Secret Origins #41: The Rogues

Ryan Daly and guest Doctor G review the origin stories of the Flash’s villainous Rogues Gallery from Secret Origins #41. Send for the usual suspects: Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Heatwave, the Trickster, the Weather Wizard, and the Pied-Piper!

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“Premonition” (Theme for Secret Origins Podcast) written and performed by Neil Daly.

Additional music: “The Fun Lovin’ Criminal” by Fun Lovin’ Criminals; “Listen To the Music” by The Doobie Brothers; “Mr. Heatmiser” by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy; “Down Under” by Men At Work; “Rock You Like a Hurricane” by Scorpions; “Breakin’ the Law” by Judas Priest.

Thanks for listening!

37 responses to “Secret Origins #41: The Rogues

    1. Actually I wouldn’t change any of your music choices, but may I fantasy pick “Spin Spin Sugar’ for The Top?

      1. That’s a good song, but if The Top did have a secret origin in this series, it would’ve been hard not to play “You Spin Me Round”.

  1. Great episode, lovely to hear Dr G.

    Whippersnappers! That cover is a homage to Carmine Infantino’s Flash #174 cover. It was also homaged, slightly less directly, for Countdown Special #1.

    I think, Ryan, you said Showcase 13 saw the debut of Dr Alchemy AND Mr Element. In a sense, but mainly in that Al Desmond used two identities – in that issue, he was solely Mr Element.

    I think you know this, but forgot for a second – Paul Gambi was named after frequent letter writer Paul Gambiccini, who later moved to the UK and became a famous BBC DJ. I interview him at his home years back and he was charming.

    I love Akin and Garvey’s ink on Rom, bring them back!

    You hate second person narration. Or rather, I do. Martin. Confusing, isn’t it? Or at least, annoying. To you. That is me. Martin.

    Seeing the Booster Gold encounter mentally is a clue to Grodd. And yes, you could work out who the mystery villain was ie which big villain wasn’t on the front of the book? Grodd was never a Rogue, just a super-big name Flash villain.

    I’m pretty sure the Tricksters pre-Crisis status as a dedicated Flash villain, occasionally lent out, remained – he was just hanging around Blue Devil because – as noted – The Wally Flash book wasn’t using the Rogues much.

    ‘The sarcastic Australian guy’ – I thought you were talking about that Paul Hix…

    Oh, who cares that the Rogues stealing when they have those amazing weapons and IQs makes little sense, that Manapul/Buccellato Heroes Reborn-style all-in-one origin in lazy and boring!

    Aaaaarggh Ryan, you prefer Turbine to Top? Bleurghhh. What’s evocative about a turbine? I don’t mind a bit of an anachronism.I’m sick of the Speed Force being linked to everybody.

    And ‘sarcastic loudmouthed foreigner’? Honestly!

  2. Great episode for an over-stuffed issue! That’s a lot of villains.

    I was going to comment on the cover homage but Mart beat me to it. It all reeks of Steranko (and before him Eisner) who used background elements (buildings, etc) to spell a title or credits. I like this style a lot. It feels very noir.

    Like you Ryan, I like the idea of weapons as opposed to powers. I believe that some of them did internalize their powers during Underworld Unleashed or some other event. It was Geoff Johns, who always seems to be looking backwards, who brought back the cold pistol, etc.

    But for me, I think the big thing is that there is no way that any of these guys should cause the Barry Allen Flash a problem. It’s all gimmicks and feints against a man who can run near light speed. As a result, I end up reading many of the old issues like it is an elaborate LARP or extreme ‘Cops and Robbers’. I love the stories from the early Flash issues. Love them. But, much like with Superman stories, I sometimes have to roll with the ‘challenge’.

    Lastly, I thought for sure we would open up the podcast with ‘Criminal’ by Fiona Apple. I think you need to create two Spotify lists, Ryan. One would be the actual soundtrack of all the Secret Origin episodes. The other is all the backseat DJs giving you what they would have played (cough cough Radiohead’s Creep cough).

    1. I LOVE Fiona Apple and “Criminal” is my jam. (I think I used it on an episode of Flowers & Fishnets last year.)

      1. I gave up on commenting on Count Drunkula’s song selections a long time ago, especially because I’ll burn through my own choices at a rapid clip as the DC Bloodlines podcast progresses with background music and 0 figs given about anyone else’s critiques. I can say with confidence that Ryan’s already used “Criminal” somewhere, because I was my usual “hey, Fiona Apple– too bad it’s the same song everyone uses” self.

