Anyone who has known me for long enough is aware of the fact how invested I have been in the DC Universe. Even standing on the other side of the group who haven’t minced their words against DC Comics tremendously successful New 52 hasn’t surprised me. Of course, there’s a lot happened since New 52 came out. Obviously, a person who was reading comics before August 31, 2011, is familiar about this mega, epic, massive event called Flashpoint – Did I just say too much there?
Everyone in the comic book industry knows how every universe tends to do one of these big events after every few years. Coming to the point now when I keep down all the 5 main issues of Flashpoint in front of me, on the outset they merely seem “Event of that Year” while DC’s normal comics were still going on. But once one gets down to reading the 2nd BIG issue one realizes or at least starts to get know WHAT IN THE WORLD IS HAPPENING IN THIS STORY!!!
The story begins when Barry Allen is woken up at his workplace by his coworker. He gets to know Citizen Cold is Central City’s greatest hero. He then sneaks out of there, “trying” to run as fast as he can; discovering he is not so fast. Barry trips down the stairs and guesses who’s there to help him – Nora Allen. This is just the beginning of how things get really, really crazy for Barry Allen. Nora Allen is Barry Allen’s mother who was murdered when he was a child. When she asks him why he is acting so different, he tells her that he is the Flash and a member of The Justice League. But like I said everything is completely different here, Nora has never heard of The Justice League, obviously except Batman. Later when Barry sees Iris West in the arms of her boyfriend he runs away before she could even see him. Then Barry drives over to Gotham City and finds an abandoned Wayne Manor. This is when Barry finds out that Batman in this world is Thomas Wayne – Bruce Wayne’s father; Martha Wayne – Bruce Wayne’s mother is the Joker, Aquaman and Wonder Woman are at war with each other and Wonder Woman has already killed Steve Trevor. Basically, this world is at war and everything I mean everything including our very own Kal-El is way different here.
Now, Flashpoint what I think is actually one of the greatest Flash stories of all time. It genuinely looks like DC’s effort to make a Flash centric crossover event in which Batman is heavily featured. I suppose for the writers it must have been like walking on a rope.
Flashpoint is extremely engaging!
There are really interesting plot twists in there, for example, Thomas Wayne being Batman, Martha Wayne being the Joker. As for the way Aquaman was used to being made fun off in pre-52 era; after reading Flashpoint, no one can laugh at Aquaman now. He is a total badass!
Flashpoint was what triggered and engineered New 52 in 2011. Here DC Comics’ Vertigo and even Windstorm appeared out of nowhere and contributed largely to the overall story.
Geoff John nailed it with this story and proved that building a complex, dark world with cliffhangers till the last moment is economically possible as well. Andy Kubert’s top-notch artwork is mind-blowing especially at the climax of the story.
For people who always ask me how to begin reading comics in a serialized manner, I say Flashpoint is the go-to story because this where the New 52 began and gave DC comics a “Rebirth” while Windstorm and Vertigo became a part of the mainstream DC continuity as well.
Checkout these Flash comics to get started.
– Anish Sahni
Anish is a writer, director, blogger and editor based in New Delhi. In 2018, Anish launched a small film, video, and podcast channel company named Bonsai TV on YouTube. He is known for his uncompromising devotion to quality and is firmly committed to the development and progression of a loyal film and comic books culture in India. From time to time, Anish guest blogs on The Comic Book Store. A massive supporter and campaigner of #ReleaseTheSnyderCut in India for the past 2 years, he vows to not stop unless his demands are met! You can follow him on Instagram.
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