As a huge fan of The Flash TV show on The CW, one of the things I greatly appreciate so far about The Flash Rebirth comic series is that there's no way in hell that The CW would have even close to a budget that could effectively tell this story arc on TV. That's not a knock on The CW, it's praise for Joshua Williamson and company for crafting a story that is grand and powerful in nature and really can't be duplicated on less than a full blown Hollywood summer blockbuster budget.

Apparently, speed force lightning storms can happen in Central City and one struck at the end of The Flash #2, making speedsters out of dozens of ordinary citizens of all ages and walks of life. This happens right on the heels of the revelation that Barry Allen's partner on the police force, August Heart, is now a speedster himself and just as Barry was settling down to help August adjust to his new abilities, here comes a huge chunk of Central City looking to outrun The Flash in their sleep.

Instead of acting overwhelmed though, Barry and August do all they can to help the new speedsters, even the ones that are on the wrong side of the law, with a little help from Star Labs, all the while trying to figure out who caused the speed force storm in the first place and why they did it.

It's in the midst of this that Barry has a revelation about his connection to the speed force and the idea that he actually likes teaching people about it and how to deal with it. Someone on Twitter wrote that Barry Allen had managed to become the least interesting character in his own book, and after reading this one, I'd like to know what book that guy was reading because Barry was front and center for this whole issue. He's literally the wisest and most level-headed person in the story, and that's not because everyone else is unstable or a hothead. It's because at this point, Barry is the most experienced speedster there is and has an opportunity to help others with it.

The Flash #3 spends more time focusing on the aspect of how gaining the speed force can affect the lives of normal people in an instant than it does in digging deeper into who is behind the whole affair, the nefarious Black Hole group. They will almost certainly be featured in the next few books for sure, but for the moment here, Williamson tells a very human story about how Barry takes responsibility for the people affected by the storm. There is a very touching scene involving a house call that he makes in the middle of the book and it's a great example of the heart he shows when dealing with those who need his help.

The artwork in this series so far is kinetic and frenetic at times and it's a perfect blend for The Flash to me. Nothing feels too well put together in this world and the story, while not moving at a breakneck pace, is anything but slow at this point and likely won't be going forward. It ends on a serious BIG cliffhanger and it's doubtful that the "human story" is going to roll into the next issue as a result of it, but so far The Flash is proving to be an above average series in DC Rebirth, not quite in the upper echelon in my opinion, but definitely one of the better books in the Rebirth line.

5 out of 5 stars - DC UNIVERSE REBIRTH: The Flash #3

This series is biweekly, the next issue due out August 10th.