      1. Suggesting to give Green Arrow the shaft? Is that another Teen Titans Dick reference? Give it a rest fellas.

          1. “My Name is Mud,” from Primus, “Dirty Laundry,” from Don Henley, and “Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap,” by AC/DC.

          2. Gene McDaniel’s “A Hundred Pounds of Clay” would fit the girl Clayface, if she was around at this point. Whichever Clayface it was that loved a mannequin could get Starship’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.” I’d try for deeper cuts, but blech, stupid Clayface.

  3. My intro to the Rogues was Flash #230, in 1974. It featured Dr Alchemy, and the fact that he was actually 2 villain personas was cool as heck. It was a comic I borrowed from a friend, which would set the tone for how I encountered the Rogues. My friend next had Limited Collectors’ Edition C-39, Secret Origins of Super-Villains, which reprinted Captain Cold’s origin. It had a nice featurette with Flash’s other Rogues and a nice spread of the entire gang. That was followed by Flash #244, where the Top leaves a legacy of destruction, after dying. he has planted bombs across Central City which will go off, unless they are combined in a certain combination, to disarm them. The Rogues hunt them down and find them; but don’t have enough time to try every combination. That was totally awesome, as it had just about every one.
    The Rogues are great blue-collar villains; they hang out at the local bar, complain about the jerk at work (the Flash) and they occasionally team up. It’s no surprise that they were well represented in Challenge of the Superfriends (with Heatwave and Abracadabra appearing in proposal art). These guys even got their own costumer; how cool is that?
    The 90s Flash tv series was a bit dark and pat, for me, until they introduced the Rogues (in altered form). That’s when it started to pick up and when Mark Hamill appeared as the Trickster, I was ecstatic. The current tv series picked up when we got Captain Cold and let him be the thief he always was.
    I always preferred the Rogues to Batman’s enemies. These guys are pros, not crazies with a mad-on for Batman. They don’t want to burn the world; they just want to be rich. I’m a bit disappointed that my favorite, Mirror Master isn’t here (he might have been dead at this point, before the Scottish guy.)

    Tom Yeates as a manga artist? Well, maybe a Goseki Kojima or Ryuichi Ikegami. His style was very much old-school illustration and he excels at period pulp adventure, like John Carter and Tarzan.

    Love the music, even the ones I didn’t suggest, though Heat Miser doesn’t quite have the same punch when it’s not George S. Irving singing it (I go back to Underdog, with him. Man, I’m old!) and Dick Shawn as Snow Miser.

    Ian Carr was a Canadian who worked more in the fringes of mainstream comics, with a lot of work in the Canadian alternatives. He did a Charlton Bullseye issue, when it was near the end of Charlton (the color comics).

    Leonard has a third strike; according to Manhunter, he was also a Cubs fan. Talk about a loser!

    1. I was surprised by the Yeates ref too, is that really who was intended, I wonder?

      And I must say, I didn’t like how Geoff Johns had most of the Rogues snorting drugs.

      1. I’m guessing Dr. G meant Doug Rice, the original artist of the 80s Mark Shaw Manhunter series. He was definitely manga-influenced.

        Chris

  4. ps. Great seeing Don Simpson, even toned down. It’s not quite Megaton Man and it certainly isn’t his Anton Drek stuff (oh for a crossover between Wendy Whitebread and Gorilla Grodd!)

    Loved that episode of Justice league Unlimited. After making Flash the comic relief for so many episodes, it was nice to see him in his element. I liken it to the equally excellent episode of The Tick, where Tick and Arthur team up with Sewer Urchin, in the sewers, and see that he is a really capable hero, within his own world.

    The talk of science reminds me why I loved the Silver and Bronze Age stories and the Flash & Rogues in particular; the stories were clever and both hero and villain used their brains, rather than just punching and shooting one another all of the time (just some of the time). Clever beats strong every time.

    1. Tick: “Man, you are so cool down here!”
      Urchin: “Oh yeah, down here I’m considered the apotheosis of cool.”
      Arthur: “Did… Did you just say ‘apotheosis’?”

  5. Flash 19, where Wally parties with the Rogues, is one of the best issues of Bill Loebs’s criminally under-rated run.

    Mazdan, from Showcase 4, would have been an oddball choice for the bald villain.

