The Flashpoint war between the Amazons and the Atlanteans heats up as the Amazons pay a visit to Haley's Circus.
The Good
This series has been one of the better, more fun Flashpoint tie-ins. What sold me from the beginning was the idea of Dick Grayson not growing up to be Robin and staying with Haley's Circus. With J.T. Krul writing and those really cool Cliff Chiang covers, there was no way I could not pick these issues up.
The first issue was pretty fun but after reading Flashpoint #3 and hearing more from Kyle Higgins about Nightwing's new series in September, I'm now looking at this series a little differently. The solicit info for Nightwing and Higgins' interview, we know Dick will be back at Haley's. Maybe I'm reading too much into it but Flashpoint #3 lead me to believe that there could be some connection between Flashpoint books and September's "New 52."
With the Amazons after a certain item one of the members of the circus has, this isn't a simple story about circus life. There is plenty of actions and based on the other tie-ins, you know some bad stuff will be going down. What readers will be mainly interested in is what will happen to this version of Dick Grayson. How will he react to the chaos surrounding him not having had a life of training by Batman. Seeing the other supporting characters in similar roles of not being natural crimefighters adds to the excitement of the story. With the open nature of the Flashpoint world, you never know who will show up and the surprise appearance of one character definitely makes a good tease for the next issue.
The Bad
With the first issue, one of my complaints was with the art. Surprisingly we have a different artist with this issue. Actually there's two artists. Mikel Janin did the art in issue #1 and here we have Fabrizio Fiorentino and Alejandro Giraldo. Unfortunately, the art is still a concern for me. There is some consistency with the art so it's not a distracting difference but there were still moments I felt some of the characers' anatomy and backgrounds looked a little off.
Maybe it's because we don't know a whole lot about the Flashpoint world (and the current status of Poland) but when some of the characters were on the run from the Amazons, the surrounding city felt small. It could be that when Amazons roll into town and start attacking, everyone knows to head for the hills.
The Verdict
Whether this should be considered an Elseworlds story or if there could be any impact with September's relaunched Nightwing series, there's something about seeing Dick Grayson back at Haley's Circus with his parents. Obviously this isn't just a series about Haley's Circus. With the Amazons on a mission and attacking, the action will heat up. How Dick Grayson will react and survive (if he's able to) in this world without being trained his whole life by Batman is what adds to the suspense of the series. Based on information Nightwing writer Kyle Higgins has revealed and events in Flashpoint #3, I can't help but suspect that there's a chance some elements of this series will carry over after Flashpoint ends. The surprise appearance by another character in this issue ensures that things will get very interesting in the final issue next month.
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