5 DC Resurrections Done Right (And 5 That Sucked)

4. Barry Allen - Final Crisis

Barry Allen Final Crisis
DC Comics

DC has a strong history of legacy, and no character embodies this aspect more than the Flash.

Among the most famous names to have donned the mantle of the Scarlet Speedster include Jay Garrick and Wally West, the latter of which inherited the title after the death of Barry Allen in the seminal Crisis on Infinite Earths. Allen had sacrificed himself against the Anti-Monitor to save their own reality, and didn't return until 2008's Final Crisis.

Though Barry's re-emergence into the spotlight has endured mixed fortunes for fans of the character, with Wally in particular suffering from a lack of attention, there's no denying his actual return was a delight to see.

The basic premise of Final Crisis revolved around the death of the New God known as Orion. He was killed by a god-killing bullet, and it isn't until later in the comic that we find Barry Allen back, alive, and outrunning both the bullet and the literal embodiment of death (the Black Racer), in order to prevent Orion's death.

It was the exact kind of high-concept silliness that could've only stemmed from the mind of Grant Morrison, and it easily makes it one of DC's best returns.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.