Flash Rebirth #5 review

Review by Eric Ridgeway

Mother, May I

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Ethan Van Sciver
Letters: Rob Leigh
Colors: Brian Miller of Hi-Fi
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Published by DC Comics

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a so many heroes undergo a costume change in such unique fashion. Yet in Flash Rebirth #5 we get new costumes for Wally West, his daughter Irey and Jessie Quick in a huge two page splash. Although I could not figure out which one of the girls was mentioned in the preview when they referred to “a new speedster in old boots.” Were they referring to Irey as Impulse since Jessie quickly falls out of the lime light? There is also a lot of information and changes that happen quickly in this issue that can be fairly confusing; especially if you are a fairly new Flash reader like me.



Except for a couple pages in the West home, this issue completely focuses on the battle between the Flash family and Professor Zoom. During their fight Zoom reveals that he has been the cause for almost every little mishap in Barry’s youth no matter how petty. He is responsible for everything from Barry falling down some stairs and breaking his arm to the death of his dog. Time travel in the wrong hands proves to be disastrous. Before turning the page to the reveal of Zoom biggest crime I found myself screaming in my mind, “Get him Barry!” However Zoom’s masterstroke against Barry is yet to come and also serves as the cliff hanger to the issue!

I found Geoff Johns’ writing to be pretty good except for the explanation for Iris West’s youth. It seems like simple answer for a question that has been bothering Flash fans since the premiere issue of the series. Did we really have to wait five issues for that simple answer? Ethan Van Sciver’s art was middle of the road, not his best work but also not his worst. Except for the big splash page revealing some of the new costumes everything else was pretty average. Nothing else in this issue had me screaming “yes” but one thing really bugged me. The white eyes Wally has from his mask. Call it a pet peeve but I just don’t think it works. I really enjoyed the writing (to a degree) and the art was good enough to enjoy. This issue was not worth the delay and overall it was step back from the previous issue but it is still good.

Overall rating 8 out of 10 (On Its Way to Greatness)