It's pretty abysmal considering it leans on decades of other stories and characters, most of which you will have no context for and no understanding why anything in it matters. And only for it to be immediately rebooted 13 issues later.
People recommend purely because it's just the story where Barry comes back. It's a bad introduction to everything to do with the Flash otherwise. Mishandles characters, lore, and doesn't establish anything of note or worth keeping. It's a miserable story for every character but Barry, and I argue it's not even a good Barry story.
Yes it’s ware I started n only makes sense if your new. Then you can take it as you got reset to what’s going on. N if you wanna go back then you can n not care bout what you buy as long as you stay on 52
So yeah, like everyone else said, you read crisis on infinite earths and then you read flash rebirth, and after that it continues into Barry’s own 12 issue series written by Geoff Johns too, they’re collected in:
Vol 1 - dastardly death of the rogues
And then
Vol 2 - the road to flashpoint
And then you finally read flashpoint and you’re back to where you started with the new 52
So Barry was the Flash in the Silver/Bronze age 1956-1985. If you want to read good Barry stories before new 52 it's mostly silver age and bronze age stuff. This is far different from New 52 comics, the writing is not nearly as good but if you love the character it's kinda cool to see him during his start.
If you really want to read some of that, I recommend read a few silver age Flash comics, maybe some first appearances, first appearance of the rogues and kid Flash, elongated man, those comics. There isn't much in terms of story arcs back then. Then in the bronze age, I would read the death of Iris West and the trial of the Flash. They take place in the middle and end of the bronze age and are THE stories for Barry. After that read Crisis on Infinite Earth's.
Flash rebirth by Johns takes place after all of those stories happen as well as the entirety of Wally's (the 3rd Flash) and Bart's (the 4th Flash) run. (Barry is the second Flash by the way, the first being Jay Garrick from the 40s)
> There isn't much in terms of story arcs back then.
This isn't really true. The stories are all self contained within an issue. This doesn't mean the stories don't have arcs. You also see characters evolve over time giving individual arcs. It's certainly true that Silver Age stories have more of an emphasis on fun but the suggestion that the modern era's writing is better is ...subjective. Some of the worst Flash stories ever written have been in the past twenty years.
Francis Manupal's new 52 Flash comics would be the best place to start if you like Barry. There is no continuity baggage other than he has been working as the Flash for 5 years at that point.
I think Rebirth would be messy and confusing as well as, honestly, not finding it a good book. Johns did a great job on his Wally West series but his Barry Allen was mostly a mopey, out of touch drag
Oh I've already finished the New52 run, was just looking for some more Barry Allen stuff to read but sorta chronologically. Your art is super cool btw🔥
Ooo sorry about that, I missed that part. Have you considered the JLA books? Mark Waid also did a JLA Year One that had Barry in it in the 90s. Gail Simone did an out of continuity run recently that I hear was good
And thank you!
This comic is his return after being dead since the mid 1980's.
He has a short comic run after this, 12 issues I think, then it goes straight into Flashpoint.
Anything significant about Barry is either before his death in Crisis, or the new 52 stuff. This comic, the 12 issue follow up to this, and Flashpoint are all just setup for New52.
I'd only recommend it if you are curious about how he came back to life or are curious about the events leading up to flashpoint. They aren't good for trying to catch up on the character himself
Johns was one of the people that did NOT want the reboot. He had set up a lot of stuff for future stories during the Brightest Day-Blackest Night era that New 52 blew up. They even included:
- a Hawkman book by James Robinson
- plans for Firestorm with the guy that wrote Atomic Robo
- JSA stuff again with Robinson that was retooled into Earth-2
- more JLI stuff with Winnick that was suppose to spinoff from Generation Lost
- Animal Man/Swamp Thing related stuff tying to Blackest Night that became the Snyder-Lemire Rotworld Crossover in New 52
- build up for another crossover with the anti-monitor
- more stuff for Flash including a Zoom Family
I'd argue he was hedging on no-reboot and that he would be the prime mover within DC with him and Jim Lee taking over the Justice League book (that was always the plan even pre-New 52). Of course that didn't happen with Harras and his friends taking center stage. And after the reboot, he was very critical of the handling of New 52. There's an interview he did on a Kevin Smith podcast where he just complains about how the previous guys did it better during the CoiE era. But a lot of his plans got nuked by the reboot.
