Flash:Rebirth thoughts

[samurainoir]

Here's a thought.

Barry's long lost twin brother... Cobalt Blue. Malcolm Thawne.

Will Geoff Johns pick up on this thread in relation to this new history he's giving Barry?

[samurainoir]

Well, with time travel & all, this could be Iris from just after Barry disappeared, not older Iris at all! They could just conviently "forget" about old Iris. Or Iris could go back to the future to a time before she had kids to get a body fix. Or Didio could give an interview in which he explains that the Iris who brought Bart to our time was from another Earth and the switch was made off camera in Final Crisis.

That last one's probably a safe bet with DC's current record.

[The Toyroom]

Looks like the murder of Barry's mother is going to stick. It was even mentioned in the GL:Blackest Night Free Comic Book Day preview.

It could be a time travel paradox Johns is going to deal with.

That's what I'm thinking too....and it has something to do with Dr. Alchemy is my gut feeling

[Earth 2 Chris]

Looks like the murder of Barry's mother is going to stick. It was even mentioned in the GL:Blackest Night Free Comic Book Day preview.

It could be a time travel paradox Johns is going to deal with. I hope so. I don't think Barry needs motivation to be a police officer. Thousands of people are police officers and they didn't witness a grisly crime or lose a love one to violence to motivate them. They just heard the call and answered it. I like that in my heroes. Makes them more noble to me.

Chris

[johnnystorm]

But in the future, she raised two kids to adulthood who had their own children (Bart and Jenni) before returning to the past, where she's shown with grey hair and wrinkles. She's a fugitive in the future, so how could she get a new body?

Well, with time travel & all, this could be Iris from just after Barry disappeared, not older Iris at all! They could just conviently "forget" about old Iris. Or Iris could go back to the future to a time before she had kids to get a body fix. Or Didio could give an interview in which he explains that the Iris who brought Bart to our time was from another Earth and the switch was made off camera in Final Crisis.

That last one's probably a safe bet with DC's current record.

[samurainoir]

Barry's been gone for quite a while...I think Wally has grown closer to Jay than he perhaps ever was to Barry...always being in Barry's shadow.Plus, Jay and Joan never had kids of their own, so it's paying respect that way also.

That is a good point. It has been a significant amount of time hanging out with Jay and living alongside him and Joan in Keystone City as an adult rather than the child he was with Barry during the summers in Central City.

Has Wally's parents shown up anywhere lately? I know his dad put in an appearance in Impulse. What about his mom?

[The Toyroom]

I always read "Jai" as "Hi", it only just occurred to me that it was a phonetic homage to "Jay". I always wondered why they didn't go with "Barry" (ala The Kingdom, since they had also established Iris as the new Kid Flash in Kingdom Come), but I guess they were cooking up Barry's return and they didn't need more confusion.

Barry's been gone for quite a while...I think Wally has grown closer to Jay than he perhaps ever was to Barry...always being in Barry's shadow.Plus, Jay and Joan never had kids of their own, so it's paying respect that way also.

[samurainoir]

Iris is from the future, and when she was "killed" by Professor Zoom, her future parents gave her a new body. So presumably they could do that as she gets older if she preffered. They can say she didn't care if she aged while Barry was dead, but now that he's back she wants to be the same age again as he is.

And I really dislike those kids- a bad idea they were in my opinion. Served no purpose in bringing anything but unneccessary complications to the Wally Flash storyline, plus making him & Linda seem older than they should be portrayed. And I mentally can't see Jai as JAY. I see it as J-I as in Jai the Jungle Boy from the old Tarzan TV show.

But in the future, she raised two kids to adulthood who had their own children (Bart and Jenni) before returning to the past, where she's shown with grey hair and wrinkles. She's a fugitive in the future, so how could she get a new body? How many times can they go to the Superboy Prime Punch well of excuses? I'd rather they all had to deal with the time paradox's and relative ages as an exploration of character. Barry loves Iris, but to the world it looks a bit like Harold and Maude. With Wally aged in "Real Time" and the future (having two kids), how does he deal with being the same age (or older) than Barry? How does Bart relate to the two of them?

I always read "Jai" as "Hi", it only just occurred to me that it was a phonetic homage to "Jay". I always wondered why they didn't go with "Barry" (ala The Kingdom, since they had also established Iris as the new Kid Flash in Kingdom Come), but I guess they were cooking up Barry's return and they didn't need more confusion.

[johnnystorm]

They still need to address Iris' de-aging. She's still a Grandmother, who had two grown children, which puts her into her forties at the very very least.

Something just occurred to me... how is Wally's son's name pronounced phonetically?

Iris is from the future, and when she was "killed" by Professor Zoom, her future parents gave her a new body. So presumably they could do that as she gets older if she preffered. They can say she didn't care if she aged while Barry was dead, but now that he's back she wants to be the same age again as he is.

And I really dislike those kids- a bad idea they were in my opinion. Served no purpose in bringing anything but unneccessary complications to the Wally Flash storyline, plus making him & Linda seem older than they should be portrayed. And I mentally can't see Jai as JAY. I see it as J-I as in Jai the Jungle Boy from the old Tarzan TV show.

[samurainoir]

[The Toyroom]

Wally's son is named after Jay Garrick, but the spelling is Jai

[samurainoir]

Any thoughts on the latest issue's revelations... that Barry is the new Black Flash? Suddenly it looks like this might be leading up to Blackest Night as well!

Seems kind of convenient that the only speedsters Barry has touched so far is Savitar and Lady Savitar (the former Lady Flash). But I guess it could be chalked up to Barry keeping a general distance to those who are close to him.

Also very convenient that Wally gets his costume shredded, I'm sure it gives him an excuse to get a new one. I thought his outfit was made out of "speed force".

They still need to address Iris' de-aging. She's still a Grandmother, who had two grown children, which puts her into her forties at the very very least.

Something just occurred to me... how is Wally's son's name pronounced phonetically?

[The Toyroom]

^ I just noticed in issue #2 in the flashback when Barry worked in the old Central City police lab, there's a guy named Desmond....perhaps as in Dr. Alvin Desmond aka Dr. Alchemy.

[The Toyroom]

Not sure where Johns is going with Barry's flashbacks to his mother's murder though.

Seems like it's to give Barry motivation to become a police scientist. Dr. Alchemy had a throwaway line in the book about "what I did to her" or something to that effect....but I wonder if it isn't connected to the death of Barry's mother. With a Flash and time travel, anything is possible.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I actually picked this up (one of the first new books I'd picked up in months). It was good, and very intriguing. Not sure where Johns is going with Barry's flashbacks to his mother's murder though. Barry was always unique in that he had a living, caring mother and father who weren't murdered, died telling him to use his powers on their death bed, blah blah. It added to his normal guy appeal. I hope Johns isn't mucking with Barry's backstory too much. Remember Waid's Cobalt Blue? Ugh.

Chris