Teen Titans #100

Family Reunion

J.T. Krul -- Writer
Nicola Scott -- Penciller
Doug Hazlewood, Jack Purcell & Greg Adams -- Inkers
Travis Lanham -- Letterer
Jason Wright -- Colorist
Nicola Scott & Doug Hazlewood with Wright -- Cover
Phil Jimenez & Jeromy Cox -- Variant Cover
Rickey Purdin -- Asst. Editor
Rachel Gluckstern -- Editor

Our cover shows our current team triumphantly, and angrily, charging forward. It certainly is an explosive image, although I wish our heroes weren't so angry — especially Superboy with the angry glowing red eyes of hate. But this really is a decent cover, choosing a fitting pose for the conclusion of this series. There's a million creator names listed on the cover, but that's because this issue includes eight pages of random "pin-up" images celebrating the history of the Teen Titans.

Our variant cover is an even more fitting image for this issue — not just as the conclusion of this particular Teen Titans series, but the conclusion of this Teen Titans continuity as a whole. And Phil Jimenez is one of the few artists who can comfortably cram 50 characters on one cover. There's a 90% chance your favorite Teen Titan is on here, and they won't look half bad, either.

Our story picks up with Headcase using the Golden Gate Bridge to attack Titans Tower. Luckily, our heroes are joined by a dozen of their former teammates to protect the tower from Superboy-Prime and his team of villains. Prime is personally beating on Superboy, blaming him for somehow being responsible for repeatedly pulling him back to this world. So, with no evidence whatsoever, Prime has deduced that the only way for him to get back home is to kill Conner.

Supergirl, Bombshell and Blue Beetle work together to take down the Golden Gate robot, Tim and Damian team up to decapitate Indigo, and Speedy and Ravager knock out the Persuader. Miss Martian is immediately overwhelmed by Sungirl's fire, but Solstice helps her escape. Beast Boy subdues Zookeeper and has Argent create an energy cage around him.

For at least the third time in his career, Red Star launches an all-out attack on Prime, seeking revenge for Pantha and Wildebeest. And, as usual, Prime easily brushes the Russian off. And he would have killed him, too, had Wonder Girl not shoved Prime through the wall of the tower. They end up in the hall of fallen Titans, and Prime punches Cassie into the statue of Kid Devil. Seeing how this unnerves her, Prime mocks her for letting so many Titans die on her watch.

Bart has spent all this time running around in circles with the fake Inertia. But even though Bart was sure last issue this isn't the real Inertia, he begins to have doubts about that now. He eventually grabs hold of this Inertia's wrist and begins to drag him along, just as he had done many times in his virtual reality machine. Bart admits that each time he killed the VR Inertia, it felt better and better. And now he embraces the chance to inflict pain, destroy "Inertia" and avenge himself, reasoning to himself that this imposter deserves it.

Luckily for Bart, Raven was nearby and able to use her powers to not only see Bart's intentions, but give him a warning message to stop. And luckily for us, Bart is not too far down the path of revenge, and he does stop. He looks down at the injured "Inertia" with remorse and sadly admits aloud that he could have killed him. Raven praises Bart for controlling his emotions, and he darkly replies with, "We all got our demons inside." Bart then quickly pulls Raven out the way of a psychic blast from Headcase, saying, "Your boyfriend is crazy for you." Raven pulls Headcase into her soul-self and finally expose him to her whole demon side.

Superboy is naturally upset to watch his friends battle three clones of himself. So he tells Rose to get the box from his room. The bald Superboy clone breaks her arm on the way, but Rose manages to find the box, revealing a Kryptonite stake. She promptly jams the stake through the clone's heart, killing him instantly. Rose tosses the Kryptonite down to Damian, who uses it to kill the other two Superboy clones.

With that, the only villain left standing is Superboy-Prime, who is still duking it out with Wonder Girl. The rest of our heroes join the fight, with everybody getting in a hit. And I mean everybody. Amazingly, they are able to knock Prime out. Ravager and Damian both suggest they finish Prime once and for all, but Solstice, Miss Martian and Tim object to the idea of murder. Conner points out that locking him away won't do any good, so they need to find a more permanent solution. Tim suggests the Phantom Zone, but Conner had something else in mind. So Superboy and Supergirl fly Prime out to the Source Wall, telling him this isn't a prison — it's the end.

Later, Conner catches up with Rose in his room, and from the window, we can see the Golden Gate Bridge has already been rebuilt. Rose supports Conner's decision and empathizes with him being manipulated by Prime, referencing her own history with her father. Conner tells her he keeps the Kryptonite stake for himself, just in case somebody takes control of him again. And now he entrusts it to her.

Beast Boy catches up with Raven, and they finally have a frank and honest discussion that ends with a kiss. Everybody else eventually joins them outside, with Cassie teasing Conner about his old haircut, and Rose angrily shoving Bart aside, calling him freckles. And poor Bart utters the last spoken words of the issue — "What'd I do?" — as the Teen Titans form one last pose in the sunlight.

And that's that. The end of this era of the Teen Titans. Next issue will be in the post-Flashpoint world and nothing will be the same. So ... was this a fitting conclusion for this group? I ... guess so? It was certainly a big, bombastic fight with lots of guest stars. But none of those guest stars really did anything. And we never found out where half of those villains came from. And everything wrapped up way too easily — that is by far the weakest Superboy-Prime has ever been. So weak, in fact, that I almost want to consider this an out-of-continuity story. But what does it matter? The continuity is over, anyway.

The biggest problem with this last story was the rushed nature of the whole affair. Bart had a rather compelling moment with the fake Inertia, but we never had time to explore who or what this imposter was. Truthfully, this complaint applies to all the villains in this story, if you really look into it. And what was the deal with Superboy's piece of Kryptonite? Why did he take it away from Wonder Girl? Just because they're not dating anymore doesn't mean he can't trust her anymore to stop him if he turns evil.

On a whole, it's hard to look at the J.T. Krul run without thinking of his unfulfilled promises. Ravager was supposed to be looking for her mother. The new Aqualad was supposed to join the team. Superboy sort of ... almost fell in love with Ravager. Solstice had a big, in-your-face introduction, but we never learned where her powers came from. And Bart's mad dash to remember all futuristic technology resulted in just one invention — his virtual reality chamber. However, I was quite happy we were able to spend a little bit of time exploring Bart's trauma. So I guess I should appreciate what we did get, and, on a whole, I will have to say Krul's run was mostly satisfactory.

Next time, we'll finally, officially say goodbye to this world with Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost #3.

Titans #38

The Methuselah Imperative: Part 3 of 3

Eric Wallace Writer
Travis Moore Penciller
Walden Wong • Inker
Hi-Fi • Colorist
Travis Lanham • Letterer
Rickey Purdin • Asst. Editor
Rachel Gluckstern • Editor

Our cover shows Arsenal battling Deathstroke, with a bunch of random villains standing around. Deathstroke's son, Jericho, is in the bottom right corner, with glowing hands for some reason. I can't keep track of all his changing powers. Anyway, this is a rather ho-hum cover, indicative of the rather ho-hum story we have inside. I don't know if things were rushed to get this out before the New 52 started or if there was a general lack of care and effort put into this, the final issue of a dying series. It could be both.

