Marc Andreyko Brings Manhunter to the Streets of Gotham

If you thought you’d seen the last of “Closing Arguments,” Kate Spencer or Marc Andreyko around here, you apparently haven’t been paying attention for the last few years. We read the book, DC cancels it, we bitch, and it comes back a little while later. That’s the arrangement that we Manhunter fans have been getting more and more used to! And while issues #37-38 featured a story set in the future that writer Andreyko envisioned as Kate Spencer’s “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” equivalent, answering a number of questions about the characters’ long-term future, that isn’t to say that the status quo can’t be shaken up quite a bit: transplanted from the West Coast to Gotham City, Kate Spencer is the new Gotham City district attorney, following the murder of the previous one (that does tend to happen in Gotham, doesn’t it?) by, apparently, another previous one (Two-Face). And that, of course, is where it starts to get interesting. Here, we’ll talk to Andreyko about what’s coming next, both in terms of what we’ll be touching down on from the book’s past and the new stuff we’ll be looking forward to.

 

Will we be dealing with the abortion story?

That’s going to be left dangling. I don’t know if you read the new issue of Final Crisis: Escape, but Cameron Chase is a character in int and I spoke with Ivan Brandon before that and said, “Hey, don’t worry about her being pregnant. That’s going to be addressed at a later date, you don’t even have to mention it. So hopefully someday either Manhunter will get her own book back or maybe if I generate enough goodwill, I’d love to do an original graphic novel of it because that allows a level of freedom—if you look at Brian Azzarello’s Joker graphic novel, that has a little more freedom of content than a regular monthly comic would.

 

Given that Kate and friends are now returning to regular publication, do some of the more dramatic changes in the Some Years Later story take on a different bent? Are they more or less likely to happen, and do you still think of that story as canonical?

I absolutely think of it as canon for Manhunter and yes, things that we saw in those issues in the future will be happening in the course of Manhunter in this book.

 

One of the best aspects of Kate has always been her supporting cast—but with a “friend” killed leading up to her first Streets of Gotham issue, and substantially fewer pages in which to tell stories, will we be seeing less of them?

We’ll definitely see them—we’ll see them a lot, actually, as much as I can get them in there and as much as the story allows. The thing that’s great about the nine-page thing and daunting about the nine-page thing is trying to get enough story in there and have a beat that has a beginning, a middle and an end but is still propelling things forward. And I’ve already been playing a little bit with the format—one of the chapters is a nine-page that’s basically one scene. But, you know—sometimes it’ll be nine, one-pagers. It just depends. As far as the supporting cast—some of them aren’t available right now, which is a good thing; they’re being utilized elsewhere. But they’ll be there, absolutely. A lot of this stuff is addressed; Kate addresses that she’s not in Gotham permanently; she’s doing this to help out Gotham City in a short-term sort of position. This being comic books, not being permanent can be twenty years from now that she leaves Gotham City—when I’m no longer in the business and someone else turns her into a cyborg. But yeah, there’s definitely in my mind a plan and I’ve got to say, at the risk of sounding like a company guy, that my hat’s really off to DC for doing this because I think it’s a smart choice. You know, people always complain that new characters don’t sell and then people complain that there aren’t enough new characters. DC’s doing a real smart thing, I think, in long-term investment in their intellectual properties in the sense of taking characters who are newer, who may have a little cache, and putting them in a place where they’ll be seen more for less of a risk. I’m telling you right now that unless I’m completely mistaken, the first issue of Batman: Streets of Gotham will outsell the best-selling issue of Manhunter thus far probably by five times. So, more people are going to get to see Kate in the first issue of Streets of Gotham than have ever seen her before. And it’s in a Paul Dini-written Batman book main feature, so what have you got to lose there? I couldn’t be happier! And I think it’s a real testament to DC, and a real vote of confidence in the character, that they said, “Hey, you want to make her the DA of Gotham City?” Okay, yeah, I’ll include her in your number one character. Sure, twist my arm!

 

What’s Ramsey’s status quo going to be here, given that Kate is moving all the way across the country from his father?

