Flashpoint 5 Thoughts *Spoilers!*
So it's finally here. The event that, good or bad, superhero comic fans haven't been able to shut up about since it was announced what came after it. DC Comics cancelling their entire comic line-up and relaunching 52 brand-new number one issues.
Seeing the resulting mess from DC trying to do little more than continue to make money and bring more new people into comics helped me get over internet forums, but other than that it's just been an anxious wait for me. This is a big deal in comics, the likes of which even Crisis on Infinite Earths couldn't quite bring to us. DC's taking a huge risk and if it fails, we might very well be without superhero comic books altogether. (Marvel isn't good enough that it can float them solo.)
A lot of people might be happy with that. Me personally, I'd be miserable. Say what you want, but superheroes REALLY thrive in comic books. Everywhere else, they're a very niche part of the whole. At BEST we'll get four superhero movies a year. Superhero cartoons are little 65 episode series that run 13 episodes a year for five years before getting canceled and replaced. We see two of them from each company at a time, maximum.
It sounds like a lot, but it does not compare to the sheer volume we get and the amount of stories we see from DC and Marvel's print medium. And it can be argued that some, or even a lot of those stories aren't great. But so many are. So many that could've never been made in other mediums.
Technically, all of it is being put on the line. If DC fails big, I'll be doomed to a handful of good indy comics...and a lot of stuff I don't really care to read, either because of quality or because my sensibilities don't match up.
All that said, having literally *just* finished the comic, I am very impressed. All the plot lines being set up come to a head in this one issue, but while it's larger than your normal comic by about ten pages, everything moves fast.
The biggest revelation of the entire comic book comes in the first five pages. Flashpoint, as an entire event, is immense. 14 different mini-series in addition to the main comic book, along with a couple one-shots. Multiple main characters provide a variety of perspectives, and it feels like you're living in that world. Seeing what Flashpoint did to some of the best and brightest heroes in creative fiction had me calling for Zoom's head, hoping Barry would put an end to him again.
...So imagine my surprise when I learn that it was actually Barry, not his arch-nemesis Professor Zoom that was the cause of it all. Indirectly, Zoom is still the root of this ruined Flashpoint world, but it's Barry's actions that cause the world to change into what it is.
As a result, Zoom is really just a footnote in the true story of Flashpoint. (Though he is properly dealt with before the story moves on without him.) The true story instead is an internal conflict with a familiar dilemma. Barry spends ample time in the Flashpoint world--time enough to discover fully what his actions have wrought. And it is at that point that he's presented with a choice to give up his chance to set right what should never have gone wrong...or restore things to their proper form.
Still, even this is not the true emotional crux of the story. The Wayne family steals the comic, as Geoff Johns brings us a scene from Batman that I would've never thought we'd see in a comic after post Batman: Year One.
All in all, it's a good comic. Not quite the epilogue the DC fans may have wanted, but it's still a good comic, and probably one of the better events I've seen in some time.
Now, on to Justice League 1...
Seeing the resulting mess from DC trying to do little more than continue to make money and bring more new people into comics helped me get over internet forums, but other than that it's just been an anxious wait for me. This is a big deal in comics, the likes of which even Crisis on Infinite Earths couldn't quite bring to us. DC's taking a huge risk and if it fails, we might very well be without superhero comic books altogether. (Marvel isn't good enough that it can float them solo.)
A lot of people might be happy with that. Me personally, I'd be miserable. Say what you want, but superheroes REALLY thrive in comic books. Everywhere else, they're a very niche part of the whole. At BEST we'll get four superhero movies a year. Superhero cartoons are little 65 episode series that run 13 episodes a year for five years before getting canceled and replaced. We see two of them from each company at a time, maximum.
It sounds like a lot, but it does not compare to the sheer volume we get and the amount of stories we see from DC and Marvel's print medium. And it can be argued that some, or even a lot of those stories aren't great. But so many are. So many that could've never been made in other mediums.
Technically, all of it is being put on the line. If DC fails big, I'll be doomed to a handful of good indy comics...and a lot of stuff I don't really care to read, either because of quality or because my sensibilities don't match up.
All that said, having literally *just* finished the comic, I am very impressed. All the plot lines being set up come to a head in this one issue, but while it's larger than your normal comic by about ten pages, everything moves fast.
The biggest revelation of the entire comic book comes in the first five pages. Flashpoint, as an entire event, is immense. 14 different mini-series in addition to the main comic book, along with a couple one-shots. Multiple main characters provide a variety of perspectives, and it feels like you're living in that world. Seeing what Flashpoint did to some of the best and brightest heroes in creative fiction had me calling for Zoom's head, hoping Barry would put an end to him again.
...So imagine my surprise when I learn that it was actually Barry, not his arch-nemesis Professor Zoom that was the cause of it all. Indirectly, Zoom is still the root of this ruined Flashpoint world, but it's Barry's actions that cause the world to change into what it is.
As a result, Zoom is really just a footnote in the true story of Flashpoint. (Though he is properly dealt with before the story moves on without him.) The true story instead is an internal conflict with a familiar dilemma. Barry spends ample time in the Flashpoint world--time enough to discover fully what his actions have wrought. And it is at that point that he's presented with a choice to give up his chance to set right what should never have gone wrong...or restore things to their proper form.
Still, even this is not the true emotional crux of the story. The Wayne family steals the comic, as Geoff Johns brings us a scene from Batman that I would've never thought we'd see in a comic after post Batman: Year One.
All in all, it's a good comic. Not quite the epilogue the DC fans may have wanted, but it's still a good comic, and probably one of the better events I've seen in some time.
Now, on to Justice League 1...
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