Anyway, we're not here for the big Arsenal/Deathstroke fight. We only care about the funeral for Ryan Choi, an apprentice of Ray Palmer, the Atom. Basically everyone who's anyone showed up at the funeral in Ivy Town to support Ray, including the JLA, JSA and Teen Titans. Ray offers a eulogy in Patriot Park Cemetery, but it's surprisingly brief, essentially just thanking Ryan for choosing to protect people with his life.

Beast Boy stood next to Starfire, Dick Grayson and Donna Troy; while Bart kind of got stuck in the crowd, only roughly in the vicinity of Superboy and Wonder Girl, who are curiously holding hands. If this were an issue of Teen Titans, I would take this as an indication that those two have gotten back together, but since it's not, I'll just say that Travis Moore didn't realize they had broken up.

Our issue ends with Deathstroke sadly coming to terms with Jericho's latest rejection of him, including Ravager's. He vows to strike back with his biggest, craziest scheme yet, but it never comes to fruition, because after this, the entire DC Universe will be rebooted and this version of Slade Wilson will cease to exist. A really anticlimactic finale for one of DC's premiere villains.

Next time, we'll officially wrap up this continuity with Teen Titans #100.

Teen Titans #99

JT Krul – Writer
José Luís – Penciller
Greg Adams and J.P. Mayer – Inkers
Travis Lanham – Letterer
Jason Wright – Colorist
Nicola Scott & Doug Hazlewood with Wright – Cover
Rickey Purdin – Asst. Editor
Rachel Gluckstern – Editor

Our cover shows just about everyone facing off against a worthy opponent. Solstice and Sun Girl have similar powers, Raven and Headcase both have psychic powers and a shared history, Kid Flash and Inertia is obvious (of course that's a fake Inertia), Superboy and Superboy-Prime is only fitting, Ravager and Persuader are both girls with big weapons, and Beast Boy and Zookeeper have the same shape-shifting powers and a shared history. Robin and Indigo is quite a stretch, though, since she is a super-powered cyborg and he's just a kid with a batarang. Also, Indigo was never evil — that was Brainiac 8. Wonder Girl is also conspicuously absent, preventing this cover from being a perfect image of the Teen Titans' last big hurrah before the New 52.

Our story begins with a quick flashback of Superboy-Prime bringing the body of Match, Superboy's defective clone, to Dr. Caligan. I don't know how Prime found Match, let alone Caligan, but the important matter is the mad scientist agrees to help Prime, despite acknowledging that cloning is not his field of interest.

We then return to the present, with Superboy caught in the clutches of his three clones. Kon boldly tells Prime he'll stop him again, but Prime mocks him as being a "copy of a copy of a copy." Tim and Bart are the first to rush to Kon's aid, each commenting on how this feels like a bad dream. Bart even goes so far to hopefully suggest they're all sleeping by a campfire. Bart blows one of the clones away with a whirlwind, Tim attacks one with his bo staff. And Cassie finally joins the fray by tackling the third clone.

Of course, Bart quickly becomes distracted by the fake Inertia tormenting a group of bystanders. Bart doesn't consider even for a moment that this could be the real Inertia, instead wondering if it's a clone or another random speedster. Regardless, Bart considers this imposter just as deranged as the original, so he steps in to pull the people out of Inertia's whirlwind. The fake Inertia then attacks Bart, and as the two trade blows, the imposter admits he's new to this, and even complains about his green uniform, saying it's the color of a turtle. Bart doesn't engage in this mindless banter, content to think to himself that this Inertia doesn't know that the real one killed him. And Bart admits to himself that the scars of that still run deep inside him.

Solstice and Sun Girl put on a bright, fiery light show, and Zookeeper mockingly reminds Beast Boy of how he previously gave him the chance to be normal. The two shape-shifters start off by fighting as bears, before Zookeeper becomes a T-rex. So Beast Boy responds by returning to his Monkey King form. Headcase starts throwing large chunks of debris at Raven, while Ravager takes on the Persuader and Indigo at the same time. Luckily, she manages to trick Indigo into blasting the Persuader with her laser eyes.

Suddenly, all the villains start flying out to Titans Tower (it really feels like I'm missing a page here). Anyway, Headcase begins to destroy the Golden Gate Bridge, so the Titans scramble to rescue as many people as possible. Headcase turns the bridge into a giant robot that's marching right toward the tower. As our heroes start to battle this new menace, Prime gloats aloud that it's time for the Titans legend to fade away. But he's answered by Damian Wayne, who says, "Not quite. Legends are a thing of the past." And Mia Dearden, Speedy, completes the thought with, "Legacies last forever." And these two former Titans are joined by quite a few former Titans, including Blue Beetle, Supergirl, Miss Martian, Bombshell, Aquagirl and some past teammates from quite a while ago, such as Mirage.




This comic doesn't make any sense. But that kind of doesn't matter at this point. DC's just hastily cranking out these last few issues to reach the big #100. And all Krul wanted to do was go out with a big fight. He barely took any time to explain where some of these villains came from — and don't expect any more explanations next issue. It's all about mindless violence now. And I don't mind that every now and then, but I do prefer it when there's a stronger story serving as the foundation of said violence.

Next time, we'll take a quick look at the conclusion of another series, Titans #38.

Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost #2

Kid Flash Lost Part Two

Sterling Gates Writer
Oliver Nome Penciller
Trevor Scott Inker
Brian Buccellato Colorist
Dezi Sienty Letterer
Kate Stewart Assistant Editor
Joey Cavalieri Editor
Cover by Francis Manapul
Cover Color by Brian Buccellato

Our cover shows Bart still falling onto a city far below him, this time reflected on Hot Pursuit's visor. This still has nothing to do with our story inside, but it is really neat-looking. I mean, it's a Manapul cover, can you expect anything less?

Our story picks up in the year 3011, with Bart and Patty plotting their daring escape from Brainiac. Well, first, Bart has some questions about how Patty acquired Hot Pursuit's suit and Cosmic Motorcycle after he died. Patty explains that she went to Central City to see a friend, but then suddenly found herself back in the lab and the job she tried to leave behind. She was still helping out in the lab when some policemen gathered Hot Pursuit's effects to turn over to the Justice League. But instead of waiting for the Justice League to show up, Patty impulsively stole the gear and decided to become a superhero. She taught herself how to ride the motorcycle, thanks to the guiding influence of the helmet's AI, but on the third day, the bike "freaked out" and brought her here.

Bart reiterates that this is the wrong future and something must have happened to the timestream. He borrows Hot Pursuit's helmet and asks it to tell him what happened. Bart then cries out in pain as his brain is overwhelmed with dozens of contradictory images, showing the timeline he left behind, the new Flashpoint world Barry inadvertently created, and the post-Flashpoint world of the New 52.