Again, my answer for publication is a lot of these questions are the questions I had with “What’s going to happen here, what’s going to happen here?” and I answer as many of the big ones as fast as I can in this first chapter. Ramsey’s going to continue to be a character, but for the time being it’s going to be all about Kate kind of growing into her paws in Gotham. It’s a good thing Bruce isn’t there, because he didn’t like her very much. [laughs]

 

Bruce doesn’t like Cameron very much either, so this whole book is kind of chock full of people he could do without.

No, and what’s great too is that Kate has a playground of great characters to deal with. I mean, Oracle’s there, Huntress is there, Batman is there, Robin is there, Red Robin will be there, I’m assuming. And the great villains, you know? Everybody was let out of Arkham—okay, cool! For me as a writer, getting to be a part of the Batman universe on the heels of a huge Bat-event is really, really exciting.

 

This event, despite being very Batman-centric, has obviously been made a little more universe-wide than usual. I mean, hes’ been in Blackest Night, he’s in Booster Gold next month, or rather whoever’s wearing the Bat-suit is in Booster Gold next month.

The thing that I think is cool about it is that I think everybody knows that someday, Bruce Wayne is going to come back in some way, shape or form. That’s just going to happen. I have no insider information, but if that doesn’t happen in the next ten years, I’ll be shocked. What’s great about that is it’s freeing. Because we know that Bruce will eventually come back some day in some way, there’s actually a lessening of the pressure for me from a reading standpoint of, I can just enjoy these stories as they come out. I don’t know if that makes any sense, but I can just enjoy with them and go with the flow with them and I’m having a really good time with reading these as well. I think it’s been a real reinvigoration of the books—something that could have failed miserably has worked really well I think.

 

What was the reasoning for bringing her to Gotham?

I can’t tell you. A lot of the stuff will be revealed in the first chapter. And it’s pretty clear what’s going on—I really, really think the first chapter in Streets of Gotham is really accessible. And Georges Jeanty and Karl Story—Whoo! Amazing work, some of the nicest stuff I’ve ever seen Georges do. And Karl’s a phenomenal inker.

 

Did you have any input in deciding who the artist was going to be on the new series? You’ve been blessed with a string of great collaborators—even the last issue of the monthly, all those guys were strong enough that it didn’t bother me so much that the style was jumping around.

We’ve been really lucky and there were people presented and names bandied about. People I suggested and people they suggested and names you just throw out there, you know? “Hey, how about Walt Simonson or Jose Garcia Luis-Lopez, you know? You throw those names in there hoping you’ll catch them on the right day. But Georges’ name was tossed out and I was intrigued by it. It’s a real departure from what Manhunter looked like the last time, but it’s really great. His storytelling in this first section, and his use of transition between scenes is really, really, really just smart and subtle and doesn’t call a lot of attention to itself and yeah, I’m just thrilled. And like I said, Karl’s inks on him are just gorgeous so I’m really excited. Karl Story is one of the best inkers in comics and I don’t know why he doesn’t get the accolades he deserves because when Karl inks someone—and I don’t know Karl at all, I’ve never spoken to him, I wouldn’t know Karl if I backed into him with my car—but his inking? He never overpowers the artists so much that you’re like, “Oh, Karl Story inked this,” but he’s got a definite personality in everyone he inks. His inks are really great, and I’ve been a fan of his for a long time, and getting to peripherally work with him has been really nice because Georges’ pencils were amazing and Karl’s inks just brought so much to the table as well. I hope to work with him again.

 

After the last relaunch, we talked about an editorial mandate to build on the book’s existing kind of social conscience; will some of that be lost to the shorter format and the fact that you’re now in Gotham?

You know, it is the “Bat-Universe,” not the “Kate Universe,” so we’ll definitely be dealing with things in Gotham. But there are ways to weave in relevant metaphorical situations as opposed to kind of spelling out the obvious situation. And you know, if this book were still taking place in a real city I would like it to bemore about that, but because it’s in Gotham and it’s such a rich playground, there’s a lot to do there and it won’t be quite as “Law & Order: Torn From the Headlines” as the monthly book was going to be, but there will still definitely be a social awareness in it; that’s not all going to disappear at all. And like I’ve said, my voice creeps in there in some of the characters, my uber-liberal opinions, so there’ll always be some of that stuff in there.