    Did you mean Doug Rice as the manga-inspired Manhunter artist? If you look at his earlier Dynamo Joe series, you’ll see Rice was a full-on manga artist, just working in a more super-hero style for Manhunter. Tom Yeates was of the moody Kubert style.

    There were a few more circuses (circii?) in the DCU: Hill Brothers (Deadman), and the one Kathy Kane bought after retiring as Batwoman, but I guess there’s just Haly’s these days.

    I liked the von Eeden chapter for it’s Gil Kane/Alex Toth vibe.

    The end of the story was silly and Silver Agey and gloriously goofy in a way that no one would dare to do today. All it needed was a caption box with hands coming out of it.

    For a good Heat Wave story, check out Flash (Barry) 266-267

    That end stinger just emphasized again how different Flash is from the rest of the Justice League.

    1. Not necessarily just manga-influenced. Rice is a big fan of Japanese live action, manga, and anime. We talked for a while about some of the Japanese Tokusatsu hero shows, when discussing his inspiration for Mark Shaw’s Manhunter uniform. A lot of that came from the live action Kamen Rider (Masked Rider series) and he name drops Kamen Rider, Kakaider, and some others, when Shaw is in Japan.

      Speaking of Rice, I wish he was still working in comics. He was a heck of a dynamic storyteller and he had developed an aviation pulp alternative history, that looked really cool, which he never got published, thanks to the state of the industry. Instead, at that time, he was working for Star Toons, on Pinky & the Brain and Histeria, for Warner. On top of that Dynamo Joe would make for an awesome animated series or movie (live action or animated).

  6. Great Ryan. These Rogues are classic. I was talking with Paul Hix the other day about how I miss the old one issue story lines where villains like the Rogues were brilliant. Comics these days seem to be a feature length film cut into 5 minute segments released a month a part. It really points out the appeal and advantages of trade waiting. Brilliant observation that almost all of the Rogues could be rolling in cash by simply using their abilities in a legitimate business model.

    Thank you for the clever and witty reversal on my Teen Titans comment, complete with a nice pause before moving onto the next comment. Comedy 101 people.

  7. Just found this podcast and in the past week been obsessed listened to about half of them at this point. In the 80s my parents were building a cabin so every weekend on the way to the cabin would stop for groceries I was allowed to pick books off the spinner rack. Went from all star squadron through secret origins in that Era. So great memories of reading these by camp lanterns. Wasn’t a big Flash fan as a kid so nor much memories of the Rouges always thought they were the comic version of Oceans 11 with Captain Cold as Sinatra ya I was a odd child. Again thanks for the trio down memory lane this podcast is for me

  8. Fun episode, and fun issue. I HAD this comic at one time, but it’s one of those rare childhood comics I had that have somehow disappeared into the ether.

    I first met the Rogues through Challenge of the Super Friends, in the form of Captain Cold and Grodd. I first encountered Captain Boomerang in Batman #322, of all places! The rest I met either through the Flash comic or my beloved DC digests, which reprinted the origin stories of Boomerang, Abra Kadabra, etc.

    The Gambi connection was a fun way to go, and I also remember that “Further Adventures of the Batman” story with a similar theme.

    I remember being surprised by Don Simpson’s art on this one. I liked his cartoony take. It seemed to fit the slightly goofy take on the Rogues from this period. I guess DC was kind of embarrassed by the characters for the better part of 2 decades, as they were rarely shown as any competent threat, and no less than Mark Waid killed them off, as Ryan pointed out. Waid said it was his one concession to the 90s comic think, and he regrets it.

    Good call Dr. G, on the bald man possibly being Abra Kadabra. That would have definitely fit as well.

    And I LOVE that Flash-centric episode of JLU. So many great nods to the comics, and juxtaposing Flash against the serious Batman and even more-serious (if that’s possible) Orion showed Flash as the genial hometown hero, which sets him apart from his League peers.

    Nice music selection in this one!

    Chris

  9. Great episode! I love the cover, even though it’s just a re-take of the Infantino original.

    While not my favorite issue, its issues like this that make me so nostalgic for the series. Not having the Flash in the book at all is pretty uncommercial, but they went ahead and did it anyway. Maybe they knew the writing was on the wall and decided the hell with it, let’s just do what we want. I feel like if this was done now, they’d find a way to stick Flash and probably Batman in it.

