Review: Flashpoint- The World of Flashpoint Featuring Superman

Quick Summary

Pros: None of this collection’s stories are below average and, if you care about the main character, they end up reading even better. The volume’s artwork looks positive throughout the book.

Cons: None of this collection’s stories are significantly above average. 

Overall: This collection puts together a series of stories that are all pretty good but not great. The narrative in each arc is compelling and there are a few solid moments here and there. However, each arc also has flaws that slightly weaken them. The tipping point is whether or not the reader seriously cares about a story’s main character, which makes the stories more worthwhile. This makes this volume easier to recommend for serious fans of Superman, Traci 13, or Booster Gold but harder to recommend to fans just looking for good comics.

Story

Flashpoint: The World of Flashpoint Featuring Superman collects a series of pretty average story arcs. Unlike other collections of Flashpoint (Review) tie-ins, this volume does not have stories that stand out as a “must read” tale or as a revolutionary take on a character. However, it also does not have stories that are downright bad or that are completely uninteresting. In fact, if you truly care about the main character of a story, there are often moments that are truly interesting or exciting. In this way, the collection will most directly appeal to fans of the characters this volume focuses on, including Superman, Traci 13, or Booster Gold.

(spoilers start here)

The World of Flashpoint Featuring Superman opens with the Superman story, written by Scott Snyder and Lowell Francis. It compares two “super-men”, one developed as a weapon and shunned due to his power and the other developed as a weapon but given positive reinforcement from a father figure. The first becomes a tyrannical force of destruction, willing to wipe out anyone and anything in its pursuit of “safety” while the other becomes a traumatized yet compassionate figure. The story is sweet, meaningful, and easily the most compelling story of this collection. The only problem is that the connection between Superman and Lois Lane is a bit weird and leads to a conclusion that even the text admits is corny.

The next story arc, written by Rex Ogle, follows Traci 13 as she tries to prevent her father from killing millions of people in order to bring an end to the war between Atlantis and the Amazons. It is an emotional battle between father and daughter that touches on interesting topics regarding the efficacy of war and the viability of overwhelming force. However, once again, the story’s conclusion brings it down, by tying up the complicated narrative in a way that feels way too perfect.

Next, The World of Flashpoint Featuring Superman continues Booster Gold’s solo series with a Flashpoint tie-in arc, written by Dan Jurgens. For the most part, this tie-in is successful. It tells an engaging story, incorporates Booster Gold’s typical charm, and contains an intriguing look at the DC Universe’s transition from pre-Flashpoint, to Flashpoint, to post-Flashpoint. However, the arc’s romance ends up feeling very forced and brings down the overall quality of the read.

Finally, The World of Flashpoint Featuring Superman tells a quick story about the origins of a character briefly seen in the main Flashpoint event. The origin story is moderately interesting and slightly expands the overall narrative of this event. However, the character’s minimal impact on the course of the event pairs poorly with the cliffhanger conclusion presented in this volume and makes this one of the least compelling stories in this collection.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The artwork in The World of Flashpoint Featuring Superman trends positive throughout the entire volume. Gene Ha’s visuals in the Superman chapters are probably the collection’s artistic highpoint. They look great and are laid out in a way that reflects the tone of the reading experience, shifting from more structured to more chaotic layouts depending on the nature of the story. Later on, Eduardo Francisco’s work is able to capture the creepy and mystic vibe of the Traci 13 story and Dan Jurgens is able to capture the bold and dynamic vibe of the Booster Gold story. Finally, Rags Morales’ work on the Canterbury Cricket is able to reflect the desperation of that narrative and even ends up being one of the best aspects of that chapter. In general, the artwork in this volume is pleasing and helps enhance the reading experience.

Continuity

Flashpoint: The World of Flashpoint Featuring Superman is a collection of separate tie-in comics relating back to the main Flashpoint (Review) event series. Our “Flashpoint Reading Order” explains how these comics relate to one another.

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• World of Flashpoint #1 mentions a few events from the pre-Flashpoint Traci 13’s past.
  • She helped Superman in Action Comics Vol. 1 #806.
  • She dated Blue Beetle across the second half of the Blue Beetle Vol. 7 series.
  • She helped save the world with other magic users in Day of Vengeance.
• Booster Gold Vol. 2 #44 references the destruction of Coast City from the Reign of the Supermen story arc, specifically Superman Vol. 2 #80, collected in Superman: Reign of the Supermen.
• Booster Gold Vol. 2 #44 mentions a few events from Booster Gold’s pre-Flashpoint past.
  • He joined the JLA in Justice League Vol. 1 #3, collected in Justice League International Book One: Born Again.
  • The JLA “dumped” him when they were reorganized across JLA: A Midsummer’s Nightmare and the first few issues of JLA Vol. 1, collected in JLA Vol. 1.
  • He saved the multiverse with Rip Hunter during the 52 event. 
  • He recently went on a mission to find Batman in Time Masters: Vanishing Point. The mysterious messages on the chalkboard appeared in the last issue from that miniseries.
• Doomsday’s attack on the JLA and on Superman are mentioned. His attack on the JLA took place in Justice League America Vol. 1 #69 and his attack on Superman took place across Superman Vol. 2 #74, Adventures of Superman #497, Action Comics Vol. 1 #684, Superman: The Man of Steel #19, and Superman Vol. 2 #75, all of these issues are collected in Superman: The Death of Superman.