Superman and Subject Zero square off in New Themyscira. Can Superman become the hero he is destined to be or will he end up like Zero and try to kill anyone in his way?
The Good
It's a pretty fun book, story-wise. The issue really is two super-powered beings fighting each other to the death for a whole issue, and believe it or not, it's done very well. During said fight scenes, you get this cool effect where we get to see the character's skeleton instead of the flesh. Almost like we're seeing through the eyes of Superman, looking at another person. Pretty interesting concept.
I am still loving the fact that heroes and villains have no problem killing in all of these books. Weirdly, it makes the book feel more real than you'd think. Plus, who doesn't like seeing a hero "lose it" and punch a hole through a person?
The Bad
So many of these Flashpoint mini-series started off incredibly strong, but they end up fizzling out by the third issue, and this is one of them. By now, we've already read a few Flashpoint mini-series #3s that have a giant battle, then the main character saying, "I must join the fight." Only when we get to the third issue do we realize how formulaic these books are, and it's a huge bummer.
Flashpoint Mini-Series Formula:
Issue #1: Character you love re-imagined. Villain introduced/New take on an old villain.
Issue #2: Filler. Prepare to battle. Huge twist towards the end where normality in the Flashpoint Universe is completely backwards from the normal universe. More about the character is revealed through dialogue or flashback.
Issue #3: Villain kills off beloved character. Good fights bad for 14 pages. Good wins and says "Time to join the real fight."
The Verdict
While it is a fun book, it's not really a great one. If you've been reading a lot of the Flashpoint mini-series, then you're probably also noticing the Flashpoint Mini-Series Formula by now. While the character of Superman is really cool, I felt like I've read this before because I did when I read The Outsider, and that book was a lot better at hiding the fact it follows the formula. Maybe I just have event fatigue, but I could really go for a two-part story that has no effect on other books.