an ominous and mystical feel to it. I am curious to see how and if Johns ties Gorilla City into the story.

Johns continues to impress with his excellent knowledge of Barry’s character. Even thought I have issues with the pacing on this title, I do appreciate that Johns is taking his time to flesh out Barry’s character. Johns has a patient and expert hand as he gently tweaks Barry’s background and attempts to identify Barry’s role within the modern DCU.

Johns understands that at his core, Barry is a good and honest cop. And that is what makes Barry a super hero that other heroes admire and respect. However, Johns adds to Barry’s traditional personality a new layer of quirks including Barry being extremely driven almost to the point of being manic. It is clear that Johns wants to keep Barry’s core personality the same but mix in a bit more depth and a few new wrinkles to his personality in order to update him properly for the modern DCU.

I like that Johns is giving Barry some conflict concerning his return to the DCU. Barry is clearly chaffing at Hal and the rest of the JLA’ers insistent belief that Barry would simply want to pick up where he left off. Barry’s old comrades are simply discounting how much everything has changed in the DCU since Barry’s death. This helps to further Barry’s isolated feeling as a man outside of time.

I appreciate that Johns is not simply dropping Barry into the middle of the modern DCU and having him zip off and pick up exactly where he was before he died. The way Barry is reacting to coming back to life is probably the most realistic reaction that I have seen from a re-incarnated super-hero. Barry should question why he was brought back. Barry should question his role in the current world. Barry should feel oddly out of place with the world and even with his old friends.

Johns continues to deal with the internet discussion of Barry’s return in quite a direct fashion at times. I love how Johns directly tackles the argument you so often see on the internet that there was no “need” for Barry to be brought back. That Wally was doing just fine as the Flash. Unlike Hal, whose character was completely assassinated before DC killed him off, Barry had the “perfect” heroic death. Many readers conceded the fact that Hal’s return was necessary in order to rectify how his character was destroyed before he was killed off. However, that was not the case with Barry.

Johns has Barry ask the question himself when he wonders why he returned to life. Barry states that there was no need for his return. Johns answers Barry’s question by speaking plainly through Iris when she says that life is not about need, but about want. It seems that Johns is being brutally honest that he, and DC to a larger extent, simply wanted the iconic Flash back in the DCU. That having Barry Allen back simply makes the DCU better.

Johns wisely addresses the inflated view that readers who have no knowledge of Barry have of his character. Johns pointedly uses Barry to show how fans and other writers have built up Barry’s character to an almost mythic stature ever since his death in Crisis on Infinite Earths. That fans and other writers practically canonized Barry over the years.

Johns uses this issue to show how the current impression of Barry’s character post-Crisis on Infinite Earths is quite different from the reality of Barry’s life before he died. Johns performs the delicate job of trying to strip away just enough of the luster from Barry’s character in order to tear down the myth of Saint Barry. This is difficult to do without deconstructing Barry the honorable and earnest hero into something flawed and negative. However, Johns managed to do it quite well.

Johns combines the new twist to Barry’s history of his father dying in jail before Barry could prove his father’s innocence with fact that prior to his death Barry killed Professor Zoom and then left everything behind and ran away to the future. This honest look at Barry’s past reminds the reader that Barry has his weaknesses and has made his share of mistakes. This move also helps make Barry a more nuanced character that appears more human to the reader than as a character who is the picture of perfection.

The end result is that the reader walks away from The Flash: Rebirth #2 no longer viewing Barry as a saint. Instead, the reader views Barry as a regular man with the typical flaws that all people possess. Yet, the reader still clearly sees Barry as an honorable hero that commands respect.

Johns certainly gives the reader plenty of back-story on Barry. Some might say too much. Having said that, it is important that Johns give some back-story on Barry for those readers who are completely unfamiliar with Barry’s history.

Going through Barry’s back-story also enables Johns to integrate the new retcon to Barry’s history about his mother’s murder and his father dying in jail for a crime he did not commit. Johns actually manages to mesh this retcon into Barry’s history in a rather seamless fashion. And this retcon plays nicely into Barry’s new
“intense” and “driven” personality.

I enjoyed how Johns used Barry’s back-story to play with the theme of lateness that has oddly enough always surrounded the “fastest man alive.” Barry was too late to save his mother the day she died. Barry was always too late for Iris when they dated. This plays nicely into Barry’s current obsession of not being late. Of having to constantly be on the move and not having time for anything other than being the Flash.

