FLASH REBIRTH #5 (OF 6)
Review by: Desaad
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This review contains spoilers, click here to read
Flash: Rebirth 5 – Geoff Johns is, I think, a pretty strong writer.
He’s done a lot of books that I’ve really enjoyed, he’s drawn me to
characters that I never thought I’d be drawn too, and he’s probably the
best ongoing writer “The Flash” has ever had. I enjoyed his v2 work
much more than I did that of the highly lauded Mark Waid. But a book
like Flash Rebirth is a textbook case of how repetitive his work can
get, in plotting and characterization.
In a lot of ways, this series has been almost a direct copy of “Green Lantern: Rebirth”, right down to the same type of villain reveal at the same point of the same issue. Maybe it’s by design, maybe it’s supposed to subtly make a statement on the relationship between The Brave (Hal) and the Bold (Barry), about how they are forever intertwined (they both debuted as legacy heroes at around the same time, died within a decade of each other, had legacy characters that became Fast Friends, came back within a decade of each other, etc) but I think it’s more likely that Geoff Johns really just didn’t have very many compelling ideas for the MANNER in which Barry returned, and is more interested in just getting him back. In that sense, reading this series has felt more like watching Johns check off bits on a list rather than reading a story that was built on its own merits. It’s a problem Johns has shown before, less on GL Rebirth and more on Legion of Three Worlds. And while his trademark ability with action and bombastic dialog still makes for a fun comic book, that’s all the book really is.
For anyone who didn’t see this reveal coming…I don’t know what to say to you. Zoom revealing that he had gone back and retconned Barry’s past, killed his mother, all of that...it was obviously from issue two to me. Now part of that was almost assuredly gleaned from various interviews I’d read, and that comes parts and parcel with being as hardcore a comic book fan as I am – I see a lot of these things coming because I stay current with interviews and solicits and I read and form various theories online. But the fact that I don’t always see the twists from some of his other work, or from the work of other writers, coming means that it IS still possible to get one by me. Heh. So I see this as a pretty big failure, as the entire mega plot had been obvious from almost the start.
Now Johns has recently been turning out some of the best hero characterization of his career. He’s always been insanely strong with his villains (The Rogues, Zoom, Black Hand, Sinestro, Johnny Sorrow, etc) but his heroes have felt more like ciphers than anything else a lot of the time. But the work he’s done with Superboy, or even Tim Drake, in the recent three issues of Adventure Comics is…magnificent. Just really beautiful and nuanced stuff. So it’s especially disappointing to see him almost REUSING character points or motivations across books. I think it’s clear that he’s always had kind of an obsession with teams – it’s a rare thing to see Hal defeat a foe without a little help from one of his friends, JSA goes without saying, Hawkgirl and Hawkman, etc – and I think it’s gotten to the point that he’s overused that. Barry says something akin to “I never wanted to be the fastest. I just didn’t want to be ALONE.”….but why the hell not? I suppose in one sense no one wants to be alone, but there is nothing in Barry’s character before this issue that ever would have indicated that before. And while Johns’ retcon undoubtedly darkened him, I don’t see any compelling reason that it would suddenly make the overriding aspect of his character the need to be surrounded by others. I think it’s much more interesting to explore his inherent need of justice, and the warped way being a speedster would make one see the world. I don’t think that’s every been really interestingly explored, at least that I can remember, and I suspect it’s something that someone like Warren Ellis would take hold of immediately. With Barry is a somewhat darker hero, I think it’s worth exploring the kind of darkness that disconnect from humanity, from the physical world, could breed.
But that’s just an example, a suggestion. There are a lot of different ways that Johns could go with Barry, which makes this sort of rehashed personality all the more disappointing, and makes the calculated nature of this story all the more obvious. Barry is suddenly in need of this Flash family, that’s suddenly incredibly important to him….because it exists, and each member has it’s group of fans and they all need to be serviced. Which gets me back to my initial gripe, which is just how obvious it is that this story is meant only to take us from point A to point B. It’s dirty and it’s empty, but I suppose the thought is that if it gets us to where we need to be then we’ll be alright. And I can follow that, I’m even okay with that, but ideally the lead in to the series would be compelling in its own right.
But it’s not all bad, despite those gripes I have with the series, and the issue, at its foundation. It’s actually pretty fun, a nice action story with over the top dialog, a few really nice character moments (for Iris, now called Irey to avoid confusion, West), and some great super speed action. And that’s in large part due to the incredibly detailed and dynamic artwork of EVS, who I noticed seems to be inking himself. Certainly a bold choice, and it becomes obvious as to why this issue took so long in coming out. I’d be lying if I said I think the wait didn’t kill the momentum for this series, but for artwork like this…for artwork like this, I’m willing to wait. I really just jumps off the page, and I love all the ways that EVS conveys speed, all the ways he plays with the speed force energy. It’s brilliant, and it makes me sad that he’ll very likely never be able to put out more than 6 issues in a year, despite saying that he was on the verge of becoming a monthly artist (hah!).
