Barry Allen has had his Rebirth — and now, the Secret Origin of the Fastest Man Alive will be revealed!
Comic-Con Magazine has an in-depth interview with Geoff Johns for the trajectory of his career, and when asked about a Flash: Secret Origin book, Johns seemed only too happy to answer in the affirmative:
I will be doing the Flash Secret Origin. He’s never had a secret origin book. You forget as a fan who’s read comics for years and years and you say they just did Green Lantern Secret Origin. Well, Emerald Dawn was like back in the mid ’80s, I think 25 years ago now. This is obviously for people today. I think sometimes people forget that there is a new generation coming in and this stuff has to be for a new generation. To a lot of people Hal Jordan is the new Green Lantern, and Barry Allen will be the new Flash. But with Green Lantern Secret Origin, it’s a book now and that book actually outsells the other GL trades because you look at it if you’re in a bookstore or whatever and that’s the first one you’ll pick up because it looks like that’s the first volume. That’s why I want to do a Flash Secret Origin because I like those origin stories. I think they’re timeless and I also think that the Flash Secret Origin will be one of those books that you can hand to anybody.
There’s no word on the artist or the timeline for this book — but let me put it like this: Ivan Reis did the art on Green Lantern: Secret Origin, and now he’s working on a little book you may have heard about called Blackest Night. (Y’know, the highest selling book every month it’s come out.) But even outside of an artistic proving ground, this is really his big chance to distill all the main qualities of Barry Allen and give the character an emotional through-line to run along. What say you, ‘Rama readers? Who is Barry Allen? And how do you feel about this potentially character-shaping story?
[Hat tip to SpeedForce.org]
March 5th, 2010 at 10:01 am
Sure… Why not? I wasn’t happy with Barry being brought back and all that, but since it’s done it’s probably time to update the origin a bit.
I didn’t read the Supes “Secret Origin” books since I’m perfectly happy with the 1986 Byrne reboot (and I don’t like Kal ever having been Superboy or having Luthor being an old pal of Clark’s), but I liked the GL Secret Origin, so I’ll trust Johns to do a good job again. I’m not that attached to Flash anyhow, so I’ll probably enjoy reading it and not mind any deviations from past tellings.
I read elsewhere that it’ll have Barry going into forensic science to prove his father’s innocence regarding the murder of Barry’s mom. The whole “death of a parent” thing is a tired cliche, but I guess this is sort of a different twist on that. I’m OK with it.
March 5th, 2010 at 10:34 am
Hat tip to SpeedForce.org indeed! Great site chock full of Flash information; if all the Flash whoopla has whet your whistle, don’t miss that site!
March 5th, 2010 at 11:25 am
So long as he’s writing it more like GL: Secret Origin and less like Superman: Secret Origin. I don’t just want the modernized “Geoff Johns” version. I’d like if it tied into future/upcoming plotlines somewhat as well.
March 5th, 2010 at 12:26 pm
My god, was 1990 really in the mid eighties? Did I miss so much time?
March 5th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
Here’s Barry Allen’s Secret Origin – he got hit by a lightning bolt that made him run fast. Police scientist – lightning bolt – run fast – fight crime. You only need 8 words, much like Spider-Man (Got bit, uncle died, fight crime) and Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman (Doomed planet, desperate scientists, last hope, kindly couple). Simplicity is beautiful. Try doing that with Cable’s origin.
Oh, and Barry Allen already had a Secret Origin book – Secret Origins Annual 2, illustrated by no less than Carmine Infantino.
March 5th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
Didn’t Flash Rebirth just go through his origin again? Sigh..so much for not being repetitive…
March 5th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Eh, I say go for it. It’s nice for new readers who want an easily accessible hardcover and don’t want to dig through back issue bins. And as much as we may think it’s silly new readers often have a hard with the older stuff.
I also think that it should be done like Secret Origins: within the series, same artist as usual (Manapul) and linking it into upcoming stories.
March 5th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
I wonder what you could actually do with Flash’s origin especially given how simple it was and any big reveals where done in Rebirth.
March 5th, 2010 at 5:28 pm
@Undead: Throw in some gruesome deaths and dismemberments, maybe a rape or three, the standard Johns/Meltzer level of garbage.
March 5th, 2010 at 9:02 pm
“Secret BORE-igin” is more like it, if Barry’s involved, amiright fellas?
Anybody? No?
March 5th, 2010 at 11:55 pm
This is setup for the Ultimate Flash Crossover: Speed War with The Flash Family Vs Rogues just like Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps. Gotta put some early hints in the secret origin to pay off in future storylines.
March 6th, 2010 at 11:26 am
Mopee!
March 6th, 2010 at 11:41 am
Any word on whether this is going to be its own book or an arc in the series? I think GL:SO works so much better than Superman: SO because it wasn’t its own book.
March 6th, 2010 at 11:49 am
I’m thinking it will be based on sales of the main Flash book. Either it will be its own mini, or it will be folded in to the main book as the second or third storyarc.
I say let Reis draw “Secret Origin” in the main book to give Manapul enough lead time to get the third arc out on time without too many delays and fill in artists.
March 7th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Have a feeling that this could be a definitive Secret Origin, that could last awhile especially if the comic takes off with the inevitable live action movie. Unlike Superman and his endless legal limbo.
March 7th, 2010 at 8:30 pm
Barry Allen is a boring character…..
March 8th, 2010 at 6:52 am
Everyone who says Barry is boring just thinks that Wally is cool… Wally is/was not cool. Hes so painfully 90s it hurts.
March 8th, 2010 at 9:47 am
Ian – At least he’s got a little depth of character. The only thing you’ve got from Barry is a showing-rather-than-telling example of “the best hero ever.”
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