Flashpoint Beyond #2 – Geoff Johns, Jeremy Adams, Tim Sheridan, Writers; Xermanico, Mikel Janin, Artists; Romulo Fajardo Jr, Jordie Bellaire, Colorists
Ray – 8/10
Ray: Thomas Wayne is back where he started, and this miniseries seems determined to remind us just how awful and bloody the Flashpoint Universe truly was. Fresh off his adventure abroad, Thomas is now trying to figure out who the Clockwork Killer is and who wanted him out of Gotham—and that leads him back to Arkham Asylum, where another victim has been claimed. The targets seem to be those like Barry Allen, who will become superheroes or supervillains if their fates aren’t interrupted, and the latest victim is Roger Hayden—the Psycho-Pirate, and the man who remembered the fate of the Multiverse. Now this version of him is hanging in his cell—and he’s covered that cell with messages of memories from other worlds. It’s a nice, creepy scene—but Thomas’ confrontation with Gilda Dent veers into weird and sadistic dialogue and violence and leads to a rather predictable outcome that seems trying to repeat history.
This series has been doubling down on the take of Thomas as an unstable and dangerous man, but not in the completely insane way Tom King did. He’s more of an old-school film noir protagonist, dealing out brutal violence to those who deserve it, but in a way that makes it clear he’s trying to exorcise his own demons more than anything. The return of a major player and a clear opposite number to Thomas at the end of the main segment is intriguing, but this issue’s best segments are once again the brief funny bits including the hapless Oswald Cobblepot and his adventures with Dexter Dent. The ending segment, involving the Bruce Wayne Batman and the eccentric child time traveler, continues to be intriguing, but overall this series isn’t quite living up to the success of its predecessor yet. Maybe it’s the three different writers, but it’s not gelling together cohesively as one narrative.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
