The Flash (DC Rebirth)

The Flash (DC Rebirth) is an American superhero comic book written by Joshua Williamson and published twice-monthly by DC Comics. The title follows the adventure of Barry Allen as the superhero Flash in Central City. The title is part of DC's Rebirth relaunch, following the end of The New 52 initiative established following the Flashpoint storyline in 2011, and started publication in August 2016.

Not to be confused with The Flash (comic book).
The Flash
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
ScheduleBimonthly
FormatOngoing series
GenreSuperhero
Publication dateAugust 2016 – present
No. of issues47, Rebirth one-shot and 1 Annual (as of May 2018)
Creative team
Created byRobert Kanigher
Carmine Infantino
Written byJoshua Williamson

Story arcs

Lightning Strikes Twice (2016)

While investigating a crime scene, Barry Allen has visions of Wally West, Eobard Thawne and an individual in white clothes. While running through Central City, Barry encounters Wally, who had been absorbed into the Speed Force and attempts to warn Barry about the involvement of someone in the timeline. Just as Wally is about to be absorbed forever into the Speed Force, Barry remembers him and pulls him out. Reuniting, Wally also warns Barry that they "are being watched". After discussing what to do next, Barry goes to visit Batman to talk about the button they found.

While at a crime scene, Barry reunites with his old friend August Heart, who was present on the day he was struck by lightning and gained his powers. Soon, citizens all over Central City gain the powers of The Speed Force seemingly at random.

Speed of Darkness (2016–2017)

As Barry neglects to train the new Kid Flash (Who coincidentally is also named Wally West), he decides to take matters into his own hands and battle Shade (comics).

Rogues Reloaded (2017)

After the supervillain team The Rogues has mysteriously disappeared, Flash goes looking for them. The Rogues enact deadly traps to kill Flash once and for all.

The Button (2017)
Main article: The Button (comics)

Running Scared (2017)

Eobard Thawne (aka the Reverse Flash) returns once again to ruin Barry's life and threatens to strike down everyone close to him.

Negative (2017)

Barry's new powers aren’t working properly as he faces a new villain, Bloodwork, who has secret ties to Barry Allen.

Cold Day in Hell (2017–2018)

Perfect Storm (2018)

Flash War (2018)

Reckoning of the Forces (2018–2019)

Force Quest (2019)

The Greatest Trick of All (2019)

Year One (2019)

Death and The Speed Force (2019)

Production

Background

In 2011, DC Comics published the Flashpoint story arc in which Barry Allen travelled back in time in order to prevent his mother's murder. While doing so, he ended up altering the universe, creating one in which Wonder Woman and Aquaman are at war with one another and have decimated Western Europe, among other changes. Following its conclusion, the series radically changed the status quo of the DC Universe, leading to The New 52. DC cancelled all of their titles and debuted 52 new series in September 2011 with new first issues.[1] One of the new 52 series starting in September was the fourth volume of The Flash, starring Barry Allen.[2]

In February 2015, it was announced that following the Convergence storyline in May, DC would be ending its New 52 branding, though the continuity established post-Flashpoint would continue.[3] In February 2016, DC announced another line-wide relaunch of their titles called DC Rebirth. Rebirth was an attempt to restore the DC Universe to a form similar to the one before Flashpoint, while still incorporating elements of The New 52, including its continuity.[4] Due to the relaunch, the New 52 Flash volume ended with #52 in May 2016.[5]

Development and writing

As part of the DC Rebirth imprint relaunch, The Flash was first announced in March 2016, with Joshua Willaimson writing the title.[6] A The Flash: Rebirth one-shot was published in June, with the series starting the same month.[7]

Williamson revealed during a Rebirth livestream that he first approached Dan DiDio about wanting to write The Flash in Summer 2015,[8] telling DiDio that writing The Flash is "really important to [him, and] that there's a story that [he] really [has] to tell".[8] He also revealed that during the first story arc, a Speed Force storm would hit Central City. The storm would strike numerous people and give them super speed, with Barry having to train them.[8] Among the characters to receive powers, Williamson also revealed a new speedster named Godspeed who would act as the main antagonist during the first story arc.[9] To differentiate Godspeed from previous evil speedsters like Eobard Thawne, Williamson made the character more sympathetic and calculating.[10] An element of Barry's character that Williamson wanted to highlight in the title, was his passion for "doing the right thing". During the first arc, the evolution of Wallace West into Kid Flash is also explored.[11]

According to Williamson, neither DiDio nor Geoff Johns mandated any of the Rebirth titles to resemble their film or TV adaptations. During early meeting, Williamson suggest the inclusion of character similar to Harrison Wells from the TV series to be in the comic; the idea was shut down due to not wanting to make the comic similar to the show.[10]

Williamson stated that the Rogues are some of his favorite Flash villains and planned to use them following the conclusion of the first story arc.[10]

[12][13][14]

