No DC hero was as profoundly impacted by the events of DC Universe Rebirth #1 as Barry Allen. So it's only appropriate that Flash Rebirth #1 is the first comic to directly explore the events of that comic and the shocking revelations about the true mastermind of the New 52 universe. This issue is as much as continuation of that comic as it is the first chapter of Joshua Williamson and Carmine Di Giandomenico's Flash run. And while that creates some tension between the two halves of the story, this is nonetheless a promising start for the new series.

Despite the connections to DCU Rebirth, this issue is nothing if not new reader-friendly. Williams opens his story with a murder scene that's eerily similar to the one that defined Barry Allen's childhood, which in turn leads Barry to reflect on his life and origin story. Between that and a scene featuring Barry conversing with his recently freed father, this issue shares more than a little in common with the Flash TV series. That could be cause for concern. The previous volume of Green Arrow showed the harm that can be caused by trying to arbitrarily force a comic to be more like its multimedia offspring. Luckily, Williamson uses these elements merely as a starting point and a foundation for a new and more unpredictable conflict. The return of Wally West isn't the only thing messing with Barry's mind and changing the way he views his relationship to the Speed Force.Williamson uses this issue to revisit that pivotal Wally/Barry reunion from DCU Rebirth. Naturally, the intense emotion of that scene carries over here. It's also nice to be able to see more of the fallout of Wally's return and an exploration of the heartbreak he faces in returning to a world that no longer remembers him. It's equally welcome to see Williamson draw Batman into the fray and explore that criminally underused dynamic Barry and Bruce share as intrepid detectives. Here's hoping both Wally and Batman remain fixtures in this series.Given his time on All-New X-Factor which heavily featured Marvel's premiere speedster, Quicksilver), it should have been obvious that Carmine Di Giandomenico was born to draw a Flash comic. His angular, wiry figures and skill at displaying figures in motion serve Di Giandomenico very well as he settles in with Barry and his world. Ivan Plascencia's vivid colors are also crucial when it comes to channeling the energy and electricity of the Speed Force. At the same time, the emotionally tinged facial work is the real key to this issue. Di Giandomenico thrives in all this issue's big emotional scenes, whether it's Barry's father/son chat or his big reunion with Wally.This issue isn't entirely graceful as it transitions from one story beat to the next. It makes a fairly abrupt shift into the DCU Rebirth material, and in general there's not enough attention paid to the shadowy new threat emerging in Central City. But between the dynamic artwork, the heartfelt character dynamics and the sense that exciting and dangerous things are lurking on the horizon, there's plenty of reason to be excited about Flash's newest comic.