It’s been a tough few years to be a Flash fan. Ever since Infinite Crisis wrote Wally West off stage, DC has struggled with what to do with the Scarlet Speedster. Several reboot attempts including re-establishing Wally as the Flash have more or less crashed and burned. It seemed the only option left (perhaps by design) was to return Barry Allen to the role.
Not surprisingly, DC followed the Rebirth formula that had been tremendously successful for Hal Jordan in the Green Lantern books. But I think it’s fair to say that Flash: Rebirth was not the runaway success its predecessor was. While a lot of people enjoyed the mini-series more than I did, the reaction was far more mixed than it was when Hal returned.
I am one of the few people who wasn’t overly impressed with Green Lantern: Rebirth either. Go back and re-read it. I’ll wager a dozen donuts it’s not as good as you remember. The story is basically a lot of retcons strung together with bits of fan service to set the stage for the stories Johns wanted to tell.
The Green Lantern franchise didn’t really kick into high gear for me until the launch of Hal’s on-going series. With all the heavy lifting out of the way, Johns was able to settle in and actually start telling the stories he had set up in Rebirth.
I bring all of this up because I was hoping that history would repeat itself with The Flash. And based on the first issue, I would say it has. Now that Johns is no longer concentrating all of his efforts on explaining Barry Allen’s fashion sense or giving him a grim backstory, it feels like we are finally getting to the good stuff!
The Francis Manapul art helps. I was a big fan of Manapul’s work on Adventure Comics. The tone was so bright and fresh, I found myself very forgiving of Johns’ clunky teen-angst melodrama.
I have to admit, I was disappointed to learn that Manapul was leaving Adventure to work on Flash. His style just seemed so perfectly suited to Conner Kent’s sweet disposition and the Americana of Smallville. I thought any other book would be a less than ideal fit.
But, I was wrong. Dead wrong. Manapul is a perfect fit for the Flash. His Flash is as bright and dynamic as I have ever seen. It reminded me of one of my favorite Flash runs of all times, the late, great Mike Wieringo. I really can’t think of any higher praise I can bestow on a Flash artist than comparing them to Ringo.
And I’ll give Johns credit for matching Manapul’s sunny tone with his writing. The story was as tightly scripted as any comic I’ve read recently. It was filled with all the things I want in a super hero (and more specifically a Flash) comic book. And all the while, Johns did a great job of introducing us to the support cast of Central City.
The Flash #1 isn’t a perfect book. But it was fun and I found myself inclined to overlook whatever flaws it may have. In that way, it reminded me of the last book this creative team launched, Adventure Comics #1. And that’s a big step up from any Flash story in the last 5 years!
I’ll take chocolate with sprinkles please.
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