    Dr G is always a solid guest. He has a lilt in his voice that always sounds upbeat even when saying something negative. I’m trying to work on that.

  10. Not ever having been a Flash fan, I met his rogues mostly as individuals before I was aware of the group. The first was likely Captain Cold on Challenge of the Super-Friends, who I probably confused with Mr. Freeze, as they had the same gimmick. I think my first comic book exposure was watching him get traced and arrested by Mark Shaw in Manhunter #1. I liked how his being a gambling sports fan humanized him, but he was a washout in my eyes until Geoff Johns rehabilitated him as a villain. I do not like him as an anti-hero one bit, only as a grudging ally to Flash when a truer evil emerges.

    I might have seen Mirror Master in his one appearance on Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show, or maybe house ads, but he didn’t make such an impression that I remember our initial introduction. He’s one of the more powerful and appropriate Flash foes, but whatever, he’s an above-average DC utility villain amongst this lot.

    I probably saw Pied Piper on an old Infantino cover, or maybe a group shot. I paid him no mind until I heard that he was gay, and thought they leaned awful hard into stereotypes between his Peter Pan suit and oral fixation. Aside from joining the short mental lists of “homosexuals in comics” and “reformed villains who helped the Flash,” he means nothing to me.

    I used to confuse Weather Wizard with Water Wizard, an extremely minor Marvel villain from the first Ghost Rider comic I ever read. The latter had a better costume, though. I wasn’t aware of the existence of The Top until his revival during an extended Identity Crisis tie-in. Howard Porter did an amazing job of making him look like more than a total tool, but that only went so far. I used to confuse Heat Wave with, like, five different Batman villains that also failed to connect with me. His face turn doesn’t help much. Captain Boomerang is the Guy Gardner of the Suicide Squad, and that will always be my favorite role for him– accept no substitutes!

    The Trickster is the rogue I have the most affection for, but only in the context of a Blue Devil villain, where I made his acquaintance. There was a lighthearted world better suited to the twinkle-toed master of rubber chicken bombs. He was Dan’s main frienemy, appearing in about a third of Cassidy’s solo stories, including the very first appearance of Blue Devil. The Flash goes out of the way to avoid using James Jesse as The Trickster, making him a government agent, giving him a crumby legacy, having Mark Hamill play him as a proto-Joker… The Trickster is only accepted on his own terms in Blue Devil comics.

    I also read “The Further Adventures of Batman: 14 All New Adventures of the Caped Crusader” back when it came out in 1989, and it introduced me to Paul Gambi in spirit & concept if not by name. I appreciate how Promethean the rogues are, “stealing” the internalized powers of metahumans with their fabricated weapons. It’s cool how they’re (relative to comics) practical and sociable, all going to the same tailor who specializes in their form of costume play.

    Over the years, I’ve gotten sick of pedantic fans mocking the concept the gimmick villains by pointing out that they would be happier and wealthier by simply patenting their fantastic inventions instead of robbing banks for thousands of dollars with devices worth millions. In the real world, sure, but so little about the comic book adventures we enjoy reflect our actual reality, and that’s kind of the point. So, I offer the Richards Principle as a catch-all no-prize. The premise is simple: that most of the inventions of super-villains already exist in a world filled with polymath super-geniuses and alien technology, and in fact this circumstance has robbed the comics world of most opportunities for entrepreneurial invention. All this super science is already owned by corporations and governments who use it at their pleasure, but either refuse or are prohibited from supplying these advancements to the common man. However, the option exists for criminals to steal or reverse engineer these devices using materials that are not available in our world but are attainable in theirs. A freeze gun could be equivalent to a truck bomb with regards to difficulty in constructing, which explains why so many super-villains have them, but they’re still not commonly held by citizens (and are likely, similarly, very illegal.) It even explains the continued thriving existence of traveling circuses in comics, as an equivalent to gun shows. Decentralized, under-regulated, mobile opportunities to observed and obtain advanced weaponry.

