The Flash:Rebirth #3

by Geoff Johns (writer), Ethan Van Sciver (art), Brian Miller (colors), and Rob Leigh (letters)

The Story: Barry Allen and the Justice League wrestle with him being the Black Flash.

What’s Good: First things first: With Speed Force and lightning aplenty, Ethan Van Sciver’s art continues to be absolutely amazing.  I’ve read that several people nitpick his performance on this series and frankly, I have no idea what they’re whining about. This book looks fantastic. It’s big, bright, explosive, and ridiculously detailed. Miller’s fantastic work only takes the art to another level, centering it all around the color red. This book is simply gorgeous and only the crabbiest reader– someone that’s deliberately looking for faults, will find anything to complain about.

Meanwhile, Johns continues to develop Barry Allen as a distinct voice. Allen feels increasingly lost and morose with every issue and I enjoy it more with every passing month. It brings a necessary grain of almost Batman-like darkness to the Flash. Allen is out of place and struggles to grasp what he’s missed, best evidenced by his well-written internal monologues, particularly as they relate to Bart or Wally.

We also get yet another foot-race between Superman and the Flash and as always, it’s good fun, resulting in the best one-liner of the series.  Though some will gripe about Superman “not flying,” I’m happy to say that the “who’s faster” issue is settled in blow-out fashion.

Far and away the best part of this issue was Barry’s solution for his current state, again highlighting the self-sacrifice that defines him as a character. His actions this month led to the best scene in this series thus far, as Barry runs as fast as he can, breaking the time barrier and watching his life flash before his eyes. It’s a truly emotional and tragic moment, beautifully depicted by Van Sciver. Furthermore, the story led to yet another cliffhanger that has me hungering for next  month’s issue. The new end result: we are finally given a central villain for the story.

What’s Not So Good: Johns needs to stop it with the filler. I realize that he’s wrestling with the extensive Flash mythos, but it ends up seeming needless. The comic did not need the scene with Liberty Belle. Also, for yet another month, we get a pointless flashback scene that accomplishes nothing save reminding us of Iris’ bow-tie fetish. This comic is about Barry’s return, so focus on Barry and focus on his return! I don’t need to know about Liberty Belle’s relationship to her father.

My biggest problem with this comic though is that there’s just too many goddamn Flashes/ Speedsters. Last month was great because it was just Barry and Wally. This month we get Jay and Bart, as well as visions of Johnny Quick and Max Mercury. I feel like this dilutes Barry’s importance and centrality.

Another couple things:  Star Trek-style techno-babble regarding the Speed Force and Barry’s abilities are a no-no. Also, some readers may be underwhelmed by the big reveal at the end of the issue regarding Barry’s new nemesis, feeling it to be not particularly fresh or surprising, perhaps even formulaic. I personally liked the decision, as it made sense and I’m a big fan of the character, but I can understand this reaction.

Conclusion: A solid issue. Better than #1, but not quite as good as #2, this issue has a slow start, but the last third of it is the best bit of the series thus far.

Grade: B-

-Alex Evans