DC's New Flashpoint Batman Comic Made a Big Change With a Major Death
Over a decade ago, the DC Comics universe was profoundly changed by the launch of Flashpoint, an event that ultimately established the New 52 continuity. At the center of the event were a few key players — the Barry Allen of the main DC universe, as well as an alternate version of Thomas Wayne, who had become the Dark Knight of the alternate Flashpoint universe following the death of his young son, Bruce Wayne. After sporadically factoring into DC canon — most notably in the recent Infinite Frontier and Justice League Incarnate series — Thomas is back in the new Flashpoint Beyond miniseries, and he's apparently leaving bodies in his wake. Spoilers for Flashpoint Beyond #0 from Geoff Johns, Eduardo Risso, Trish Mulvihill, and Rob Leigh below! Only look if you want to know!
The majority of the issue concerns Thomas Wayne, who wakes up to discover that he's still in the Flashpoint universe, even after Barry Allen supposedly "reset" things during Flashpoint. Over the course of the issue, Thomas begins to question whether or not his reality is truly real, or the machinations of some supervillain, and seeks out a way to change things back. This leads him to seek out a surprising face — Barry Allen, who is just an ordinary crime lab technician in Central City. Thomas tracks down Barry, who does not recognize or believe any of the history that Thomas reveals to him, which leads Thomas to sedate and kidnap him.
Barry wakes up strapped to the apparatus that Thomas and Earth-Prime Barry used in Flashpoint, in hopes of using it to give this Barry powers. This ultimately proves to be futile, as the chemical compounds that would have replicated Barry's powers are shattered and spilled by an unseen figure, and Barry is violently electrocuted as a result.
This doesn't prove to be the only carnage within the issue, as Harvey Dent dies soon after in a violent explosion, as does a man who appears to be Scavenger, who initially destroyed the chemicals in Thomas' experiment for the sake of Atlantis. Still, the turning point of the Flashpoint Earth's Barry dying — much less in such a brutal way — is a unique way to set the tone of the miniseries.
"Thomas, his story here is [he's] now confronted with, 'Well, what if the world can't change? What if this is the life I'm in, and I have, and what do I do with it?'" Johns recently told ComicBook.com in an exclusive interview. "When we meet him in this issue, his goal is to do nothing but not accept this and try and find out what happened, who did it, and why. That's part of the big mystery that's within the story. And there are a lot of clues — every clue and hint and moment in Issue #0 points to what the truth is. There are still a lot of cards to turn over."