    I had very low expectations for this issue, beginning with a green Mignola offering a pale recreation of Infantino on the cover (which contributed to my apprehension about cracking it.) I prefer early Paris Cullins, but his later exaggerations were an asset to Mishkin & Cohn’s surprisingly amusing introductory sequence. I also did not recognize the usually just serviceable Grant Miehm, so kudos to Akin and Garvey for their appealing ink contributions. I like Howard Simpson from this period anyway, but Anthony Van Bruggen gives his line an uncommon delicacy. Ian Carr is unfamiliar to me. Trevor Von Eeden’s art again looks like quick sketches for a letters page or fanzine, lacking even a semblance of depth. The only character he puts effort into is human Grodd, and I think that was more an experiment employing Miller’s style from Ronin. I could never take Don Simpson seriously, but man is he on point with Gorilla Grodd! I love the villain dialogue balloons and can’t believe this mix of origins and bridging story worked together so well. This is like a lost Blue Devil Trickster spotlight issue, by that book’s creative team, and one of my favorite stories of this run!

    Making a Flash movie that doesn’t alienate the small but loud TV show audience is a tricky proposition. I’d use the original 1960s Batman film as a touchstone. If it were me calling the shots, I’d make this Flash Bart Allen, and revise that character as gay to take the lead on representation in super-hero movies. Get the SJWs championing you out of the gate without stepping on the less progressive elements of fandom (surely Impulse fans wouldn’t be too touchy?) Taking a page from Dawn of Justice, we start the movie with Barry Allen just about to die, sacrificing his life to save Central City with the help of the Rogues, including Jai Courtney in a cameo as Captain Boomerang. A young Bart Allen arrives from the future hoping to save his ancestor and “fix” a dreaded upcoming history, but is too late. This establishes time travel as a major element for the movie Flash, which will be important in the DCEU as already alluded to in BvS.

    Cut to six months later, and Bart is living like a comedic version of The Man Who Fell To Earth, a bum scamming off his knowledge of things to come and living for distraction. After a period of mourning, the Rogues are individually reemerging on the Central City crime scene, and Bart takes them on more as a pass time than a mission. However, a cult devoted to the Speed Force has sprung up, with members able to temporarily tap in and cause serious damage. As it turns out, they were inspired not by Barry but by Bart, since his presence proved that the Speed Force was transferable. Worse, their leader Cicada is aware that Barry Allen’s widow Iris is about to give birth, and plans to sacrifice the newborn to both extend his life and gain permanent access to the Speed Force. With the help of the rogues against a small army of undisciplined homicidal speed fanatics, Bart has to hero-up to insure his future existence and correct the time stream he mucked up in the first place.

    The Flash movie gets to take advantage of the TV show by skipping on all the villain origins stories and borrowing resonance for the brief appearance of Barry Allen, and also takes advantage of the higher production values of cinema to showcase all the Rogues’ powers substantially all at once. In the end, having saved the space-time continuum, Bart isn’t sure what to do with himself. That’s when the founding three Legionnaires show up to take him to the 30th Century for an education, allowing Bart to take the place of Superboy in the DCEU. It also, obviously, sets up not only the second Flash movie (which would end with him following Abra Kadabra back to the 21st Century) but also a Legion of Super-Heroes film. The tone overall would be similar to Ant-Man, but maybe with a greater emphasis on comedy and spectacle.

  11. Another great episode! Doctor G makes a great guest, even if he does sound exactly like fellow podcaster Jon Wilson (c’mon Doctor G, rip off that Scooby mask and reveal yourself as Jon Wilson already!).

    I’ve got several random thoughts, so in no specific order…

    The title “Rogues” is perfect for this group. As everyone has said, they are not world-conquering bad guys. They are essentially mischievous robbers. The word “Rogue” suits them well. In RPG terms, we usually call guys like this “crooks” rather than “villains”.

    I’m not surprised they chose such “humor-friendly” artists. Keep in mind, at this point in time DC was embarrassed by most of the Rogues. In the mid-1980s, fans of dark and gritty comic storytelling had turned on the Rogues. Much of fandom considered them silly and not worthy as villains. So DC putting a humorous slant on this issue makes sense. Mishkin and Cohn were known for making the Blue Devil book fun, funny, and adventurous. Just the right way to handle a group of characters that fandom didn’t take seriously. Also, having Mishkin and Cohn work on Trickster makes sense too. As you mentioned, he appeared quite a bit in Blue Devil. To the point when Trickster appeared, he was often a protagonist. I really love the way they used the Trickster character in Blue Devil!

    I haven’t read this Secret Origins issue in years, so I didn’t remember the first thing about it. However, like Doctor G, from your descriptions I was pretty sure the bald mystery guy would turn out to be Abra Kadabra. However, instead we get Gorilla Grodd trapped in a human form. Oh joy. Everyone loves their favorite gorilla character.. as a human.

