Hi! I see that you're someone who seems to really understand Eobard's character, so may I ask for some of the best recommendations if you REALLY want to understand his character? I've already gone through Williamson's run, the first 7 issues of Geoff Johns' The Flash and currently reading The Return of Barry Allen. But I am wondering if there's more? Thank you !!
Hello! It's awesome that you picked up The Return Of Barry Allen because I think that's a very important part of Eobard's journey to become the Negative Speed Force, the whys and what actually pushed him to do it. Also he tried to open up to Wally and he is not ever going to do that again unfortunately, but that's a very nice moment of vulnerability and I treasure it hah.
I think The Flash: Rebirth (2009) by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Scriver is a very important read. It's a mini (not part of any series) but it kicks off Road To Flashpoint which concludes with, you guessed, Flashpoint.
In Rebirth there's the famous (to me lol) admission from Eobard that he's the one who brought Barry back to life, how hard he's been trying, how he's been "dragging Barry out of the speed force kicking and screaming" (man I LOVE that line). There is also the famous (actually famous this time) "it was me, Barry" conversation which got memed to hell and back, but memes aside it's legitimately a badass scene in which Eobard explains how he went back in time and changed everything about Barry's life, making him into the soft, insecure, shy bean he is today, on top of having killed his mother.
I highly recommend starting out with Rebirth 2009 (which is not the same thing as Rebirth 2016, that would be Williamson's run), reading Road to Flashpoint and then finishing with Flashpoint - Flashpoint itself is great even if it's more dedicated to Barry than Eobard, even if I still think it's worth reading to get a full picture or Eo.
Also on the topic of Flashpoint, in Road to Flashpoint there is a spin-off dedicated entirely to Eobard's personal story from birth to when he became a speedster. I believe that is an extremely interesting read even if I heavily dislike the art style, especially because of the contrast between what Eobard SAYS, and what is shown on the scene. For example the way he talks about his parents and brother is kind of neutral, but on page we see how actually fucked up their dynamic was, how insanely deprived of any type of love he has always been, how he's had to protect himself via time-travel otherwise he would have lead an extremely miserable life (more than what he did I mean).
This story should be called "Flashpoint: Reverse Flash" and it's written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Scott Kolins.
When it comes to pre-crisis, I strongly recommend The Death of Iris West and The Trial of the Flash. This was not confirmed in canon but by deconstructing the events that end with Barry going to the 30th century and getting kidnapped by the Anti-Monitor, I strongly believe Cary Bates was going for a situation where Eobard knew that Barry was going to die, and his fumbling with killing Iris, then trying to get Barry found guilty of (his own) murder and therefore stuck in prison, and eventually begging him on his hands and knees not to go to the 30th century, literally anything but that, (which Barry did not listen to, of course he didn't) was all meant to try and change the past and avoid Barry's death. But a bunch of things got retconned and the plotline abandoned, and why Eobard acted a certain way never got an "official" explanation.
There's a bunch more stuff you can read, and lots of Eobard's apparitions in other runs give insight on his personality, but I believe those above are the most important picks when it comes to contextualizing his actions and understanding his motivations. In conclusion I believe Eobard is a very complex character and lots of what he does throughout his history is up for speculation, mainly because DC executives chickened out of a bunch of storylines, butchered others, and didn't let lots of writers do what they actually wanted to do with him (for example Williamson wanted to create a "reverse flash family" and strongly implied he was going for some sort of redemption arc for Eobard, but they didn't let him go through with all that).
And because Eobard is a complex character which can't be summed up with just a paragraph of synopsis, we have to be willing to form our own ideas about some of the hows and whys he does what he does. Which isn't all bad! I actually enjoy it and think it's an interesting feature for a fictional character, especially because how a lot of him is written between the lines and not said outright, and I'm a big fan of subtext in stories.
Thanks a lot for your ask, I'm really happy to see people reading comics (and to yap about the yellow rat of my heart), and I hope you enjoy my recommendations!
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