In ‘Flashpoint’ #3 two big things happened… Someone connected with the Speed Force again and the fate of Superman was revealed. This review will feature some spoilers, if you haven’t read Flashpoint #3 go pick it up and then come back and read this.
If there was ever a time to go into a comic book and slap some sense into a hero, it would be now and it would be Barry Allen. After the failed attempt at recreating his Flash Accident, he was left with some major burns over 75% of his body. What does Barry do next? Head to the roof to get struck by lightning… AGAIN!
So, Barry’s little experiment was not for naught, the second strike gave him enough “juice” to get the Speed Force back up and running (pun 100% intended). I am hoping some of the other speedsters will start reacquiring their powers.
The other big “to do” in this issue…. Project Superman was finally revealed. We learned a spacecraft crashed into Metropolis back while Martha Wayne was pregnant with the late Bruce Wayne. So Batman, Thomas Wayne, and the newly re-powered Flash convince Cyborg to hack into the military databases to find out what happened to the alien survivor.
Quick note, while reading this issue whenever Cyborg graced a panel I kept hearing Dr. Horrible’s description of Captain Hammer “Corporate Tool”. I’m trying to be positive about Cyborg’s big role in the Flashpoint, but to me he has always been a 4th tier character. Even when he was a part of the Teen Titans for me it was more about Robin/Nightwing, Speedy/Arsenal, Aqualad/Tempest & Donna Troy. Vic Stone to me is literally a throwaway character. In this issue, he is shown as a tool for the U.S. Government, and then again as a tool for Batman and the Flash to break into Project: Superman.
Meeting the Flashpoint Superman is an interesting event. Here is the world’s most powerful hero, literally a human solar battery, stuck in a cage in a hole in the ground. This Superman is anything but that, he is frail and skinny and gaunt and has never, EVER, seen the light of day. After Batman, Cyborg and the Flash free Superman from his cell, they are racing against the clock to make it out of the underground bunker before being attacked by the Project: Superman guards. Upon hitting daylight, Barry Allen is proven very, VERY wrong on his assessment of Superman, as Kal-EL. Rather than stay and fight, he takes off leaving his would-be rescuers to fend for themselves.
Issue 3 of Flashpoint had a ton of great action and moves the story along nicely. I can’t wait to see how the heroes get out of their tight spot and what will become of the skinny and, most likely, emotionally damaged Superman. Oh and finally more on Flashpoint’s S.H.A.Z.A.M! I can’t wait.
