A must-have
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This wonderful graphic novel is a reprint, in book form, of the FLASH #74-79 (1993). In this story, Wally West gets the surprise of his life when his uncle, Barry Allen, the previous Flash suddenly walks through his door. Barry was transformed into pure energy saving the universe, but he recently reformed back into the flesh. It's almost too good to be true. And now, Barry seems to be getting jealous of the Flash name. Something strange is going on. Can Flash save the day? Yes, but which Flash? This is a great graphic novel, one that shows off the Flash to great effect. And, not only do we have Wally West (Flash III) and Barry Allen (Flash II), but the super-speedsters Jay Garrick (Flash I), Johnny Quick and Max Mercury! Obviously something goes wrong (no spoilers here!), and it's a super-speedster rumble. This book has it all, a well thought-out storyline and excellent graphics. So, if you like the Flash, or just like a good superhero story, then you must get this book - you won't regret it!
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a little predictable
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I really enjoyed Flash: Terminal Velocity and Dead Heat (issues 95-100 and 108-?) so I decided to buy this trade paperback collecting isues 74-79. It colects the story of how someone claiming to be Barry Allen returns to his home town, surprising the Wally West.
Barry was an icon of his era, a great hero as the second hero named Flash. He supposedly died during the Crisis on Infinite earths. His death devastated his protege Kid Flash, who had to grow up and become the new Flash. It took Wally a long time to overcome his own insecurities, although the return of his overshadowing mentor throughs him back to square one.
I quite liked the analysis of Wally's pride in his mentor and concurrent fear of never matching up to the SIlver Age hero. We also get to see other superfast characters like Max Mercury and Johnny Quick and the original Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick .I like that about this series, how they bring in lots of supporting characters who have something to contribute.
The ending is a little cliched and trite. This is no where near as good as the other flash stories but it is a good companion to them and helps set the story up. If you are a casual reader then avoid this; if you are a newcomer to Flash and would like tostart somewhere, then try this, (or the Life Story of Flash, which is a bit of a dull biography but helps fill in the gaps).
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the be-all and end-all of FLASH storytelling by DC's finest.
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After reading the (current) FLASH series as my first regularly bought title (since around issue 40) and finding the characters, stories and art the most interesting of all my comics buys, The Return of Barry Allen proved to be the most breathtaking, emotion-building story I have ever read. Period. I had wondered since Mark Waid took over the writing of Flash from Bill Messner-Loebs, could this man, a relatively unproven comics writer, ever be able to fill his predecessors shoes in turning a superhero book into a spectacular drama, a superheroic. soap opera extravaganza rivalled only by the Superman titles themselves (although I'd choose this book over the S-man any day). Well, guess I was wrong. Mark Waid turned Flash from what was, in my mind, one of the most inspirational DC characters into THE BEST LONG RUNNING COMIC BOOK OF ALL TIME. Sounds a bit over the top? Naah. Pick up a Mark Waid book NOW, and you'll be prepared to burn any literature you have read previously.
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Awesome!
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If you ever wanted to know why the Reverse Flash hated Barry Allen and never read Flash(current series) #74-79 read this book! It also shows how Wally learns to let go of Barry's death, and how he gets his speed back. READ it! Mark Waid again writes another great Flash story.
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