I.M.O. Review: The Flash: Rebirth #3 (DC Comics) By Eddie R.

Sideswiped.

I like it when a story can throw me off now and then. I mean, after all the reading I do for my reviews, eventually things become blurred. Everything starts sounding and looking the same. You start seeing patterns. And just when you think you got everything figured out, out of left field (or possibly a corn field), comes something totally unexpected. This is what makes a good story great, and this one is only half way done.

The Flash: Rebirth#3 gives us a bit of foreshadowing of what’s to come within the first 5 panels of the issue, during which a fight takes place between an unknown assailant and Abra Kadabra. I like how the use of both words and visual aids allows the reader to read between the lines. There’s a reason why the Flash puppet gets burned. Question is by who and why?




As we read further into the issue, we see the heroes of the DCU working together to remove the black aura from Barry. The device they are building is like a lightning rod, which is suppose to extract the black aura from Barry’s body, but at the same time leave him essentially grounded and powerless. What happens next will be shocking to some, and feel like déjà vu to others. One of the major revelations I will tell you about is we finally get to see inside of the Speed Force. Well it’s not as much as what the interior of the Speed Force is like, but WHO is in there...

Now, I know the major talk about this issue will be the revealing of the mastermind behind all of this chaos. I am not going to go and ruin the surprise for anyone, but I will say the last time we saw this villain was in the "Return of Barry Allen" Storyline in The Flash (Vol.2) #74-79. Before that, he tried to replace Barry as the Flash, using his knowledge of past history in order to ruin Barry’s life. Now I know some of you out there will feel that this is a cop out, but don’t. As anyone who has read the Flash over the years knows, time travel is a tricky business, so all of this is plausible.

Now after reading this issue, my only question is this: Just whose charred remains are those in that field?

8.5/10

Eddie R
Review Co-Editor