The Rogues (Flash Villains) (original) (raw)
They came from many walks of life, but they all had two things in common: they were all criminals based in Central City, and they all had a fixation with battling the second Flash. (Actually, most of them had the same tailor as well: Paul Gambi did most of their costumes.) In fact, most of them retired or went part-time after Barry Allen’s death, because the thrill of matching wits with the Flash had become more important than the monetary gains of crime.
Hell and Back
Still, five of them—Captain Cold, Heat Wave, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, and Captain Boomerang—could not resist whenAbra Kadabra brought them an offer that would bring them respect. An offer that would “guarantee that they would be remembered forever not as has-beens... but as the most infamous villains of their age.” What Kadabra did not tell them was that it would cost them their lives. The five died, and unleashed the demonNeron upon Earth (Underworld Unleashed #1, 1995).
Neron was not finished with them, however. As part of a convoluted plot to force the Flash into a deal, he sent the Rogues’ bodies to Earth without their souls. The bank robbers who had so enjoyed matching wits with the Flash were now soulless killers, in command of vastly enhanced powers, with even more powerful avatars that caused enormous damage and killed thousands before the Flash was able to turn the deal around and force Neron to halt the destruction and return the Rogues’ souls to their bodies (Flash #127–129, 1997).
The Rogues returned to their lives of crime, then teamed up briefly to seek a Zhutanian religious artifact for protection from Neron. This team-up ended with the Trickster forcing Neron to agree to forget the Rogues and let them be... and with Heat Wave retiring and joining the monks (New Year’s Evil: The Rogues, 1998). Their experience in Hell has been a major turning point for all of them—turning some darker, likeMirror Master, and others, like Heat Wave, onto a new path.
During the time Wally West was replaced by a darker Flash, the Rogues passed the torch to their tailor’s nephew, Tony Gambi, now the living weapon known as Replicant.
A new Rogues Gallery led by Blacksmith surfaced briefly, but was defeated despite an elaborate master plan. Since then, Captain Cold has taken over the group.
Murder and Salvation
The Rogues turned a corner during the career of Flash 4: Bart Allen. Inertia recruited Mirror Master, Captain Cold, Heat Wave, Weather Wizard and Abra Kadabra to, as he explained, freeze time, leaving the world ripe for plundering. Trickster and Pied Piper each wormed their way into the group for their own reasons. They attacked the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, set up Inertia’s machine, and waited... only to find that it wasn’t designed to stop time, but to steal the Flash’s speed. They fought the depowered Flash, even unmasked him, only to realize that he was related to Inertia. They had been used to further a personal vendetta. The Flash broke free, running to the machine in hopes of regaining his speed, and the Rogues reacted. Weather Wizard, Captain Cold and Heat Wave blasted him full force, killing him (Flash: TFMA #10–13: Full Throttle, Countdown #51–46 & All-Flash #1, 2007).
This murder was one of the events that inspired the Suicide Squad to initiate the Salvation Project, simply depositing the worst super-criminals on another planet to fend for themselves. The Rogues were among the first sent there (Salvation Run, 2007–2008).
Text by Kelson Vibber. Do not copy without permission.