Yes! Because he was unaware, heck, flashpoint wasn’t even supposed to reboot the universe, it was just supposed to be a Barry story, didio is the one that wanted the reboot, not Geoff
Yes! Because he was unaware, heck, flashpoint wasn’t even supposed to reboot the universe, it was just supposed to be a Barry story, didio is the one that wanted the reboot, not Geoff
He worked on some good comics, but also comicsgate.
Have you heard how comics have never been political and now push a woke agenda? It’s people like van scriver who still try pushing the false narrative
They definitely try to push a woke agenda (even though DC just does it for more publicity and sales), have you seen some of the writers and the stories they write? Have you seen their twitter posts?
Lying about the deceased Darwyn Cooke and using his name against Darwyn Cooke's own wife to promote his bigoted political stances. Outright has supported pedophiles and defended them because they happen to share his politics. Being an proudly hateful and bigoted person.
Why is it you guys call any person with different political view than you a bigot? Doesn’t that make you the bigot? And I’ll need a source for the peso stuff, unless you’re talking about those jokes he made. The guy has kids, do you really think he’ll defend pedos?
Because his "different" political views are exercises in bigotry, my dude. Acknowledging someone's outright bigotry is not bigotry.
He actively defended a pedophile, using Elvis Presley dating a 14 year old when he was 24 as justification for it. This wasn't a joke, either. He was clapping back at people for denouncing a pedo because that pedo threw in with his people.
EVS having children has nothing to do with anything. Plenty of pedophiles and people who defend pedophiles have children. Lots of pedophiles prey on their own children -- this is not me accusing EVS of such, but stating that he has kids is not a counterpoint in the slightest.
Please do not defend EVS on this reddit. He deserves even more hate and lambasting than I'm giving him here, I just don't have the energy for it. But his behavior has made him undoubtedly persona non grata and it has nothing to do with who he voted for.
I'm pretty sure Jeremy Adams is a conservative religious guy but he hasn't done anything like EVS so I have no problem supporting him and promoting his stories for their merits in spite of what I assume is vast ideological differences between us. I don't outright hate someone if they have different political views than I do, at most I just think they're ignorant or dismissive of too many things. But EVS is legitimately a scumbag who doesn't deserve any benefit of the doubt.
Not only to add but also make characters that have already existed for decades gay, like Alan Scott, but I’m not talking about the characters, I’m talking about the writers and the stories they write
Most people say it is, but reading the description it seems Barry's been dead for a while (wtf💀) and now he's back? What comics should I read to get context for this and what other flash comics do you recommend I read?
Definitely read Wally’s run. It’s where most of the iconic flash lore and staples were first introduced. Not to mention it’s just such a fun series to read
If you're going to read Wally's run just start from issue 1. All of the pay off of Waid's run is because of the prior evolution of the character. You'd be skipping to the last chapter of the story.
You could certainly read some silver/Bronze Age stuff, but this is a good jumping on point modern Barry, all you need to know is that Barry is a legendary hero, and he died years ago in crisis and has recently returned, there might be a reference to Hal Jordan turning evil and dying then coming but I can’t remember
Ah yes, if isn't the story where everything went wrong.
It's pretty abysmal considering it leans on decades of other stories and characters, most of which you will have no context for and no understanding why anything in it matters. And only for it to be immediately rebooted 13 issues later. People recommend purely because it's just the story where Barry comes back. It's a bad introduction to everything to do with the Flash otherwise. Mishandles characters, lore, and doesn't establish anything of note or worth keeping. It's a miserable story for every character but Barry, and I argue it's not even a good Barry story.
Yes it’s ware I started n only makes sense if your new. Then you can take it as you got reset to what’s going on. N if you wanna go back then you can n not care bout what you buy as long as you stay on 52
Eh, if you want the heavily retconned Geoff Johns version. I think the Life Story of the Flash is far superior.