Patty pulls the helmet off Bart, but he has collapsed and is slow to get up. And our heroes find out the hard way that they've been dawdling in one spot for too long, as a handful of floating robotic orbs have caught up with them. The robots begin to carry Bart away, who finally wakes up and demands that "Dr. Ball" put him down. Patty fires up the Cosmic Motorcycle and uses it to smash the robot and save Bart. But one of the other robots shoots Patty in the shoulder with a laser, so Bart insists on driving the cycle.

Bart drives right through the giant glass eye of Brainiac's skull-shaped base, which is unfortunately perched atop the old LexCorp tower. He assures Patty that he's driven a batplane before, but Patty, in a full-blown panic now, swears and tells Bart this isn't a plane. She manages to hit a switch on the bike that lets it drive on walls, preventing an imminent crash. Eventually our heroes are able to outrun the floating robots and find a safe spot atop a nearby building to regroup.

Patty berates Bart for pulling that stunt that almost killed them, and says she might as well just crawl back into that hibernation chamber and dream her worst memories again. She angrily asks how the Flash stands working with him, and Bart sadly says that the Flash doesn't work with him, at least not lately. Patty realizes she went too far, so she starts to apologize, but Bart interrupts her, asking what she dreamed about in the chamber. Patty says she drowned at a pool as a kid and it took the lifeguard a few minutes to resuscitate her. And she kept reliving that moment on a loop while she was in the chamber. She asks Bart what he dreamed, but he doesn't tell her (probably because he knows dreaming about a slightly rude Flash is no comparison to the torturous repetition of a near-death experience).

Bart gets down to business and starts piecing together the information Hot Pursuit's helmet gave him. He notes that something happened to the Flash (Bart's careful not to use Barry's name in front of Patty), and he laments not being able to see any trace of Max, Wally or even Jenni in this new timeline. Continuing to think aloud, Bart speculates that his grandfather is dead and there's nothing he can do about it. Patty tries to cheer him, saying they just need to find the Cosmic Motorcycle's fuel tank so they can use the Speed Force energy to go back in time and fix everything. Bart sadly says he doesn't think he's going to make it, and he shows Patty both his hands and now half his face have begun to fade away.

Patty sits in silence next to Bart for a moment, before turning the conversation back to how they need to save the future. She reminds Bart how Brainiac's studying the Speed Force to unlock the secrets of time travel, and she worries he may have already done so and has changed the past. In any case, the fate of the world depends on them to stop Brainiac. She asks Bart what the Flash would do, and this snaps Bart out of his depression.

We then check in on Brainiac, who is working in sub-level 7 of his laboratory. Bart suddenly shows up on his security monitors, calling the villain "Nerd-iiiac" and claiming that he'll never catch him, since he's the fastest time anomaly alive. Bart furthers the insults, by saying that Brainiac 5 told him Brainiac is dumber than a bag of Coluan rocks. This actually gets under Brainiac's skin, who responds that he vaporized the planet Colu when he was 7 years old, so there are no Coluan rocks left, and there is no such thing as a Brainiac 5. Bart is promptly captured by two large robots and forced back into the sleep chamber so Brainiac can continue studying the Speed Force. Of course, this is exactly what Bart wanted.

Bart wakes up in the same VR as before, with Barry ranting and raving about how Wally was a better Kid Flash than Bart ever will be. But Bart ignores his fake grandpa and begins to run. He doesn't have access to the Speed Force in the real world, but he does have super-speed in the virtual reality. And now he's using it to outthink the greatest criminal mastermind the universe has ever seen. Bart's plan works, and he's somehow able to rewrite Brainiac's programs from the inside. Brainiac noticed something was happening, but he wasn't able to disconnect Bart quick enough. Bart boasts of how the scientists had to constantly adapt the VR he was raised in, and he calls Brainiac a "noob" that has been "haxxor'd and pwned."

Patty emerges from hiding right on cue to blast Brainiac from behind with her baton, demonstrating Bart's success at disabling Brainiac's security programs. They're easily able to collect the Speed Force fuel cell, with is a glowing orange orb. But as soon as Patty picks it up, Brainiac blasts his robotic hand through Patty's chest. Bart attacks Brainiac in a rage with a hunk of metal he found on the ground, demanding to know why he killed her. Brainiac logically states that both Bart and Patty are temporal anomalies, and he only needs one of them alive to study. As he fights off Bart, he states that he's in the process of rebooting all his systems and he'll soon regain complete control of his citadel.

As Bart continued to fight and yell at Brainiac, Patty summoned all her remaining strength to crawl back to the Speed Force fuel cell. She tells Bart that she knows he can fix all this, so she tells him to do what he does best — run. With her last breath, Patty destroys the fuel cell, unleashing a bolt of lightning that strikes Bart in the chest. Lightning appears in Bart's eyes, and he instantly zooms away at super speed, vowing to do whatever it takes to save Patty and prevent this future from happening. He races into the timestream, determined to find the Flash, even if it kills him.




This issue took a little while to get going. The first three pages mostly just recapped stuff we already knew. And Patty's "backstory" added absolutely nothing. This issue also brought up a few inconsistencies that were a little too convenient for the plot. Like the nature of the sleep chambers. If they were supposed to show your worst nightmare, then why was Bart's nightmare just a mildly rude Barry and not Bart actually being killed by Inertia and the Rogues? Of course, if it was that memory, then he wouldn't have super speed and wouldn't be able to stop Brainiac. And although I love the idea of Bart having to outthink the most brilliant villain of all time, I wish the execution would have been a bit better. I mean, what, exactly, did Bart do?

I also have one last nitpick. In the last issue, Gates established Brainiac as a living computer that obnoxiously prefaced everything he said with "statement" or "query" or "order." In this issue, Gates forgot to do that half the time and/or forgot the difference between a statement and an order. It's not a big deal, but it adds to the rather long list of annoyances with this issue. It was nice that Patty died to help Bart, but I don't care about her. I wish it could have been someone actually connected to Bart. Oh well, in any case we did get a strong ending of a dying Bart boldly racing back through time to save the universe one last time.

Next time, we'll return to Teen Titans #99.

Teen Titans #98

Prime Numbers

JT Krul • Writer
Eduardo Pansica • Penciller
Eber Ferreira • Inker
Travis Lanham • Letterer
Jason Wright • Colorist
Nicola Scott & Doug Hazlewood with Wright • Cover
Rickey Purdin • Asst. Editor
Rachel Gluckstern • Editor

Our cover shows Superboy battling the all-powerful villain we just can't get rid of, Superboy-Prime. It's a perfectly fine cover, but I'm not a huge fan of the cracking Superman shield in the background. Is it supposed to represent Conner being killed or something? I don't quite get it.

