The most unfortunate part is that Barry already had a built-in tragedy coming back in FINAL CRISIS: he had been *dead* for years. While his return to life was wonderful and miraculous, they could have riffed on the idea that he was a man who had lost years of time with his loved ones and returned to a changed and unfamiliar world. Barry could have been DC's Captain America instead of another Batman or Spider-Man.
Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)