 

 

I know how much you thought Joan Hilty was an asset to the book; will you still be working with her now that you’re a Bat-book?

Joan is not. Joan is now a Vertigo editor; they’re doing a bunch of cool special projects there; they’re doing an initiative of expanding their original graphic novel material. I guess like The Alcoholic, and stuff like that, which is great—if you haven’t read it, pick it up, check it out, it’s fantastic. But we do have a woman editor, which was a very big thing for me. Janelle Siegel (and no, she’s not related to those Siegels, I asked her, too). But she’s a great editor and she’s really excited and enthusiastic and answers my questions quickly, and with correct information! I love her; I’m going to miss Joan greatly and I’ve always said if we ever got a “created by” credit, it should be “created by Marc Andreyko, Jesus Saiz and Joan Hilty,” but I’m really excited to be working with Janelle because I think she’s going to be a big deal in the future. I kind of wish that I had some sort of awful dish to say about the people who I’ve worked with on the book, but other than the fact that it’s been canceled like twelve times, everything else is wonderful!

 

What do you think about the prospects for Kate to become a character with some mainstream awareness?

It takes time, it takes time. I mean, who would have thought there’d be a Deadpool movie in development? It takes time for these new characters to build up and that sort of thing, you know? And I’m still deeply humbled and moderately confused as to why the character has resonated with so many people, so deeply and so quickly. I take that responsibility very seriously—it’s actually more intimidating when you know that there’s a core group of people who really love the character because now I’m not just writing for me, I’m writing for you guys. And even with all the cancellation stuff, we’ve been incredibly lucky with this character. A new, female character based on a superhero name that’s been done seven or eight times before? You know, we got 38 issues and we’re now in the Batman universe. Ultimately, that’s pretty fucking cool.

 

For how long are you—at least ostensibly—going to be around? Have you got more than one arc already written?

We’re the regular monthly backup co-feature actually is what they’re called now. It’s open-ended unless people absolutely hate it and write in and say “Get rid of it,” or people write in and say, “It’s brilliant, it’s brilliant, it’s brilliant, give it its own book back.” I’m hoping that at least five percent of the people who are introduced to Kate form this new book like her, because if you add them into the regular, other people, we’d have a decent circulation! And look at it this way: If I pick up a comic book and it has a backup feature, and I’m paying $4 for it, I’m going to read the backup feature and see if I like it. And if I do like it, that’s awesome. I got another book I like, I’m getting basically a book and a half for an extra dollar. That’s great. And if I don’t like it, you know—unless I absolutely hate it I’m not going to drop the book, I don’ think. So I think this whole co-feature thing is really, really smart. The potentials for winning so far overwhelmingly outweigh any sort of risks, I love it. But there’s also the intimidation factor because at this point it’s mine to fuck up, you know? How many times—I’m beginning to feel like Michelle Pfeifer at the end of Batman Returns; I’m like, “I think I’m running out of lives now, Max.” [laughs]

 

In terms of fallout from the Mexico story—at the end of that, we saw that Vesetech had deep ties to a number of individuals and corporations in the DC Universe. Also, we saw that Kate’s interference with the Suicide Squad brought the hammer down on her relationship with the DEO. Are either of those going to be threads that we get to pick up and run with in the near future?

That’s stuff for down the road. The first arc will basically be Kate adjusting to life in this new town. It’s going to be a lot of Kate settling into the city and initially trying to figure out who the hell ordered the hit on the DA. No one knows who the killer was, and the killer, “Jane Doe,” lied when she said “This is from Two-Face,” as we know from Battle for the Cowl. So there’s lots of misdirection going on. As Kate tries to find the actual assassin, she’s going to then go after who she thinks ordered it, and his name is Two-Face and he was the DA of Gotham as well, so I can’t wait to get to write that. That’s going to be so much fun! And one more thing, remember: going back to the supporting cast issue…Dylan went to Gotham. That’s all I’m saying.

