Reilly2040's Blog

Alongside Brightest Day, this week also saw the release of the much-awaited Flash #1 from Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul.

Its safe to say, that much like many of DC relaunches over the last few years, this hasn’t been a smooth one.  Flash Rebirth came under heavy criticism for its slow plot, wide-sweeping retcons to Barry’s history and character and, of course, all the delays.   Put that on top of the controversy of bringing back a character who’s been dead for 20 years to replace the current, popular incumbent and there’s a bit of a hard sell to make sure people will accept Barry being not only back, but the Flash of the DCU.

This first issue however, was great and definitely a step in the right direction.  With Rebirth having handled all the muddy transition and setup for Barry’s series, this first issue is able to start fresh.  Its stripped down, featuring only Barry, allowing us to get to know him and Iris properly (as I’m pretty much expecting for the first year or so to be honest).  Of course, Johns is known for his treatment of the Flash Rogues gallery, and so its no surprise to see them front and centre of this first story arc, but with a twist, as these are Rogues from the 25th century, and appear to be lawmen.

Following on from their run on Adventure Comics, Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul are on top form.  While I’d loved his art on Adventure Comics, thinking it suited the Smallville setting well, I hadn’t been too sure about Francis Manapul moving to the Flash, but how wrong I was.  His characters are filled with expression, but he also does a brilliant job of conveying Barry’s speed, as he chases the Trickster, before disassembling his car in mid-air in a brilliant sequence.

With this new future versions of the Rogues turning up, its interesting to note that time travel is once again playing an integral part in Geoff Johns’ Flash.  Rebirth obviously had a time travel plot at its core, and the Secret Files and Origins book also highlighted various time travel aspects of the Flash mythos, namely the mysterious origins of the Cosmic Treadmill, Max Mercury’s time jumps, and the time travelling future Flash, John Fox (both of whom found their origins strangely retconned.  Although in John Fox’s case its possible he’ll be turning up prior to his appearance in DC 1,000,000).  With the constant references to Flashes being unable to change the past like Zoom, I think its obvious that this is going to form a major part of whatever big story Geoff is planning.

Overall, after a lackluster relaunch, this first issue is definitely what I’d been hoping for.  Accessible, fun and intriguing.  I like the setup playing on Barry’s real job as a forensic investigator, and Johns has quickly put in place an interesting work environment for Barry, with the cold cases and politics in Central City PD.   I just hope he doesn’t let it fall to the wayside as has happened in Green Lantern as I think Barry’s civilian identity holds as much interest as his secret identity as its been setup here.

Despite not being out until April, DC are obviously wanting to capitalise on the recent release of Rebirth #6, and have posted a preview of the first issue of the ongoing monthly up on the DCU blog.

Despite feeling a little unsure about the Flash in the DCU at the moment, with both Rebirth and Blackest Night: Flash not quite ticking the boxes for me, this preview’s really got me excited again.  While I’ll miss the Wally backup, I’m loving the opening to this story.  The cover really grabs you with a great action pose, and the opening scene likewise is exciting.  I love how Barry texts Iris back almost instantly and Manapul’s art looks great.  It probably wouldn’t have suited a story like Blackest Night: Flash, but here it really makes everything look bright and fun, which I think the franchise needs a little of after the last year or so.

The fact that its the Trickster Barry’s chasing in the opening is a great touch.  Axel is the newest of the Rogues, and previously Barry’s only fought the original Trickster, so straight away Johns is setting us up for Barry’s reaction to how the Rogues have developed since he died.  Something I’m really looking forward to, especially given Captain Cold’s concern over Barry’s return, and how that’s going to dramatically change things for the Rogues.

Despite the rocky start, and the fact that Wally’s home in the DCU is still a bit uncertain (at least with Kyle we knew about GLC: Recharge and then Rann/Thanagar War) I’ve still got a lot of hope for the Flash franchise, and these opening pages add to that.  The idea of Barry being back may be controversial, but playing him as a by-the-book forensic cop has legs (especially compared to Hal’s rule-breaking space-cop over in GL), and the idea of CSI: DCU (for want of a better term) could be really interesting if Geoff properly explores it (I’m thinking here about how much of Hal’s civilian life and job have been shelved in favour of cosmic adventures over the last few years, and I hope we don’t see something similar with the Flash.  We know that The Flash is great, but its Barry Allen who needs to be presented as the interesting character here).

Between this preview and the teases in Rebirth #6 I think there’s a lot to be excited about for the Flash over the next few years.   I just really hope that this series finally pulls off what so many relaunches have failed to do since Infinite Crisis and reinvigorates the franchise.

DCU Blog had a treat for us today, with the first look at the new Superboy-starring Adventure Comics.

It looks like a great start to the series, with Kon in much the same place as he was at the beginning of Geoff’s Titans run.  In Smallville, trying to live the life Clark had growing up.  Although I suspect that Geoff intends to spin things on their head, with Kon now relishing this life, rather than fighting against it.

One thing I really liked about this preview, was the appearance of Bart.  Its nice to see him and Kon back together again, and them trashing their statues at Titans Tower seems very appropriate   What I really loved though was Bart’s attitude.  He comes across much more Impulse-like in his dialogue, which is something I felt had been really missing from the character since Teen Titans.   Its nice to see him enjoying himself again.

I very much like the look of Francis Manapul’s art, and the colouring along with it.   There’s something almost painted looking about it that looks different to most of the other books I’m getting.

All in all, I’m really looking forward to this one