Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge | |
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Publication information | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Mini-series |
Genre | |
Publication date | September - November 2008 |
No. of issues | 3 |
Main character(s) | The Rogues Libra Zoom Inertia The Pied Piper |
Creative team | |
Written by | Geoff Johns |
Artist(s) | Scott Kolins |
Letterer(s) | Nick Napolitano |
Colorist(s) | Dave McCaig |
Editor(s) | Joey Cavalieri Chris Conroy |
Collected editions | |
Hardcover | ISBN 1-4012-2333-8 |
Paperback | ISBN 1401223346 |
Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge is a three-issue 2008 mini-series produced by DC Comics. The series is a tie-in to Final Crisis , and is written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Scott Kolins. This reunites the creative team for the first time since their critically acclaimed run on The Flash (vol. 2) in 2001–2003.
After escaping the prison planet from Salvation Run , Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard and Heat Wave return to their hideout in Keystone, only to find the place has been invaded by a gang of youngsters led by the Trickster. After driving the squatters out, Captain Cold declares that after their violation of the number one rule ("Never kill a speedster"), the Rogues are finished and disbanded.
Meanwhile, in the Keystone Police District, detectives Chyre, Morillo and Ashley Zolomon are investigating Bart Allen's murder. As they discuss the Rogues, they are attacked by the Pied Piper, who steals the last will and testament of James Jesse. He is later seen in the ruined Rathaway mansion, studying the will, which consigns information on the Rogues, written in invisible ink.
In her home in Central City, Iris Allen is looking over photographs, tearfully remembering her late husband, when a disembodied voice calls out her name, and lightning strikes outside the window.
In his Keystone headquarters, Libra delivers a speech about the Religion of Crime to his Secret Society, when he is interrupted by Doctor Light, who has received a message from the Rogues. Captain Cold says "no" to the Society's offer, and Libra ominously reacts: "There's always a troublemaker in the bunch".
In the Flash Museum, Warden Wolfe and two guards are about to transfer the still-paralyzed Inertia to Iron Heights. Suddenly, a red lightning bolt strikes the villainous speedster and frees him. Again able to move, Inertia quickly kills the guards and runs to the home of Wally West, where he aims to kill the Flash's children. He is stopped by the very person who freed him: Zoom, who wants him to become the new Kid Flash.
When they learn of Inertia's escape, the Rogues decide to break their number one rule one last time before retirement, and to kill Inertia in revenge. [1]
The Rogues begin their quest by visiting their tailor, Gambi, who is found beaten. A mirror similar to Mirror Master's is found and they receive a challenge from the "New Rogues" (first introduced in the Gotham Underground miniseries in which Penguin recruits them), who are counterparts of the current ones (including the absent Abra Kadabra, but not Trickster), to surrender to Libra or Captain Cold's father will be killed. Captain Cold accepts the challenge and threatens to kill his father himself. Mirror Master is able to trace the transmission. Each Rogue fights and kills his respective counterpart with Weather Wizard also killing Abra Kadabra's counterpart. Captain Cold confronts his father about his childhood abuse, but cannot bring himself to kill him. Instead, Captain Cold has Heatwave incinerate him and the bodies of the dead new Rogues.
Zoom continues to try to get Inertia to assume the Kid Flash identity. Inertia's speed is no longer powered by the Speed Force, but by Zoom and the timestream.
Libra decides to target another Rogue, Weather Wizard, with his abducted baby son. Libra seeks to have the Rogues on his side to stop any interference from the Flashes as their aid has been imperative in the previous Crises. [2]
After the previous chapter, the Rogues hole up in Weather Wizard's brother's old lab. While there, he mourns the death of his brother. Mirror Master eventually locates Zoom & Inertia and the Rogues ambush them during a training session. Piper enters the fray, immobilizing both sides and smashing in Mirror Master's teeth in retribution for the murder of his parents.
The fight is then interrupted by Libra who chastises Piper for his blasphemy in claiming he was a messenger from New Genesis and then gives Weather Wizard an ultimatum - join him or he will kill his son. Weather Wizard says that if he was capable of killing his own brother, there's no way he would not kill his son. Libra calls his bluff, but before this could be resolved Inertia kills the child and proclaims himself Kid Zoom.
Zoom is outraged by this, but Kid Zoom turns on him, taking all of Zoom's powers and changing him back into Hunter Zolomon. He then proceeds to attack Libra, but the Rogues and Piper rally and attack Kid Zoom all at once, killing him. Libra then tells them that after killing two speedsters (Kid Zoom and Bart), they are ready to take on the returned Barry Allen in the name of Darkseid. The Rogues are stunned to learn of Barry's return, but turn down Libra, saying they want no part in what is sure to be Libra's defeat; as they leave, Libra shouts at them that evil will win the fight.