The Brave and the Gold

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Newsarama is reporting that Magog, the character who co-starred with Booster Gold in The Brave and the Bold #23, will be featured in his own ongoing series starting in September from all-star creators Keith Giffen and Howard Porter.]

Tonally, the Brave & the Bold issue this week was actually much more in keeping with what we’ve come to expect from Booster Gold than…well, than Booster Gold was this month. With Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund drawing the frst-ever encounter of Booster Gold and Magog, the issue almost would have felt like business as usual…if it weren’t taking place in another title.

After a trip through time, Rip reappears in the lab (where, by the way, there’s a chalkboard covered mostly in Kingdom Come references), enmeshed in a

 skirmish with an unknown assailant from the future. Though Booster and Skeets manage to repel the intruder’s entry into the time lab, the result is that Booster becomes engaged in trying to prevent the catastrophic future depicted in the DC Elseworlds book Kingdom Come and its sequels, The Kingdom and Thy Kingdom Come.

Why, a lot of readers have asked, is this story taking place in The Brave & the Bold, rather than in Booster Gold? Here’s one possible answer: It’s incredibly good. The Booster Gold monthly has been one of, or the, best book that DC publishes since its launch two years ago, but Jurgens and Rapmund really went above and beyond with this chapter. Hopping from 52 to “52 Pick-Up” (available this week in paperback), to “Blue & Gold,” to the long and winding road that was “Reality Lost,” Booster has been in event mode (or at least mini-event mode) since Ted Kord died. And while we’re about to embark on another major arc, this month’s two standalone stories were a welcome break. Giffen and Olliffe’s one-off in last week’s Booster Gold #20 was good-but-not-great, but frankly the offering in The Brave & the Bold is arguably the best standalone Booster story in years. The notion of putting this story—with what most readers will know to be Booster’s regular monthly creative team—in front of a new audience is virtually guaranteed to draw a few of those eyes to the Booster Gold monthly—something that may be sorely needed if some fans break away as a result of next month’s cover price hike (granted, there’s a Blue Beetle co-feature being added to make it worth our while…but fans can be fickle).

The timing of this issue is interesting—Booster fights the future in this comic, while Cartoon Network’s Batman: The Brave & the Bold featured Booster’s second-ever TV appearance (and his first in over five years) as he teamed with Batman to combat a menace from the past in the person of Conqueror Caveman. The obvious “Batman & Booster: The Brave and the Gold” reference was made by Booster himself in the episode of the TV show, which really featured an ‘80s-style, smarmy, commercial Booster shilling for a toy licensing deal and having Skeets follow him around, trumpeting his achievements like he did in 52.

So what did Dan Jurgens—creator of the character—have to say about Booster’s brave, bold month? Blog@Newsarama sat down with him to find out.

Blog@Newsarama: First of all—do you know, relative to Booster Gold, how much The Brave and the Bold is selling in a given month? Is there a clear upside to putting such a strong Booster story in somebody else’s title, in terms of the potential to pick up some new eyes?
Dan Jurgens: I pay surprisingly little attention to that. When I sit down to do a story I don't concern myself with the question of whether a book is selling 5,000, 50,000 or 500,000. I simply try to conjure up an entertaining 22 pages.
A word on how this story came to be:  Joey Cavalieri gave me a call and asked about a Booster/Magog story. We talked about me writing it, me drawing it, me working with someone

 else who'd write it... it was pretty elusive. Pete Tomasi had just written a Magog story and we thought he might like to do this.
As things came together I ended up doing both story and art. At the time, we didn't even have a firm release date on the issue. We hoped it would be far enough down the line that it wouldn't interfere with Booster Gold. We hoped to complement whatever I was doing there.
The reality of comics publishing sometimes intrudes, however, and The Brave & the Bold got pushed up ahead of what I anticipated, necessitating the need for a helping hand on Booster Gold.
BLOG@: Also before we get too far into the issue—did you see the Booster Gold appearance on Batman: The Brave & the Bold on Friday? And if so, what’d you think?
DJ: I thought it was generally a lot of fun. It's always fun to see one's creation brought to the next level. It was also cool to get the credit at the end of the show. It carries a certain cache of validity.
BLOG@: I thought they did a pretty respectable job of showing Booster’s “shady” origin story without making too much of a thing of it, but other than that, Booster’s role wasn’t too specific to him.
DJ: They did a fine job at indicating Booster's origin without digging into it in depth. If, as a

