Flash #8 The Reverse Flash Rebirth

I’ll start this off with by saying that I’m not a big Flash or DC fan.  I don’t have a big history with the Flash comics, but it is a book that I usually read off the shelf.  I would never add it to my pull list, but it is usually a good read.  So I grabbed this issue off the shelf to read like I usually do and this issue was very original and blew me away.  I believe this came out two weeks ago, I don’t completely remember.  This entire issue is about Professor Zoom.  It goes back to his origin and when he was a little kid.  The book explains that “Time” is everything to our culture in the future and how everyone is trying their best to not waste it, so everything is planned out.  It explains how his parents made him to their specifications of strawberry blond hair, blue eyes, and an I.Q. of 167.  It is then deemed that he should have brother to help his family with a quota that would create benefits for all of them.  Eobard which is Professor Zoom’s real name, grows to resent his brother because he has to take care of and watch him instead of tending to his studies and it sets him behind his peers.  All this missed time on his studies causes Zoom to be turned down from working at the Flah Museum, where he wanted to study the Speed Force.  This drives him to illegally research the Speed Force and he gets caught by his brother who has become a police officer.  Then all of a sudden it shows Zoom choking his brother and it shows the panels of his childhood and the words are in reverse.  Then it shows him as a child again and he says he is an only child.

It then starts his life over again and explains that he had time for his studies, which got him a job at the Flash Museum.  He gets beat by another scientist on a break through on understanding the Speed Force.  The book then shows Zoom choke the scientist and it shows alternate panels of what happened after he manipulated the situation.  I don’t want to give the whole book away, but I was blown away with how well written and refreshing this book was.  I praise Geoff Johns for writing a book that breaks the norm and shows off an interesting idea.  The book really makes you think about life and what if you could go back and changes things.  In the end, just like in the book you realize that even if you could change things, they are not always for the good.  I urge you go out and read this issue, even if you don’t normally read the Flash.  You will be surprised with the depth this issue has to offer.  I applaud you Geoff Johns!!