Our story begins with a flashback to the Teen Titans' battle against Headcase in San Francisco. As Wonder Girl desperately holds onto Superboy to prevent him from being sucked into the black hole, we get a glimpse at the same black hole in another dimension, sucking in Superboy-Prime. Raven defeats Headcase, the school is evacuated, and later that night, Prime emerges from the rubble, wearing his full Anti-Monitor armor. Apparently he was that mysterious, smoking figure we saw at the end of Teen Titans #91, although that issue drew that individual naked. Anyway, Prime is a bit disoriented at first, but he soon realizes he's on Conner's world. He vows to find a way back to his own world, and he doesn't care if he has to kill all the Titans to do it.

We then cut to Keystone City, where Kid Flash is foiling a robbery attempt by Mirror Master, Heatwave and Captain Cold. Bart calls them the "three blind mice," and when Cold says this isn't a fairy tale, Bart doubles down on the theme and labels Cold the giant, while making himself Jack the Giant Killer. He easily dismantles the Rogues' weapons, boasting that these old men simply aren't fast enough for him. Suddenly, Inertia emerges from an alleyway, saying that he is fast enough for Bart. Inertia gets in the first strike on Bart, then dodges the retaliatory attacks, telling Bart that he's going to kill him again. But then Bart manages to grab hold of Inertia, and he kind of snaps. With angry lightning pouring out of his eyes, Bart says he remembers how Inertia kicked him while he was down and kept kicking ... and kicking ... and kicking.

Bart says that since Inertia never let up, he won't, either. He begins pushing his evil clone through the streets at super speed, somehow removing Inertia's protection from friction. This results in Inertia literally being torn apart as Bart pushes him. His suit, skin and even muscles are stripped away from his face, as he begs Bart to stop. Bart claims that he's moving faster than the speed of sound, so he can't hear him — nobody can. Kid Flash continues his savage attack, until Inertia is completely vaporized, screaming out in pain all the way.

Turns out this wasn't a dream, but a virtual reality program. Remember way back when Bart was trying to remember all the technology he saw in the future? Apparently, he did manage to pull those memories together to build a single machine — a virtual reality chamber. When Bart killed the virtual Inertia, he was yelling like a madman, attracting the attention of Red Robin. Bart emerges from the chamber dripping in sweat, and he chooses to brush aside Tim's concern.

Bart lies to his friend, saying he was merely getting in a workout, and he offers to let Tim try out the machine. Tim declines, noting that Bart has spent a lot of time in the chamber since he built it, and he suggests he take a break. Bart reminds Tim that he was raised in virtual reality, so he's used to it. Tim points out that Bart was only placed in the VR world out of necessity when he was little, but now he can handle life in the real world. Bart continues to deflect, insisting that the machine is merely "the world's greatest video game" and a good training tool. He walks away, asking Tim to trust him. But Tim lingers behind, debating with himself whether this device is actually good for Bart. This isn't the first time they've had this discussion.

Upstairs in the tower, Conner is in Cassie's room, having another awkward conversation with his ex-girlfriend. He manages to convince her to return a mysterious box to him, and as he leaves, he finds Rose waiting for him in the hallway, scantily clad in her underwear. She asks what's in the box, and Conner says he might show her one of these days. That night, Raven takes to the roof to meditate, feeling driven out by Solstice, who is meditating in her room. Raven can sense Robin and Ravager training in the gym, Bart raiding the kitchen, Cassie pacing in her room and Conner pouting on his bed. Beast Boy, meanwhile, is out on a date, finally trying to move on past Raven.

Gar's at an outdoor cafe in San Francisco with an old friend from his acting days. She asks why it took him so long to ask her out, and Gar just lamely says he wasn't sure she'd say yes. This white lie is interrupted by a large rumbling sound and the sight of a nearby building beginning to collapse. Gar tells his date to order the chocolate soufflé, since it takes 20 minutes to make, and he's sure he'll be back by then. He turns into an eagle to fly to the scene of the disaster, then becomes a pteranodon to scoop up some bystanders, wishing aloud he could be a flying octopus to rescue more people.

Before too long, the rest of the Titans are at Beast Boy's side. Robin orders Kid Flash and Raven to focus on the people, and Superboy and Wonder Girl to hold up the building. Superboy uses his heat vision to weld the pillars back in place, while Cassie wonders aloud what caused this. She's answered with a "Not what, Amazon — who." Everybody looks up and sees Superboy-Prime surrounded by a bunch of old villains we haven't seen in a while — Headcase, Sun Girl, Indigo, Zookeeper, a female Persuader and Inertia.

Superboy and Wonder Girl immediately attack Prime, who mockingly suggests they shake things up by killing Wonder Girl this time. Robin tells everyone to choose a "dance partner," as he begins to fight Indigo. Solstice goes after Sun Girl, Beast Boy naturally takes on his old nemesis Zookeeper, Ravager battles the Persuader, Raven tries to take down Headcase once again, and Bart engages in a super speed battle with Inertia. Somehow, Robin is able to observe that this "Inertia" is two inches taller than the real Inertia, who was killed by the Rogues back in Final Crisis. However, Robin is concerned about the effect this imposter will have on Bart.

Superboy manages to get his hand around Prime's throat, and he stupidly says, "We know who the real Superboy is." Prime breaks free and asks Conner if he's sure about that. Right on cue, three more villains join the fight, making sure to fly through several buildings on their way. And the newcomers all look like Conner — one is wearing his original outfit with the sunglasses and leather jacket, another is wearing the outfit he had at the end of Young Justice, and the third has his head shaved like when Lex Luthor had him brainwashed.




Well. We certainly have a lot of questions about all these villains and how they came back. For example, Indigo wasn't really bad, it was Brainiac 8 who possessed her. Regardless, she was killed, so ... what's going on? And the same could be asked of most of the others in Superboy-Prime's posse, including Prime, himself. He just happened to be flying out in his Anti-Monitor armor on his home world when he, and he alone, got sucked into this world? I don't expect satisfying answers to these questions, but at this point, it's kind of forgivable. The New 52 is fast upon us, so this series scrambled to produce four issues in two months to reach #100. And what better way to go out than with a big fight against a bunch of villains? The details would only slow things down.

But overlooking all that, this issue had a truly amazing Bart Allen moment. We finally got a payoff to all those futuristic notes Bart filled his room with. And the result was essentially a therapy device to help him deal with the lingering trauma of being murdered. I love that Krul is bold enough to explore this idea, but I wish he wasn't the only writer who acknowledged that Bart did remember this horrific event. I'm also sad that Bart has never been able to talk to anyone about it. Not his best friends, Conner and Tim, not the empath Raven, and not even his own family. Theoretically, Max Mercury would be the ideal candidate, but not even Krul remembered that Max exists.

In any case, I think it's very interesting to consider whether this "therapy" is actually helpful for Bart. We saw that he has a rather dark side to him that he has successfully kept buried inside ever since he came back to life. I don't think even Raven knows about these violent urges. And I don't blame Bart for these tendencies. He never got any kind of resolution or revenge. He hasn't even been able to meet up with his old girlfriend, who wept over his dead body, because he basically came back to life as a different person. So as much as I wish he had someone to talk to, I have to admit that there really isn't anyone who can relate to Bart's unique tragedy. Maybe the best thing for him is to work through his feelings with violent, but safely contained, outbursts.

