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.