When it comes to Crossover events, nobody delivers thrills and break hearts better than DC Comics. Interestingly enough, Barry Allen always seems to find himself sandwiched in the middle of sticky, interdimensional situations. It's been that way ever since 1961's groundbreaking Flash of Two Worlds event - in which Barry met Jay Garrick for the first time. Barry also kickstarted DC's infamous Flashpoint storyline - introducing readers to a twisted world in which the Justice League never formed.
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AS you might expect, the Flashpoint timeline features a slew of brutal battles, tragic deaths, and tearjerking scenarios. Today, we're going to discuss 10 of the worst things that happened in this dark vision of the future - intent on not crying our eyes out when all's said and done.
10 Wonder Woman Kills Queen Mera
Though Barry's responsible for introducing readers to the Flashpoint timeline, Aquaman and Wonder Woman are the catalysts for their world's impending destruction. Unlike their Prime Earth counterparts, the versions of Arthur and Diana that we meet in the event are at war with each other - leading the armies of Atlantis and Themyscira respectively.
Someone who's out of the loop might wonder how these two went from close friends to mortal enemies? Well, their mutual feud started with a secret affair. Once Queen Mera learned that WW slept with Arthur, she confronted Diana. In response, Diana decapitated Mera and sent her severed head to Aquaman - effectively declaring war with Atlantis and any of its allies in the Flashpoint timeline.
9 Barry Nearly Electrocutes Himself To Death
Shortly after entering the Flashpoint timeline, Barry discovers how twisted this version of the world is and tries to make things right. However, Allen faces one major problem at the start of his journey - he can't tap into the Speed Force! With the aid of Thomas Wayne, Barry attempts to regain his powers by recreating the accident that first turned him into the Flash.
Sadly, the experiment goes wrong - singing every inch of Barry's body and nearly killing him! Though Allen eventually regains his powers later on in the Flashpoint comics, his initial failure suggested that there truly wasn't a thing he could do - leaving him a crippled and tearful shell of his typically optimistic self.
8 Heatwave Kills Animal Man
Comic writers usually take the opportunity to either kill certain characters or flip them on their moral axes in alternate timeline stories. Despite being a mainstay in DC's Prime Earth continuity, Buddy Baker (aka Animal Man) met a gruesome death at the hands of Mick Rory (aka Heatwave.)
Normally, Rory battles the Flash as a member of the Rogues. In the Flashpoint timeline, however, Heatwave's more morally ambiguous. Mick harbors a grudge against Cyborg, but he also acts to bring an end to Aquaman and WW's war. But when Heatwave bit off Buddy's nose and then curb-stomped him to death, that wasn't for the sake of altruism - it was in the name of revenge!
7 Selina Kyle Gets Paralyzed
Another character that had a reputation for being ambiguous (even in back in Prime Earth) is Selina Kyle - better known as Catwoman. This master thief has teetered on the edge of being a genuine hero and only looking out for herself. In the Flashpoint universe, Selina's a hero through and through.
Sadly, she was also rendered a quadriplegic in the midst of Aquaman and Wonder Woman's bloody war. Selina acts as the Flashpoint timeline's Oracle - using her mind to continue fighting the good fight. Though Selina tries to be strong most of the time, she couldn't help but break down in tears when she disclosed how The Joker mutilated and crippled her for life.
6 Jim Gordon Accidentally Kills The Wrong Target
As a whole, the Batman Family gets treated the worse throughout the Flashpoint event. Selina gets crippled by the Joker, Dick Grayson's parents get butchered by Amazons, and Barbara Gordon never gets conceived. As for the Wayne Clan, we'll have to get back to them in a later entry. For now, we'd like to focus on tragedies that befell one Jim Gordon.
With most of Earth's best heroes either dead or missing entirely from the Flashpoint world, commonfolk like Jim Gordon had to triple their efforts to maintain order. Such stress weighs a toll on the mind that can cause even those with the best of intentions to inadvertently wreak havoc. Case in point; the Joker tricks Jim Gordon into shooting and killing Harvey Dent's daughter instantly.
5 Hal Jordan Sacrifices Himself
In another life, Hal Jordan inherits a Green Lantern ring from Abin Sur and becomes one of the greatest heroes the Corps has ever seen! But in the Flashpoint timeline, Jordan never meets Abin Sur - remaining a member of the Ferris Air company instead. Even without his ring, Hal's just as stubborn and courageous as ever - traits that serve him well when the Atlanteans and Amazons attack!
Throughout Flashpoint, Hal does everything in his power to save as many lives as he can. When the Amazons erect a superweapon in New Themyscira, Ha volunteers to take it down with the "Green Arrow" tactical nuke. Unfortunately, Hal's aircraft malfunctions - leaving him with no other options than to perform a kamikaze to detonate his payload.
4 Krypto Gets Put Down
By now, you might be wondering where Superman is? After all, there's no way that one of the greatest heroes in the universe would sit idly by while the world went to Hell! The same goes for his cousin Kara and even his dog Krypto! But that's just it - the Flashpoint timeline doesn't have a Superman, a Supergirl, or a Superdog.
The US government finds Krypto at a young age and conducts inhumane experiments on the poor thing. After an incident leads to Krypto attacking Lionel Luthor, the government puts him down. By the time Barry, Batman, and Cyborg find him, only his bones remain.
3 Superman Gets Raised By The Government
The heading says it all. Superman isn't raised by the loving Kent family in the Flashpoint timeline - he's captured by the government after crashing in Metropolis and killing 35,000 people on impact. Kal-El never learns anything about humility, compassion, or justice - he only knows the life of a lab rat and the cruelty of the scientists who experiment on him.
The moments that he's granted a reprieve are all too brief - Kal-El only gets to spend a moment with Lois and Sam Lane as a child and loses Krypto far too soon. In spite of all that, Kal still helps our heroes in their darkest hour.
2 The Story of Martha, Thomas, and Bruce Wayne
Like we said earlier, the Wayne Clan gets the worst treatment in the Flashpoint timeline. In most continuities, Bruce Wayne becomes Batman after his parents get killed right in front of him. But things get reversed in DC's dystopian crossover event - Bruce Wayne gets shot in the back of Crime Alley, prompting Thomas Wayne to become Batman - and Martha Wayne to become the Joker!
By far, the Flashpoint Joker is one of the most sadistic interpretations of the character we've ever seen. Conversely, she's also the most sympathetic - as the death of her child pushed her over the edge. Saddest of all, Martha breaks down again once she learns that her son survives in another world - only to don the cowl and risk his life just as Thomas does.
1 Barry Has To Let His Mom Go Again
The big mystery throughout most of Flashpoint is why this dark future even exists in the first place? One moment, Barry's fighting crime in Central City. The next, he's powerless in a nightmarish version of his home. The one thing that Barry can take solace in is that his mother's alive and well.
But therein lies the crux of Flashpoint; Barry's mom is alive because he went back in time and saved her! The horrors he's witnessed are ripples of that one act - akin to the 'Butterfly Effect' theory. To make things right, Barry has to go back and stop himself - not the Reverse-Flash as he initially believed. In other words, Barry has to let his mom die once again. Our hearts go out to the Scarlet Speedster - and everyone who suffered during this tragic crossover event.