Editor's Note: Flashpoint is a DC Universe event taking place in the comics. Although one would think that the story focuses on Flash, according to writer Geoff Johns, it is actually a Flash/Batman team-up. Over the next few months, we will be looking at all things relating to Batman in this event. And today we have a number of things that focus on the road to the event and the first issue.
So this is it, The Flash #12. The road to Flashpoint has come to an end, this is the final issue of the Flash ongoing, and thank God for that. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed The Flash series, but that was the first storyline, after issue #8, the series stopped being a comment and became a giant tease for Flashpoint, which is all this comic is.
This comic deals with the return of Professor Zoom aka The Reverse Flash, who has been stealing life force from children to help him change his age and hide away from Barry Allen, The Flash.
Barry in this issue is stuck dealing with the fallout of an alternate Universe Barry Allen called Hot Pursuit trying to kill Bart Allen, Kid Flash, because he thinks Bart is the one causing time anomalies. However, the two Barry’s soon find out that the person responsible is none other than Professor Zoom, who is in the middle of killing this world’s Barry’s friend. When Zoom finds out that Hot Pursuit is a version of Barry that doesn’t have super speed he takes the opportunity to finally kill A Barry Allen, and is quite proud of himself, and to be fair, if I finally got something done after about fifty years of trying, I’d be pretty proud too.
Zoom runs off and hides as an old man in the crowd as Bart and Barry look for him, as Zoom narrates “Everything else is next” which sets the stage for Flashpoint. Barry admits defeat for now and decides to deal with his personal life and go and visit his mother’s grave, who was murdered by Zoom, as Barry stands at the grave Zoom proclaims “It changes…it all changes” as a lightning bolt strikes.
This was an incredibly fast paced issue of the Flash, which is both good and bad. Good in that the Flash is supposed to be fast paced and you really get a feel that you are dealing with the fastest man on Earth and his enemy, also one of the fastest men on Earth. The fast pace also works for Scott Kolins who does the majority of the art on this book, a book like The Flash really shows how good his art can be. And although I’m not the biggest fan of what I like to call his “watercolor” style, it certainly works here. And the slower paced parts by Francis Manapul also show how Barry needs to take a breath and slow down, if he is ever going to be able to beat Professor Zoom.
However, on the other side, this comic was nothing but an incredibly short teaser for Flashpoint which came out the same day. This comic would have worked better as the DC Free Comic Book Day issue, like Blackest Night #0 was a few years ago. It’s a good comic, but it is certainly not worth $2.99, it is so short that you can likely finish it twice in ten minutes and for $2.99 and a book by Geoff Johns, Scott Kolins and Francis Manapul, you certainly expect more bang for your buck.
The Flash #12:
Reviewed by Austen Beattie
