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arbre_rieur (arbre_rieur) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-04-01 15:51:00

Three pages from Flash: Rebirth 1
We get some new information about Barry Allen that might give us a deeper understanding of his motivations.

I think Geoff Johns gets some unfair criticism. That said, this scene reads like somebody doing a parody of what a Barry Allen comic by Geoff Johns would be like.

(Post a new comment)

	maslego 2009-04-01 06:08 pm UTC (link)
	What The F%@&%@#&%$(#@&$U#%*$! Are they confusing him with Zolomon? (Reply to this)

	foxhack 2009-04-01 06:15 pm UTC (link)
	That last panel? Perfect commentary on this. (Reply to this)

aaron_bourque
2009-04-01 06:17 pm UTC (link)

To be fair, Barry Allen pretty much never had any kind of motivations before, even to be a police scientist. I still prefer the tv show's idea that he was just part of a cop family but knew he was better suited in the lab than on the beat, causing some friction with his family of whether he really was a cop or not. That said, I didn't like that they basically did that just to kill his cop brother and provide him angst to get him in a suit. I like the SA idea that he was inspired by fictional heroes (comic books or not) to be a real life hero, and that's almost the kind of idea that Johns might use, too.

But to get him to be a police scientist first? The possibility that his father may have been framed for the murder of his mother? Not the best, but not a terrible idea. A lot of people do pursue careers in law enforcement due to being victims of crime.

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	icon_uk 2009-04-01 06:19 pm UTC (link)
	To be fair, Barry Allen pretty much never had any kind of motivations before, even to be a police scientist. Why on earth should he need a motivation for his choice of career? (Still less a cliched motivation like this one). It was a paying job in a field he was good at, that's about as much motivation as most people ever get or need. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

aaron_bourque
2009-04-01 10:24 pm UTC (link)

It was a paying job in a field he was good at, that's about as much motivation as most people ever get or need.

Given his skill-set pre-powers, he'd be able to make more money in many other ways.

STAR Labs, or if that didn't exist at that time, just the private sector in general.

Most people who go through some sort of law enforcement field do not do it for the money.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

icon_uk
2009-04-02 02:27 am UTC (link)

Given his skill-set pre-powers, he'd be able to make more money in many other ways.

Many people could make more money then their job in other ways.

I said "paying job" not "major moolah paying job". Pre=powers Barry Allen was an unambitious lab jockey in the days before computers, DNA testing and CSI giving it a "cool" veneer, plus he had serious timekeeping problems. Smart yes (the ring in a costume thing for example), but lacking application and drive for the most part.

I've been in HR for a couple of decades now, and based on a LOT of interviews with a LOT of people for any number of different jobs (Both private and public sector), I'd be much more inclined to believe that Barry took the job because it was a steady reliable income with a decent pension plan (It's not like the city crime was going to run out), convenient for his house, and he had a liking for detective stories than anything else.

What this apparent bastion and shining example of the Silver Age really DIDN'T need shoehorned in was a crappily retconned in 1990's Image comics motivation of "I became a cop because my mother was gruesomely murdered and my father was (probably) unjustly charged with it" origin.

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	saralakali 2009-04-01 06:26 pm UTC (link)
	I'd think that a person who grew up reading about super heroes, but didn't have powers of their own might be inspired to go into law enforcement (or firefighting, or emergency medicine). Of course, I only think that because that was my motivation to become an EMT. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	volksjager 2009-04-01 06:41 pm UTC (link)
	Awful, just a terrible idea... (Reply to this)

	daningram 2009-04-01 06:49 pm UTC (link)
	I miss the good Johns, I really do. Besides the fact that he did this story already with Zoom, the tone really doesn't compliment the tone that damn near everyone's used with Barry. Plus, canon mistake. Barry's parents were shown as alive back in his time as the Flash. Top possessed his dad, even. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	volksjager 2009-04-01 08:42 pm UTC (link)
	Superboy-prime is answer to every bad thought a writer can have... (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	aulayan 2009-04-02 02:57 am UTC (link)
	But...Geoff Johns basically recreated S-Boy Prime. So can S-Boy Prime be the answer to S-Boy Prime? (Reply to this) (Parent)

	interrobamf 2009-04-02 02:38 am UTC (link)
	Top possessed his dad, even. I know that. Do you know how I know it? Because Johns mentioned it in his run. Bwuh? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	daningram 2009-04-02 06:00 am UTC (link)
	How do you think I learned about it? Come on, Johns... (Reply to this) (Parent)

	cmdr_zoom 2009-04-01 07:18 pm UTC (link)
	HIS PARENT IS DEAAAAAD (Reply to this) (Thread)

	schmevil 2009-04-01 10:31 pm UTC (link)
	I was just going to comment that I didn't know Barry's PARENT IS DEAD. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	lanternicity 2009-04-01 07:32 pm UTC (link)
	Murder-suicide parents are the new DeadParents? (Reply to this)

ashtoreth
2009-04-01 08:15 pm UTC (link)

