This is even darker than the Flash volume! Batman isn't the Batman we know and love. He's a much more driven, more morally compromised version. What would happen if a man's child was killed in front of him and he was powerless to prevent it. The Joker is probably even more twisted, and you wouldn't believe me if I told you. That's just the Batman story.

Then there's the story about the biggest jerk in the DC-Verse, Deathstroke, and his crusade to find his lost daughter. I can't call him a hero, because he's not. He's ruthlessly selfish and murderous. I feel bad for anyone who throws in with him. He's not a man I'd trust as far as I could throw him. This is non-stop action, a world in which the seas have become a lawless place of pirates, and the Atlanteans kill humans with impunity.

The story about Dick Grayson and his family tells us how things might have gone if Bruce Wayne had not been there in his life after the death of his parents. Also shows a Europe that has been decimated by the Atlantean-Amazonean war, and where various DC-verse figures have become freedom fighters (even ones who were once villains).

My least favorite was Secret Seven. It was pretty gruesome and twisted, and while I see the point of it all in terms of the Flashpoint story arc, I didn't really appreciate the story at all.

I would still give this four stars because I thought it was pretty interesting, and frankly, nightmarish.

I will confess I watched "The Flashpoint Paradox" Justice League movie prior to reading this, and let me tell you, I was blown away at how dark this story arc is. This is like "What If?" on steroids.

The movie goes into some explanations I won't get into, and I tried to forget I knew that, because I haven't read The Flash, Vol. 2: The Road to Flashpoint yet, which I think is probably the backstory. All I know is, I don't want this life for any of the DC characters I know and love. One of the interesting things is seeing what this crazy world does to the various characters as you know them. Villains end up on the other side. Sometimes, they stay just as villainous. Sometimes, they are worse, unchecked in a world where the Justice League as we know it never existed or has fallen by the wayside. Where Wonder Woman has become an autocrat who leads ruthless, murderous Amazons who delight in killing humans.

This one isn't for the kiddos. Very violent and has some disturbing imagery. Probably the most disturbing in the story about Gorilla Grodd, who has pretty much taken Africa and claimed it for his own, and it ain't pretty. I couldn't look away. I'm starting to wonder why AU seems to be so dark and dreary. Maybe so that the reader will repeat, "It's only a book. It's only a book. It's only a book," and wipe their foreheads. While the first story is about Flash, this is really more like an anthology featuring different characters from the DC verse in the aftermath of Flashpoint.

Flash is a cool character. I like him more all the time. Interesting that this is my first official solo Flash graphic novel. I'll be reading more.

The Last American Vampire - Seth Grahame-Smith 

Henry Sturges is the Forrest Gump of the vampire world. The Last American Vampire reads like a who's who of late 19th and 20th century people and events, as Henry encounters the likes of Tesla, Twain, and Teddy Roosevelt, and hops around the globe experiencing the Russian Revolution, the rise of Hitler, and Jack the Ripper. While its predecessor, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter had the tone of a serious work of historical non-fiction (plus vampires), The Last American Vampire is campy and just plain fun.


Disclaimer: This book has been provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.