By Geoff Johns, Scott Kolins, Doug Hazlewood & various (DC)
ISBN: 978-1-56389-950-8
When Barry Allen, the Silver Age Flash whose creation ushered in a new and seemingly unstoppable era of costumed crusaders, was killed during the Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985, he was succeeded by his young sidekick Wally West, a young man who initially struggled to fill the boots of his predecessor, but like a true hero persevered and eventually overcame…
After years in the role West adapted and made a convincing argument for being an even greater hero as he triumphed over both his mentor’s uncanny foes and a whole new Rogue’s Gallery of his own.
This volume, Rogues – which follows directly on from Blood Will Run – is part of a massive continued storyline by scripter Geoff Johns and will be best enjoyed if you can also lay your hands on Crossfire and Blitz – at the very least – and collects issues #177-182 of the long-gone monthly comicbook.
The twin cities of Keystone and Central City are in economic turmoil. In an atmosphere of job-cuts and financial woe, ostensibly-reformed super-villain Keith Kenyon AKA Goldface is causing (mostly legal) trouble promoting his militant blue-collar union, whilst on the crime front a new conglomeration of Rogues is being formed by a sinister mastermind…
The action in this particular tome, all pencilled and mostly inked by Doug Hazlewood, begins with ‘Event Horizon’ when Flash’s oldest ally and human Black Hole Chester Runk, gifted with incredible teleportation and gravity-warping powers, is shot by an assassin. Although Chunk survives the bullet, the wound causes his powers to spiral out of control and subsequently endangers the entire planet until Wally can find a typically fast-paced fix.
Meanwhile in Keystone City, a new, non-union manufacturer of detention units falls foul of Kenyon’s pickets, allowing the lethally destructive super-gorilla Grodd to escape in ‘Caged’…
Immensely strong, carnivorous and possessing staggering psionic abilities, the savage simian goes on an earth-shattering rampage through the city until the hard-pressed hyper-fast hero finally stops him. Across town at that moment, another Flash-friend is arrested for murder…
‘Smile for the Camera’ incorporates a DC braided crossover event which spanned the entire DC pantheon (for more details and murderous high jinks see Batman: The Joker’s Last Laugh) which can be summed up by saying the Joker thought he was dying and infected hundreds of villains with his looks and madness before setting them loose to hilariously wreck civilisation and kill millions.
By the time the Pied Piper is remanded to super-penitentiary Iron Heights, the Jokerising plague is in full effect and chaos ensues. Even with Flash on hand the situation only gets more difficult as the Piper also succumbs to the contagious insanity…
A new villain is introduced in ‘Peek-a-boo’ when a desperate medical student uses her teleporting powers to steal harvested organs for her dying dad. Unfortunately, whenever young Lashawn Baez triggers her power, the air explodes with the force of a detonating missile. Happily for Wally, his old Teen Titans pal Cyborg has moved to town and is able to lend a detachable hand…
‘Fallout’ was a radioactive minor player illegally exploited to power Iron Heights until the Flash liberated him; but the walking atomic reactor was finding life on the outside increasingly hazardous. However, whilst the Scarlet Speedster struggled to find an ethical solution to his dilemma his oldest friends and mentors were falling victim to terrible personal tragedy…
The Rogues and their new boss Blacksmith are happily celebrating their carefully laid plans as Flash’s police contact Detective Jared Morillo becomes their latest victim, but the villains have no idea what trouble is waiting them as this tense tome concludes with ‘Absolute Zero’ (inked by Dan Panosian) when Captain Cold goes renegade to avenge the murder of his sister and affords us all a look at the early life which made him such a cold-hearted killer…
Fast, furious and fantastic, The Flash has always epitomised the very best of Fight ‘n’ Tights fiction. This impressive slice of top-speed, high-octane action can happily be read as is, but as part of the intended, extended epic these tales become vital parts of an overwhelming whole.
The Geoff Johns years are slick and absolutely addictive: engrossing, suspenseful and often genuinely scary comics you simply have to read. If you haven’t seen them yet, run – don’t walk – to your nearest purveyor of graphic magnificence and snag all the breathless excitement you could ever withstand.
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