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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.