Fade to Black Review: Flashpoint #5 Review
What up Nation,
This past Wednesday was the day comic books fans were looking forward to for months: Flashpoint #5 and Justice League #1.
I went to my local comic shop and fortunately I was able to buy a copy of Flashpoint #5 but all of the stores Justice League issues were sent to another store so I can’t give a review of that title. After working the part-time job I sat and read Flashpoint #5 and was not disappointed.
SOME SPOILERS AHEAD…
In case you haven’t read the Flash (Barry Allen) is trapped in a DC Universe unlike his own. Wonder Woman’s Amazons and Aquaman’s Atlanteans are engaged in a war that has already decimated a country and threatens to tear the planet apart literally. Superman’s rocket from Krypton didn’t crash land in Kansas but in Metropolis where he was captured and studied by the government but not before causing the accident that killed a young Bruce Wayne. Now Bruce’s father Thomas is operating as Batman. Lois Lane is working as a reporter/secret agent for Cyborg who is this reality’s #1 hero. Oh and a certain character named Grifter is leading an underground resistance to stop the Atlanteans and Amazons. Barry’s story is followed through the Flashpoint mini-series. The effect of Flashpoint on the other DC characters can be followed in various other mini-series and one shot specials.
Since waking up in this reality Barry has had to regain his Flash powers and assemble a team to help him prevent Aquaman and Wonder Woman from destroying the planet. This leads us to Flashpoint #5 where Barry finally realizes what caused the creation of this alternate reality and what happens to create the new DC Universe.
I thought that after a ho-hum miniseries to date, this issue did alot to make up for that fact. Andy Kubert did a perfect job illustrating this mini-series through out. I did like the use of color throughout Flashpoint as it brought about the fact that this was a much darker and twisted world than the original. I thought Geoff Johns didn’t bring his A-game with this writing effort but the last issue proved to be the best written issue overall.
I felt that DC should have picked some other event besides Flashpoint to start their relaunched titles. I felt this way about Blackest Night in that you take a story designed for a specific character and try to tie in every single DC character. Which of course is used to make more money for DC.
If you have not picked up the Flashpoint issues before #5 I would suggest saving your money and waiting for the trade paperback especially if you are just curious about the formation of the new DC Universe. For the most part the old DCU ended in a whimper and not a bang.
Your black geek–Adam Black
