DCU Comic Book Reviews

FINAL CRISIS: ROGUES' REVENGE #1

Book One

September 2008

Written by Geoff Johns

Pencils by Scott Kolins

Inks by Scott Kolins

Covers by J. G. Jones and Scott Kolins

Synopsis

In Keystone City, the rogues return to their safe house only to find it inhabited by the new Trickster and his gang.  The Trickster is happy to see them and delighted the rogues managed to kill the Flash.  Captain Cold tells him they never meant to break rule number one (never kill a speedster).  Now, the Rogues are finished.  At the police precinct, Morillo and Chrye are discussing the death of the Flash when the Pied Piper drops by to deliver the original Trickster’s Last Will and Testament, which also contains detailed portfolios of the Rogues.  In Central City, Iris is alone when the lightning strikes and she hears her name.  Elsewhere, the Rogues inform Libra they will not be part of his group.  Libra is not pleased.  At The Flash Museum, Inertia is being transferred when a bolt of lightening frees him from suspended animation.  After killing the guards, Inertia decides to go after Wally West’s kids.  When the rogues hear about Inertia’s escape they plot revenge and decide to break rule number one (never kill a speedster) one more time.  Elsewhere, Inertia encounters Zoom, who tells him he will be better than before, he will be the new Kid Flash.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

I am not sure if this is true or not, but I always got the sense that Geoff Johns made a name for himself at DC during his stint as the writer of the Flash.  At least I became aware of him during his run on that title.  Part of that is the manner in which he managed to make the rogues’ gallery a formidable group of villains.  Once, they were a collection of gaudily dressed villains with laughable gimmicks.  Under Johns’ pen, they became three-dimensional characters that posed a real threat to the Flash.  Johns’ return to these characters after several years doesn’t disappoint.  He knows the rogues and how to write the characters and it shows throughout this issue.  I think Johns is the only who can make the rogues’ feelings about the death of Bart Allen ring true.  In fact, Johns manages to make me sympathetic to the big mistake they feel they made.  It is understandable they would wish to retire after what they had done, just as it is understandable they would want revenge on Inertia.  I think deep down they blame themselves for what happen, but for the rogues it would be easier to simply blame Inertia.  As I said, Johns knows these characters and this fantastic issue just shows how much.  This is great stuff. 

For as good as it is, however, there is slight misstep, mostly in the scene at the police precinct.  It is nice to see the return of Morillo and Chyre, police officers who played a big role in Johns’ run of the Flash, but ultimately the scene didn’t do much.  It was compounded by the exposition as the run down the backgrounds of each of the rogues.  I suppose it is a necessary evil, but it was little clunky and very obvious what Johns was trying to accomplish with the scene.

This issue is labeled as a tie-in to Final Crisis and while there are bits and pieces that place the events in this story alongside of Morrison’s story, Johns’ tale is more of a continuation of the death of Bart Allen than anything else.  A lot of the plot elements (the rogues quitting, Pied Piper looking to clear his name, Inertia trapped in the museum) come directly from Flash:  The Fastest Man Alive and the All-Flash special that brought Wally back to the DC universe.  In fact, Libra’s brief appearance seems out of place and doesn’t contribute much to the story, other than to reinforce that the rogues really are planning to retire (until Inertia’s escape, that is). 

 

	Main		Page	NEXTð

Home ●  Blog ● Who Are We? ● Site News
Alive and Well since April 16, 2006

 DC Universe Reviews.  All Rights Reserved
  Characters, trademarks, brands are property of DC Comics

For problems or questions regarding this website, please contact our kindly webmaster.
Last updated: 08/06/11.