Flashpoint

And that's where...

There was a big story called Flashpoint, which I believe...

I feel like we actually get a little into that in the Flash show.

But Flash was like...

Yeah, Flash was like...

The Flashpoint was a big...

I think actually the Flashpoint movie is...

I think the Flash movie that... start Ezra Miller had to do with a lot with Flashpoint but I feel like we get into that yeah I feel like we get into it within this in the TV show as well but um yeah so but like once that kind of ended it was like they rebooted everything and it was kind of awesome because it was a really good starting point for people who hadn't been reading DC like I didn't really read any DC and then when they started with that i was like i got into it and i started reading like a ton of dc stuff because it was like it kind of rebooked it restarted everything so you kind of had and that was one of the things like i loved about flash and arrow was like every week or every month it was kind of like it had a new rogue villain that they were fighting, so it kind of reintroduced you to every single person.

You love it or you hate it.

We're talking Flashpoint today by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert.

Um, yeah.

I think we're, we got a pretty fun split on the podcast today.

So before we get into who likes it, if anyone out there has not read Flashpoint or has not heard of Flashpoint in passing, this is the story of how Barry Allen fucked up.

Barry Allen, The Flash, came back from the dead to find out that the Reverse Flash had rewritten time and killed his mother, and that's kinda fucked up.

He did not like that, and he said, "You know what? With my powers of really fast feet and this treadmill, I will go back and I will stop that from happening." And when he did so, he shattered time, and in doing so created a nightmare universe where Thomas Wayne is Batman, Aquaman and Wonder Woman are taking their relationship issues out on all of Europe, and, uh, Superman, little skinny guy.

[hums]

This is Comic Shenanigans, episode 1161, Event Flashback, DC's Flashpoint.

🎵 Welcome to the Comic Shenanigans Podcast.

I'm your host, Adam Chapman.

This is episode 1161, Event Flashback, DC's Flashpoint.

I am, as I said, your host, Adam Chapman, joined by my special co-host for today's episode, Nathan Struck.

Nathan, say hello to the flying people.

And we picked one that I would say is relatively breezy and that it is not very long.

It has a lot of tendrils and tie-ins, but they're for the most part not necessarily needed for the main book.

It's a what if scenario that genuinely hurts to think about because it would've been so spectacular on screen.

You're talking about the Flashpoint alternate reality storyline.

Exactly.

The author reminds us that in standard DC lore, Thomas Wayne is a gifted surgeon and a philanthropist

But in an alternate comic book reality known as Flashpoint, the mugger in the alley doesn't kill the parents.

Joe Chill kills young Bruce instead

And the grief of losing their son completely shatters the parents.

Think about all those characters who exist solely to suffer.

Speaking of DC cartoon movies, I actually hunt down the Flash Paradox.

Flashpoint? Flashpoint.

I haven't seen that yet.

I haven't seen it.

You

might be right.

Because I'd really like to get Flashpoint at the tip of my fucking fingers.

Guys, if

He just did a bunch.

He did Flashpoint.

He did this.

He did...

Technically, he replaced Conroy.

Because Conroy voiced Batman in...

Flashpoint Paradox.

Because Flashpoint was the end of the old universe and the start of the new 52, much like in the comics.

I wouldn't be surprised if that is wrong because my first instinct on how to pronounce everything is wrong.

Right away, here, Synchro Shadow Advanced says, Partsack, this is at least your third time working with Green Arrow, Flashpoint, Arrow, and Absolute Green Arrow.

Any chance you'll be working in the DCU for Green Arrow or Mainline Comics Green Arrow?

I don't – well, first of all, never say never.

Somebody knows this.

Flashpoint.

There you go.

Such smart fans.

Oh, look at that.

Really? Yeah.

That was all because of Flashpoint, right?

Yeah,

so like for 10 years i think no it started back in like the early 2010s i want to say is when they did, because they did a bunch of movies, but then they did Justice League, which was the Jim Lee and Geoff Johns run, which kind of started it off.

They did Flashpoint, which ended that universe.

Yeah,

that's what I saw.

First story arc is New 52, which starts with Flashpoint.

yeah

but i think that i think what i saw was that uh flashpoint is like the 18th movie of like that they made like they'd already had 17 animated movies before that

In twenty eleven, DC Comics was desperately in need of a creative shake-up, as sales had slumped the previous year.

It was announced that following the Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert mini-event Flashpoint, the entire DC Comics line and continuity would be canceled and rebooted with fifty-two brand-new ongoing titles, marketed as the New Fifty-Two.

Sales immediately skyrocketed to the point that their immediate competition at Marvel would try a similar gimmick in twenty twelve.

However, despite universal acclaim for Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Batman run, sales for the rest of the line gradually returned to pre-New Fifty-Two numbers, and audiences could feel a lack of editorial and creative direction at the company.

However, it's rare today to hear anything at all about the book, let alone anything positive.

Doomsday Clock does in fact remain canon, name-checked and referenced in Dark Nights, Death Metal, Infinite Frontier, and the new History of the DC Universe, and most recently, the DC All-In Special.

Before leaving DC, Johns himself would continue to address and hint at further DC Watchmen crossovers in the pages of his Flashpoint Beyond and New Golden Age series.

And given the cyclical nature of mainstream superhero comics, it would be no surprise if those dangling plot threads were revisited in the future.