Flash - back to 231 ?

What happened? I thought that DC had rebooted Flash and made Bart Allen the newest incarnation of the Flash. There was a new number 1 issue and everything. Then I find out that Bart was murdered in the All Flash one shot??? And that the next issue after that was issue 231?? And that Mark Waid has returned as Flash scribe?

I'm all in favor of the last two items, but what's up with the murder of Bart Allen? Why is DC so bloodthirsty in recent years? Sue Dibny. Blue Beetle. Max Lord. Bart Allen.

I think what is interesting to me about this list is that these characters either saw a renaissance in the mid to late 80s (Flash, too, come to think of it - in his own book and the Justice League books) or they were introduced to the DC Universe then. It's also interesting that the first three characters were big in the aforementioned Justice League comic by the heavily underrated Keith Giffen.

It seems that DC can't undo what Giffen did fast enough. He told stories that were fun and interesting, and he took the second rate JL characters and made them an important part of the team. Who else could have made G'Nort an interesting character? But apparently, comics aren't supposed to be fun. Grim and gritty is what we all want. Right?

Flash in the Giffen JL was a fun jokester type, just like Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. And Max Lord was a somewhat benevolent guy who funded the JL and tried to make the world a safer place. Lord's fate in recent years, and the actions that were attributed to him are kinda inconsistent with the character that Giffen created. But I digress.

Flash, like Giffen's JL, was relaunched in 1987 (I think it was then...maybe 1986?), and I thought the relaunch (both, actually) was quite good. I liked the Baron/Messner-Loebs issues better than the Waid issues, but I recognize that Waid still had a solid run.

And, of course, there were the Geoff Johns issues. I discovered them late (in the 180s), but once I started getting them, I really enjoyed reading them. And I was always a bit lukewarm about my affinity for this character. It was hit or miss. But for the first 60 or so, and the last 60 or so, of the relaunched Flash - I read and enjoyed it.

I look forward to reading Waid's return to this character. He did a lot to shape the current incarnation and it will be fun to see what he has in store.