Publication history

Reception

Critical response

Commercial performance

Collected editions
#TitleMaterial collectedPagesPublication DateISBN
Paperback
1 Lightning Strikes Twice The Flash: Rebirth #1, The Flash vol.5 #1–8 216 January 24, 2017 978-1401267841
2 Speed of Darkness The Flash vol. 5 #9–13 128 May 23, 2017 978-1401268930
3 Rogues Reloaded The Flash vol. 5 #14–20 168 August 1, 2017 978-1401271572
4 Running Scared The Flash vol. 5 #23–27 136 November 21, 2017 978-1401274627
5 Negative The Flash vol. 5 #28–32 128 March 27, 2018 978-1401277277
6 Cold Day in Hell The Flash vol. 5 #34–38, Annual #1 128 June 19, 2018 978-1401280789
7 Perfect Storm The Flash vol. 5 #39–45 184 October 2, 2018 978-1401284527
8 Flash War The Flash vol. 5 #46–51, a story from Annual #1 160 December 18, 2018 978-1401283506
9 Reckoning of the Forces The Flash vol. 5 #52–56 160 April 2, 2019 978-1401288556
10 Force Quest The Flash vol. 5 #58–63 144 September 24, 2019 978-1401291419
11 The Greatest Trick of All The Flash vol. 5 #66-69, Annual #2 144 February 11, 2020 978-1779500328
Year One The Flash vol. 5 #70-75 168 November 19, 2019 978-1401299347
12 Death and the Speed Force The Flash vol. 5 #76-81 144 June 9, 2020 978-1779503992
13 Rogues Reign The Flash vol. 5 #82-87 152 November 17, 2020 978-1779505774
Deluxe Hardcovers
Batman/The Flash: The Button The Flash vol. 5 #21–22, Batman vol. 3 #21–22 104 October 17, 2017 978-1401276447
Heroes In Crisis: The Price and Other Stories The Flash vol. 5 #64-65, Annual #2, Batman vol. 3 #64-65, Green Arrow vol. 6 #45, 48-50 248 October 9, 2019 978-1401299644
The Rebirth Deluxe Edition Book 1 The Flash: Rebirth #1, #1–13 336 August 1, 2017 978-1401271589
The Rebirth Deluxe Edition Book 2 The Flash vol. 5 #14–27 244 May 1, 2018 978-1401278427
The Rebirth Deluxe Edition Book 3 The Flash vol. 5 #28–38, Annual #1, DC Universe Holiday Special #1 264 October 2, 2018 978-1401281403
The Rebirth Deluxe Edition Book 4 The Flash vol. 5 #28–38 352 Canceled 978-1401289393

References
  1. Hyde, David (August 17, 2011). "Super Hero Fans Expected to Line-Up Early as DC Entertainment Launches New Era of Comic Books". DC Comics. Archived from the original on June 21, 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  2. "DC's Full September 2011 Solicitations [DCnU]". Newsarama. Purch. June 11, 2011. Archived from the original on May 9, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  3. Yehl, Joshua (February 6, 2015). "DC Comics Is Ending The New 52". IGN. j2 Global. Archived from the original on May 9, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  4. Ching, Albert (February 18, 2016). "Geoff Johns Details "Rebirth" Plan, Seeks to Restore Legacy to DC Universe". Comic Book Resources. Valnet Inc. Archived from the original on May 9, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  5. "DC Comics May 2016 Solicitations". Newsarama. Purch. February 16, 2016. Archived from the original on May 9, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  6. Marston, George (March 26, 2016). "DC Comics Rebirth Recap – Creative Teams, Schedule & a Few New Details". Newsarama. Purch. Archived from the original on May 9, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  7. Schedeen, Jesse (February 18, 2016). "DC's Rebirth Will See Comics Line Restart at #1". IGN. j2 Global. Archived from the original on May 9, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  8. DCAA Live: DC Universe Rebirth. DC Comics. March 26, 2016. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  9. Phillips, Jevon (March 27, 2016). "DC bets big on Rebirth: A re-centering of characters, and the Joker's real name". Los Angeles Times. Tronc. Archived from the original on May 9, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  10. Marston, George (April 5, 2016). "Rebirth's Flash To Mentor Next Generation of Speedsters After 'Speed Force Storm'". Newsarama. Purch. Archived from the original on May 9, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  11. Rogers, Vaneta (May 12, 2018). "Flash Rebirth To Turn Wally West Into Kid Flash". Newsarama. Purch. Archived from the original on May 9, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  12. Burlingame, Russ (July 22, 2016). "SDCC 2016: Joshua Williamson On Incorporating Watchmen, and The Many Speedsters of The Flash". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on May 9, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  13. Rogers, Vaneta (September 8, 2016). "Flash Writers Races Toward New Rebirth Role for Wally West". Newsarama. Purch. Archived from the original on May 9, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  14. Bell, Crystal (October 10, 2016). "How Flash Writer Joshua Williamson Learned To Love Barry Allen". MTV. Viacom. Archived from the original on May 9, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
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