Oh, and I really enjoyed Wally’s new costume. Like it better than Barry’s and any of the others.
7/10, almost totally for EVS’ artwork though.
In a lot of ways, this series has been almost a direct copy of “Green Lantern: Rebirth”, right down to the same type of villain reveal at the same point of the same issue. Maybe it’s by design, maybe it’s supposed to subtly make a statement on the relationship between The Brave (Hal) and the Bold (Barry), about how they are forever intertwined (they both debuted as legacy heroes at around the same time, died within a decade of each other, had legacy characters that became Fast Friends, came back within a decade of each other, etc) but I think it’s more likely that Geoff Johns really just didn’t have very many compelling ideas for the MANNER in which Barry returned, and is more interested in just getting him back. In that sense, reading this series has felt more like watching Johns check off bits on a list rather than reading a story that was built on its own merits. It’s a problem Johns has shown before, less on GL Rebirth and more on Legion of Three Worlds. And while his trademark ability with action and bombastic dialog still makes for a fun comic book, that’s all the book really is.
For anyone who didn’t see this reveal coming…I don’t know what to say to you. Zoom revealing that he had gone back and retconned Barry’s past, killed his mother, all of that...it was obviously from issue two to me. Now part of that was almost assuredly gleaned from various interviews I’d read, and that comes parts and parcel with being as hardcore a comic book fan as I am – I see a lot of these things coming because I stay current with interviews and solicits and I read and form various theories online. But the fact that I don’t always see the twists from some of his other work, or from the work of other writers, coming means that it IS still possible to get one by me. Heh. So I see this as a pretty big failure, as the entire mega plot had been obvious from almost the start.
Now Johns has recently been turning out some of the best hero characterization of his career. He’s always been insanely strong with his villains (The Rogues, Zoom, Black Hand, Sinestro, Johnny Sorrow, etc) but his heroes have felt more like ciphers than anything else a lot of the time. But the work he’s done with Superboy, or even Tim Drake, in the recent three issues of Adventure Comics is…magnificent. Just really beautiful and nuanced stuff. So it’s especially disappointing to see him almost REUSING character points or motivations across books. I think it’s clear that he’s always had kind of an obsession with teams – it’s a rare thing to see Hal defeat a foe without a little help from one of his friends, JSA goes without saying, Hawkgirl and Hawkman, etc – and I think it’s gotten to the point that he’s overused that. Barry says something akin to “I never wanted to be the fastest. I just didn’t want to be ALONE.”….but why the hell not? I suppose in one sense no one wants to be alone, but there is nothing in Barry’s character before this issue that ever would have indicated that before. And while Johns’ retcon undoubtedly darkened him, I don’t see any compelling reason that it would suddenly make the overriding aspect of his character the need to be surrounded by others. I think it’s much more interesting to explore his inherent need of justice, and the warped way being a speedster would make one see the world. I don’t think that’s every been really interestingly explored, at least that I can remember, and I suspect it’s something that someone like Warren Ellis would take hold of immediately. With Barry is a somewhat darker hero, I think it’s worth exploring the kind of darkness that disconnect from humanity, from the physical world, could breed.
But that’s just an example, a suggestion. There are a lot of different ways that Johns could go with Barry, which makes this sort of rehashed personality all the more disappointing, and makes the calculated nature of this story all the more obvious. Barry is suddenly in need of this Flash family, that’s suddenly incredibly important to him….because it exists, and each member has it’s group of fans and they all need to be serviced. Which gets me back to my initial gripe, which is just how obvious it is that this story is meant only to take us from point A to point B. It’s dirty and it’s empty, but I suppose the thought is that if it gets us to where we need to be then we’ll be alright. And I can follow that, I’m even okay with that, but ideally the lead in to the series would be compelling in its own right.
But it’s not all bad, despite those gripes I have with the series, and the issue, at its foundation. It’s actually pretty fun, a nice action story with over the top dialog, a few really nice character moments (for Iris, now called Irey to avoid confusion, West), and some great super speed action. And that’s in large part due to the incredibly detailed and dynamic artwork of EVS, who I noticed seems to be inking himself. Certainly a bold choice, and it becomes obvious as to why this issue took so long in coming out. I’d be lying if I said I think the wait didn’t kill the momentum for this series, but for artwork like this…for artwork like this, I’m willing to wait. I really just jumps off the page, and I love all the ways that EVS conveys speed, all the ways he plays with the speed force energy. It’s brilliant, and it makes me sad that he’ll very likely never be able to put out more than 6 issues in a year, despite saying that he was on the verge of becoming a monthly artist (hah!).