 reader, you're aware of it, great. The story works on another level. If not, if this was your first exposure to Booster, you didn't really miss anything in the story. That can be tough to pull off and I always salute people who are able to do so. 
BLOG@: Do you think that a show like that—where mainstream, non-comics people are seeing guys like Kamandi and Booster Gold all the time—is a boon to DC in general?
DJ: I don't know if boon is quite the right word, but it sure adds something. I think it helps create the impression that DC is about more than just Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. People seem to better recognize Marvel's wide array of characters and this helps DC in that same way. 
BLOG@: Alright, back to the comic—I think the obvious first question is whether you’ve already got a follow-up for this story planned in the next year or so of Booster Gold. Anything with Magog on the docket?
DJ: We have a couple of general ideas that can be used in the event the opportunity presents itself. Some of that depends on DC's other plans for Magog. 
BLOG@: Is this something that you discussed with Geoff, either before he left or once you got this assignment? Between the Kingdom Come references and the random dismemberment, it seems like his kind of story!
DJ: Geoff and I didn't discuss this at all. It was a bit of a natural in terms of who Booster is, what his access to the future is, Rip's presence and what we think Magog is destined to become. Beyond that, I think Geoff and have similar sensibilities as writers.  BLOG@: The message boards over at Newsarama were already buzzing when they saw your preview pages—Proty and Ivo? Will the Legion of Super-Pets be somehow involved with the much-ballyhooed story of Brainiac 5 coming after Booster’s ring?
DJ: Could be! There is a definite plan for the Legion story, what we will deal with, etc. We're simply waiting for the right time to plug it in.  
BLOG@: What “aspect of time travel” has Rip decided Booster isn’t ready for yet? Changing a “fairly set” future? How do you see the future in terms of the “fixed time, flexible time” perspective introduced in the first year or so of the book?
DJ: There are a couple of points to address in that question.
The general theory Rip is dealing with is that the future is somewhat flexible. The past is fixed. That's all based on today being the present.
At the same time, as Booster's son, he obviously knows that Booster has a specific personal future. In some ways, Rip has to ensure Booster lives that future out. He also feels Booster isn't ready to learn the specifics of that future-- that he has to live it and experience it-- not just "look in" on it from the time stream. 
That would include the question of what happens to DC's heroes. 
BLOG@: Rip’s PUNCHING Magog? That dude is a heavy hitter! Is Rip a little more badass than we give him credit for?
DJ: It's fair to say there is a lot about Rip we don't know, though in the case I'd say they were grappling more than fighting. 
BLOG@: Hah! “Buster Gold.” It’s been a while since we heard that one. I love the fact that Keith did a pretty straightforward Booster story this month, and you’re pulling “Buster” out of the mothballs.
DJ: That came from comments I got wayyy back when I first created Booster. Before the book came out people would ask questions like, "Who's Buster Gold?" It was a natural to work into the title.  
BLOG@: Do you feel like making sure to get a little humor into his The Brave and the Bold appearance is important in terms of giving potential new readers a sense of how the monthly comic “feels?”
DJ: Yeah. We don't hide who we are. It's part of the Booster Gold Experience! 
BLOG@: Do you see the Magog moral quandary (“extreme” characters versus more “morally superior” ones like Superman) as being fairly black and white? You wrote Superman for a very long time, and I don’t remember him killing very much of anybody during your tenure, with exceptions being notable and causing him distress.
DJ: Yeah. There aren't many shades of gray there. 
It would be easy to build some in, I suppose. I liken it to being a police officer, though. Either you carry a gun and use it responsibly, following the dictates of the law, or you don't. 
I see Magog as being somewhat on the fence, who can go either way. I also see it being pretty clear in terms of which way he's going to go.  