Afterwards, Piper turns himself in to the police and the Rogues' deliver Kid Zoom's corpse to the police with a note to the Flash that they were now even. Back at their hideout, Captain Cold scoffs at the idea of evil winning, stating he did not believe in true evil, merely different shades of gray. He then decides to put off retirement claiming that the game is back on because of Barry Allen, to which all the other Rogues agree. The issue ends with the foreshadowing of 2009's The Flash: Rebirth . [3]
Dan Phillips of IGN praised the series, giving the issues a 7.9, [4] 9.3, [5] and 9.2 [6] respectively. While originally calling the first issue somewhat of a "letdown", [7] Phillips would call the series a "homerun" by the third issue. [8]
Comic Book Resources gave the last issue three-and-half stars out of five, claiming the series "is a worthy successor to his [Geoff Johns] best "Flash" stories of yesteryear", but was critical to Scott Kolins' art, saying it "looks sloppy in individual panels". [9]
The series will be collected into a single volume:
The Reverse-Flash is a name used by several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Each iteration of the character serves as a foil and an enemy of the Flash.
Captain Boomerang is the name of two supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, who respectively serve as enemies to both the Barry Allen and Wally West versions of the Flash. Created by writer John Broome and artist Carmine Infantino, the first Captain Boomerang, George "Digger" Harkness, first appeared in The Flash #117. He has also been a prominent member of the Suicide Squad since its second iteration in the late 1980s. During the 2004 storyline Identity Crisis, George Harkness is killed and his son, Owen Mercer, created by Brad Meltzer and Michael Turner, takes over his father's role as Captain Boomerang for a period of time. However, during the 2009–2010 Blackest Night storyline, Owen is killed and Harkness returns to life, resuming his role as Captain Boomerang, and, overwhelmed by grief and rage, evolves as a dangerous threat after the loss of his son.
Wallace Rudolph "Wally" West is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics as the original Kid Flash and the third Flash. His power consists mainly of superhuman speed. The nephew of Iris West, he first appeared in Flash #110 (1959), which depicted his transformation into Kid Flash. Under the mantle of Kid Flash, Wally was depicted as a teenage sidekick to his uncle-by-marriage, Barry Allen, and a founding member of the Teen Titans. After Barry's death in Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985, Wally took on the role of the Flash from 1986 to 2009 in DC's main lineup until Barry returned in The Flash: Rebirth. He would later return as the main Flash since 2021, as part of the Infinite Frontier relaunch.
The Flash is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the second character known as the Flash, following Jay Garrick. The character first appeared in Showcase #4, created by writer Robert Kanigher and penciler Carmine Infantino.
Bartholomew Henry "Bart" Allen II is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. A speedster, he first appeared under the alias Impulse and later became the second Kid Flash and the fourth Flash. Created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo, Bart first made a cameo in The Flash #91 in 1994 before his full debut in issue #92. He has since been featured as the lead character in Impulse (1995–2002) and The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive (2006–2007). Bart also appears in the series Young Justice and Teen Titans as a member of both superhero teams. In addition to the Teen Titans and Young Justice, Bart was a core character in 10 issues of Justice League of America under the mantle of the Flash.
The Top is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics.
Captain Cold is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, the character first appeared in Showcase #8.
Pied Piper is a supervillain turned superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, and is commonly associated with the superhero the Flash. The character was created by writer John Broome and artist Carmine Infantino, and made his first appearance in The Flash #106.
The Rogues are a group of supervillains of the comic book superhero the Flash. Known members throughout its incarnation are Captain Cold, Abra Kadabra, Mirror Master, Heat Wave, the Golden Glider, the Weather Wizard, the Trickster, the Pied Piper, the Top, and Captain Boomerang. This loose criminal association refers to themselves as the "Rogues", disdaining the use of the term "supervillain" or "supercriminal".
Mirror Master is the name of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is a recurring foe of the Flash with considerable technical expertise and skills involving the use of mirrors. Three individuals have donned the guise of Mirror Master, and have been members of the Rogues. In 2009, Mirror Master was ranked as IGN's 79th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.
Weather Wizard (Mark Mardon) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.
Heat Wave is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. He is commonly as an enemy of The Flash and a member of Rogues along with Captain Cold.
Hunter Zolomon, otherwise known as Zoom and the Reverse-Flash, is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The second character to assume the Reverse-Flash mantle, he serves as the archnemesis of Wally West and an enemy of Barry Allen.
Golden Glider is a supervillainess appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She is the younger sister of Captain Cold and enemy of the Flash.
Abra Kadabra is a magical supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared as a villain of the Flash in 1962.
The Trickster is a moniker used by three DC Comics supervillains, two of which are enemies of the Flash. Both have been members of the Rogues.
Salvation Run is a seven-issue 2007-2008 DC Comics limited series which was designed to tie into the company's major event series Final Crisis in 2008.
The Flash: Rebirth is a six-issue monthly American comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Ethan Van Sciver. The series was published by DC Comics, and features characters from throughout the nearly seventy-year-long history of Flash comics.
Eobard Thawne, also known as the Reverse-Flash and Professor Zoom, is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, the character first appeared in The Flash #139 and has since endured as the archenemy of Barry Allen / The Flash. Thawne is the first and most well-known character to assume the Reverse-Flash mantle, a descendant of Malcolm Thawne, and a forefather of Bart Allen, Thaddeus Thawne and Owen Mercer.