Flashpoint Beyond #6 – Geoff Johns, Tim Sheridan, Jeremy Adams, Writers; Xermanico, Mikel Janin, Gary Frank, Artists; Romulo Fajardo Jr, Jordie Bellaire, Brad Anderson, Colorists
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: A lot can change in a year, as when this strange miniseries debuted it seemed like a farewell to the Flashpoint universe and to the DC legacy of Geoff Johns as a whole. The writer-turned-executive had scaled back his DC work to just this co-written miniseries, and was off at Image creating his own superheroes. Since then, he’s announced a huge comeback at DC with two new titles coming soon, and everything about this final issue reflects that. It’s been an odd ride, dividing the story between two very different tales. In one, Thomas Wayne finds himself again in the Flashpoint universe, a doomed world filled with dark versions of DC icons. He investigated a mysterious case of a villain named the Clockwork Killer—who turned out to be his twisted wife Martha, now the world’s Joker. At the same time, Bruce found himself in conflict with the Time Masters, led by Rip Hunter. They all insisted that he had done something terrible and needed to make it right—but these segments were brief and ambiguous.
It all comes together in this final issue in brilliant fashion, as it’s revealed that Bruce took advantage of the chaos of Doomsday Clock to gain the ability to preserve and recreate his father’s world, trying to give the twisted version of Batman one last shot at redemption. To do that, though, he’ll have to keep a mcguffin away from a ruthless Rip Hunter—and hope his father can resist the ultimate temptation courtesy of Joker and this world’s version of Two-Face. It’s an odd concept, but one that packs some powerful emotional weight in the way it brings together all the different characterizations of Thomas Wayne. The ending of the Flashpoint Universe is a strange esoteric happy ending that holds promise for future stories, but the real meat of the issue comes in the last few pages. We have massive hints for stories to come, as well as the last few pages—which tease a sequel to one of Johns’ most controversial stories. It’s a bold mission statement as Johns gets ready to restart his twenty-year DC legacy.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
