the Flash Rebirth #2 - DC

I'm really liking the way that Geoff Johns is handling this story. Barry is just as puzzled about his return as everyone else. In fact, I think . . if it was up to him, he may not have. "I was never a saint. I was just a guy chasing justice. Flash fact, Iris: I don't need to be here." That sounded a little despondent. As with a lot of the 'origin' books of late at DC, we get even more of Barry's story out of this one. We find out about his life in the Police Dept. before becoming the Flash. And . . we find out a little about Barry's parents. Somehow Barry's mom was murdered, and Barry's father went to prison for the crime. Although Barry never gave up hope that he could prove his father innocent. I think that everything that's happening to Barry now, is somehow connected to that part of his life and it's memories. His father ended up dying in prison before he could prove his innocence. I don't ever remember ever reading about that part of the Flash story before. I think it's an interesting development. Barry finds out from Wally this issue, at about the same time as Savitar went to dust in his hands . . he was trying to follow Barry's footsteps and use his example to also escape from the Speed Force . . everyone with a connection to the Force had a kind of seizure at the same time. Barry also shows Wally the remains of another speedster . . pieces of his suit, and his body dissolved to ash . . in a field outside of the town he was born in, Fallville. Wally explains to him that it's the Black Flash. Kind of like the Black Racer for the New Gods. "He showed up any time a speedster was about to die and join the Speed Force." That's when Christina Alexandrova . . high priestess to the speed-lord Savitar . . Christina shows up to make Barry suffer for hurting the man she worshipped. And she may be able to do it. She says she has the speed of hundreds of his followers in her. However, when Barry tries to stop her . . and touches her . . she also turns to dust. Wally . . wide eyed, is staring at him . . "You . . . Barry . . " . . Barry's standing there in the middle of the Speed Force, with it crackling all around him, and his costume has turned black . . "Barry . . you're the new Black Flash!" So is this why he returned? And what does it mean for his future, and those around him? I knew it couldn't be as simple as him just popping out of the Speed Force one day. And what does all of this have to do with the Legion? Remember in Justice League where they came back on some kind of secret mission that had to do with the 'lightning'? They ended up bringing Wally and his family back, but . . I think they were after someone else. How are they connected, and . . how did they know? That's another thing that I absolutely love about Geoff's stories. First on my list is his handling of characters. His character development and interactions are phenomenal. They're consistently spot on. But secondly, all these stories that he's done though the Justice League and Action comics . . they all end up being connected. You know how when you reach a point in your life where you realize that you're where you're at because of the sequence of events that led to this exact moment? That's how I feel after I read one of Geoff's stories. A lot of questions are answered, and I see a lot of the connections, but . . at the same time, more questions are raised. And this series, I have a feeling, is going to be questioning everything. Top all of this off with a good helping of Ethan Van Sciver's pencils, and I think we have an instant classic in our hands. We're only on issue #2. You can still probably get it at a reasonable price.