So, while DC fixed the horrible colouring job on XS, what DC didn’t fix was a major omission in the pic…. namely Bart Allen / Kid Flash. He is totally absent. See pic on the right if you don’t believe me.
Now, we know Bart Allen is “lost” in the Flashpoint era. In fact he’s in the future of the Flashpoint Earth while Barry Allen, the Flash, is in /on modern day Flashpoint Earth. With Booster Gold, they appear to be the only 3 heroes of current continuity to remember “our” timeline in the Flashpoint era. Now, it would appear that Bart may be the “anomaly” (that caused the creation of the Flashpoint timeline) mentioned in Flash #11, but we’ll probably know for sure with this week’s Flash #12 and Flashpoint #1.
Now, I don’t pretend to fully understand how the DC Universe shook out for Bart Allen / Kid Flash after Infinite Crisis nor how Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds shook out for Jenni Ognats / XS, both interestingly written by Flashpoint scribe Geoff Johns. However, both debuted as essentially cousins (descendents of Barry Allen) in the 1990s and were from a future DCU that in current continuity doesn’t exist or exists on a parrellel Earth or in future of a former parallel Earth or something else. (Head…. spinning….)
Now, it would seem very strange that only Bart would be the anomaly and wiped from the timestream (if the picture in this article is to be believed) when in many ways XS is the bigger problem from both multiverse AND timeline perspectives. Yet, XS is in the Flashpoint pic in the above right and Bart isn’t.
However, we also had Bart’s aging into an adult in his own Flash: The Fastest Man Alive series, then his death, and then his resurrection as a kid again. If Bart is the anomaly, I hope it makes sense. With his manipulation of age/time, Bart seems to manifest powers of the Negative Speed Force, but he is also clearly tied to the (Postive) Speed Force.
I hope I don’t need a PHD in physics to sort through what causes Flashpoint, but needless to say, it does appear that we are in for an interesting ride.
Oh, and by the way, did anyone ever find Wally West? ;)
FLASH FACTS: Also, don’t forget to check out the “secret” Flashpoint pages from Adventure Comics #526 featuring XS (there’s that name again) and the mystery of Flash Red and Flash Blue. And for all we know about Flashpoint so far, check out the compiled puzzle pieces from the Road to Flashpoint. Plus, here are the first 3 uncorrected pages from the Flashpoint #1 preview as well as the last 4 preview pages .
