DCU Comic Book Reviews

FINAL CRISIS: ROGUES' REVENGE #2

Book Two

October 2008

Written by Geoff Johns

Pencils by Scott Kolins

Inks by Scott Kolins

Covers by J. G. Jones and Scott Kolins

Synopsis

In Central City, the rogues visit Gambi’s shop, only to find he has been beaten up.  Then they receive a message from the New Rogues, who tell them they better pay a visit to Libra or they will kill Captain Cold’s father.  Captain Cold tells the group he will find them, kill them, and then kill his father himself.  Elsewhere, Zoom continues to train Inertia.  Zoom tells him to wear the costume of Kid Flash, because Libra wants it.  Nearby, Pied Piper watches.  Meanwhile, Captain Cold and the others track down the New Rogues and kill them all.  He then confronts his abusive father, but can’t find it in himself to kill him.  So he orders Heatwave to do it.  Afterwards, the Rogues head out to deal with Inertia.  Elsewhere, Libra decides that there is another Rogue they can control:  Weather Wizard.  Libra is confident he’ll convince the rogues to join him, or he’ll kill his son. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

Wonderful stuff.  This is such a fantastic issue.  It is violent and dark and gritty and all those things, but in a comic featuring villains as the protagonists, it is exactly as it should be.  The rogues have always been portrayed, especially by Johns, as having a code they live by and that is on display here.  Yes, the first rule is don’t kill speedsters, but when it comes to others, especially those trying to replace them or threaten their families, the rogues will show no mercy.  And that is exactly what we get.  More importantly, Johns manages to take these villains, have them commit violent acts, and yet we find ourselves rooting for them.  It is a great piece of writing. 

I do, however, wonder how many people will appreciate the confrontation between Captain Cold and his father.  During his run on the Flash, Johns did a series of single issues that fleshed out the backgrounds for all of the rogues.  For Captain Cold, that issue was #184 and it detailed the abusive relationship between father and son as well as Cold’s relationship with his sister.  Having read this issue, I understood the depth of what was happening between Cold and his father here, but for someone not familiar with it, I can see how it would not have any emotional resonance. 

This mini-series also manages to be the perfect tie-in to Final Crisis.  The events in this issue are obviously connected to the overall mini-series, but are not integral to the point that don’t contradict what Grant Morrison is writing in Final Crisis.

I love the way Geoff Johns uses one of the plot points of Gotham Underground (Penguin steals a bunch of criminal weapons and gives it to others) as a way to set up the central conflict of this issue.  It is a brilliant touch of the continuity and the type of thing that I love about the DC universe but does not get done very well, very often. 

 

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