- Written by Joshua Williamson
- Pencils & Cover by Carmine Di Giandomenico
- Colours by Ivan Plascencia
In issue #3, dozens of innocent people mysteriously gain super-speed! But not all are heroic, and it’ll take everything The Flash and August have to harness the lightning before Black Hole does.
Pickup your copy of ‘The Flash: Rebirth’ #3 at Comixology now!
Much like other series in The New 52 ‘The Flash’ found itself meandering towards the inevitable reboot. Having proved itself more successful than other series in the brand the ending of the Riddler storyline still felt incredibly rushed. Past issues felt emotionally fraught and unnecessarily overdramatic. However with its reboot ‘The Flash’ has successfully refocused itself and found a much more even pace at which to run.
Fans of ‘The Flash’ comics as well as TV series know that family drama is a major part of Barry Allen’s life. That finally takes a bit of a backseat in ‘Rebirth’ as Barry tries to remember what makes him a hero. The shift in tone has worked really well in issues 1 and 2 bringing us to where we find Barry in issue 3. A Speedforce storm has hit Central City turning ordinary people in to Speedsters.
We’ve seem glimpses in the first two issues of Barry yearning to pass on his knowledge to others. The return of Wally West and his missing memories has given Barry cause to reflect. That reflect has added a depth to the character that has been lacking for some time. There’s so much humour to ‘The Flash’ that it’s easy not to take its characters seriously. ‘Rebirth’ is working very hard to ensure the series feels less slapstick and more well rounded.
DC Comics Co-Publishers Dan Didio and Jim Lee launched ‘Rebirth’ stating that they wanted to bring the legacy back to comics. Something they felt was lost during The New 52. ‘The Flash’ is so far leading the way in evoking that sense of legacy. Perhaps part of that is due to the nature of the story which is firmly placing Flash as the leader of a group of new Speedsters.
‘The Flash’ has always prided itself of having a great set of core characters weaving in and out of Barry’s life. ‘Rebirth’ is again shifting the focus from his father Henry and relationship with Iris to show a different side to his character. We’ve so often seen characters like Batman leading sidekicks that this isn’t anything unique but with Flash it feels like uncovering something from the past that’s long forgotten.
So far we’ve only spend time with August Heart who has self proclaimed as Flash’s new sidekick. He is Barry’s opposite in many ways so provides a source of conflict as well as humour. It will be interesting to see which of the new Speedsters seen in this issue become standout characters going forwards.
This issue makes up for the lack of a serious villain by finally introducing Godspeed at the issues close. ‘The Flash’ has always been at it’s best when featuring a strong villain. The small glimpse so far has me convinced that Godspeed may be one of the best.
DC Comics, however great, have a habit of recycling villains for certain heroes. Flash included. Recycling these villains over-and-over only decreases their impact so I’m glad that new writer Joshua Williamson has taken the time to carefully craft a new foe.
It sounds like I’m calling previous versions of the series dull where that is not the case. However looking back it does feel a little generic in comparison to ‘Rebirth’. One area where that is most evident is the artwork. The visuals that Carmine Di Giandomenico and Ivan Plascencia are excellent.
‘The Flash’ has gone from looking run-of-the-mill to abstract. Colours are strong and vibrant, a must for the series. But visually it is much more inky and detail heavy. Environments are much more immersive whilst facial expressions are strong.
I hope that this new team remain on the series for the foreseeable future.
Verdict
‘The Flash: Rebirth’ #3 is a great expansion to a slowly developing story. Doing the opposite of its lead character ‘The Flash’ is slowing things down and spending time focusing on its main character. It’s easily one of the strongest series in DC Comics current roster.
4 stars
