Writer: Geoff Johns, Jeremy Adams, and Tim Sheridan
Art: Xermánico, Mikel Janín, Romulo Fajardo Jr., Jordie Bellaire, Mitch Gerads, and Rob Leigh
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $4.99
Release Date: September 6th, 2022
Thomas Wayne has abruptly discovered who the Clockwork Killer truly is. However, his inquiry might be hindered by Dexter Dent and his own avenging timetable which just so happens to involve busting his mother out of Arkham! Let’s dive into Flashpoint Beyond #5 as Geoff Johns and crew kick this story wide open with some reveals that will surely make your head spin!
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THE DISPATCH
Truthfully peeps, Flashpoint Beyond #5 is pretty heavy. There is a ton of scientific, space, hypertime mumbo jumbo that will leave your head spinning. Plus, there is even a connection to the Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths placing the events of Flashpoint Beyond AFTER the Dark Crisis. Yet, this incredibly deep detour throughout the opening pages opens up the true bandit behind Flashpoint Beyond while also “reasonably” explaining the Divine Continuum. It’s almost as if Geoff Johns, Jeremy Adams, and Tim Sheridan are using Flashpoint Batman as the canvas to reinvent and fix continuity as we know it. Heck, this issue of Flashpoint Beyond is perplexingly ambitious… but in a good way.
So, what’s my takeaway after Flashpoint Beyond #5? Well, feel free to stop reading at any time if this makes no sense or sounds entirely wrong… because it very well could be. And if that’s the case, I think the creative team should just come out and better explain everything in an interview. So Johns, Adams, and Sheridan, if I’m wrong with my explanation, let me know when you three are up for an interview with me to add some clarity to the situation. But, here is how I took the Divine Continuum.
DIVINE CONTINUUM EXPLAINED (I think)
The Divine Continuum (DC) is made up of Space and Time. Space is the permanent multiverses that together make up the Omniverse, which is just never-ending versions of realities. Time, or as it’s called now Hypertime, is all the possible realities throughout the past, present, and future that could happen that are not solidified. These realities are not set in stone and are always changing, coming, or going. Picture it like a writer’s imagination. Stories that may never happen, paths never taken, and future stories that were never written.
Now, in DC’s past, people traveled through Hypertime like Gog killing multiple versions of Superman. However, killing versions of Superman that were never solidified anyway wouldn’t really matter because they were realities that never existed in the first place. However, when those realities become sturdy and permanent, they become fixtures on the Space side of DC as parts of the multiverse. Technically, I would argue (and again I could be way wrong) that any time someone goes into the future, they would splinter their reality and create a possible future in Hypertime that’s not yet solidified. And thus, by traveling back in time to when they left, they ultimately created an entire reality that should exist there until the actual reality catches up solidifying it.
So, why attempt to explain all of this? Easy. Because I believe this creative team was aiming for that. And thus, if I’m way off (which I could be) then that could possibly change my score a bit adding even more confusion to Flashpoint Beyond and causing an already heavy tale to become even more disjointed than I once thought. But if this rather slow-minded reviewer is even somewhat close to understanding what I’ve read, then I think this creative team is on to something. Plus, it makes the possibility of how Flashpoint Beyond was created more logical and less puzzling.
SPECULATIONS
My guess is that Batman found a way to travel back in time to the moment Barry was in the Flashpoint. While in Flashpoint (obviously without Barry knowing), Batman found his Mother Martha after her fight with Thomas Wayne Batman, mended her wounds, saved her life, and left the clues in order for her to save their reality. Therefore, this created a temporary reality in Hypertime that’s still malleable and unnoticed by even the Justice Incarnate since it’s outside of Space and not a permanent reality in the multiverse yet.
Next, enter Thomas Wayne who was in the Justice Incarnate AND just so happened to be hit by Darkseid’s Omega Beams. Now, if you remember when Bruce was hit by them, it sent him traveling through time and space (A.K.A. The Divine Continuum). Well, what if the Omega Beams sent Thomas Wayne to the only place left in space and time that he could possibly fit, which just so happens to be a place in Hypertime created by Bruce since Flashpoint is gone? This would explain why he just shows up there without knowledge or understanding as to why the universe even exists in the first place.
Enter Martha Wayne who wants Thomas’ help to work out her plan to save her son which I think was a plan set in motion by Bruce all along which will permanently solidify their reality and move it into the space side of DC and out of Hypertime anchoring it firmly into reality for good providing Thomas Wayne a world where hopefully Bruce lives along with his entire family fixing both his father and mother from that timeline. However, messing with time at all could draw some attention from the individuals who monitor those types of things, which is ultimately where Flashpoint Beyond #5 ends.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I’ve been a strong believer that a great story makes the reader truly think. If a story can drum up some solid water cooler talk, forum discussions, imaginative theories, speculative discussions, inquisitive responses, and unending questions then it deserves some outstanding praise. Flashpoint Beyond #5 does that… and then some! Readers will leave with all of the above and excited for what’s to come. The possibilities are endless AND while shedding light on DC Continuity, Johns and crew are also finding a way to reconnect the fan favorite Flashpoint Universe in the process. It’s two birds with one stone!
Are my theories correct? Who knows. Is my explanation of the Divine Continuum, Space, and Hypertime correct? Maybe… but either way I’m sure it’s confusing. However if not, again I say to Johns, Adams, and Sheridan, my email is dispatchdcu@gmail.com. I’m always open for an interview and discussion anytime to iron out the details with some of the very best in the field today! Nevertheless, I stand by what I said earlier. Flashpoint Beyond #5 will cause readers to think and ask provoking questions about the future of DC Comics as well as the Flashpoint Universe. And that’s just $&@$ good writing kids. This IS the event book you should all be reading right now. This IS the book that’s delineating the future of DC Comics. This IS the most important book at DC Comics right now. And if you aren’t reading it… you should be! Let me know what you think, have a great week, and God Bless!