Flash Rebirth #4 (OF 6)

If you read my review on Batman & Robin, then you'd probably never employ me, as I'm thinking and doing much of the same.

Self containment applies here. Nice breath of fresh air. Nuff about that...

I'd like to begin with a statement... "The center still holds." I say that because this story, hell this ISSUE... has been in the

making for about 20 years. I say that because I grew up with Wally, but only getting the myth and legend of Barry. Since his

return, I've been waiting for the lense to widen here and to see really what puts Barry at the center, and why his return is...

well why he's even here! Well Geoff Johns pulls the picture back and now we get a better sense of the big picture, but more so, he

lets us know that it shouldn't matter BECAUSE it's Barry.

Geoff really mines the classic tropes of the Flash universe. By doing so, and molding something simple, he forms the mechanics of

the Flash mythos to let us know Barry has, and always is the center. And the center must hold. More so, this book is VERY DC.

Geoff's portrayal of the Speed Force and the mechanics reminds us of his love for the DCU, and its classic tropes of physical

mechanations that make up its universe, and trickle it down to make it relevant to its characters. That being said, he utilizes

these aspects and puts his pieces on the chess board.

With Barry at the center (and similarly with Hal in the GL books), he's used in a variety of ways. Geoff briefly lets us know that he's a good mirror to hold up to showcase the DCU. Simple stories of his banter with Batman comparing opponents lets us know the gravity of Thawne as an opponent. Thawne is a scary bastard, and you really are reminded of why Barry went to the lengths he did to put Thawne away so many years back. You almost get the feeling that others are prepared to do the same. That's the Flash family for ya'... it's family first... and Geoff reminds you that its an unwritten Flash Fact.

This is just great if you haven't a good grasp of Flash history. He reminds us of the minutia speedsters that are affected by his return, and being the center of it all, he holds it together to showcase a... Speed Force (a strike force of speedsters)... to just marvel at.

Sciver's art is just sick. I'm told this book is late, but I'm a bit at an advantage, as I just recently picked up the previous issues and am just now catching up, but that being said, late or not, this art is just beautiful. Sciver really knows how to distort layouts to bring a sense of no up or down. He had shades of this in GL, but his stuff in the negative speed force is just a beauty to look at. The layout pacing, coupled with the narration, really gives a sense that while the story so far as just trotted through, we're now moving a bit faster, and with more torque than tension. I would've liked to see more expressiveness in the faces (something Sciver is really good at). I was disappointed to have missed the horror in the faces as Linda West realizes her daughter is in the clutches of Thawne, but he makes up for it with just a beautiful depiction of Jay and Bart racing to the scene, with all the gravity and sense of what a Professor Zoom means when it's him that is threatening your family.

With the big picture only getting bigger, that lense is still focused on the center... and its Barry. I think it'll still hold.