World of Flashpoint
Written by Rex Ogle
Art by Eduardo Francisco, Paulo Siqueria, Roland Paris, and Stefani Renee
The World of Flashpoint was initially something I was ready to quickly write off. Written by an editor, focusing on the world as a whole, it wasn’t something that seemed like it would be too spectacular just from reading the previews. Combine this with a main character in Traci 13 that I wasn’t fond of, and what do you get? A mini that I picked up the first issue of to get a pin, which you’ll find over the course of these full miniseries reviews to be a recurring theme, and wound up loving almost all the way to the end.
One thing this mini truly does succeed with is creating the World of Flashpoint as something more than a United States preparing for war, and a devastated Europe doubling as a warzone for the Atlanteans and Amazons as well as a place for the Flying Grayson’s to be trapped. The map we saw in the early previews for Flashpoint is from the debut issue of this mini, and with few exceptions it’s the only mini to really tap into the vastness. Sure, the Grodd one shot showed us Africa, Outsiders has shown us India and the Middle East, Deathstroke has brought us the perils of going too close to what was once western Europe, and the Flying Grayson’s shows us the above water Eastern Europe. But what about Nazi controlled South America? Or the Tornado Protected Republic of Japan? The second issue of this series alone paints us a broader picture of the world than anywhere else in Flashpoint. Fitting given the name of the mini, but most “World of” series that tie into altered realities and timelines tend to pick a few absent central characters and focus on them. This series stick with Traci as the lead and visits those characters, which include the likes of Guy Gardner and Jason Todd, and it does a great job of showing us all of these various elements without breaking the tight focus of Traci’s quest.
Traci’s quest, by the way, is teleporting around the world throughout the second issue to try and find people who will help her stop her father and the HIVE Council from using a satellite to kill over a hundred million people in an attempt to stop the Atlanteans and Amazons. The HIVE Council is a mash up of fan service, as we see a child like Ra’s Al Ghul, an elder Captain Nazi, Prince Osiris of Kahndaq, and even Kimiyo Hoshi to name just a few. That’s one of the things you come to notice throughout this series; that Rex Ogle is more than willing to play up the fan service through cameos, but he does so in a way that doesn’t feel forced. At the end of the second issue, when her quest is done and she’s back to stop her father, alone, you wonder just what the point was. The lessons she learned were the important thing, but they weren’t exactly clear until the third issue when she uses those experiences, and the will to live and thrive shared across the globe, to save the world.
The actual conflict come the third issue is kind of headscratchy, to be fair. Traci’s father, Doctor 13, winds up being the bad guy in an interesting way, but the fight itself is horribly flat. Traci’s actual power level never really was an issue throughout the first two issues, she was powerful but mainly used her powers to teleport around. In this issue she can do virtually anything at any time, and so can her father. I’m not going to pretend I know if there’s a certain way to write magical people in the DC Universe, but there were quite a few times when I was openly wondering why they didn’t just say a few words and stop Aquaman and Wonder Woman, why the satellite was even necessary, and finally if the ending was even necessary. Magic is an issue of mine, and I had a gut feeling that the actual magic confrontation would irk me, and unfortunately my gut was right. The conflict is just a mess.
This series is by no means perfect, because while Traci becomes an incredibly likable character in the first few issues her character arc falls apart during her fight with her father. I understood her guilt for not being able to save her mother of siblings, and I understood her drive to save the world from her fathers attempt to save it, but she went from a strong willed character with regrets as to her relationship with her father, to a little girl desperate for daddy’s love, and then back again. In the span of about six pages. But getting back to the positives, she’s likable because she feels real, like, aside from the demonic brandings caused by magic gone wrong, and the dad who wants to kill a hundred and eighteen million people, she’s a relatable character. Her guilt makes sense, her strained relationship with her father makes sense, hell, her surrogate relationship with Madame Xanadu works too; she’s a fully fleshed out three dimensional character come the end of the second issue, and while she exits the mini much the same way, the third issue weakens her for a bit.
I was pleasantly surprised to discover, while looking back, that the art’s consistency was due to them not rotating the creative teams around, which is something I’d been noticing for the third issues. It grants the book the ability to retain a solid and consistent tone throughout the issues instead of some jarring last minute shift of styles. Eduardo brings a great style to the table in this series, and does a great job differentiating characters by their age. Teenagers look like teenagers, adults look like adults, and the Demon’s Head is a small child with gray hair. There are some inconsistencies here and there, but for the most part the issues are well put together and a lot is added to the story because of it. On top of that, despite my complaints concerning the third issue, the art isn’t among them. Despite the story falling into the range of being a mess, it still look really damn good. Not to mention that it gives Eduardo a chance to draw action, and even if its magical deus ex action, it still look sweet.
I keep griping about the third issue falling apart, and I can’t let go of it. Doctor 13’s heel turn is one part unexpected, one part a need for a villain that could actually fight Traci, and one part Rex Ogle watching Full Metal Alchemist. Why am I sure about FMA? Because the not-so-good Doctor talks about using his soul for equivalent exchange. Also, despite these characters proving to be giant bad asses of insane proportions, and the fact that one point Doctor 13 wipes out dozens of hostiles in the span of two or three panels, for some reason they need a satellite to stop the bad guys. I mean, the satellite is a point of contention, and no, it’s never actually used, but I just can’t get why anyone would want to use that when they could just drop the 13’s on New Themyscria and bring death to all in minutes.
The eventual conclusion is more than just a tad bit underwhelming, and while I understand that Rex wanted to give us a happy ending, and that this story was built to have a happy ending, the one he gives us is bittersweet and feels like it’s lacking something. Yes, the story is about the relationship between father and daughter, and that much of the ending I like quite a bit, but the powers just kill me. I also half expected Traci to become actually involved with the giant battle she dropped in on, and even maybe play a role with the eventual outcome of Flashpoint, but the final issue wraps her up in a way that I wouldn’t be surprised to see her not get a single mention, despite showing up.
As far as the first wave, the first week, the first four titles of Flashpoint go….it’s not the best, but it definitely does a great job of living up to its name. It’s not a must read for the sake of understanding the series, but it’s definitely enjoyable enough to warrant the read. And hey, who knows which other Flashpoint minis and one shots it will wind up getting tied in with when DC releases the trade!
Overall?
6.5/10