- Art Credits
- Profiles in Print
- Silver-Age Appearances
- Legacy-Era Appearances
- One Year Later Appearances
- Further Notes
- Related Commentary
Art
- New Year’s Evil: The Rogues (February 1998) - Jason Pearson
Profiles
- The Flash Secret Files #1 (November 1997)
- DC Comics Super-Heroes and Villains Fandex (2010)
Significant Silver-Age Appearances (as a group)
- Flash #130 (August 1962): “Who Doomed the Flash?” John Broome*
- Flash #155 (September 1965): “The Gauntlet of Super-Villains,” John Broome
- Flash #174 (November 1967): “Stupendous Triumph of the Six Super-Villains,” John Broome
- Flash #231 (February 1975): “The Only Crook Flash Could Never Catch!” Cary Bates
- Flash #242 (June 1976): “The Charge of the Electric Gang!” Cary Bates (cameos)
- Flash #243–244 (August–September 1976): “If I Can’t Rob Central City, Nobody Can!” and “The Last Day of June is the Last Day of Central City!” Cary Bates
- Flash #254 (October 1977): “To Believe or Not to Believe!” Cary Bates
- Flash #256 (December 1977): “Prisoner of the Past,” Cary Bates
- DC Special Series #11: Flash Spectacular 1978: “Beyond the Super-Speed Barrier,” Cary Bates
- Flash #300 (August 1981): “1981—A Flash Odyssey,” Cary Bates (cameos)
- Flash #325 (September 1983): “Dead Reckoning,” Cary Bates
- Flash #338–342 (October 1984–February 1985): “The Revenge of the Rogues!” “Warday!” “Reach Out and Waste Someone!” “Trial and Tribulation,” and “Smash-Up,” Cary Bates
- Flash #347 (July 1985): “Back from the Dead!” Cary Bates
- Flash #349–350 (September–October 1985): “...And the Truth Shall Set Him Free!” and “Flash Flees,” Cary Bates
Significant Legacy-Era Appearances (as a group)
- Flash #19 (December 1988): “A Meeting of Rogues,” William Messner-Loebs
- Secret Origins #41 (June 1989): “A Rogue By Any Other Name,” Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn
- Flash Annual 5 (1992): “Run-In” (Eclipso: The Darkness Within), Mark Waid and Craig Boldman
- Underworld Unleashed (November–December 1995), Mark Waid
- Flash #121 (January 1997): “Presidential Race! Chapter 2: Down to the Wire” Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn (silhouette only)
- Flash #125–126 (May–June 1997): “Cause and Effect” and “Trial Run” (Lead-in to Hell To Pay), Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn
- Flash #127–129 (July–September 1997): “Hell To Pay,” Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn
- The Life Story of the Flash (1997), Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn
- New Year’s Evil: The Rogues (February 1998): “Men & Gods,” Brian Augustyn
- Flash #195 (April 2003): “Off Balance,” Geoff Johns (cameo)
- Flash #207 (April 2004): “Rush Hour,” Geoff Johns
- Flash #210 (July 2004): “Reconnected,” Geoff Johns
- Flash #212 (September 2004): “Mirror, Mirror On the Wall,” Geoff Johns
- Flash #213 (October 2004): “Slow Motion,” Geoff Johns
- Flash #214–216 (November 2004–January 2005): “The Secret of Barry Allen,” Geoff Johns
- Flash #217 (February 2005): “Post-Crisis,” Geoff Johns
- Flash #218 (March 2005): “Rogue Profile: Heat Wave,” Geoff Johns
- Flash #219 (April 2005): “Truth or Dare, Part 1” Geoff Johns (cameo)
- Flash #½ (2005): “Rogue Wars Prologue: Tricksters,” Geoff Johns
- Flash #220–225 (May–October 2005): “Rogue War,” Geoff Johns
- Flash #227 (December 2005): “Finish Line, Part 1: The Last Days,” Joey Cavalieri (dream sequence, cameo)
Significant One-Year-Later Flash Appearances
- Countdown #51–49 & #47–46 (May–June 2007) Paul Dini (head writer) with Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, Tony Bedard, Sean McKeever
- The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #11–13 (June–August 2007): “Full Throttle,” Marc Guggenheim
- All-Flash #1 (September 2007): “Justice, Like Lightning,” Mark Waid
- Salvation Run (7-issue miniseries, January–July 2008), Bill Willingham & Matthew Sturges
- Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge (3-issue miniseries, September-November 2008), Geoff Johns
Notes
* Somewhere I came across a mention of the Rogues’ first appearance as being Flash #130 (1962). However, this is a very tenuous claim, as only the Mirror Master actually appears in the story for any length of time. The others are someone else in disguise for a panel or two. A better candidate for the group’s first appearance would be Flash #155 (1965), “The Gauntlet of Super-Villains,” in which six of the villains work together for the first time.