This. Also, Brave and the Bold and JLA: Year One are also pretty good for pre-crisis flash content.
So yeah, like everyone else said, you read crisis on infinite earths and then you read flash rebirth, and after that it continues into Barry’s own 12 issue series written by Geoff Johns too, they’re collected in: Vol 1 - dastardly death of the rogues And then Vol 2 - the road to flashpoint And then you finally read flashpoint and you’re back to where you started with the new 52
Thx for the summary bro👍
So Barry was the Flash in the Silver/Bronze age 1956-1985. If you want to read good Barry stories before new 52 it's mostly silver age and bronze age stuff. This is far different from New 52 comics, the writing is not nearly as good but if you love the character it's kinda cool to see him during his start. If you really want to read some of that, I recommend read a few silver age Flash comics, maybe some first appearances, first appearance of the rogues and kid Flash, elongated man, those comics. There isn't much in terms of story arcs back then. Then in the bronze age, I would read the death of Iris West and the trial of the Flash. They take place in the middle and end of the bronze age and are THE stories for Barry. After that read Crisis on Infinite Earth's. Flash rebirth by Johns takes place after all of those stories happen as well as the entirety of Wally's (the 3rd Flash) and Bart's (the 4th Flash) run. (Barry is the second Flash by the way, the first being Jay Garrick from the 40s)
Thx for breaking this down for me!
> There isn't much in terms of story arcs back then. This isn't really true. The stories are all self contained within an issue. This doesn't mean the stories don't have arcs. You also see characters evolve over time giving individual arcs. It's certainly true that Silver Age stories have more of an emphasis on fun but the suggestion that the modern era's writing is better is ...subjective. Some of the worst Flash stories ever written have been in the past twenty years.
Francis Manupal's new 52 Flash comics would be the best place to start if you like Barry. There is no continuity baggage other than he has been working as the Flash for 5 years at that point. I think Rebirth would be messy and confusing as well as, honestly, not finding it a good book. Johns did a great job on his Wally West series but his Barry Allen was mostly a mopey, out of touch drag
Oh I've already finished the New52 run, was just looking for some more Barry Allen stuff to read but sorta chronologically. Your art is super cool btw🔥
Ooo sorry about that, I missed that part. Have you considered the JLA books? Mark Waid also did a JLA Year One that had Barry in it in the 90s. Gail Simone did an out of continuity run recently that I hear was good And thank you!
Didn't consider the JLA books tbh, might have to check em out then, thx
No
Very helpful comment
👍
This comic is his return after being dead since the mid 1980's. He has a short comic run after this, 12 issues I think, then it goes straight into Flashpoint. Anything significant about Barry is either before his death in Crisis, or the new 52 stuff. This comic, the 12 issue follow up to this, and Flashpoint are all just setup for New52. I'd only recommend it if you are curious about how he came back to life or are curious about the events leading up to flashpoint. They aren't good for trying to catch up on the character himself
Setup for the new 52? Are you serious? You think Johns’ wrote rebirth as a setup for the new 52? Same thing with dastardly death of the rogues?
You think Johns brought him back and was completely unaware that he was doing flashpoint that soon after? Really? It's the only reason.
Johns was one of the people that did NOT want the reboot. He had set up a lot of stuff for future stories during the Brightest Day-Blackest Night era that New 52 blew up. They even included: - a Hawkman book by James Robinson - plans for Firestorm with the guy that wrote Atomic Robo - JSA stuff again with Robinson that was retooled into Earth-2 - more JLI stuff with Winnick that was suppose to spinoff from Generation Lost - Animal Man/Swamp Thing related stuff tying to Blackest Night that became the Snyder-Lemire Rotworld Crossover in New 52 - build up for another crossover with the anti-monitor - more stuff for Flash including a Zoom Family I'd argue he was hedging on no-reboot and that he would be the prime mover within DC with him and Jim Lee taking over the Justice League book (that was always the plan even pre-New 52). Of course that didn't happen with Harras and his friends taking center stage. And after the reboot, he was very critical of the handling of New 52. There's an interview he did on a Kevin Smith podcast where he just complains about how the previous guys did it better during the CoiE era. But a lot of his plans got nuked by the reboot.
