Book One
Geoff Johns Writer
Scott Kolins Artist and Covers
Dave McCaig Colorist
Nick J. Napolitano Letterer
This is a pretty cool cover by Kolins. Forgive the pun, but I do actually really like this. A simple, yet evocative image of the leader of the Rogues, Captain Cold, presented in minimalistic shades of blue, yellow and white, contrasted sharply against a black background. I think slightly different covers like this are exactly what you need for a special mini-series tie-in to a major event.
I got this image of the variant cover from dc.wikia.com. This follows the Final Crisis format of confining the image to the middle third of the cover, which is a really ridiculous idea. Yes, it does have the added benefit of standing out from all the other comics on the shelf, but it robs the artist of the ability to showcase their skills. Then again, I'm kind of glad this particular image isn't bigger. This is Kolins' take on the death of Bart Allen, in all its horrific gruesomeness.
Our story begins with Captain Cold, Weather Wizard, Heat Wave and Mirror Master finally returning to Keystone City. They fought their way off that nightmarish planet in Salvation Run, and as soon as they returned, they were recruited by the new villain of Final Crisis, Libra. But Captain Cold was disturbed by how Libra so easily killed Martian Manhunter, and he still holds a grudge against all the other villains who refused to help them when they were on the run after killing the Flash. So, under the cover of a rainstorm provided by Weather Wizard, the Rogues return to their old safe house.
However, the safe house has been taken over by the new Trickster, Axel Walker, and his gang of five stooges. The Rogues easily defeat the henchmen and Mirror Master traps them in a mirror. Trickster arrives just after the fighting finishes, and he doesn't seem too bothered by the fate of his gang. Instead, Axel is thrilled to see his heroes have returned. He shows them a wall covered in newspaper clippings of the Flash's death and fate of the Rogues. Axel explains that he heard the original Trickster, James Jesse, had died, and he was worried that the rest of the Rogues had, too. Tar Pit said Zoom had buried them under the Flash Museum, Computron swore they were banished on another planet, and Double Down bet they were locked up in Titans Tower. But now they're here and Trickster praises them for having killed the Flash and won the game.
Captain Cold angrily slams Trickster against the wall, saying the game wasn't supposed to be won — that they've survived by having unspoken rules. And the Number One Rule is to never kill a speedster. The Rogues then sadly engage in some revisionist history, as Heat Wave laments that Flash was always able to run through his fire before. Weather Wizard says his lightning bolts never hurt Flash that much. Mirror Master says that was the case, until Inertia stole the Flash's speed. Trickster is shocked to hear the death of the Flash was an accident, but the Rogues aren't completely honest with him or themselves, since they won't admit that they knew full well that Bart had lost his powers before their final attack. But Captain Cold is the most honest, saying they got greedy and stupid. Which is why he says it's time for the Rogues to close up shop, take off their costumes and disappear.
We then cut to Police Precinct 242, where one of Pied Piper's rats is spying on Detectives Morillo and Chyre, still looking over the case of Bart Allen's death. Morillo insists the murder had to have been a mistake, and is still confused as to why the Rogues followed Inertia in the first place, and why the reformed Pied Piper was with them. As they talk, Piper blasts a whole in the side of the wall and knocks out the detectives.
In Central City, we check in on Iris Allen, who is tearfully poring over photos of Barry, Wally and his family, Jay, Bart, and what looks like a miscolored Max Mercury. As she weeps over her wedding photos and fingers Barry's old Flash ring (which is now her necklace), a mysterious voice says Iris' name. She sits up with a jolt and looks out the window in time to see a massive bolt of lightning.
We then see Libra has had little trouble rounding up most of the other Flash rogues. But in the middle of one of his speeches, Dr. Light gives him a message Mirror Master left behind. The small shaving mirror shows a recorded message of Captain Cold telling him the Rogues won't join his society and that he's on his own when the Justice League comes after him for the death of Martian Manhunter. Libra angrily smashes the mirror, calling Cold a troublemaker.
At the restored Flash Museum, we see that Inertia has been placed on a new pedestal that identifies him as Thaddeus Thawne and explains that he was Bart's rival from the far future. The Bart Allen room has been changed significantly, but Inertia is still forced to stare at an identical statue of Impulse and Kid Flash. But Inertia didn't stay in this new environment for long, as the warden of Iron Heights Penitentiary, Gregory Wolfe, somehow learned that Inertia is alive and obtained the authority to transfer him to his prison. As Wolfe's men take Inertia off the pedestal, Wolfe says the Flash should have chopped off Inertia's legs instead of placing him in suspended animation.
Suddenly, a mysterious voice calls out to Inertia, followed by a red lightning bolt striking him in the chest. To the guards' horror, Inertia slowly begins to move again. They consider using their tasers on him, but hesitate because the lightning set off the automatic sprinklers (a feature that was undoubtedly added because of the fire). Inertia begins to speak, and we sadly see that one year of suspended animation was not good on him. He says he's spent the past year thinking about millions of different ways to kill people. He immediately rips off one guard's head, before grabbing the other and saying he wants to find out if he can stretch his intestines over 20 miles.
We return to the Pied Piper, who has retreated to his Rathaway Estate, reviewing the documents he stole from the police — James Jesse's last will and testament, containing information on the Rogues, written in invisible ink. We learn that Piper and the original Trickster did actually intend to take down the Rogues and were undercover when they went along with Inertia's plan. But they failed miserably, and now Hartley's old friend, Wally, won't even believe him. Hartley sadly laments that Bart Allen will never be replaced.
The Rogues, meanwhile, have learned through the news that Inertia has escaped the Flash Museum and killed at least 10 people so far. Before they even got a chance to pull off their costumes, Captain Cold stands up and says before they quit the game, they need to break their Number One Rule one last time.
At the West family home, Irey wakes up her brother, Jai, in the middle of the night, complaining about feeling "all tingly." Linda tells her kids to get back to sleep, promising to wake them up when their father returns from his latest mission with Jay Garrick. Inertia approaches the West home, saying, "First Bart — now your kids, Wally." But he's suddenly stopped by Zoom, who hits Thad hard enough in the face to shatter his goggles. Zoom tells Inertia he gave him his speed back, and he can take it away, just like Inertia took a great hero trying to be better away from the world. Zoom presents Inertia with a Kid Flash outfit, promising to make him better, too.
This was the necessary story we needed to fully wrap up the death of Bart Allen. Everyone responsible for his death has gone through a year of agonizing punishment, and now we get to see how that changed them. The Rogues recognize that killing Bart was way out of line, and if it weren't for the news about Inertia, they would have completely retired altogether. Pied Piper is finally able to begin resuming his work to take down the Rogues. And poor Inertia only became more insane and murderous during his time spent in suspended animation. It's interesting to see Zoom is also mourning the death of Bart, indicating that he genuinely believed in Iris' mission to save Bart and help him become a better hero. Zoom may be insane and murderous, but his main motivation has always been to improve heroes. We even get to see Iris in this issue, feeling a bit nostalgic, and receiving a premonition of the return of her long deceased husband. The only people missing from this issue who were also present at Bart's death are Val and Abra Kadabra. And that's not a particularly big loss.
I don't care for Kolins' style, but I do appreciate the level of detail he puts into his drawings. And Kolins and Johns both have a deep love and respect for the Rogues, which makes this series a wonderful manifesto on why the Rogues are different from other super villains and how powerful they can truly be.
Next time, we'll follow the path of Inertia in the second issue of this three-part series.
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