The Flash: Rebirth

 Geoff Johns was to DC Comics what Brian Michael Bendis was to Marvel Comics.  Johns’s run on Green Lantern is still one of my favorite runs on any super-hero character.  Geoff Johns found a way to make Hal Jordan the Green Lantern again and do it in a very respectful way to the material that had been written before.  Now he has done it again with The Flash: Rebirth and he even did it again recently when he course corrected the DC Universe as a whole with DC: Rebirth.  The Flash: Rebirth is a great story as it brings back the Barry Allen version of the Flash who died back in the 1980s during the event that brought DC Comics into the modern era with Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Barry Allen has returned from the dead he has come out of the speed force and he is coping with being back.  There are some great character moments between Barry and several of his supporting cast but also the rest of the Justice League.  The series really delves into the death of Barry’s mother as that is such a pivotal moment in his history but also his connection to the speed force and other speedsters.  There are several other speedsters and each of them has a unique history which is sort of summarized in this book.  The Reverse Flash and the Black Flash play a part in this story as well.  I won’t delve into how the Black Flash fits in with the story but the Reverse Flash is essential to this story that Johns has crafted.  The reveal that he has been in a blood feud with Barry even before Barry become the Flash manipulating his life even when he was a child is just chilling.  Imagine if the Joker was manipulating Batman even when Bruce Wayne’s parents were still alive or Green Goblin going to war with Peter Parker while uncle Ben is still alive.  This is such a reveal that it reshapes Barry Allen’s origin in such a way that he has probably the worst arch enemy ever.  I really look forward to reading the Flash series that spins out of this and leads into Flashpoint.