Flashpoint: Wonder Woman and the Furies #2

After a very bland and lifeless first issue, Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning try to get a little more personal with the conflict between Wonder Woman and Aquaman in this issue, only to end up with what reads like a very lazy effort from the writing team. It is a story that goes through the motions as if it barely cares and gives readers nothing. 
 
Unfortunately, Wonder Woman and the Furies is probably the most important of the Flashpoint tie-ins, because this is where we are getting the history of the Atlantean/Amazon conflict that has such a central role in the overall story. It is a huge responsibility, and this series is failing to live up to it. 
 
DnA continue to take the easy route to manufacture the conflict, using cliched misunderstandings and villains pulling strings behind the scenes. That is probably this series' greatest weakness. There is no legitimate conflict here. Aquaman and Wonder Woman are at each other's throats because their closest aides pit them against each other, for reasons unexplained, and they are such blind tools that they go along with it. This is the epitome of generic storytelling. Both sides are simply now trying to avenge lost loved ones, and there is absolutely no substance to this central pillar of Flashpoint beyond that. 
 
Unlike the first issue, the Furies do actually appear here as they finally get introduced to the story. How does that happen? A new report says that Wonder Woman has recruited various female superheroes to her side, and... that's it. Seriously, that is it. We are given no reason whatsoever why any of these characters would care to join Wonder Woman. The story does not even give us enough to theorize. Do women just hate the United Kingdom? DnA do nothing with the Furies besides vaguely mentioning how they exist. 
 
The big moment of Mera's death happens in this issue, and underwhelming would be one of the words to describe it. It is a senseless scene that pits Mera and Wonder Woman against each other with no logic behind it, serving to just check another item off the list. Like creating the Furies and showing how Arthur gets his scar (SPOILER ALERT: Diana cuts him). There is no real drama to this scene. Ridiculously, the story claims that Mera and Diana were like sisters. ...When was this? I believe this is the first time Mera and Diana have been in the same scene together, so I am at a loss for when exactly these two were like sisters. You can't tell me that. You have to show me that. It's storytelling 101. 
 
For as important as Wonder Woman and the Furies is to Flashpoint, it is pathetic how poorly written it is. The story makes no attempt to create a compelling conflict between Wonder Woman and Aquaman. It instead falls back on generic cliche and then does not even bother to put any effort into other areas of the story to make up for that. There are no three-dimensional characters here. The story acts like we should care when they die despite how it made no attempt prior to make us care. It tells us characters mean something to one another, but we never actually see it. 
 
Is this a relevant tie-in? Yes. Is it worth your time or money? No. This is just a bad comic.