BLOG@: Your Magog looks a lot more like Alex Ross’ than Dale Eaglesham’s does. Is that just reflective of the fact that he’s moving more into the “bad guy” territory that he inhabited during Kingdom Come?
DJ: I have a general theory in doing comics which says it's best to go back to the original source material when possible. Alex's Magog was visually compelling and I decided to play on that. And, yes, it helps convey the aura of a particular future.  
BLOG@: Did DC editorial give you direction on how to write Magog—or did Geoff—or were you basing the interplay of the characters mostly on his previous appearances?
DJ: Everything I did was pulled entirely from his previous appearances, up to and including stuff not-yet-printed that Geoff was doing. 
BLOG@: He says something about “you people” not being able to make the “hard decisions.” Are we implying there that he willfully ignored the grenadiers to pursue what he considered the greater threat? If so, it seems like at least that one soldier we saw getting evaporated is on Magog’s head!
DJ: Absolutely. 
BLOG@: If you want to read between the lines and interpret his past as an American soldier who might have considered the local forces as not being his equal, you are free to do so. His clear attitude that Booster is a lightweight should add to that. 
BLOG@: Are you a little worried about bumping up against stereotypes regarding how soldiers talk and act? It’s been a long time since we had a superhero soldier, and Magog is obviously much more soldier than hero here.
DJ: Not particularly. I tried to write him as being consistent with his previous appearances. 
If you want to think "outside the box" with a solider in theater, make him a National Guardsman who happens to be 35-years-old with a wife and three kids back home who are no longer able to pay the mortgage. 
I'll give you plenty of ways of building an incredibly honorable soldier who trumps the easy, cookie cutter "hondo" type when it's obviously there.  
BLOG@: The one-handed handling of the bad guys kind of reminds me of the early stages of the Doomsday fight—which of course again raises the spectre of Magog-as-danger-to-all. But at one point he lets go to motion for the kids, and nothing explodes. Is that a simple slip-up on your part or more indicative of a cowardly villain who’s only PLAYING at being a suicide bomber? If the latter, what’s that mean for Magog’s giddily dismembering him?
DJ: Magog never lets go of him. The only place we don't see them both is on page 14, panel two. Magog has him with his left hand and has pushed him through the door ahead of him. We pick up on them again on page 16. Trust me! I was really careful with all that.  
BLOG@: Speaking as a reader, though, that arm-pull is about as family-friendly as dismemberment is going to get. Thanks for that! There’s nothing quite like having a kid flip through the pages of their favorite funnybook and having Risk’s blood explode in a cloud around Superboy-Prime.
DJ: I think underplaying something like that makes it a bit more dramatic. Seriously, the concept of Magog tying on a tourniquet first, thus prolonging the moment and emphasizing his clear intent, is far more dramatic than just tearing it off. It gives Dvorcek a moment to beg for compassion and Magog to clearly ignore him. 
BLOG@: Speaking of which—can you give Risk this guy’s arm? He can use one, and I’d love to see him in Booster Gold.
DJ: I'll have to do a story one day in which Risk is rehabilitated. Eddie Berganza seems to be out to butcher the poor guy! 
BLOG@: Has Khandaq supplanted Qrac as the “crazy bastard capital of the world” in the DCU?
DJ: Seems that way to me. I offered to place the story elsewhere but Khandaq was the clear winner. 
BLOG@: “Guys like you” still bothers me. Wasn’t Magog part of the JSA like four minutes ago?
DJ: Yeah, but he's addressing Booster more specifically than that. Remember, he just ripped Booster for being in a perfume ad. He's not addressing all heroes in general. Not yet, anyway.  
BLOG@: I love the fact that Booster was willing to brawl with the cretin, though; it speaks really well for the character, I think, given that he knows Magog’s power level. What went into the decision to let him say, “Fine, you jerk!”?
DJ: I think it's pretty clear that Booster has a line he won't cross. Magog doesn't. Based on the events of the previous twenty minutes, Booster was right. Without him being there, innocent kids would have died. Booster sees Magog as being almost as bad as the terrorists.

