Okay gang, it’s time again for Flashpoint Facts, the fast feature that gets you up to speed with everything going on with DC’s Event Flashpoint… Really quickly! Note: I’m working on cutting down on speed puns in these, okay? Okay.
Before we get into people yapping their heads off (and some art, I GUESS), let’s talk comics. Or specifically, Flash #11, which is part two of three on the "Road to Flashpoint":
There’s a bunch of teases in this issue, though at this point it’s unclear exactly what will – and won’t – play into Flashpoint. However, for those of you who haven’t been picking it up, the idea is that Barry Allen, The Flash, is investigating the mysterious deaths of people who have been rapidly aged. It looks like it might be the work of an alternate universe version of Allen who rides a motorcycle, who himself is investigating time anomalies from our dimension. Well, The Flash’s dimension. I don’t live in the DC Universe, you guys, I mean come on, that would be RIDICULOUS.
Moto-Flash thinks Barry’s nephew, Bart, is the source of the anomalies, and tries to kill him, while over on the other side of town, it turns out that the evil Reverse Flash is behind the murders, and is about to take things up a notch. Oh, and also, Barry’s friends think he’s too much of a loner, and needs to slow down. So what to look out for?
1) Reverse Flash is clearly being set up as the villain behind Flashpoint, but doesn’t that feel a little too on-the-nose? I still think he’ll cause the changes that wreck the DCU, but there’ll be someone else on hand to profit.
2) There’s actually a nice emotional subtext being set up here: Barry feels like he has to go it alone, except he has this great network of friends and family to support him. In Flashpoint, he’ll literally have to go it alone, because he’ll never have existed. Any guesses as to whether he’ll have a new appreciation of the rest of the Flash Family after the Event is over?
3) Anyone else who thought that the little boy (who turned out to be Reverse Flash in the issue) was actually going to turn out to be Bart Allen’s archenemy Intertia, aka Kid Reverse Flash? I still hope the evil little f**k turns up by the end of Flashpoint, so Bart can kick him in the nards.
Okay, moving on, we had some pretty art this week, including Editor Eddie Berganza’s take on the covers for Emperor Aquaman, and Reverse Flash.
Beyond being a neat look behind the process… Well, we don’t learn a whole lot, by Berganza’s admission. “Covers tend to be tricky because not only does the artist need to capture the essence and themes of the whole book, but they also have to be careful not to reveal any spoilers,” says Berganza on the DC Source Blog. And so all we know is that in Flashpoint, Aquaman is now a hundred feet tall, and has the power to apply Photoshop gradients to his legs. Just kidding.
On the other hand, the Reverse Flash cover is a little more enigmatic:
These emblems on the cover were chosen for a reason (hopefully). We know Batman is now Vega$ Batman; Hal Jordan never got the ring, so he now just possesses the power to be an a**hole; Superman is locked away in Project Superman (maybe); and Cyborg is now the world’s greatest superhero, so you know this takes place in a fictional universe.
Are these the four specific points in history Reverse Flash is going to tweak? Or is there one domino that cascades the others? And how bummed is Cyborg going to be when he gets back to the regular universe, where he can barely support his own mini-series, let alone be the center of the DCU?
Sorry, Cyborg, I love you buddy: just being honest.
Oh, and related thing I’ll mention at the bottom here for those of you who made it all the way, apropos of cover process, as well as Gene Ha talking about Flashpoint: Project Superman. Ha actually told me himself that there was something significant taken out of the cover to issue number one. That scene is in the book… But there’s something missing. Any guesses?
Okay, that’s it for this week. Next week, we’ll have plenty more info, plus a lowdown on the Free Comic Book Day story. Otherwise, it’s a loooong wait until May 11th, when we get our first real looks at what’s going down in Flashpoint. It can’t get here fast enough! Darnit! I was really trying with the speed puns. Sorry, everyone.
Related Posts:
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Flashpoint Facts #4: Superman Returns!
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