Flashpoint

Plot Summary and Credits

After the Flash uses his time travelling powers to prevent his mother’s death at the hands of his nemesis the Reverse Flash, the entire universe unravels. Wonder Woman and Aquaman lead their two nations in a war that threatens to destroy the world. A young Bruce Wayne died in Crime Alley, leading his father Thomas to become a much more violent Batman. Superman has spent his entire life away from the sun in a secure facility. No human has ever worn the ring of a Green Lantern. And the Flash himself is just Barry Allen, alone without powers in a world without hope. With the help of what few allies he can gather, Barry regains his powers and finally faces the Reverse Flash, who meets his end at the hands of Batman. With the timeline restored, Barry delivers a letter to Bruce Wayne from his father.

Geoff Johns (writer), Andy Kubert (penciller), Sandra Hope, Jesse Delperdang (inkers), Alex Sinclair (colourist), Nick J. Napolitano (letterer)

Collects Flashpoint #1-5

My Copy

My copy of Flashpoint was given to me by my parents for my nineteenth birthday, along with a couple of others that I’d asked for. We were on an overnight trip while looking at student accommodation and as it was my birthday I was given the only single bedroom, so I had plenty of time to read them in peace and quiet.

Before Reading

I’m a big fan of the Flash. I really enjoyed the CW show (for the first two and a half seasons) and had seen a few clips of the Flashpoint animated movie. I’d only seen him in supporting roles in the comics I’d read, I was eager to read one of his most famous storylines.

After Reading

This miniseries is one of my favourite comics, partially because I read it on my birthday and partially because it was my first time reading a dedicated Flash title. We get an opening sequence to get us up to speed (pun not intended) about who he is, showing us his mother’s death, how he got his powers, and the major points in his life both as Barry and as the Flash. This shows just how much he’s lost by creating this new timeline, and which will technically remain lost after the franchise reboots in the aftermath of this series. It’s kind of sad to think that this is canonically the last time we see a lot of these characters, even though we’re about to see new versions of them in the reboot.

Despite the grand scale, the story feels relatively self-contained. The introduction gives us an overview of the Flash’s history, and the introduction of a new timeline means that it doesn’t have to rely too much on established storylines, making it easily accessible to new readers, like I was at the time.

Appropriately for a Flash series, the story moves along pretty quickly, which is both a blessing and a curse. With only five chapters, everything is tightly packed together, so much so that it can be easy to miss little details. This is especially evident in the final battle, where I only noticed an appearance from Grodd and his gorilla army on the second reading, to name one example.

Thomas Wayne’s Batman is by far my favourite part of the miniseries. Where the loss of Bruce’s parents motivated him to make his city safer, Thomas losing his son took away his reason for doing so, turning him into a Punisher-style vigilante without any rules about killing people. He only agrees to help Barry when he hears that Bruce is alive in the main universe, willing to sacrifice himself and his entire world for his son. He hasn’t had anything to lose since Crime Alley, and in the end we see the link between his version of Batman and his son’s, where his heroism finally shines through.

When you boil it down, this series is pretty tragic. As mentioned previously, it’s a sendoff to an era of DC filled with iconic characters and events. All of the characters in Barry’s new timeline also get erased, so we never get the chance to see more of them. As for Barry himself, he has to give up his mother’s life so that the entire world can live, and will likely never receive any kind of thanks for it.

It’s things like this that make us love heroes like the Flash, Batman and Spider-Man. Beyond the costumes and powers, their ability to keep going no matter what kind of tragedy they face is what makes us root for them, wishing they could have a better life but wanting them to stay strong. Flashpoint encapsulates this aspect of the superhero life, how having an insane level of power comes at a terrible cost. A great responsibility, you might say.

Closing Thoughts

With lightning-fast pacing and a new take on the DC universe, Flashpoint is fun and intriguing miniseries that marks the end of an era for DC, and the beginning of a new one.

Join me next week as I dive into the first major entry of said new era, where a new version of Barry joins the greatest heroes of his world for the first time.