DC Comics is no stranger to massive world-changing events that reboot its entire universe and start from scratch. And few events were more memorable and impactful than Flashpoint, which led to the major yet controversial New 52 reboot that took the DC Universe in a bold new direction. In 2011, Barry Allen, aka the Flash, went back in time and prevented his mother’s murder. Unfortunately, when he returned to the present, he found that his meddling with the timeline had caused the world to transform into a place on the brink of collapse. In this world, many familiar characters, including prominent members of the Justice League, had their backgrounds, personalities, and costumes warped to the point where they’re almost unrecognizable.
In a timeline where the world is about to be destroyed by the raging war between Wonder Woman’s Amazons and Aquaman’s Atlanteans, many familiar characters undergo dark transformations. As a storyline comprising numerous tie-ins, DC Comics offered numerous creative and striking alternate designs for iconic heroes and villains that helped portray how far this world has fallen.
10) Green Lantern
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In the Flashpoint Universe, Green Lantern Abin Sur never died, and thus no humans were ever recruited into the Corps. In a unique form of advertising for the then-upcoming Green Lantern film, DC had Abin Sur wear a costume reminiscent of his suit in the movie. While the movie was definitely a travesty of filmmaking and bombed, the costume in the comics works for Abin Sur. Its numerous lines that are reminiscent of muscle fibers help make the suit feel much more alien, which is fitting for an extraterrestrial Green Lantern. It’s a costume that’s both simple and complex in the best ways, and shows how little connection the Green Lantern Corps has to Earth.
9) Cyborg
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Instead of Superman, Cyborg takes on the role of America’s greatest hero in the Flashpoint universe. To get across Cyborg’s role as one of the strongest and most popular superheroes, he was made significantly bigger and his armor much more bulky, so much so that he ends up looking like a walking tank. And to signify his allegiance to the United States, he has a large star design on his left pec. Cyborg also often has his gigantic arm cannon deployed to show how dire the state of the world has become with Wonder Woman and Aquaman’s war threatening to engulf the globe. In a world of darkness, Cyborg stands among the few truly virtuous heroes left.
8) Deathstroke
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In a world where large portions of the planet have been submerged thanks to Aquaman’s invasion of the surface world, the one-eyed mercenary Deathstroke naturally becomes a pirate. Deathstroke is the captain of the Ravager ship and leads his band of supervillains to plunder across the seven seas. Although he wears his signature orange, blue, and black costume, covered in pockets and weapons, Deathstroke also has additional design elements that emphasize his new pirating lifestyle. He’s got a large, flowing trenchcoat, his beard has grown out, and he wears his iconic black and orange face mask as a bandana atop his head, letting everyone see his eyepatch. Every aspect of the design shows how Deathstroke has adapted to his pirate’s life on the sea.
7) Captain Thunder
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The Flashpoint Universe offers one of the most divergent and awesome versions of Shazam. Known as Captain Thunder in this world, the Mighty Mortal isn’t a young boy who turns into a superhero. Instead, Captain Thunder is the product of six children shouting “Shazam” and merging into a heroic persona. This team of six would actually inspire the New 52’s Shazam Family. Along with a cool new insignia featuring a black circle and a giant lightning bolt, Captain Thunder has a massive set of scars on his face from fighting Wonder Woman. The scars show that even the normally jovial hero Shazam has been forced to become a battle-hardened warrior.
6) Element Woman
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Element Woman is one of the few original characters to emerge from the Flashpoint Universe. She is a well-meaning, but somewhat insane, hero who helps fight Aquaman and Wonder Woman. As a gender-swapped version of the hero Metamorpho, Element Woman possesses a chaotic design that combines various elements and compounds. Also serving as a sign of her jovial yet mentally unstable nature, Element Woman has long, flowing pink hair, an orange upper right side, a rocky upper left side, a pink right leg, and a wooden left leg. She also has a bikini-like suit to show off the extent of her amalgamated body. Like Element Woman herself, the design is bright and chaotic.
5) Aquaman
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In a universe where Aquaman was raised in Atlantis and lost his wife to Wonder Woman, the King of the Seas became a genocidal tyrant hellbent on making the entire surface world pay for the death of Mera. Although his suit is reminiscent of his classic orange and green costume, its color scheme is changed to dark red and blue to represent his corruption into a cold-blooded villain. His buzz-cut hairstyle and facial scars also help to visually signal that he’s become a militaristic tyrant who has waged war against the Amazons and the rest of the surface for years and who has left millions dead in his wake. Flashpoint Aquaman shows how the King of Atlantis isn’t someone to be underestimated when he abandons his morality.
4) Joker
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Thanks to the Flash’s tampering with the timeline, the bullet that killed Batman’s parents moved ever so slightly, so it was instead a young Bruce Wayne who died that night in Crime Alley. When Bruce died, his mother, Martha, went mad and became this world’s Joker. Her design is reminiscent of the classic Clown Prince of Crime with a green button-down shirt, purple-tailored suit, green hair, and white makeup. In a terrifying feature that pays tribute to Heath Ledger’s iconic Joker design in The Dark Knight, Martha carved a wide grin into her face, barely held together by stitches. More subtly, Martha’s black eye makeup is constantly running as a metaphor for how internally she’s been completely broken by grief and despair after her son died.
3) Wonder Woman
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Instead of an advocate for peace, Wonder Woman declared war against both Atlantis and Man’s World after Mera tried and failed to kill her for having an affair with Aquaman. The leader of the Amazons’ quest to conquer the world, Wonder Woman, is adorned in bulky, sharp metal armor plating to symbolize her cutthroat, militaristic persona. She also has a cool alternative “W” logo that looks more like an eagle, and wears a striking white cape. Easily the most striking accessory is her golden helmet that belonged to Mera before Wonder Woman beheaded her. Now, Wonder Woman wears the helmet as a warning to all those who would dare challenge her and to really, really get under Aquaman’s skin.
2) Subject One
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In the Flashpoint Universe, Superman became the complete opposite of his main universe counterpart . Raised in isolation deep underground by the US government since he first landed on Earth, Kal-El, or Subject One, has in his entire life seen sunlight. Having never gotten the chance to gain powers, Subject One is reduced to a frail, scrawny, and pale shell of what he could have been. His suit and logo are also a significant departure from what he normally wears. It now represents how he’s been treated as a lab rat and prisoner by his captors and never had the chance to learn his Kryptonian heritage. Seeing the Man of Tomorrow reduced to such a helpless state shows just how far this world has fallen.
1) Batman
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While Martha became the Joker in response to the trauma of losing Bruce, Thomas Wayne became his world’s Batman. One of the coolest and darkest designs the Caped Crusader has ever had, Thomas Wayne’s Batman is a far more brutal hero than his son ever was. Thomas’s batsuit is incredibly menacing through the use of additional spikes and adding a red tint. Even Thomas’s cowl has a red eye tint, representing the overwhelming rage he feels at the world that took away his son. And unlike Bruce, Thomas has no problem with using lethal force, which is emphasized by the pair of gun holsters connected to his utility belt. Flashpoint Thomas Wayne is the ultimate example of a Batman who completely gave in to his rage.
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