Next time, we'll return to Kid Flash Lost #2.

Teen Titans #97

A Call to Arms

J.T. Krul – Writer
Nicola Scott – Penciller
Doug Hazlewood – Inker
Jason Wright – Colorist
Carlos M. Mangual – Letterer
Scott & Hazlewood with Wright – Cover
Rickey Purdin – Asst. Editor
Rachel Gluckstern – Editor

Our cover shows Solstice fully unleashing her powers. What's interesting, is that for the first time, her powers are presented negatively. Her trademark smile is gone, and all her teammates are blinded and seem to be in pain. Raven has been completely out-of-her-mind insane since being abducted by the Wyld, but maybe, just maybe, she was right when she called Solstice evil. Or not.

Our story picks up with our heroes battling the numberless army of demons. Even though they all were soundly beaten by them before, and they should theoretically still be weakened by Rankor's cages, they're actually doing a good job now. Robin explains this as the team being "caught off guard" before, but ready now. Wonder Girl claims she always performs better in rematches. Ravager, who complained of having her sword stolen last issue, suddenly has her sword back and is dueling the demon who stole her identity. The demon stabs Ravager in the shoulder, and Superboy kind of freaks out. He heat-blasts the demon into oblivion, and checks on Rose, showing off his scratched, shirtless torso.

Bart tries to joke with Beast Boy about whether this army of demons should be called a horde or a gaggle, but Beast Boy has turned back into his Monkey King form and is very serious right now. He tells Raven to pull herself together. She whines about not being able to, but Beast Boy continues to push the issue until she finally unleashes a large purple blast. I'm not exactly sure what this accomplished, but it did seem to at least open up a direct path to Rankor for our heroes.

So they attack the 10-headed giant. Bart runs circles around Rankor's throne to keep him distracted, while the others mainly try smacking the giant's arms and legs. None of their attacks seem to do anything, until Solstice finally topples the giant with an enormous blast of light directed at its chest. Rankor rises from the rubble, angrily stating that he is everything in this realm. He cause the ground to begin to crack and shake in threat of a volcanic eruption, so Robin orders Raven to teleport the team away.

So Raven takes the Titans, Cassie's mom and Kiran's parents back to the forest, right next to the portal they initially came through, which is conveniently still open. However, Kiran's parents immediately notice that Raven left their daughter behind. Beast Boy is furious, but Raven claims that she meant to bring Solstice back and doesn't know what happened. Robin tells Superboy and Wonder Girl to retrieve Solstice and for the rest of them to go back through the portal. Beast Boy insists on staying, so he and Robin begin arguing about that for a bit.

Solstice, meanwhile, is still battling Rankor, thinking about the story of Rama. Eventually, there is an enormous eruption of lava, conveniently just beyond the spot in the forest where our heroes are arguing. Kiran's parents cry out in distress, but Solstice soon appears, walking untouched through the lava.

Back in Pakistan, Kiran embraces her parents and Bart tries to check on Rose's injured shoulder, but he quickly learns that she only wants that kind of attention from Superboy. She coldly dismisses Bart, calling him "Lightfoot," before rushing to Conner's side. She asks how long it took him to realize the demon was impersonating her, and he falsely says he figured it out right away because the disguised demon was actually nice to him. Ravager begins to stammer, saying she can be nice — in her own way.

While Bart and Gar join Kiran's family in celebrating their safe return, Tim checks on Raven, who's depressed that Gar thought she tried to harm Solstice (which she literally tried to do last issue). Raven says Solstice's powers are having an unexplainable effect on her, so Tim optimistically says they'll try to find the answers together. Everybody heads back onto the T-jet, and even though Kiran was just barely reunited with her parents after they were held captive for two days in a demonic realm, she decides to leave them right then and there and join the Teen Titans.

Well, we're finally done with that overly drawn-out story. A story in which our heroes were inexplicably being beaten to a pulp and captured in record time, suddenly saved the day by ... punching a little bit harder, I guess? A story that put Solstice front and center, but never once explained where her powers came from and showed her ditching her parents five second after rescuing them. A story where Superboy and Ravager suddenly became a couple for no reason and Raven's inconsistent insanity only grew worse. A story that randomly gave Beast Boy a big "Monkey King" moment, but didn't have anything for him to do at the end. A story that I am more than happy to move past without any additional comment.

This probably could have been the last issue of Teen Titans before Flashpoint reset everything. But it would have been a very unsatisfying way to end a series that has, for the most part, been a pretty good one. So next time, we'll begin the mad scramble to reach issue #100 before the New 52.

Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost #1

Kid Flash Lost, Part One

Sterling Gates – Writer
Oliver Nome – Penciller
Trevor Scott – Inker
Brian Buccellato – Colorist
Dezi Sienty – Letterer
Kate Stewart – Assistant Editor
Joey Cavalieri – Editor
Cover by Francis Manapul
Cover Color by Brian Buccellato

Our cover shows Bart horrifyingly falling from a lightning bolt in the sky onto a city far below him. This really doesn't have anything to do with the following three-issue story, but it is a neat image. Manapul joyfully gives Bart long, flowing hair, and Buccellato is careful to remember that Bart's hair is brown, not red.

This is Bart's first solo series since The Fastest Man Alive, and as such, we're treated to an introduction box of sorts: "Grandson of the Flash, Bart Allen was born in the distant future and raised in a virtual reality environment. After he began aging at a hyper-accelerated rate, he was brought back to our time, where the combined efforts of this era's speedsters stabilized his metabolism. The impulsive young man has since learned to tap into the Speed Force, and has grown into the role of the fastest teen alive, Kid Flash." Got all that? Good. Because Bart's only going to be around for a few more issues.

Our story begins in Central City, with a police car chasing after Hot Pursuit. The cops follow the motorcycle into a dead end, but Hot Pursuit shocks them by driving up the side of a building to make a rooftop escape. Once Hot Pursuit comes to a stop, the Cosmic Motorcycle gives a warning: "Timestorm imminent. Activating emergency chronal-evac." The motorcycle erupts in an explosion of yellow lightning, and Hot Pursuit disappears with it. We then cut to Bart chasing Barry down the street.

Barry is being particularly rude to Bart, and isn't making much sense by saying that he's given his grandson "chance after chance" and all he's done is screw them up. Bart points out that his grandfather has mostly avoided him ever since he came back to life, so he momentarily stops the Flash with a cage of rebar to demand why Barry won't let him help. Barry easily vibrates out of the rebar and says that Wally West was a better Kid Flash than Bart will ever be because he could at least keep up.

As Barry takes off once again, Bart starts to notice some inconsistencies with his environment. Standing at the corner of Broome and Fox (named for classic Flash creators John Broome and Gardner Fox), Bart notices a signpost that should be on Waid Avenue (named for Impulse creator Mark Waid). Other buildings are the wrong color, or have the wrong style of bricks, leading Bart to believe he's in a slightly "wrong" version of Central City, perhaps a copy created by Mirror Master. Barry quickly returns to mock Bart's theory and call him crazy, but Bart ignores him, noting that he's also running way too smoothly. When Deathstroke blew out his kneecap, Bart had an artificial knee installed, which mostly does the job, but gives him a slight limp when he runs at top speeds.

