Nothing says a good book like a Back to the Future reference to make it all clear. What They Say:
FLASH FACT! Where is he? Or should we say when?
The Review:
With the Flashpoint series revolving around alternate/changed worlds, one of the things that definitely figures into it is the problem of time travel. With the past and present so heavily changed, how does that affect those that traveled from the future? Often they’re left as anomalies that stay the same and can see the differences, or snap out of it more easily, before they get caught up in events. This book deals with a couple of those characters with Kid Flash, aka Bart Allen, getting all wonky. Bart has long been one of my favorites since he first appeared back in the 90′s, but time has not been good to him and he had an awful series kick off after Wally was taken out in some event series several years ago. I remember reading the book with how shoddy his life was and how drained of personality he was and thinking that not only is that not a Flash book, but it’s not a Bart Allen book.
This book is confusing at the start as it deals with Hot Pursuit going through some shenanigans before it shifts to Bart as Kid Flash under the tutelage of a very stern and disapproving Barry Allen. Bart can’t believe that his grandfather would be this way with him and he’s able to piece together that things are wrong. Where the book clicks, and clicks well, is when he wakes up from a Matrix-like environment to discover that it’s actually 3011 and the Earth has been ruled by Braniac for the last five hundred years. With all the changes in the 21st century, it’s little surprise that it would spiral into the future as well and it really, really, really makes me wish there was a Legion of Super-heroes book to work with during all of this since it could be grand fun.
Sterling Gates gives us a disjointed and appropriately so start to the book but once it gets going, it comes together well and he gives Bart the right pop culture things to draw from it without brand-dropping that could be annoying. The inclusion of Hot Pursuit is definitely interesting since it’s a different person under the helmet, related to a recent Flash issue that I haven’t read so it doesn’t mean much, but it gives Bart an ally in having to deal with the problem of being a time anomaly in a period where things are going to go really wrong for him. The idea of Braniac having a lengthy rule here is definitely fun, but I do wish they were a bit more realistic about how badly a place like Metropolis would look after five hundred years of decay as it’s all too easy to realize what it is, making it more blunt and obvious than it needs to be.
Digital Notes:
This digital edition of Kid Flash Lost from Comixology features just the first printing cover of the issue with no additional extras included in the book.
In Summary:
Time travel is a big favorite of mine and this book gives me a Bart Allen I’m much more familiar with than the one I’ve seen over the last few years, which gives me hope that we could see him regain a lot of his fun when the relaunch hits in September. This book has some problems at first, but it’s to be expected and it does make sense once it comes together, and that’s just one of the issues you get when dealing with time travelers and Flash characters in general. Though that part bothered me, I really liked it once we got Bart using his brain and being obvious about things and the revelations that come from it. With pretty much all other Flashpoint books dealing with the present day work and some mild background material, giving us a book dealing with a thousand years in the future is very, very welcome.
Grade: B
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