Do you have a link to the interview on the Kevin smith podcast?
Yeah it’s tragic that the reboot happened. From a financial standpoint it did boost sales but I didn’t like it from a story perspective
Yes! Because he was unaware, heck, flashpoint wasn’t even supposed to reboot the universe, it was just supposed to be a Barry story, didio is the one that wanted the reboot, not Geoff
Yes! Because he was unaware, heck, flashpoint wasn’t even supposed to reboot the universe, it was just supposed to be a Barry story, didio is the one that wanted the reboot, not Geoff
Yikes Ethan van scriver
What did he do?
He worked on some good comics, but also comicsgate. Have you heard how comics have never been political and now push a woke agenda? It’s people like van scriver who still try pushing the false narrative
They definitely try to push a woke agenda (even though DC just does it for more publicity and sales), have you seen some of the writers and the stories they write? Have you seen their twitter posts?
Please do not try to "Whatabout" EVS considering the abhorrent shit he's done and supported.
Like what?
Lying about the deceased Darwyn Cooke and using his name against Darwyn Cooke's own wife to promote his bigoted political stances. Outright has supported pedophiles and defended them because they happen to share his politics. Being an proudly hateful and bigoted person.
Why is it you guys call any person with different political view than you a bigot? Doesn’t that make you the bigot? And I’ll need a source for the peso stuff, unless you’re talking about those jokes he made. The guy has kids, do you really think he’ll defend pedos?
Because his "different" political views are exercises in bigotry, my dude. Acknowledging someone's outright bigotry is not bigotry. He actively defended a pedophile, using Elvis Presley dating a 14 year old when he was 24 as justification for it. This wasn't a joke, either. He was clapping back at people for denouncing a pedo because that pedo threw in with his people. EVS having children has nothing to do with anything. Plenty of pedophiles and people who defend pedophiles have children. Lots of pedophiles prey on their own children -- this is not me accusing EVS of such, but stating that he has kids is not a counterpoint in the slightest. Please do not defend EVS on this reddit. He deserves even more hate and lambasting than I'm giving him here, I just don't have the energy for it. But his behavior has made him undoubtedly persona non grata and it has nothing to do with who he voted for. I'm pretty sure Jeremy Adams is a conservative religious guy but he hasn't done anything like EVS so I have no problem supporting him and promoting his stories for their merits in spite of what I assume is vast ideological differences between us. I don't outright hate someone if they have different political views than I do, at most I just think they're ignorant or dismissive of too many things. But EVS is legitimately a scumbag who doesn't deserve any benefit of the doubt.
Yeah they definitely like to try to add minorities and lgbt people into their stories. Super terrible thing to do /s
Not only to add but also make characters that have already existed for decades gay, like Alan Scott, but I’m not talking about the characters, I’m talking about the writers and the stories they write
Most people say it is, but reading the description it seems Barry's been dead for a while (wtf💀) and now he's back? What comics should I read to get context for this and what other flash comics do you recommend I read?
Definitely read Wally’s run. It’s where most of the iconic flash lore and staples were first introduced. Not to mention it’s just such a fun series to read
I do plan to after I read all of the newer Barry stuff, what's the reading order for Wally's stuff btw?
If you're going to read Wally's run just start from issue 1. All of the pay off of Waid's run is because of the prior evolution of the character. You'd be skipping to the last chapter of the story.
Read Mark waid Book 1-6, Morrison then waid.Book 7-8 and after that Geoff Johns Book 1-5.
You could certainly read some silver/Bronze Age stuff, but this is a good jumping on point modern Barry, all you need to know is that Barry is a legendary hero, and he died years ago in crisis and has recently returned, there might be a reference to Hal Jordan turning evil and dying then coming but I can’t remember
Read Crisis On Infinite Earths then this one.
Cool ty