Flash Facts: Ethan Van Sciver on Flash: Rebirth #2

Van Sciver Talks Designing A New Costume For Wally West

Artist Assures That The Flash: Rebirth #3 Will Be "A Revelation"

Following the events of Final Crisis, Barry Allen is alive and well again…but he’s hardly spent a minute not wearing his Flash suit. Since helping to defeat Darkseid, he’s been wandering the countryside, averting catastrophes and wondering aloud if the world was better without him. In the closing moments of #1, the villainous speedster Savitar emerged literally out of Barry’s chest, but was almost immediately caught by Allen…whose touch turned the self-appointed “speed god” to dust. This issue follows up on the events of that book, and features the death of all the members of Savitar’s speed cult.

There’s a framing device where the action—such as it is, in a book where so little happens that the reader is left to feel like Barry Allen, watching the seconds tick by like hours—of some of the apes in Gorilla City painting a cave mural of Barry Allen, with black lightning bolts reaching out and blasting other speedsters. When asked whether the painting itself might be a clue to one of Geoff Johns’ arcane mysteries, not unlike the chalkboard in Rip Hunter’s lab during the writer’s runs on52 and Booster Gold, artist Ethan Van Sciver said, “I wouldn't look for anything like that. It's fairly direct, and one-dimensional in more ways than one. Then again, maybe Geoff had something else up his sleeve. He always seems to.”
There’s a whole lotta nothin’ goin’ on in The Flash: Rebirth #2 by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver. The art is absolutely beautiful—some of the best work of the already-very-accomplished Van Sciver’s career—but the whole issue is spent telling what the first issue already showed (a clear violation of one of the cardinal rules of comics and cinematic storytelling). Let’s review:

·         Barry Allen, back from the dead after all these years, isn’t as thrilled about it as everyone else is.

·         He’s acting very standoffish, making even his closest friends feel a touch awkward around him.

·         As a result of his resurrection, crazy things are happening in and around the Speed Force, including but probably not limited to the death of Savitar (seen last issue when Barry touched him as he tried to escape from his prison inside the Speed Force) and the strange “speed seizures” that this provoked in DC’s other speedsters. The fact that the speed seizures were greater for those characters more directly connected to the Speed Force is not surprising, but one of the few new pieces of information given this issue.

·         Barry Allen is the new Black Flash.

This last point isn’t necessarily old news (although I think everyone with half a brain had assumed it at the end of issue #1) but it certainly was done in a telling-instead-of-showing way, with Wally actually saying the words to Barry at the end of the issue.
Given that Barry and Wally spend most of the issue talking or running together, the issue of their almost-identical costumes becomes a bit of a bone of contention once or twice, particularly since one of the only weaknesses in Van Sciver’s art is the fact that the two of them have virtually identical faces. “It's a major problem,” the artist confirms, adding, “and will be dealt with in this miniseries. I do my best to always distinguish them from one another, but it's hard sometimes.” He says that “the easiest answer, to alter Wally's costume more drastically from Barry's,” is “part of the gig.” Says Van Sciver, “It's my job to find Wally a new suit that is familiar to fans and different than Barry's.”

We get all of this for our money, plus about ten pages dedicated to the “Nora Allen’s unresolved murder” retcon introduced last issue and the heart-pounding “Secret Origin of Barry Allen’s Bowtie,” which might have been a great story if written tongue-in-cheek but unfortunately was neither. There are also other, quieter retcons in the series as well (continuing the tradition Johns started in Green Lantern: Rebirth when anything that didn’t serve his needs was treated to have simply never occurred) as “I was in witness protection” is apparently a magical phrase that makes the world forget they spent the last however-many-years knowing that you were The Flash.
Ultimately, as much as I love Geoff Johns ordinarily, he’s striking out with this series so far for me. I didn’t need to see Barry back as The Flash before this story started, but at least I wasn’t openly hostile to the notion. I’m getting there. The flawless work by Van Sciver might make this the best case of lipstick on a pig in recent publishing history, but that doesn’t make it inherently worth reading. 
According to Van Sciver, though, if you agree with my assessment of the series so far, “Issue #3 will be a revelation for you.”