The Flash #217

Post-Crisis

Geoff Johns – Writer
Howard Porter – Penciller
Livesay – Inker
Pat Brosseau – Letterer
James Sinclair – Colorist
Rachel Gluckstern – Asst. Editor
Joey Cavalieri – Editor

Our cover by Howard Porter shows the Rogues mourning the death of Captain Boomerang —one of the casualties of Identity Crisis. This is a good illustration of what makes the Flash's enemies so unique. Unlike Batman's or Superman's villains, the Rogues are a family, and it profoundly affects them when one of them goes down. The central figure of this cover is a new character, introduced during Identity Crisis — Owen Mercer, Captain Boomerang's adult son.

So, before we begin, I must confess that this issue does not include Bart Allen. Not a picture, or even a mention of him. But Bart's clone, Inertia, does make a surprising appearance, and I consider Inertia to be a valid "alternate version" of Bart to cover on this blog. Hey, this is my blog, I make the rules! Anyway, I'm also glad to have the opportunity to recap this issue, as it includes some important information regarding Bart, not least of which is the conclusion of Identity Crisis.

Our story begins with Wally West finally reuniting with his wife, Linda Park. They take a walk down the street, talking about the disturbing events from Identity Crisis. Apparently the Atom's ex-wife was behind the whole thing, murdering Sue Dibny and hiring Captain Boomerang to go after Robin's father, Jack Drake. But Boomerang's attack ended in a disaster, with both men losing their lives.

The good news, though, is Linda and Wally are very happy with their lives now. Wally's friends and family know he's the Flash, but to the rest of the world, he's just a humble mechanic for the Keystone City Police Department. And Wally's secret identity has enabled Linda to shed the weight of being a celebrity's wife and return to her career as a journalist. To celebrate their reunification, Wally races Linda out to Paris.

Meanwhile, all the Rogues have gathered at Avernus, a secret graveyard for Rogues, placed in a fourth-dimensional pocket created by the Folded Man and protected by Gorilla Grodd's cloaking technology. Mirror Master even broke out most of the Rogues from Iron Heights so they could have the chance to pay their respects to Captain Boomerang.

It's here, and only here, in this big group shot that we see Inertia, standing on the left side of the page, just to the right of Tar Pit. Captain Cold offers a few words, but Owen quickly becomes upset with the whole spectacle. He throws a boomerang through the coffin, revealing it to be empty. Owen also shocks everyone in attendance by running at super speed to catch the boomerang. The tabloids had reported that Owen's mother was the late Golden Glider, but now that is obviously in doubt. Captain Cold assures the Rogues that Owen's not a true speedster, as he can only use super speed in short bursts. Owen says he doesn't care who his mother is, or how he has this power. All he knows is he doesn't need the Rogues. Things get a little testy, but Captain Cold is able to prevent a full-on fight from breaking out

We then see Cheetah (of all people) break Zoom out of Iron Heights Penitentiary. Either the time-freezing effect on him has worn off, or he was playing possum the whole time. Flash then returns to Keystone City, only to find that while he was in Paris, all the Rogues went on a massive crime-spree, primarily using boomerangs to honor their fallen comrade. Later, Batman visits Wally at work, yelling at him for letting one of "his" villains kill Robin's father. But the two heroes are able to hash this out, with Wally pointing out that his villains are just as dangerous as Batman's are.

The main group of the Rogues — Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard and Trickster — all head back to their hideout with Owen, who admits he had a fun time with them. Cold offers him a spot on their team, and Owen accepts, provided they help him with a mysterious task. We then end our issue at the FBI headquarters in Chicago, where the original Trickster and the Pied Piper are working on Captain Boomerang's corpse, hoping to bring him back to life so he can help them take down the Rogues.



We last saw Inertia at the end of Mercury Falling, emotionally running away into the Speed Force. We have no idea where or when he went, and frankly, it doesn't make too much sense for him to be here, as he has never interacted with any of the Rogues before. Most likely, this was a slight error on Howard Porter's part, as he basically just drew every conceivable Flash villain. But one might argue that Inertia is time-traveling and scouting out some possibilities. He will make a proper return — in due time — and he will eventually team up with the Rogues. But all that is still quite a ways away.

As for the rest of the issue, I did appreciate the recap of and response to Identity Crisis. I still think Wally getting his secret identity back is pretty lame, but that hardly affects Bart. And Owen Mercer is going to give me some problems later one, but I'll save that rant for when we get there.

Next time, Kid Flash and the Teen Titans will make a quick cameo in Green Lantern: Rebirth #4.