I liked the rest of it. Johns hit all the right messages. Hal trying to ease him through the back from the dead process, Bart angry because the man he loved like a father *didn't* come back, Wally still worshipping, Iris totally in denial, the Rogues going "We need a membership drive!", the cities treating it like the second coming. But this was very out of left field HE MUST BE UPDATED AND PARENTS MUST DIE RAAAR!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	aulayan 2009-04-02 02:58 am UTC (link)
	...The Jay worshipping Barry thing was a bit much though. And by a bit, I mean "dear god this is bullshit" (Reply to this) (Parent)

	retro_nouveau 2009-04-01 08:42 pm UTC (link)
	Uh... No. (Reply to this)

	phoenixmessiah 2009-04-01 10:02 pm UTC (link)
	Another dead woman to motivate a man. Yay ~sarcasm~ (Reply to this)

	thehefner.livejournal.com 2009-04-01 10:29 pm UTC (link)
	I want this to be good, I really, really do. But first issue in... yeah, it really does play like a parody of Johns writing Barry. Worse, this comes off like what people who hate Barry think of Barry. Still, only first issue, and Johns has a way of... needing to lay out the groundwork before he can really tell a story. (Reply to this)

jcbaggee
2009-04-01 11:00 pm UTC (link)

Yeah, its a complete crock. Barry's parents were both alive and well through his entire run as The Flash, I believe.

Also, did anyone else notice how Barry's origin and how he became The Flash wasn't recounted in this issue? I think the last time I recall his origin being touched on was "Flash: Fastest Man Alive #1" something like 2 years ago, and they just kind of glossed over it then. We know it, so its all fine and dandy, but that's not going to help any new readers they're hoping to pick up from this.

Granted, bringing back a one-off villain from the late 90s for 2 and a half pages probably didn't help either, but oh well.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	icon_uk 2009-04-02 02:33 am UTC (link)
	His Dad was, but I don't think his Mother was for the whole time. There was a long plot arc where his Dad came to stay with Barry, but I don't think his Mother was alive at that point. As his Dad had been possessed by the ghost of the Top it was perhaps felt that shagging his nemesis' mother would be a bit OTT. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	interrobamf 2009-04-02 02:40 am UTC (link)
	Nora Allen didn't die till well into Wally's career. http://www.hyperborea.org/flash/allens.html (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	icon_uk 2009-04-02 02:44 am UTC (link)
	I stand corrected, thanks. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	darkknightjrk 2009-04-01 11:16 pm UTC (link)
	This is probably because I haven't really read much of the Barry stuff, but this doesn't really bother me. Hell, out of the stuff I've read of him, Rebirth is really the only time where he's been actually compelling. Overall, I liked the issue--it already looks better than the abysmal GL: Rebirth. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	thehefner.livejournal.com 2009-04-01 11:40 pm UTC (link)
	So you've never read JLA: YEAR ONE, FLASH/GL: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD, and/or NEW FRONTIER? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	darkknightjrk 2009-04-02 01:30 am UTC (link)
	New Frontier--he wasn't bad, but he was just kinda there. You have to admit it's far more of a Hal Jordan/Martian Manhunter story then a Flash one. Year One is on my to-read list, though. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

thehefner.livejournal.com
2009-04-02 08:31 am UTC (link)

He wasn't the focus, no, but I'd argue he was the heart.

He was one of the emotional cores to the story, with his love for Iris and his willingness to go on TV and make an Edward R. Murrow type speech to retire in protest. I'd say he was more than just there. He was the everyman in that story, the everyman superhero, which Hal and J'onn were not.

YO ain't perfect, but it's got tons of wonderful character stuff, but I especially recommended FLASH/GL as a follow-up if you're up for it. The camping issue with Alan and Jay alone...

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	mullon 2009-04-01 11:26 pm UTC (link)
	How original. (Reply to this)

	zegim 2009-04-01 11:43 pm UTC (link)
	So Barry "the best human being in the history of ever" Allen is gonna get angsty? Oh, well. (Reply to this) (Thread)

(Anonymous)
2009-04-02 09:42 am UTC (link)

I'm ok with this, Johns is taking the wind out of the hero worship the other characters have of Barry by showing that he isn't perfect. Johns had Hal acting all weird when he came back too in GL: Rebirth, the "I gotta be the flash first, barry allen second" thing is clearly not going to be permenant

Wasn't crazy about the murder stuff, but the rest of the issue was fantastic and I'm willing to give Johns the benefit of the doubt.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

alschroeder
2009-04-02 10:23 am UTC (link)

No, no, NO!

Dr. Allen was a simple medical practitioner in Iowa. His mom was alive and loved him till late in his career. Barry was a happy, normal kid who loved comics and had an interest in science. People go into forensic science all the time without an immediate tragedy.

The whole point of Barry is he's NOT an angst-driven nut.

Hal was okay, because we never knew much about his parents, even though we knew a lot about his siblings, uncles, aunts, etc. But Barry...?

Ohhh, this is going to suck.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	thehefner.livejournal.com 2009-04-02 05:25 pm UTC (link)
	EXACTLY! He's not an angst-driven nut! He's the embodiment of the Silver Age! This book should be on par with ALL-STAR SUPERMAN for sheer superhero wonder and awe and fun! That's the book I wanted the Barry-haters to see. Instead... well, let's see where Johns is going with this. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	halloweenjack 2009-04-02 12:14 pm UTC (link)
	(Reply to this) (Thread)

	scottyquick 2009-04-04 10:27 am UTC (link)
	Kukukukukuku =] . (Reply to this) (Parent)

	shadeedge 2009-04-02 06:23 pm UTC (link)
	Prediction time! This response will get thrown back in our faces when people disliking a return to old characters is brought up. "Hey, we tried to add in something new, but they didn't like that either! I guess you just can't please those guys". (Reply to this)