I’m going to get the positives of the Reverse Flash Flashpoint tie-in out of the way first. I’m not saying this is a bad book, but I have a few gripes.
First, this book is really well written. Scott Kolins did a great job making you feel for Barry Allen as his life was pointed in a direction not intended for him by a psychopath. Speaking of a psychopath, you really feel the frustration and anger Eobard Thawne feels towards Barry, it is almost tangible; as if it is a character all its own.
Second, Joel Gomez and the rest of the art teams’ gritty, almost unpolished, art makes this book pop! The panels where Thawne is attempting to keep Barry from becoming the Flash are very cool. Throughout the entire book, they do a great job showing just what a loser the Reverse Flash is when it comes to fighting the Flash.
Ok, I’ve got my kudos out of the way… time to gripe. If you read any of the 12 Flash comic books from the Flash on-going series over the past year, you know everything that happened in this book. If you have been aware of the Flash for… oh I don’t know the past 30 years; you know everything that happened in this book.
Was it a good story? Yes. Is it worth buying? Probably not. It doesn’t add to the Flashpoint story at all. It was basically a money grab by DC Comics to get $2.99 from their loyal readers and collectors. The other issue with this book… it is really a One-Shot. That’s right, up in the top left corner, just below the #1, it says First Issue, of Three. In reality it should say… One-Shot. It ends at a familiar place in Barry Allen’s life. A place revealed during the recently ended Flash on-going series.
While the writing is good in this book and the art is nearly perfect for this tale, you can go ahead and skip this book. Not because it is bad, but because there are 52 DCnU titles coming out in about 3 months and we DC Comic Fanboys and Fangirls need to save all the pennies we can to make sure we can see where our favorite heroes end up in the DCnU!