The flashback scenes at the crime lab, the court room, and outside the court with Iris were all effective in showing Barry’s past before he became the Flash. These scenes gave new readers a good feel for Barry’s basic personality traits.

We learn that Barry’s meticulous attention to his work at the crime lab earned him the nickname the “slowest man alive.” We learn how Barry was truly the best at his job and took his role as a police officer very seriously. And we learn how Barry and Iris first met each other. This was all important basic information to know about Barry.

The Flash: Rebirth #2 ends with a fantastic hook ending. We learn that all the members of the Flash family suffered speed seizures when Barry touched Savitar in the previous issue. We also learned that Jay’s seizure was not as bad as Bart, Wally, Jai and Iris.

Then we got the shocking swerve ending in the final scene in Farmington, Iowa. Barry Allen is the new Black Flash. This certainly was in incredibly exciting and dramatic ending to the issue that gets the reader eager to come back for the next issue. I cannot wait to see where Johns goes with this.

Ethan Van Sciver’s artwork is phenomenal. The Flash: Rebirth #2 was a incredible looking issue. Sciver knows how to draw speedsters as he gives us an incredibly dynamic looking Flash. Sciver’s art is a perfect complement to Johns’ story and does a wonderful job bringing the story to life.

The Bad: The Flash: Rebirth #2 certainly had some flaws. My biggest complaint with this issue is the pacing. It is just way too slow. The story is creeping along at a pace that begins to annoy the reader. Johns is taking too much time to unfold this story and get it moving. Clearly, this story is meant to be read in trade format and not in a monthly format.

There is also a lack of action in this issue.  Instead, Johns overloads The Flash: Rebirth #2 with massive amounts of back-story on Barry Allen. And while this is a good move to give new readers who want to learn all they can about Barry, it is boring for those new readers who could care less about learning all the details of Barry’s history and just want an entertaining story. And the large amount of back-story may also bore long-time readers who already know all of this information.

All the flashback scenes interrupted the flow of the story and rob this issue of much of its intensity. Johns also seemed to focus on aspects of Barry’s past that simply did not seem necessary in order to bring new readers up to speed on Barry’s character. Johns’ fixation on Barry’s bow-tie got a bit laughable.

I guess that Johns was attempting to make the bow-tie the iconic symbol for Barry like the horn-rimmed glasses are for Clark Kent. Unfortunately, it did not work with me. It felt forced and goofy. And the constant fixation on the bow-tie only accentuated the fact that it seemed like Johns was getting bogged down in the minutiae of Barry’s history that very few readers would enjoy.

Johns has failed to get me to warm up to his retcon to Barry’s past. I still do not think it was necessary for Johns to give Barry the generic tragedy of losing a parent when he was a child. This is such a clichéd tweak to Barry’s past. And I don’t think that Barry needed the added trauma and angst of his father dying in jail before Barry could clear his father of the murder charges.

I just do not think that Barry’s character needed any “darkening” to make him fit into the modern DCU. Barry had enough “darkness” in his life to play up with him actually having murdered Professor Zoom. It seems that Johns felt that in the modern era of comics that heroes need to be darker than what Barry brought to the table with his already established past.

It certainly seems that Johns felt that a more bright and positive character like Barry would not work with the modern reader. I disagree with that thinking. I do not think that all modern readers are so jaded and negative that they need a dark and traumatized hero in every single comic book that they read.

Overall: The Flash: Rebirth #2 was a good read that still had a few defects that might turn off some readers. I do think that most Flash fans will enjoy The Flash: Rebirth #2. Johns has done his best to try and make Barry accessible to all fans regardless of which Flash you grew up with. And Johns has impressed me with his handling of the less than positive reaction from readers who felt that Wally was getting the short end of the stick with Barry’s return. Johns appears determined to win those readers over with this story.

If you are a Flash fan, then I would recommend getting The Flash: Rebirth #2. If you are simply a fan of the DCU, then you might want to give The Flash: Rebirth #2 a try since this is a big event that has quite the impact on the general DCU. However, for people who have problems with slower paced stories, I would recommend waiting for The Flash: Rebirth to come out in trade format. This story should read much better in trade format.