Monday, June 6, 2011

Flashpoint #2


Taken on its own merits, Flashpoint is just fine. Geoff Johns is having fun sending us on a quick tour of his alternate universe. We've got Deathstroke the pirate, Aquaman the general, Wonder Woman the tyrant, but best of all we've got Bat-Dad and Barry Allen. Bat-Dad has an absolutely great design, and he works surprisingly well set up against the straight-laced Barry.

A lot of my concerns about the series were actually addressed when I read the Flash: Rebirth series, so now I understand how Professor Zoom has messed up the world for everyone. I'm hoping that the Barry Allen we're following is the real guy, and this isn't some kind of homage to the Return of Barry Allen from the 90s. (I don't think it is, but having the Reverse Flash costume come out of Barry's ring put the thought in my head.)

I would have liked to see more from Cyborg, the SHAZAM kids, and maybe one or two more people from issue one, but I understand Johns had to get WW and Aquaman out there too. Maybe Cyborg will show off his JLA bonafides more in future issues.

I'm still annoyed that this is leading into a reboot, so it counts even LESS than a normal Elseworlds. I'm certain some elements from Flashpoint will stick around into the reboot, heck, there may end up being more Flashpoint history than stuff from the last 20 years!

Andy Kubert's costume designs are fantastic. Bat-Dad is the best of the bunch, but Wonder Woman looks great too. When she loses that silly helmet, she'll be looking pretty darn tough.

Fair

2 comments:

David Charles Bitterbaum said...

Just a "fair"? If it weren't for the reboot would you rate it higher, because I'm taking Flashpoint just as it is and really enjoying it. Then again, I've always had a soft-spot for alternate-universe/elseworlds type stuff and I'm not blowing money on any of the tie-ins other than the Batman one.

Timbotron said...

I'm going with Fair because I think the story is too sprawling for the core Flashpoint title. This issue focused on all new characters, leaving Cyborg, Shade, and the rest to make their way in spinoff books. I expect the same thing for Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and Deathstroke.

Rather than see glimpses of them, I'd rather seem ore Bat-Dad and Barry, if they are the real stars.