'Flashpoint': The DC Philosophy Story

Flashpoint’s cover. Photo courtesy of Third Eye Comics and DC Comics.

Today, I finished reading the Geoff Johns composition of ‘Flashpoint’. After weeks of putting it off, re-reading it today felt like watching Grant Gustin’s recently completed TV series and being sent back to Philosophy/Ethics in college.

I’m no big Barry Allen expert, but this comic storyline came off as more burdensome compared to what I’ve seen of his lighthearted, awkward self in 2017’s Justice League film. I could relate to wishing I could go back in time to not have to say goodbye to a loved one. But as I said earlier, it was like Philosophy and Ethics all over again, given that you have to really think about how saving one life affects so many other ones.

Flashpoint was very darkly toned with the graphics and depictions of wars tearing the Justice League apart, literally and metaphorically. But as heavy as this task was, Barry kept running to make everything right, if not for himself, then for his loved ones. The love of his mother kept him going whether in an alternate reality or not, and that could be a message to me and other people feeling nostalgic about lost relatives.

Whether the film is at least 90% faithful to the book or otherwise, I am curious to see if Ezra Miller’s Flash can bring back the goofy, dedicated hero I saw him as years ago, or if he can bring about a new Flash entirely. And because I’m still new to the modern and past comic book game, I have a lot to learn about the eponymous superhero before he was a big TV phenomenon. But I wouldn’t say I liked it, given how treacherous and bloody it was compared to seeing Barry doodle on a rude prison visitor’s face in Justice League. I mainly bought it to see if this Flash film follows its original material, has become mostly Hollywood, or both. But I look forward to seeing Barry making peace for himself and his superhero persona.