With planet Earth on the brink of total destruction, Professor Zoom finally reveals himself and tells Barry the shocking secret of the Flashpoint world. As old heroes and new friends unite to save a dying world, does Barry Allen have what it takes to sacrifice the one thing he truly wants for the greater good? Only Time will tell…
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On August 31st DC Comics will relaunch their entire fictional universe (the “DC Universe”) with 52 new #1 comic issues, all of which will be ongoing books that are released once a month. No matter if your a die-hard fan or new to comics 52 new books of an entirely relaunched universe can be a lot to process.
Our “Where to Start” for the DC Comics relaunch is a streamlined list to help you with all of DC’s new books; 10 titles that we think are the most essential and cover the many pockets of the whole DC Universe. The list is written in order of their release date, so you can plan accordingly, we’ll explain why we think each book is important along with a related suggestion for another #1 that you might enjoy.
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After being saved from the forces of Project Superman by Element Woman, the new team of Flash, Batman and Cyborg convince the young kids of S!H!A!Z!A!M! to join them. As Barry Allen’s fears begin to grow that the changes made to the world by Reverse-Flash are permanent, Wonder Woman and Aquaman begin an all-out war that could destroy this new world in Flashpoint #4.
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The news flooding in from the first day of the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con is staggering. We condense some of the highlights to Thursday’s comic book news along with anything worth sharing.
Over two years has passed since Grant Morrison’s Final Crisis came to an end. Not a day has gone by that I haven’t cursed it. Recently, I decided to do what I never thought I would – revisit the “day evil won”. While I’m definitely not alone in my long lived dislike for the “event”, I actually wanted to try to understand it better. Maybe within its pages a clue was buried that would make my brain go “ping” like a Rubik’s Cube solved in 17 moves. I’ve spent the better part of two days doing all I could to dig as deep as I could. Guess what… I still don’t understand the damn thing.
After a second lightning-strike returns the half-dead Barry Allen’s super speed, he and the Thomas Wayne Batman join forces with The Cyborg, this world’s greatest hero, in order to find and free Superman from Government control. Meanwhile, Lois Lane discovers that the war between Aquaman and Wonder Woman will enter its final phase tomorrow, just as she finally meets up with the super-powered Resistance fighters.
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Via several sources a new image of the forthcoming Justice League has surfaced. The regulars are in attendance – Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg – but there are a couple of sneaky appearances as well.
After convincing Thomas Wayne to help him fix the time-altered world, Barry Allen tries a desperate experiment to regain his super speed. Meanwhile, Aquaman and Wonder Woman both deal with invaders to their sovereign domains.
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Barry Allen awakes to find a world very different from the one he knows. One where no one has ever heard of Superman or the Justice League. Where Barry’s mother is alive and well. And where Barry Allen has no Speed.
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Professor Zoom reveals himself as the age-stealing killer Barry Allen has been tracking, and tries to murder Barry’s colleague Patty Spivot. In order to save another woman he cares about from Zoom, The Flash has to team up with not only Kid Flash, but also a Barry Allen from another universe. But when the dust settles, one hero is dead, and the others must ready themselves for Zoom’s ultimate plan… leading directly into Flashpoint!
The Road to Flashpoint concludes, ending a story arc that was mostly set-up for another, bigger story. The death of alternate-Barry, or Hot Pursuit, was pretty expected. Although I did like Zoom’s line about finally getting the pleasure of killing a Barry Allen without screwing up his own history. I really wanted to like alt-Barry, and care about his death, but he was just so unlikeable. He was a typical character who shows up, thinks he knows everything, realizes he was wrong, and dies. There was very little “heroic” about him. And although it would have been another cliché, I would have liked to have seen him sacrifice himself to save Bart or hamper Zoom in some lasting way. He was a Barry Allen on the surface only.
It seems that our Barry is finally ready to get over the angst he’s been dealing with this whole arc. We finally learn the reason for his relapse: his mother’s birthday would have been tomorrow. Hopefully he sticks to his promise, and acts less distant towards his friends and family. I would have liked it if a deeper comparison had been drawn between the two Barrys. Like if Barry had seen in Hot Pursuit where he was heading if he didn’t open up to his family, causing him to make a change. But since we knew nothing about the other Barry’s life and history, that would have been pretty hard to pull off.
The fight with Zoom was pretty underwhelming, especially considering that it plays out like a lite-version of the final fight from Flash Rebirth. It’s just a lot of generic super-speed running and punching, with none of the cool slow-motion action shots we got in the earlier issues when Barry was fighting the Rogues and saving people. And after everything, Zoom gets away. So what was the point of all that?
Scott Kolins art was a plus, as he has a real gift for heavy emotion. Francis Manapul returns for like 5 pages. It’s odd that he’s only used for some soap-opera stuff at the end, and not for any of the big fight scenes. Thankfully, their styles are similar enough not to be totally jarring when the switch occurs.
Overall, this story didn’t reveal much about Flashpoint that we didn’t already know. It’s coming. And Zoom is responsible. That’s about it.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Barry Allen finally promises to stop avoiding his family | Mostly filler, killing time until Flashpoint starts |
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In case you missed it over at our Twitter account, we were at MegaCon over the weekend. Not only did I get to rub shoulders with some of the industries finest, tour artist alley and discover new favorites, but in the DC Comics panel there were some very interesting news and updates. Here’s some of what went down:
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I have to say that I’m enjoying the Grounded storyline these last two issues, but less because of Superman walking the earth, and more because of the details that Roberson is adding that make the read something that has been lacking from Superman for some time. Last issue it was science fiction, this issue we get more sci-fi, a Flash vs Superman race, plus the return of Saganowhana (Super-Chief)! Read on if you would know more.
The legacy connection continues with the hint that Saganowhana’s Manitou stone may be Kryptonian in origin, even though Superman doubts it, but seeing the shield on Saganowhana’s jacket and the reference to Man-of-Bats, is Roberson’s drawing the parallel of the World’sFinest Team, and actually making me want to see it, like he did with Crisis in Inifinite Eras. Superman gets to interact with the Flash in a contrived, though still plausible manner, and they spend an hour talking at super-speed, so only actual seconds speed by. When the Flash leaves, the storyline hasn’t been advanced an iota, but it was still fun read.
Roberson engages the Flash vs Superman speed question in an entertaining manner. Superman can catch, and possibly beat the Flash in a race, but he’ll have to work for it. The Flash is living at the speed of light, while Superman lives like a regular lad, until he dials up. That’s an interesting and fair way to look at it, if you can stand seeing Superman hunched over and winded from chasing down the Flash. The conversation they have while the waitress falls is classic, and what’s more, it brings sci-fi back to Superman. These guys can exist at a speed where time seems to stand still, perceive events at attoseconds, it’s Silver Age goodness and its fun.
The trouble is that the story goes nowhere. This issue would have been great inside of an 80-Page giant or annual, but for value, for those of us who have to decide what to buy and what not to, it just doesn’t provide any conduit towards closure. The art is great, the colours, bright and inviting, heck, I even like the thought bubbles, but the story goes on, without any idea of where its going. Hopefully Superman will end up in New York City before this is over and do something worthwhile, like walk up the Empire State Building.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Fun to read! | It’s still grounded |
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