When Bart makes this realization, we see that he's actually hooked up to a virtual reality program. A nearby monitor identifies him as "Time Anomaly #2" and says it's attempting to compensate for Bart's efforts to unlock the program. Back in the program, Bart tells the fake Barry that he didn't dig deep enough into his memories to learn about his fake knee. He also proclaims that his real grandpa would never be this mean to him (which I'm not so sure is entirely true), and he attacks the fake Flash.

This jolts Bart awake, and he unhooks himself from all the wires, including one gross one that went down his mouth. Bart correctly assumes he's trapped in some super villain lair, but he doesn't know who's behind this. He decides to conduct a quick search of the area, but immediately discovers he's lost his connection to the Speed Force. Bart's suddenly attacked by a couple of large robots, but he manages to instinctively dodge their assault. As he runs for cover, he jokingly asks if they'd rather play some video games. The robots don't respond, and as Bart looks for a place to hide, the robots' laser accidentally break open another pink chamber, and out of it falls Hot Pursuit's Cosmic Motorcycle, condensed to its police baton form.

Before Bart can recover the device, a very large and grotesque version of Brainiac appears. He orders his robots to not damage his "specimen," and tells Bart to return to his sleep chamber. Bart tries to escape Brainiac, but discovers he's just too slow right now. Brainiac grabs Bart by the neck and angrily says he didn't fish him out of the time stream to chase him around his planet, and that he plans to find a way to pull the chronal energy from his cells. Brainiac's suddenly interrupted by a blast of lightning from the Cosmic Motorcycle.

Brainiac drops Bart, and the baton flies straight into the hands of Hot Pursuit, giving us our first clear look at the hero we thought was dead. Turns out this is someone different — a woman wearing Hot Pursuit's old outfit. The female Hot Pursuit turns the baton back into a motorcycle, has Bart hop on behind her, and quickly takes off before Brainiac can get back on his feet. And Bart admits aloud that he always wanted to ride the cycle, believing it to be "so cool."

Once our heroes get some distance between them and Brainiac, Hot Pursuit surprises Bart by coming to a sudden stop. She explains that the bike's Speed Force tank is missing, which limits its long-distance travel. Bart asks what Hot Pursuit thinks Brainiac meant we said they wouldn't be able to escape the planet, then he gets his first look at the outside world and says, "... oh, grife." The entire city of Metropolis (and presumably the entire world) is covered in Brainiac's tech, with tons of pink bubbles holding naked people prisoner. Bart says it looks like a movie he once watched with Conner — a movie that neither of them liked.

Hot Pursuit says she thinks she caused this, saying something happened with the bike, so she pushed a button and then woke up in this reality. Bart grabs Hot Pursuit's arms and demands she take them back. He also finally questions who she is, noting how the original Hot Pursuit died. So she takes off her helmet, revealing herself to be Patty Spivot. Bart recognizes her as the woman the Reverse-Flash was going after, and Patty explains that she decided to stick around Central City for a bit to help clean up the mess Thawne made and then she decided to do something bigger with her life. Patty says she doesn't know how they got here, but according to Hot Pursuit's helmet, they're in the year 3011, during the fifth century of Brainiac's occupation of Earth.

Bart suddenly experiences painful cramps and collapses. As he struggles back to his feet, he says this can't be 3011, since he was born in the 31st century and knows it wasn't like this. But then he realizes that something must have changed in the timeline, and, since he's locked out of the Speed Force, nothing's protecting him in this new timeline. He speculates that the chambers they were in actually were keeping them safe while Brainiac studied them. Bart tells Patty they need to find the Cosmic Motorcycle's Speed Force tank and use it to travel back in time because he can feel that they're not supposed to be here. To illustrate his point, he pulls off his glove, revealing his hand to be almost translucent and skeletal, just like in another movie he saw with Cassie. Bart ominously says that if he doesn't get hit with some Speed Force lightning, then he's history.




So here it is, the beginning of the end for Bart Allen. I'm glad he's getting a proper, action-packed sendoff. Forced to fight his way out of a dystopian future without his powers. Doesn't get more intense than that. Of course, things are a bit random here, notably the choice of Patty Spivot. Yes, Bart definitely should have a sidekick of sorts for this adventure, but I wish it was someone with stronger connections to Bart. It could be any of the Teen Titans, any member of the Flash family, or even (and it pains me to say this) his old girlfriend Val. Patty will play a bigger role in the New 52, but as Barry's girlfriend. So it's very weird to see her running around with Bart in his last days.

Oliver Nome is not the best artist, but he's not too bad, either. I wish he drew Bart's hair longer, and I wish he'd be able to decide what shape Bart's nose is. But at least we have Brian Buccellato making sure Bart is not a freckled red-head. And really, this is a good-looking comic overall. Brainiac is big, intimidating and gross (intentionally, I believe). And Nome did do a good job of hiding Hot Pursuit's body until the big reveal later on. So all in all, I'll say this was a decent start to this series. It's a bit sad that we're watching Bart literally fade away before our eyes, but I guess that's better than simply being forgotten about.

Next time, we'll finally wrap up our Ramayana retelling with Teen Titans #97.

Teen Titans #96

Beast of Legend

JT Krul • Writer
José Luís • Penciller
Sandro Ribeiro and Jonas Trindade • Inkers
Carlos M. Mangual • Letterer
Jason Wright • Colorist
Scott & Hazlewood with Wright • Cover
Rickey Purdin • Asst. Editor
Rachel Gluckstern • Editor

I hate it when covers have ads on them. Because now, even eight years later, we have to be reminded of that awful Green Lantern movie that failed to launch an interconnected DC movie universe. Anyway, looking past that large and obnoxious ad, we see Beast Boy as a gorilla trying to rescue the Teen Titans. I think the "All ape!" line is quite ridiculous, and I wish the background was red instead of white, because the demon world our heroes are trapped on has red skies. But otherwise, this is a fine cover that basically shows what's going to happen in this issue.

Our story begins with a flashback of a slightly younger Kiran reading the Ramayana, and by reading, I mean looking at a book that has pictures next to blank pages with no text because our artists were too lazy to even put fake words on those pages. Kiran reads that Rankor has 10 heads with "each one more evil than the next," which makes absolutely no sense. The great Rama was nervous, but he found strength in his ally, the Monkey King Hanuman.

Kiran asks her dad why Rama chose to fight Rankor, and her dad says it was Rama's destiny, which can't be changed any more than a river can decide to flow upstream. Kiran asks if Rama knew he'd win, and her dad says he had faith in light overcoming darkness. He leaves the tent, taking his flashlight with him, but Kiran continues to read by producing a beam of light with her hand. And we still don't know how she gained that ability!

