Flashpoint Batman and Doomsday Clock merge in Flashpoint Beyond

Flashpoint Beyond #1 interior art
Flashpoint Beyond #1 interior art (Image credit: DC)

In the main DCU, Bruce Wayne became Batman when his parents Martha and Thomas were murdered in Crime Alley. But in the DC Omniverse, there's an alternate reality where Bruce was murdered and where his father, Thomas Wayne, became Batman in a 2011 event called 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Flashpoint.

But that Flashpoint world was seemingly destroyed when DC relaunched its univer𓃲se with The New 52, although Thomas survived. Now beginning April 12 Thomas Wayne is going back home to find out how his universe survived, and if he can bring back his dead son with it.

Picking up the strands from the original event series by writer Geoff Johns is the new seven-issue comic book seriꦿes Flashpoint Beyond.

special written by Joh⭕ns and illustrated by artist Eduardo Risso, who drew the 2011 spin-off series , and then will be followed monthly beginning in May by six issues through October co-written by Johns along with current Flash scribe Jeremy Adams and 's Tim Sheridan, and illustrated by fo🥂rmer Justice League artist Xermanico.

While in the original Fla🦹shpoint, Barry Allen the Flash was at the center of the story, Flashpoint Beyond stars the elder, darker Batman and other alt-reality versions of DC icons from his world.

Flashpoint Beyond will also bring together other worlds from DC's Omniverse, with characters from another Geoff Johns event series, 🃏💜2017's which mashed up the core DC Universe and the world of Watchmen, joining the story.

Doomsday Clock's 🌼Mime and Marionette team up with Bruce Wayne Batman in preview pages of Flashpoint Beyond #0, which also show a few small details hint at larger connections to the DC Universe. 

For one thing, Batman's chalkboard full of clues mentions "5G averted" - a bit of metatextual reference to DC's scrapped plans to reboot its universe again with younger characters. That plan has come to pass in a different form, with a澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询: recent focus on legacy heroes at DC.

Check out those pages here:

"This is for fans of big DC events and the great history of DC when it comes to comic books," Johns says in DC's announcement. "And even though this i༺s an event, it's focused on character over concept – it's the story of Thomas Wayne Batman, a Barry Allen that could've been, the crimes of🐈 Bruce Wayne – it's a murder mystery, a secret mission and a look into the past, present, and future of the continuum of DC. And as dark as it can get in this upside-down world of Flashpoint, it's fun."

And on that note, here's a lookဣ at interior pages from May 3's Flashpoint Beyond #1 follow𒆙ed by a brief Flashpoint explainer:

What is Flashpoint Beyond?

In the 2011 Flashpoint event, Thomas Wayne/Batman helped the Flash figure out where their world went wrong and set right the events that produced this tragic variant timeline. They succeeded and set about the line-wide DC reboot 'New 52' which seemingly erased the Flashpoint reality, and the Thomas Wayne/Batman jumped to the main DCU reality for intermittent appearances in storylines such as the Ba꧟tman/Flash crossover ',' the recent DC event series , and the current .

But in Flashpoint Beyond, we learn that the Flashpoint reality survived - and Thomas Wayne/Batman is even more shocked than we are. In the seven-issue series, he will return to the streets of his Gotham City to figure out the multiversal mystery of how his universe didn't die - and if there's some way to resurre꧅ct his dear, departed son Bruce.&🏅nbsp;

Along the way, he'll find an apparent lead with a new serial killer called the Clockwork Killer, and this alt-Batman's pursuit of the villain will lead him to Aquaman, who in this reality ꦐis a domineering tyrant of an Atlantean empire - an empire that has conquered Europe.

And froജm the looks of the covers, the Flashpoint Wond𒈔er Woman will also be returning for Flashpoint Beyond. 

"It's been a privilege, and incredible learning experience, to work with these talented writers, artists, inkers, letterers, colorists, and editors for this series," says Adams. "Talking story and charac💝ter has been eye-opening, and the lessons will undoubtedly color everything I do from now on. I'm beyond excited that DC fans will get to go back to the Flashpoint Universe and experience a grounded mystery that will evoke serious philosophical questions while tugging at your hearts🧜trings."

Also in the preview images is an easter egg appearance of '5G,' which is DC going a bit meta. '5G' is a term coined in 2019 that refers to a planned recalibration of the DC Universe to make all its various continuities, timelines, and universes fit with another that was at the center of months of rumors and speculation. Whatever DC's actual plans were eventually evolved, with DC opting to go with the less-restricting and timeline-specific 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:DC Omniverse which began in .

Who is the Clockwork Killer?

There's no DC character (yet) named the Clockwork Killer, but given Johns' most recent big series (and it﷽s connection to ), the 'clock' motif connection here is unmistakable. Especially after it was revealed the Watchmen's Doctor Manhattan was behind the multiv෴ersal shenanigans that led to Flashpoint, and then the 'New 52.'

But there's also something else from DC's past this could be referring to - something a bit more off ♑the beaten pa🤪th.

In 2011, the DC series The Spirit featured a storyline called '' - the very exact name of this apparent antagonist of Flashpoint Beyond. In the Spirit series by David Hine and Moritat, the 'Clockwork Killer' is a reference to a villain named the Professor who crea🐼tes automatons with clockwork accuracy to kill his opponents. This sharedꦜ name could be just insignificant… but can't be discounted just yet.

Flashpoint's connection to DC Comic and DC movies

The 2011 Flashpoint comic book event set the s♕tage for the 2011 'New 52' relaunch of the entire DCU, and the Flashpoint series itself was adapted in the 2013 animated film .

The upcoming live-action film The Flash is inspired by the Flashpoint event to some 𝕴degree, although it remains to be seen how faithful an adaptation of the comic book storyline it will be and how much the multiverse concept will play in its story.

Regardless, the Flashpoint Beyond series is timed to conclu🌺de - and possibly released as a collection - just as the Flash movie hits theaters on November 4.

Flashpoint 🧸Beyond #0 (of 6) goes on sa🌜le on April 12.

Interested in the idea of Batman variants? Here's our list of all the other 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Batmans running around the DC Omniverse

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the Americᩚᩚ𒈔ᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚan Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)