Rating: *** 1/2*

This week we have the release of issue two of Geoff John’s Flash mini-series Rebirth. The story picks up where we left off in the first issue with Savitar death at the hands of Barry Allen and all of the other Earth’s speedsters suffering from some sort of shock. Savitar was able to escape the Speed Force through Barry’s body, but as Barry ran and caught him, Savitar turned to dust. Before he died, he made reference to Barry being the beginning and the ending. Why did Savitar incinerate when he touched Barry and why the other speedsters where affected as well is our big mystery.

Ethan Van Sciver once again provides the art work for this series. Van Sciver is quickly becoming one of the best in the business and DC is lucky to have him under contract. I loved his work on the Green Lantern Rebirth series and he hits it out of the ball park here as well.

Barry Allen has returned to the DC universe as the Flash, but his secret identity has also resurfaced in the world. To the world, Barry Allen died. We discover that when Barry returned, Wonder Woman was able to use government connections to create a back story where Barry faked his death went into the witness protection program. I think that’s a cool idea; simple and believable. We also get a retelling of Barry’s origin here in this issue and how Barry was obsessed with proving his father’s innocence for the murder of his mother. His father unfortunately died in prison. Geoff also shows us some flashbacks prior to Barry becoming the Flash with his first meeting of his future wife Iris West. We also see how he first started using the bow-tie. I don’t know much about Barry’s history so whether this is all new or a retelling is unknown to me. One of these days I’ll go back and look at the reprints.

The real story however is what’s happening to Barry.

The storyline that first introduced Savitar was called “Dead Heat”. It was a mini-series that ran through the “Flash” and “Impulse” series. In this story Savitar was the leader of a cult dedicated to the Speed Force. One of his followers was Christina Alexandrova who for a time was known as Lady Flash. She conducts a ritual in attempt to contact Savitar, but in the end it kills all of the cult members except her. She is a speedster and her powers are now amplified thanks to their deaths.

Barry and Wally West are investigating the body of the “dead” Black Flash that we saw in the previous issue. It’s revealed that the body is located in Barry’s hometown of Fallville, Iowa. Lady Flash meets up with Barry and Wally and attacks them. Unfortunately for her, the same thing happens again and she dies after Barry touches her. However something different happens this time. This time, Barry turns into a new version of the Black Flash and we end there.

I was originally going to give this issue three stars because I thought it wasn’t really anything special. But I decided against it because I think I’m taking for granted what Johns is doing here with this story. As I have said several times before, Geoff Johns is currently my favorite writer in comics today. The guy is amazing and like a professional athlete who is at the top of their game, you forget sometimes how great they are when what they do normally is really something special for everyone else. Geoff is painting a beautiful picture so far with “Flash: Rebirth” and I can’t wait for more. Again, hopefully when a new on-going Flash book hits the stands sometime down the road, I hope he’s they writer.

A good mystery so far and I’m starting to get into the character of Barry Allen. The only Flash I’ve known has been Wally so this is a bit of a virgin experience. Looking forward to more.