Flashpoint #5

The Good: As has been consistent with the series, Andy Kubert is at the top of his game art-wise, and the panel layouts are something strangely unique, not super amazing, but definitely gives off a different vibe than most comics.
It was kind of neat to see pretty much every side character show up here for the big climactic battle, and the tension of the story was pretty high.
The final emotional payoff was very poignant. Say what you will about the flaws in the story (And I will be saying a lot about it) at the very least, the emotional scenes were indeed very powerful. The final moments between Barry and his mother really hurt, and the last scene with Bruce could warm even a wild bear's heart.
It's interesting to see how Batman and Barry are in their DCnU costumes at the end without acknowledging it. Considering the nature of the relaunch, this is exactly how it should be.
At least the relaunch gets TECHNICALLY explained. It is explained in a way tailored specifically for current fans. Flashpoint is an event to set up the DCnU for those already reading DC. It is not for the new readers they hope to catch. It makes sense in that regard.
 
The Bad: I was enjoying this event immensely at first. #1 was great, #2 was powerful; but then in #3 some red lights started flashing..... (Pun not intended, honestly). Too much time was spent showcasing the characters from the Tie-Ins, and the main focus became the Aquawar, which is all sorts of wrong to be the focus. The Aquawar should've been more of a plot device rather than a plot itself. A big scale thing going wrong with the world, perhaps even a lingering countdown to build up the urgency of Flash's fix-the-timeline mission. A countdown who's timer is unknown and could go off at any time. Instead Johns decides to just drive all the focus right into it, even using it to be the true end of some of the tie-ins. When that became the focus was when the greatness of the event effectively died. Instead of trying to fix things, searching for Reverse Flash, Barry instead decided to get involved in a war he had no stake in. Which just so happens to lead him to Reverse Flash ANYWAYS for no adequately explored reason. Too much coincidence and random chance was involved for me to take this completeley seriously.
Even having the tie-ins lead into Flashpoint #5 would've worked IF IT HAD ACTUALLY RESOLVED ANYTHING. Plenty of hte tie-ins would've been BETTER if they had just ended, even if they ended with the character rushing off to the war, that's still an effective end. Flashpoint #5 resolved ABSOLUTELY NONE of the 'hanging plot threads' of the miniseres'. It just had them all cameo in the final war, which becomes 100% meaningless. Although the war should never have been resolved anyways. Whoever wins, lots of fans would be left with a bad taste in their mouth, because this was a war that never should've been interferred with. We saw the motivations of both sides, and honestly, unless you prefer one of the characters for personal reasons, it was impossible to choose sides in this war. It was a pointless meaningless war which would've been more effective had it not been so focal to the direct storyline itself.
But now we get to the real kickers. This entire event was absolutely meaningless. [MINI-DISCLAIMER: I'm not talking about it being 'world is changed it's meaningless because it'll be fixed, or DCnU makes it meaningless.] Reverse Flash served no purpose in this story. Everything was Barry's fault. He went back in time to save his mother. But he didn't. Or he did? It fractured the timeline. Sure, fine, great, I can buy that. BUT. Why did he forget about all of this until Reverse Flash just HAPPENED to remind him? WHEN did he do this? Why did the effects not happen the very INSTANT he did this? And why was there ABSOLUTELY ZERO FORESHADOWING that this was the cause. It was a plot twist that came out of left field in a ballpark on the other side of the world. By itself, it's fine. It's a decent way to challenge Barry emotionally. But as a plot twist, it's EXTREMELY poorly handled, and seems horendously shoehorned into the plot.
But wait, there's more! Flashpoint is what causes the DC relaunch. Well, ok, I can't say DC told us Flashpoint itself was the cause, so I can't say it's bad that Flashpoint's cause isn't related to the relaunch. Instead we get some other random splash page that explains it while Barry's fixing the timeline. Which is mostly ok. But, what the explanation is I KNOW is going to piss some people off. (I'm pretty sure Silkcuts is going to be more annoyed than before about the relaunch.) Because this is the explanation given to us by an unidentified voice. "The history of heroes was shattered into three long ago. Splintered to weaken your world for their impending arrival. You must all stand together. The timeslines must become one again. You can help me fix that Barry, but at a cost." This scene has a multi-exposure shot of Barry running across the middle, with some images of various DC, Vertigo, and Milestone characters. The whole thing is REALLY confusing, and what I've seen on this site is that lots of people don't get it at all. It took me a minute, but it became clear. On the left side of the splash page is 3 loose 'panels.' One has all DC characters, one has all Vertigo characters, one has all Stormwatch characters. The right side has 2 loose 'panels,' but this time both have characters from all 3 mixed together. So DC is saying that the DCU, Vertigo, and Stormwatch were all once one universe apparently, and now they are all one universe again. It's weird because The Voice says the timelines MUST become one, but they do as she's speaking, since the DCnU IS what she's suggesting.
The problems with this, besides the confusion, is that it doesn't fit with the idea of the DCnU. Who is this mysterious voice? Why must the universes become one? It appears to be setting up a future event WHICH NONE OF THE NEW READERS THE RELAUNCH IS MEANT TO OBTAIN WILL UNDERSTAND. Instead of making the transition easier to handle, this only made things worse. Plus, what does this mean for series' like Hellblazer? If the Vertigo Universe and DCU are now one, are all future Hellblazer stories going to be set in the DCU, or will they be set in a universe that technically, by DC's own admition, no longer exists?
 
In Conclusion: 2/5
1 star for art and layouts, 1 star for moving emotional moments, but that's honestly all this issue deserves. There's absolutely NO WAY this issue merits a 5/5, or even a 4/5. It should barely even earn a 3/5 from other reviewers. This issue was flawed out the ass in the plot department. Shoehorns, ass pulls, and pointlessness were abound in copious amounts. Flashpoint got the job done in setting of the DCnU, but with colors that were stuck in the mud instead of flying, and as a story itself it tripped over it's own feet and fell into a ditch. It's not TERRIBLE, but it's nowhere near as good as it set out to be, or even as it could've been.