Brief Musings on Flash:Rebirth
You know, I have to admit, I never believed they'd actually bring Barry Allen back for good. I figured DC has too much invested in Barry as the dead Flash to truly bring him back.
It looks like I was wrong. :-)
Well, a cynical part of me does wonder if this series won't end like pretty much every "return of Barry Allen" story thus far, with some twist that will ultimately end up in Barry resuming his death.
I hope it doesn't though. I've never bought into the idea that there were some comic book deaths that are sacrosanct. It's comics. Part of comics is the implausible resurrection from sheer and certain death. It's like soap operas in that respect. How many times had Deirdre Hall died on Days of Our Lives?
I thought Jason Todd's return was problematic but there are still some interesting potential stories there. Bucky Barnes's return has been simply stellar. I think if they can pull of Bucky, who's death was so intrinsic to the Marvel universe, they ought to be able to bring Barry back for good too.
I don't actually care much for Barry as a character. I don't dislike him, he just tends not to register for me. I love Jay and Wally though. Bart I could do without, but heck, there's probably room there too.
I'm looking forward to this because it's Geoff Johns. GL: Rebirth had good stuff primarily for Hal and Kyle, but a bit at least for John and Guy, and opened the door for series like Recharge/GLC/Ion alongside the main series so everyone got to play. Hopefully that means that even if I don't care for Barry, there should be enough Jay and Wally stuff to make everything worthwhile and fun. There are fewer Flashes than Green Lanterns after all. :-)
So I definitely don't mind being wrong about this. I want to see what happens :-)
It looks like I was wrong. :-)
Well, a cynical part of me does wonder if this series won't end like pretty much every "return of Barry Allen" story thus far, with some twist that will ultimately end up in Barry resuming his death.
I hope it doesn't though. I've never bought into the idea that there were some comic book deaths that are sacrosanct. It's comics. Part of comics is the implausible resurrection from sheer and certain death. It's like soap operas in that respect. How many times had Deirdre Hall died on Days of Our Lives?
I thought Jason Todd's return was problematic but there are still some interesting potential stories there. Bucky Barnes's return has been simply stellar. I think if they can pull of Bucky, who's death was so intrinsic to the Marvel universe, they ought to be able to bring Barry back for good too.
I don't actually care much for Barry as a character. I don't dislike him, he just tends not to register for me. I love Jay and Wally though. Bart I could do without, but heck, there's probably room there too.
I'm looking forward to this because it's Geoff Johns. GL: Rebirth had good stuff primarily for Hal and Kyle, but a bit at least for John and Guy, and opened the door for series like Recharge/GLC/Ion alongside the main series so everyone got to play. Hopefully that means that even if I don't care for Barry, there should be enough Jay and Wally stuff to make everything worthwhile and fun. There are fewer Flashes than Green Lanterns after all. :-)
So I definitely don't mind being wrong about this. I want to see what happens :-)
posted by kalinara @ 1:01 AM
7 Comments:
At July 30, 2008 2:34 AM,
LurkerWithout said…
I'll just wait for it to pass like everything else. Not because I think there are some deaths that shouldn't be undone. Just that undoing some is just pointless. Hal was dead like 5 minutes before he came back as the Spectre...
But Barry's (and also Supergirl's) deaths were such pivotal moments in Crisis. Big Damn Hero deaths the both. And undoing either to me just lessens the concept of heroic sacrifice. Plus its not like there's some vast hole in the DCU character line-up that Barry is needed to fill...
At July 30, 2008 9:09 AM,
Anonymous said…
I'm with lurkerwithout on this. Why did we need Barry back? What did he bring to the table that Wally didn't? Are readers actually clamoring for a complete return of all the Silver Age heroes?
I'm tired of DC and Marvel killing off their characters willy-nilly, because it makes the death of a character too common and uninteresting. But I also dislike character resurrections, because they've turned death in comics into a joke.
At July 30, 2008 9:41 AM,
SallyP said…
But...but I LIKE Barry! I'm also breathlessly awaiting the return of Scott Free, and Barda, Ralph and Sue Dibny, Ted Kord and Katma Tui.
At July 30, 2008 10:08 AM,
Lisa said…
Back when they killed off Kara and Barry in Crisis (who happened to be my two favorite characters -- it's enough to give you a persecution complex), I stopped reading comics for almost 20 years.
So, yes, I want Barry back. And no, I don't, because they'll corrupt him. I don't think they're capable of bringing back old characters without darkening them. And Barry's Flash at the very end had gotten quite dark enough.
How about instead we get DC to bring Thomas and Martha Wayne back. As villains. And Marvel can do the same thing with Ben Parker. Maybe DC and Marvel can have a crossover and get Uncle Ben and the Waynes to take over the world. And kick puppies.
At July 30, 2008 11:44 AM,
Jer said…
I have the exact opposite reaction of most comics fans. I love it when they bring characters back to life. Because it sucks all the drama and the tension out of character death and makes it so that when they kill a character off everyone just rolls their eyes and starts the "Resurrection Pool" to see how long it will take to bring them back. And anything that makes writers avoid lazy hack writing devices like killing off a character and makes them think of something else is good in my book.
On the other hand, I don't trust Geoff Johns to do anything good with this. Because I know how the book will go almost to a tee - one or two good ideas, slathered in much wallowing in continuity and ham-fisted dialog and at least one over-the-top violent scene that seems completely out of left field and totally out of place. Because that's how he writes these days. What happened to the guy who wrote "Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E."? I want him back.
At July 30, 2008 11:55 PM,
cardboardjudas said…
What i'm about to say is said as often and with as much credibility as deaths in comics by the big two but this particular return is getting me out of buying comics for good.
The Death of Barry Allen was one of my first dozen or so comics as a kid so this seems an appropriate place for me to make my departure.
I'm sticking around ony on the sidelines, i'l finish up Final Crisis and however long my love of Starman keeps me hanging on to Robinson's Superman run, but with a love of comics that's been dwinding for a while now i think i'm done with anything else the big two has to offer.
At July 31, 2008 12:54 AM,
Ununnilium said…
I don't like bringing Barry back because it puts the brakes on one of the best things about the Flash legacy - the fact that it actually changes. Otherwise, I don't mind, as long as the story's good.
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