Okay, this is said without having read Flashpoint, or really, anything DC since Final Crisis started (I just haven't had the money for comics for awhile). I've been keeping up with the bullet points, through CV articles and such. I don't think Thomas Wayne being alive is a good idea, and I think him being Batman is a horrible idea. I understand the stories have been decent, but it completely flips everything about Bruce Wayne's Batman into a topsy-turvy spin. The death of Bruce's parents is integral to his origin and his motivations. If Thomas was Batman first, then it changes Bruce's characterization completely.
Before seeing a new DCU, where Thomas Wayne was the first Batman, I'd much rather see a DCU where Bruce Wayne was Batman as a member of the original JSA, and have someone else (Dick Grayson) as the present day Batman... or even see Bruce surviving into the present via Lazarus pits, like in Superman/ Batman: Generations. Bruce Wayne is Batman - period. Thomas Wayne as Batman is a great Elseworlds, but horrible as continuity. And this has nothing to do with liking one Batman over the other - it's simply bad writing to change the core of a character so drastically.
On the other hand, I'd be all for a change to the mythos of Superman - I could easily imagine changes to what we've always understood about Krypton... things that would drastically change Superman's world. The key there though is that it wouldn't change Superman. Superman would still be the same character, he would just have the ginormous shock of dealing with new information about his home planet's history. That's not the same as bringing back Bruce's parent, which would change everything about him as Batman. Heck, you could even bring back Superman's parents, and it wouldn't change who Superman is. If someone at DC wants a Batman who still has his daddy around, they need to be slapped and told to invent a character that fits that story, and leave Batman alone.
Grifter (and other Wildstorm characters) being introduced into the DCU is a different story. That's like introducing the Charlton heroes into DC - something that just has to be done, somewhere along the way. I will say that I was surprised by it though. Even though DC bought the Wildstorm imprint, I thought the characters were all still creator-owned. I never realized that DC owned them. That saddens me to a degree, because I expect that the Wildstorm characters will become shadows of their former selves, as residents of the DCU. Still, Grifter in the DCU does have its possibilities. And Deathblow in the DCU means that After the Fire might be continuity now. ;)
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