    Regarding the New 52 and the internalization of the Rogues powers, you are half-right. It actually works better than you might expect. All the Rogues still had their previous origins. Captain Cold developed the cold gun; Heat Wave had his heat gun; Weather Wizard had his wand, etc. And they all fought the Flash numerous times, but all those adventures occurred prior to Flash #1 (keep in mind The Flash had already been around for at least five years when the New 52 #1 issues started). The internalization of the Rogues powers happened years after they became crooks. Here is an explanation from Wikipedia:

    – A year prior Captain Cold, Heatwave, Mirror Master (Sam Scudder again), and Weather Wizard underwent a procedure at an unknown facility that would merge them with their weapons, giving them superpowers. The procedure went awry and exploded. Cold’s sister Lisa, who was also at the facility was caught in the explosion. The five were given superpowers but each in a twisted manner. Heat Wave gains pyrokinesis but at the cost of his body being burned, Weather Wizard becomes emotionally tied to his weather wand causing constant depression, Lisa becomes an astral projection of herself, and Sam would be forever trapped in Mirror World. The Rogues blame Cold for this and have turned against him.

    There is a benefit to the internalization of the powers. As Anj said above, there is no way these Rogues with gadgets should be any trouble for the Flash. Flash can just grab the gadgets in the blink of an eye. However, by internalizing the powers, that makes them more challenging. So while I love the Rogue gimmick weapons, I’m also okay with the internalization that Manipul and Buccellato introduced. That really was an amazing Flash run by Manipul and Buccelllato. Some of the best Flash comics in years. Everyone should read them!

    Another great episode! Keep up the great work … wait … taking a few weeks off? Seriously?? What gives you the right?!? As Rob once said, what am I supposed to do on Mondays now? Work? Pfft. Whatever.

  12. I’m right there with you Ryan on the dynamic of career criminals vs. the over the top world dominators that most comic villains are. You mentioned Heat, and I’d also cite the first film in the Transporter franchise where Frank. the titular get-away driver, has a great relationship with a local detective where the cop knows what Frank used to do and anytime something happens he shows up and goes “Frank, are you working again?”

    I just love the idea of career cops and career criminals not actively hating each other, but rather having jobs that clash by their nature. Like a prosecutor and a defense attorney.

  13. All the commentary on the internalisation of the Rogues’ powers reminds me of the DC Robot Chicken special where Mr. Freeze is berating how the likes of Captain Cold and Icicle have the exact same powers, moaning that he spent years in college studying the subject while these college drop outs manage to get the same powers with little difficulty:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri3h04pvbMY

    Very good episode. Just by coincidence, I just received Volumes 2 and 3 of the Ostrander Suicide Squad TPBs. Reading them now, I’m struck by how much depth (or lack thereof) he gave Captain Boomerang, making his speech both racist and sexist depending on who he is speaking to (and in the case of Vixen, often both at the same time). Despite the vileness of his character, he came across as a real person (albeit a horrible one). By contract, Captain Cold, who was in the Suicide Squad in the same time, had little to no personality. Only when Johns started his run that the likes of Cold began to have a bit more depth to their personalities.

    I am happy that the Further Adventures of Batman book was mentioned. When Gambi was mentioned in the episode, my mind flashed to the “Neutral Ground” story and lo and behold, it was brought up by you and Doctor G within 2 minutes. There was some great stories in those books – there was an excellent child kidnapping story in the Penguin and Catwoman volume, if I recall correctly – and it is a pity they don’t do those type of anthology prose stories as you could get some great stories. They did a similar anthology with Gaiman’s Sandman which also had some excellent stories.

    Hope you enjoy the break Ryan and look forward to the next episode.

  14. I’m late getting to this, but am astonished that none of us comic nerds have yet pointed out the glaring (to me) error in your review of the Trickster. The character’s name is NOT Jesse James, as was asserted frequently. It is James Jesse.

    Yes, I’m a pedantic jerk, but we’re comic nerds. We’re SUPPOSED to be pedantic jerks!

  15. Kinda hate to admit it, but I never knew this was a Mike Mignola cover before you pointed it out. It was such a good take on the original (classic) Flash cover, that I’m ashamed I never bothered to look at who drew it. I liked the presentation of how they tell their origins, though I wish the art (for the most part) had been better, instead of the standard ’80s DC fill-in quality. Cullins did well but sadly was out of the way for the bulk of the comic.

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