There are two ways to look at this comic.  The first is as a book in and of itself, and the second is as a part of a larger goal.  In the first sense, this book is very good.  Johns clearly loves these characters, and he weaves in bits of backstory with contemporary updates to bring everything “up to speed.”  The theme of a man out of time continues, though I do wish Johns would stop making him sound so mopey about it.  I half expect Barry to start listening to emo music and dressing in black…  Van Sciver’s art is excellent, conveying the sense of hypermotion as well as subtly changing the appearance of the world in flashback to the world now.  The colors are amazaing as well.

As part of a larger goal, it would help to know what that goal is.  Is Johns crafting a love letter to Barry on behalf of himself and other Flashophiles out there?  If so, it works- the amount of detail he brings into the story is immense.  He ties in all the Flashes, all other users of the Speed Force, and many of the touchstones of the Barry/Flash mythos.  Is Johns trying to bring new readers into the fold?  On that level, this doesn’t work so well.  At least for me, I’m just not getting the emotional resonance that I feel Johns wants to create.  I don’t have a big working knowledge of the character beyond basics (police investigator, struck by lightning, runs really fast, outfit goes inside ring), so there are lots of things I’m not getting that others might.  Another issue I can see is that we aren’t sure where this is going.  With Hal Jordan, readers at least had a pretty good idea of what the outcome of the story was going to be; the joy was in getting there with all the surprises that came along with the journey.  Here, we don’t know what all of this means.  Maybe that’s in fitting with the characters- straightforward Hal vs. investigator Barry.  This issue seems to give a resolution, but at issue 2 of a mini it has to be a red herring on some level.  For example, the Speed Force seems to do “something” to the Flashes; but why then is Jay Garrick affected when he doesn’t tap into the Speed Force?  I truly doubt its an oversight, so there’s something real going on.  It’s a mystery, sure, but one that I’m not feeling highly compelled to solve.  Finally, and I will openly admit my bias here, I had a little bit of better knowledge about Hal Jordan and the Green Lanterns, having read a number of trades concerning Kyle and some other Hal-related works.  So maybe GL: Rebirth worked for me because I knew the elements.  I wonder if I went back and read some Flash Showcases that it would help me with this.

Final Analysis: if you like the Flash, I would bet you would love/are loving this book.  If you are looking for a place to break into the world of Barry et al., I don’t think this is the place.  But do enjoy the art if nothing else!