We then return to the present day, where Kiran's parents, the Teen Titans and Wonder Girl's mom are held in cages on top of each of Rankor's enormous heads. The gigantic figure of Rankor towers over an army of demons, and only Solstice and Beast Boy are free to save the day. For some reason, Beast Boy's fighting with a chip on his shoulder, determined to prove he's not a joke, which is not something anyone has accused him of being in a long time. Well, maybe Damian might have said that once, but why would Gar still be bothered by that?

Anyway, Beast Boy starts fighting the demons as a bear for a bit before realizing that it'd make more sense to turn into a bird and fly right up to his captive teammates. He turns into a gorilla, and just like Bart, he tries to free Cassie first. But when Gar touches the cage, he's electrocuted. Luckily, he's able to recover pretty quickly and sees that Solstice is still on the ground, becoming overwhelmed by the demon horde. So Beast Boy leaps off the top of Rankor and decides to turn into something that will make the demons fear him — a 20-foot tall gorilla/monkey hybrid.

Beast Boy steals one of the larger demon's golden club and easily saves Solstice, who says Gar looks like the Monkey King. So Solstice uses this, announcing to all the demons that the great Hanuman has returned to end their reign once more. Solstice then hops on Beast Boy's back as he climbs up Rankor and they both start freeing all the hostages with blasts of light and whacks with the golden club. In no time at all, everyone is free.

Our heroes retreat to nearest demon-free clearing to catch their breath. Superboy complains that Rankor drained their strength, and Robin observes that Rankor still has their power. Beast Boy was hoping that freeing everybody would take that power away, but Kid Flash explains that they were basically used as jumper cables for the behemoth. Superboy checks on Ravager, who whines that the demon who stole her identity also stole her sword. As Kiran reunites with her parents, Raven goes berserk once again, claiming that this place isn't the cause of their torment, but Solstice is.

Raven attacks Solstice with a blast of dark energy, but Solstice quickly protects herself and her parents with a shield of light. Beast Boy gets Raven to stop, and before anyone can discuss this random outburst, the demon army surrounds our heroes. Kid Flash says he stopped counting the demons after 3,000, and Solstice immediately flies her parents away to an isolated plateau. She promptly heads back to the fight, despite her parents' protests. Solstice says she now knows that this is her fight, so she flies right up to Rankor and says that even though she's not a god like Rama, her light will endure just the same.




I've had a hard time figuring out Beast Boy for a while now. Why is he still with the Teen Titans if he's not going to be the leader? Why does he still care about Raven when she keeps acting completely insane and pushing him away and then accusing him of not caring about her? And what are the extent of his powers? Felicia D. Henderson had Beast Boy turn into a phoenix and a fire-breathing dragon. But these transformations were very quick and dismissed as if there was nothing unusual about them. I'm sorry, but turning into a mythical creature is a big deal, and I think it should be treated as such. And if Beast Boy can easily turn into literally anything he can imagine, why doesn't he do that all the time? He could have helped our team so many times by becoming a giant dragon. What's holding him back?

I am a little torn on this story. On one hand, I do appreciate Krul for bringing in this classic Indian myth that many American readers are likely unfamiliar with. But on the other hand, I still don't and never will like demons. And, more importantly, Krul's buildup to this story was quite clunky. He never told us how Kiran became Solstice. And he basically made everybody act incredibly weak and stupid, just so we could get to this scene of Beast Boy being the Monkey King and Solstice being Rama. But there was absolutely no reason why those two weren't captured, as well. The demons inexplicably decided to leave them free. Luckily, we only have one more issue of this frustrating, exhausting story.

Next time, we'll officially begin Flashpoint. Sadly, Bart does not appear in the main series, but he did get his own three-issue miniseries, Kid Flash Lost.

Superman #712

Kurt Busiek Writer
Rick Leonardi Penciller
Jonathan Sibal Inker
Present ...

Lost Boy: A Tale of Krypto the Superdog

Brad Anderson Colorist
Comicraft Lettering
Nachie Castro Associate Editor
Matt Idelson Editor
Carlos Pacheco, Jesus Merino, and Dave Stewart Cover
Stanley "Artgerm" Lau Variant Cover
Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

Our cover is a simple, yet beautiful image of Krypto flying in the moonlight in Smallville. The moon might be a bit on the big side, but it's a great cover, paying tribute to an often overlooked, yet beloved character.

Our variant cover tries to capture that same emotion of the main cover, but just can't quite reach it. Mainly because the texture of Superboy and Krypto is so odd. It's an uplifting, optimistic image that's sadly short-changed by how strange our characters look.

The beginning of this story has an editor's note, apologizing for the delay in the Grounded storyline, and dubs this as a "lost classic" set shortly after Superboy died in Infinite Crisis. I expect this was a filler issue written long ago and just sitting around until somebody missed a deadline. Anyway, our story begins with Krypto sadly sitting on the porch, remembering a stirring game of fetch he played with Superboy and a manhole cover.

As the poor dog remains motionless all day and night, he thinks back on the battle with Superboy-Prime. It was Wonder Girl who scooped up the injured Krypto, assuring him Conner will be fine, while Robin and Kid Flash tended to Superboy.

The next day, Krypto perks up at the sight of a bird, then a plane, then a scent. He pushes the button on his collar to release his cape, then follows the scent to Titans Tower, where Superboy was brought to recover from his injuries after his initial encounter with Prime. Seeing Conner isn't here, Krypto promptly takes off, leaving a confused Beast Boy and Raven to wonder what that sound was.

Krypto returns to the Kent farm and investigates the barn, still smelling the effects of Conner and Cassie's love-making session. Krypto then tracks Conner's journey with Nightwing to the Fortress of Solitude. He investigates the remains of Alexander Luthor's golden tower and smells the blood left in the snow, reliving the massive battle that took place here. Krypto finally realizes that Superboy died, and he lets out a long, mournful howl that can be heard in some northern cities miles away.

Unable to find Superman, either, Krypto sadly fetches his manhole cover and takes it up to an asteroid to await the return of his masters.




This was a nice, quiet story. A welcome relief from the frantic pre-Flashpoint stuff we're currently in the middle of. And although this was a sad story, it's not too sad because we know there is a happy ending to it. But on one hand, it does sadly remind me of better times at DC. Yeah, there's been some good stuff since Infinite Crisis, but not as much.

Next time, we'll return to Teen Titans #96.

The Flash #12

Case Two: The Road to Flashpoint Part Four

Storytellers: Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins
Additional Art: Francis Manapul (P. 14-18)
Colors: Michael Atiyeh and Brian Buccellato
Letters: Sal Cipriano
Cover: Francis Manapul w/Brian Buccellato
Variant Cover: Francis Portela w/Javier Mena
Assistant Editor: Darren Shan
Editor: Brian Cunningham

Our cover shows Barry and Bart being consumed by an expanding void of whiteness, reminiscent of the destruction of time way back in Zero Hour. It is a very nice cover — you know how much I love Manapul's textured style — but nothing like this happens in this issue. True, Flashpoint will destroy this timeline, but in a very different way from this. So this cover almost feels a bit misleading.

