Should Barry have ever come back...

Should Barry have ever come back? I'm not asking if Barry should have taken The Flash title again (We all know Sup Forums's answer to this) but is the idea of Barry coming back at all rather than simply staying dead forever a bad thing?

Better question: is CoIE even a good story?

yes it was, he had a good run and his story was complete, Wally taking the mantle was one of if not the best example of a legacy. When he returned he essentially had nowhere to go but fill Wally's shoes.

I don't like Barry coming back, but god damn was that a great moment. I don't even like the Flash all that much and this is a top ten moment for me.

Honestly? No, at least not by today's standards. Even Johns' Infinite Crisis isn't that good (but it has great tie-ins).

I wish they would reference him being gone for fucking 25 years more often. You would think that would do something to his character but for some reason DC wants people to forget the most iconic death in COMIC BOOK HISTORY.
At the very very least I wish they saved him coming back for New 52 instead of just doing that stupid storyline that went nowhere in pre52.

*Today's* standards? It was worse than some of the run of the mill pre-implosion comics a decade beforehand.

COIE is THE event comic in every sense. Overstated stakes, wordswordswords over content, things will never be the same, D list slaughter, a few good moments to overshadow how shit the story is, it "matters" so very much dear reader, wanking, etc.

someone post that comic in the op, I have nothing else to do but kill myself anyways

This is what has ALWAYS bugged me about both post-Resurrection Hal and Barry. Both of them don't act like people who have returned from the grave or from the brink. They essentially reverted back to idealized versions of the characters w/ the occasional REMEMBER WHEN.

Hal should have been a wise and learned man who saw eternity, life and dead due to being the Spectre. He should be haunted and solemn. Instead he's a wild man devil may care hot shot like the good 'ol days. Same with Barry, being trapped in the speedforce for decades should have done SOMETHING to him. Anything. Like Hal after a few issues from his return, it was business as usual... until the Nu52.

I feel like there was so much wasted potential. It's always this way though. A character comes back and they never really do something with it. There's no game change. Fuck, at least Ollie seemed really fucked up by his return, which was a damn plot point.

Change is bad user, it makes it hard to make TV shows or movies over characters that don't stand still for 40 years.

>Should Barry have ever come back?
Wally's sales were down and the character didn't have anywhere else to go so yeah

Tried to read it and barely slogged through it. There were so many bullshit fakeouts that you kinda get tired by the time barry kills himself.

Shooter's Secret Wars was better but even that gets boring half way when the heroes have a back and forth fight for the 4rth time where no clear gains were made.

Also it made no sense for the x-men to leave the heroes and join Magneto. That was some bull shit drama.

They did address it initially, but it isn't a direction that's particularly interesting to maintain for very long since it easily turns into "you know, since I died and came back..."

Plus it makes sense that once they get used to being alive again, they easily revert back to their old personalities.

>Also it made no sense for the x-men to leave the heroes and join Magneto.

Wasn't this during the time Magneto was reforming? The x-men also weren't particularly tight with the rest of the hero community in the 80s, it's not the current hugbox where everybody knows everybody, just about all people have been Avengers at some point and they hangs out all the time (out of panel).

The X-men iirc also had an issue with Cap not giving two shits about stuff like the mutant registration act.

>Plus it makes sense that once they get used to being alive again, they easily revert back to their old personalities.

Not really, especially for Hal. He wasn't even really dead for that long before becoming the Spectre. His personality would have changed for sure. He would have had character growth. Been an elder statesman of the DCU.

>Hal
>An elder statesman of the DCU.

Oh come on.

Is it the same with Kyle?

I'm saying he SHOULD have been like that. Not that he is. Prior to his death he was already aging up (before the parallax entity did it retcon). He was becoming one of the more serious heroes thanks to Gerard Jones. After suffering a mental nervous breakdown and going mad with power, he ended up saving earth via reigniting the sun. Shortly after he became gods spirit of vengeance. His time as the Spectre coupled with what happened before would have taken a tremendous toll on him. His views, his actions, everything shaped by his experiences. Then learning he was fucking possessed.

Instead of a man who has seen everything. Who has learned the value of life, death, and beyond. Who walked the path of saints and sinners. Who reset time itself. This weary traveler of the world and the hereafter... we get dumb 'ol Hal Jordan jet pilot goofball. While I didn't mind Geoff's run, I just feel there was some real wasted potential.

Dumb younger jet pilot is the best Hal though. If he's mature and old he loses the charm of being incredibly stupid and if he's still stupid while old it just becomes kind of sad.

I mean you raise a good point, but remember that Hals contemporaries - Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman being the important ones - are mostly in their 30s. Superman and Batman a bit older maybe.

I always liked it when those three, or the JL in general, get looked up too by junior heroes.

The entire point of bringing Hal and Barry back was because Kyle and Wally were NOT MUHHH!!!! They don't care about the character, they just want the name and design back.

>and if he's still stupid while old it just becomes kind of sad.

This. Hal's charm is in his stupidity and people who are stupid and old are just sad and pathetic (look at Dumb and Dumber Too, or the current Leader of the Free World).

Characters should not come back from the dead period, but that boat sailed off a long time ago.

Remember when Nova came back to life and they portrayed the struggles of coming back to life in a world you've been gone from for years perfectly?

This.

I mean, God forbid that cape comics show character development and aging in the long run, or that older heroes pass on their mantles and legacies to younger ones. Or even worse! Having to actually come up with NEW super heroes to replace the 80 year old concepts of the previous ones. Jeez. The very thought of it makes me nauseous. Who needs to take risks when you can make MONEY?

>tfw Marvel abandoned character development shortly after Shooter left
Spider-Man hasn't been the same since.

That's a stupid argument, they could have made a new speedster

That is why Wally is the fucking best jl member. He actually developed

Yes, it seemed that in the late 80's, 90's they were trying to actually make characters grow. Wally is the best example, but they also tried with Nightwing, Kyle / Hal Jordan, Aquaman (the hook / badass thing), Connor Hawk... The Superman clones, etc...... There are plenty of examples of DC trying to introduce development or growth to their characters.


But then for some reason (money?), they decided to revert everything and fuck continuity and history.