Performing while moving away from the war, the circus provides a curious home for some familiar faces.
What They Say:
FLASH FACT! For their last performance – an escape act!
The Review:
With the various miniseries focusing on numerous aspects of the Flashpoint world across the globe, Deadman and the Flying Graysons gives us an interesting perspective. The focus on a small but very god circus traveling through what’s left of Europe, trying to move away from the coast where the Amazons and Atlanteans may attack, gives us a more common many approach to understanding what’s going on. Events have moved in a big way since the sinking of Western Europe and everyone is just trying to survive. The book opens showing the performances done for a small town in Austria which definitely brightens everyone’s mood, but there’s still that sense of dread and uncertainty about what’s going to happen next considering the scale of events so far.
The book deals with multiple characters in the troupe, but it primarily focuses through the view of Boston Brand, the daredevil gymnast of the group who performs alone. While he’s out there with the Grayson family, he views them as holding their son Dick back from better performances because of his reliance on them, while Dick feels that he does very well because they’re there to support him. Boston’s nature keeps him separate from everyone else and he doesn’t help much with the usual circus moving chores, which earns him quite a reputation. There’s a lot of decent material about how the troupe is set up and how they’re coping with things since being stranded there, as well as a few desires once they get back to America as well. It has the feel of family as best as can be had within the limited number of pages here.
There are some amusing characters that populates the book, but I was most heartened by seeing Kent as Dr. Fate here, a very disconnected man in a way because of the helmet he wears. He’s not the catalyst for events that start to unfold towards the end that will change the status quo for the troupe, but he is the one that clues in Boston to it that bad things are coming. And his helm is what’s being sought after by the Amazons, who are now making their way along the path of the circus to try and find it. The book is light on action but has some good performances by the Graysons and Brand while setting up what’s to come with the Amazons. It gets you like this group of characters easily while showing how well they blend together in this particular situation. Krul provides a good take on them while the artwork by Janin fits very well with it, making it fun read and enjoy the artwork.
Digital Notes:
This digital edition of Deadman and the Flying Graysons from Comixology features just the first printing cover of the issue with no additional extras included in the book.
In Summary:
While the title’s name certainly isn’t one to write home about, the story is one that deals well with a kind of family and how they deal with a tough situation without realizing they’re about to be hunted. There’s a lot to like here with the cast of characters chosen, the setting for it and the pacing of the book itself. I’ve always been a fan of Dick Grayson and getting a telling where his parents survived is definitely fun. Bringing Boston Brand into it in this way as a performer is equally good as I’ve really enjoyed his return to prominence in Brightest Day, so this gives him some additional time. I had little in the way of expectations with this book but Krul and Janin gave me a fun reading experience that has me looking forward to the next installment to see where it goes – and who survives.
Grade: B
