Don't be fooled by the cover, title, and quotes. The book is called The World of Flashpoint featuring Batman not The World of Flashpoint Batman.
I'm here to make sure you don't make the same mistake I did by informing you what this entire book is really about.
I was inspired by the Flashpoint Paradox animated film to pick this up thinking it was all about Flashpoint Batman. This trade actually consists of four different Flashpoint stories. The first story is Batman: Knight of Vengeance written by Brian Azzarello and art by Eduardo Risso. Almost everything that I needed and wanted to know about Flashpoint Batman was in there. For those of you that don't know this Batman is in the casino business. To my surprise he is openly allied with one of his enemies and one of his allies. The revelation as to who the Oracle is in this is crippling. The art is a little harsh but its the perfect tone for this harsh world. If you had any doubts about who Joker is or was in Flashpoint all your questions will be answered. Everything in the story made sense which is something of a challenge when it comes to alternate timelines or worlds and Azzarello did a phenomenal job at that. The conclusion was heartfelt and royally screwed up at the same time. The story was sick, sad, demented, and awesome. There is no other story in this book that was as satisfying and unfortunately is the only one that features Batman.
The second chapter is titled Deadman & The Flying Grayson's. I'm not trying to be facetious when I say this but surprisingly enough that's exactly who was about. Because Batman isn't who he appears to be in this timeline it also alters the future of Dick Grayson and his parents. They were never killed when he was a young boy and they are still performing with the circus together in Europe. Now I don't know much about Deadman but in this iteration his name is Boston Brand and he's the cocky, one man, main attraction of the circus. Also a man named Kent wears the helmet of Doctor Fate but by the end of the story somebody else takes that name and helmet for themselves. This side story shows the Amazons attacking Europe and how these folks get caught up in all of this warring. The art is visually stunning to the ocular cavities. Its beautiful and gorgeous and sexy. I want to be friends with it. The story was sad, intense, and interesting but it was left with a cliff hanger, leaving things unresolved.
The third chapter of this book was all about Deathstroke and his pirates which was a referenced to a part in the Flashpoint book and animated film. It was just like a classic blockbuster film. It was ridiculous and over-the-top. It had sex violence, guns and swords, blood, death. The art is supremely fitting to the style of this story of war and pirates but deep down its about Deathstroke trying to find his daughter. The story isn't exactly my cup of tea but if it's what you're into there's no doubt in my mind that you'll really enjoy it. Jimmy Paliotti expands on one small moment From the main Flashpoint book and crafts an epic tale of hard-core awesomeness that is a one and done story that leaves you content.
The final story was about the secret seven. If any group of characters didn't need a story about them it was these ones. On top of that this story was so confusing and incomprehensible that there was no point. I stopped reading it halfway through because I couldn't stand it. Of course I forced myself to finish it but I was confused as hell and it was just weird as crap. That being said I don't want to waste your time or mine talking about what happened in the story because it honestly isn't worth your time or mine for that matter. The art was not bad. In fact it was pretty solid but in conjunction with writing it's not worth sitting through the drudgery. The best I could say about this is to skim it but that's just the art. I think the biggest fault this story made is that they brought in all these characters that you didn't know or if you do know about them then maybe you weren't so lost but not being a hard-core DC reader I had no idea who these characters were, what their powers were, what it had to do with anything and how they were a relevant so it was just a giant waste of time for me.
Overall I would not suggest you buy this graphic novel. What I would suggest is that you go to Age of Comics since they bundle arcs for you or any other comic book store in your area and find the actual collection of issues that make up the Batman: Knight of Vengeance story arc. Now if you love Dick like I do I would strongly suggest you find the Deadman & The Flying Grayson's issues. If you're not I still think that the art is absolutely worth it. The story is still really enjoyable and it's really interesting how badly things turn out no matter what especially in this one. As I said if you're a Deathstroke fan then the Deathstroke arc is also for you if not then that I wouldn't suggest it. Now if you honestly think you would buy all three of these stories and issues then I would suggest buying the graphic novel otherwise I wouldn't especially if you just want to get the Batman stuff and that's not including any of the any other stories just the first story and that's it. Other wise this graphic novel is a skim at best.
Verdict: SKIM
SNBF
Sack Time
Talking Nerdy
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