Oh, and I really enjoyed Wally’s new costume. Like it better than Barry’s and any of the others.
7/10, almost totally for EVS’ artwork though.
Story: 2 - Average
Art: 5 - Excellent
Art: 5 - Excellent
Hmm, interesting arguments especially concerning strong lead in to an on-going and this story is rather dense if you view it as an intro to the serial.
However the repeating oneself point leaves scratching my head. Most artists do repeat themselves. It’s a style they can be recognized by and it’s a good career move to have a consistent output. How many writers, directors, or musicians do you know that do something utterly different, completely reinvents themselves each output. Not many. An dn ot many do it successfully. You can’t fault an artist for having a recognizable style/approach to his craft.
Now, you mention that Barry seems to feel alone but without any particular reason. Then you mention Johns lost the opportunity to explore the warped world view a speedster. I think you just convinced yourself to ignore the obvious there. Barry’s distorted world-view is directly responsible for his feeling alone. He even dorectly mentions that a speedsters weakness is having to slow down for everyone else.
Good review, thanks for contributing to the discussion!
Good review. I think there’s something to JJ’s criticism of your criticism, but on the other hand I think other writers can repeat themselves without us noticing/complaining because the work still seems fresh. I’m not sure that’s the case with Johns. I don’t think many people would have a problem if Flash Rebirth were a lot like Green Lantern Rebirth AND it was just as inventive, cool, fun, seemingly necessary, etc etc etc whatever. I could easily imagine people saying "Flash Rebirth is the same formula–but it still works as well as ever!" Lots of artists/authors repeat motifs–that’s what sorta gives them a particular style, yeah–but from what I can tell it seems like Johns is more or less RELYING on that style, going through the motions to an extent, to get this series out.
What do I know, though. I’m not even reading this anymore. 🙂 Probably pick it up in trade ESPECIALLY if people keep comparing it to the tedium of Lo3W (which I LIKED).
@Jumping Jupiter – My issue with Johns ‘repeating himself’ isn’t that he’s playing with the same THEMES that he regularly does, it’s that he’s boiled this down into a FORMULA. The events, and the sequence in which they occur, the nature of the reveals…it’s almost exact mirror. Consider — the hero feels that something has been off with him, that he’s changed somehow. He thinks he’s to blame, that he just doesn’t fit. Then at the end of the 4th issue of the series, his arch nemesis, his antithesis, reveals himself and lets it be known that he’s responsible for a great deal of the crap in his life. The heroes comrades in arms rally to his side and together they combat this big threat.
Which Rebirth am I describing there?
Yeah, someone like Morrison likes to play with metatextual commentary, but not only is that not all he does (all of his work has layer upon layer of subtext and meaning) and the structures and focuses of his stories are different almost every time. Guys like Robinson or Rucka have very definite *styles* as well, but they don’t just re-use characters and story outlines. I’m fine with exploring certain themes across multiple works, in multiple contexts, but there has to be a variation in the manner in which they are explored. For what it’s worth, I think Millar is guilty of the Johns-style storytelling as well.
Now I don’t necessarily think it’s fair to assume that Barry’s very sudden alienation stems from being out of sync from reality. I think that would be a really fun, very interesting tact to take on what being a Flash means, especially if it’s explored with any real depth or intelligence, but that throwaway line doesn’t feel like it’s endeavoring to do that. And maybe that’s just me, but I don’t think Hal felt aliennated from society, either. I think it’s just a reoccuring aspect of Johns’ characters — this need for someone else to complete them. Hawkman needed Kendra, the JSA needed each other, Hal needs the Corps, the Flash needs his family (and especially Iris), Booster needed Ted Kord, Black Adam needed Isis….It’s something he likes about his characters, which I don’t have a problem with, but I think the psychology of a Flash is something that is absolutely ripe to be explored. Waid made Wally an everyman, a fine tact, but you can do stuff that is so much more…out there.
And Flapjaxx — I totally agree that part of my problem with Johns is that I’ve just become overexposed to him. He’s done so much work with so many of my favorite characters, and I’ve ENJOYED a lot of that work, but you just start to see the cracks. It’s bound to happen with any creator, really, but sometimes they go beyond that. I recently went back and read almost the entirity of my Ellis collection, going back to his very earliest work for Marvel, DC, Wildstorm, etc and going up to now…and I love him, but he’s incredibly repetitive.
You make very fair and reasonable points. In my review I point out that the goals of this mini are great. I’m betting Johns is prioritizing and we’ll get more of what you desire in an on-going.
Great discussion.