So has it been almost two years since Barry Allen returned in Final Crisis?Since then he's starred in two mini-series (The Flash: Rebirth and Blackest Night: The Flash) and had a leading role in a third (Blackest Night).
Finally, the preliminaries are out of the way, and The Flash is back in his own ongoing title. As a big fan of Barry Allen, I couldn't be happier. He's the Flash I grew up reading, and some of his early adventures were the first comics that got me hooked.
This book wastes no time getting to the point, as Barry returns to his old life as a Police Scientist (a cool occupation to have these days, considering the popularity of the CSI shows).
His long absence is quickly explained away, and he goes about reestablishing his life as both superhero (kicking the issue off with a nifty high-speed chase), police scientist (examining a dead supervillain) and husband (flirting with his wife via high-speed text messages).
Writer Geoff Johns gets this series off to a strong start, establishing the city, the surroundings and the villains quickly, and then throwing us all a curve with a surprising cliffhanger.
Artist Francis Manapul's style is growing on me quickly. A little rough in places (with a few odd angles), but the action scenes sing, and I like his use of multiple images and crackling energy to convey the Flash's high-speed heroics.
The future looks bright for the Silver Age speedster, and we get a Johns-patented peek into the future of the title, which includes something called Flashpoint.
It's a promising return for a beloved speedster. All I can say is: welcome back, old friend!
Grade: A-
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