Our variant cover shows Barry arriving too late — I mean, way too late — at a crime scene. Not only did he fail to prevent the death of this unknown individual, he didn't even reach the scene until after the police had drawn chalk around the body and removed the corpse. But it's still a pretty nice cover, also giving us a more symbolic representation of something that sort of happens in this issue.

Our story picks up in Central City with Patty Spivot learning the shocking truth that the little witness boy was actually Eobard Thawne in disguise. Thawne tells Patty she's lucky to be a witness of him unlocking the true powers of the Speed Force, and he boasts that he'll soon remove the Flash from his historical equation. As he speaks, Hot Pursuit is currently electrocuting Bart Allen, while Barry stands by helplessly.

Hot Pursuit actually does apologize for his actions, saying he believes this is the only way to save the timeline. Barry grabs Hot Pursuit's baton, but his doppelgänger says his suit will be able to absorb as much speed as Barry can generate. He explains that the spontaneous deaths around the city are a sign he's seen before of the past, present and future colliding. Barry blasts Hot Pursuit for assaulting a minor, and he finally decides to simply punch the visitor from a parallel world.

Eobard continues to explain his powers to Patty, which leads her to realize that he was the one who aged those people. Eobard readily admits this, saying it was for the "betterment of mankind." As they talk, Hot Pursuit's baton begins to glow and somehow indicates to him that he was wrong about Bart. Hot Pursuit barely apologizes for almost killing an innocent boy, then hops on hi Cosmic Motorcycle, telling Barry they need to hurry.

So Barry and Bart follow Hot Pursuit right to the Reverse-Flash, who was just about to drain Patty's life, hoping to learn something from her relationship with Barry. Barry immediately takes Patty to safety downstairs, and she manages to clearly explain the whole situation to him. Bart, meanwhile, starts beating up Eobard, saying he didn't need a "magic nightstick" to know Eobard was the "rock in our timeline's shoe." Eobard credits Bart with pioneering the aging process and "paradox existence protocol," but says he accomplished these feats unknowingly.

Hot Pursuit then hits Eobard with the same attack he used on Bart earlier, and he warns Barry and Bart that when he's done, everything in a 100-foot radius will age to dust. So Barry and Bart evacuate the building, while Eobard admits he doesn't know who Hot Pursuit is, but he angrily vows to not let anyone steal his speed. He somehow fights through Hot Pursuit's electricity, grabs ahold of him, and rushes him far out of the building. Eobard knocks of Hot Pursuit's helmet and is shocked to see he's a Barry from another world. Barry and Bart try to catch up, and Bart reflexively says he's not going to stay behind from a fight with the Reverse-Flash, but Barry says he's not asking Bart to stay back this time.

Eobard explains that he's wanted to kill Barry, but couldn't because it would destroy his own timeline. But now he has the rare opportunity to murder a Barry Allen without facing any consequences to his history. Eobard completely drains the life from Hot Pursuit, reducing him completely to dust just as Barry and Barry arrive on the scene. Barry immediately starts punching Eobard, demanding to know what his plan was this time. Eobard laughs, saying this "plan" was merely an experiment — a successful experiment that will now help him make Barry's life more miserable than ever. He says Barry's mother was only the beginning, and everything else is next.

The mention of Barry's mother unnerves him enough to pull off his attack for the briefest of moments, which is more than enough time for Eobard to escape. Barry and Bart track Eobard down to a park, but quickly lose him in the crowd. Even though they know Eobard can change his age, they're unable to identify him as an old man, quietly slipping away. So they head back to the scene of Hot Pursuit's death, where Barry sadly examines his doppelgänger's empty suit and laments how he always loses to Eobard. Bart points out that they still don't really know what brought Hot Pursuit here, and he worries that he actually could be the threat to the timeline. But Barry insists that Eobard is the threat, and he finally tells his grandson that Eobard killed his mom, and he's been struggling to deal with that realization. Bart expresses his sympathy, and Barry thanks him.

Later, Barry checks in on Patty at the destroyed police lab, and she says she's all right, but was reminded why she doesn't want to live in Central City anymore. But she does hopefully ask Barry if there's any reason for her to stay here. Barry talks about how talented she is as a blood analyst, so Patty tries to be a little more clear, asking if work is the only reason for her to stay. She explains that she's been in love with Barry for a long time, but always thought she had to wait until he solved his mother's case. Then it really hurt her to see that Barry chose to open up to someone else. Patty sadly says she's happy Barry has Iris, and that she needs to go back to Blue Valley. Barry complicates things by tenderly holding Patty's cheek and telling her she'll always be his friend. He asks her to consider coming back, and as they embrace, she says she will.

Barry's wife, Iris, walks in on this hug, creating a very awkward moment between the three of them. After a hasty introduction, Barry suggests they leave, and Iris agrees. They head to a coffee shop, and Iris tells Barry he doesn't have to explain that hug because she trusts and loves him. She is, however, concerned with how Barry's been regressing. She says he's running backwards, turning back into the closed-off and distant Barry she first met. Barry acknowledges this, and begins talking again about his mother being killed by Eobard Thawne.

As Iris talks about the power of family, Brian Buccellato and his family make a cute cameo outside the coffee shop window. Barry doesn't fully accept Iris' words of encouragement, saying that tomorrow's his mom's birthday. So he asks for one more day to be alone and process her death, then he promises to start over and make things better.

The next day, Barry visits his mother's grave, as a large thunderstorm rumbles in. After placing some flowers on her headstone, Barry looks up into the sky and observes a flash of lightning. He says, "It changes." There's a flash of red lightning, heading in the opposite direction, and Barry says, "It all changes. Now." And the two bolts of lightning combine into one large blast, beginning Flashpoint.




Hey, Barry! When you're telling a girl you just want to be friends, don't hold her close and gently stroke her cheek! She might get mixed signals! Anyway, now that that's off my chest ... I can say I liked this story for the most part. The ending did seem a bit abrupt, though. Like, how was Eobard able to so easily defeat Hot Pursuit and elude Barry? Can't Barry like track him through the Speed Force or something? Shouldn't he call in Wally and Max to help locate this incredibly dangerous murderer? But that's not this story. This story is Barry's depression and his inability to move on, which will lead to him performing perhaps the most reckless action in the history of the DC Universe.

I'm glad that Bart was present during this Road to Flashpoint. I wish he had more to do than just be sad, but I guess that's better than being completely ignored like Wally. It's also mildly annoying that Bart was the one saying he's sorry to Barry. It should have gone the other way around. But then again, I kind of feel like Barry is the real villain of this story. All he did was drive a wedge between himself and his family, flirt with the idea of cheating on his wife, and completely fail to prevent his arch enemy from killing a handful of people, including his doppelgänger from a parallel world. And how does he cap off this incredible string of failures? By accidentally killing billions of people and destroying the entire timeline of the DC Universe. Oops.

Well, Flashpoint may have begun, but the rest of the DC Universe will continue on like normal until Flashpoint's conclusion. So next time, we'll take a quick look at Superman #712.