April 1st! Spring is coming, or so they tell me because I haven’t seen it here in lovely Wisconsin. Anyway, here are this week’s reviews, a little late due to some work scheduling (damn work, always getting in the way of comics). This weeks books : Flash : Rebirth #1, GI Joe #4, Justice Society of America #25, Seaguy: Slaves of Mickey Eye #1 and Battle for the Cowl : Man-Bat #1. Tune in later today or tomorrow for the remainder of the reviews and a look through the current Previews catalog. Here we go :
Flash : Rebirth #1Story by Geoff Johns
Art by Ethan VanSciver
Colors by Alex Sinclair
The much-anticipated Flash Rebirth is here! Does it measure up to Johns and VanSciver’s previous Rebirth of Green Lantern? Sort of…but it’s more like asking if Goodfellas compares to Godfather. Yes, they’re both about the mafia and yes they’re both very good, but they perform on different levels.
So…Crisis on Infinite Earths, Barry Allen sacrifice, years go by, lots happens, Final Crisis, Barry Allen is back….there, now we’re caught up. Barry is back and things have changed, except his old friend Hal Jordan who has always been a throwback character in his bomber jacket anyway. I like the interaction between these two because they’re both “old school” heroes, black and white, good and evil. Barry is uneasy about his return because he doesn’t fully understand the reasoning of his miraculous return and Jordan is just trying to get him to calm down and enjoy things. But Barry has to jump right back in to the old crime fighting gig.
Barry is not the only one uneasy about his comeback though, as shown by the reactions of Wally and Bart (who, due to scheduling issues with LO3W, has not had his resurrection...Kid Flash : Rebirth??.. fully explained yet). Everyone else though, is treating Barry like the second coming which I find to be an amusing real world allegory. There are many fans out there who never experienced Barry Allen as the Flash (myself included, as I didn’t get into comics big time until after his death in COIE) but treat this return as the greatest thing to ever happen to the Flash. Wally West has been, and will always be, the Flash that I remember so I feel his pain that his predecessor just blows in and steals his thunder.
Anyway, lots of back-story and flashbacks later, and we’re done with issue #1. Great issue all around, and an awesome start to this series. Johns’ story is tight as usual, even elements that I think are new, he is able to introduce as though they always have been, which I’m sure pisses off continuity enthusiasts to no end. The art by VanSciver is, as usual, stunning. The way in which he shows the Flash’s super speed is excellent (especially the scene where he’s disciplining his kids) and the expressions on Wally as he is realizing that soon he will probably be obsolete is perfect. Only one glaring coloring issue that could be attributed to Barry’s super speed (kidding), his shirt changes from white to red between pages 16 & 17. Definitely looking forward to the next issue to see where the story leads.
GI Joe #4 Story by Chuck Dixon
Art by Robert Atkins
Colors by Andrew Crossley
Dixon’s GI Joe retelling continues to be one of my most anticipated buys every month. Baroness and Destro (pre-metal mask and pre Baroness and Destro gettin’ it on, which makes the fight semi-amusing) battle it out in the Castle while the Joes continue to fight Destro’s machines. Art and story are fast paced and this book keeps all of the classic characters that I know and love. We’re just missing an appearance from my favorite, Cobra Commander, and I’m really interested to see how they will handle him. Great book all around.
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