[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Carmine di Giandomenico
Reviewed By: Derek McNeil
Summary
The Flash’s Rogues Gallery strikes at a museum in Corto Maltese that is home to a solid gold statue of the god Mercury. They managed to overcome the museum’s security and are about to make off with the statue when the Flash arrives.
The Flash squares off against the Rogues, but eventually realizes that the Rogues are mirror constructs created by the Mirror Master, the only actual Rogue present. Barry realizes that the robbery was staged only to keep him occupied and away from Central City.
However, before he can return to Central City, he has to face mirror duplicates of himself. He manages to smash all the duplicates into shards of glass, but Mirror Master reforms all the pieces of broken glass into a giant monster, which he names Mirror Monster.
The Flash manages to defeat this monster by vibrating himself fast enough to disintegrate it. However, the Flash is too late to stop the Mirror Master from making off with the statue.
Rushing home to Central City, the Flash finds that the Rogues committed several robberies in the unprotected city splitting and committing them individually.
Positives
The Rogues’ plan is simple, but it makes sense. They found a way to keep the Flash occupied elsewhere, then pulled off as many robberies as they could in the small window of time that the Flash was absent. However, what will they do when the Flash comes after them? Do they have a follow-up plan, and if so, how will Barry overcome it?
During the robbery, the mirror construct Trickster whips out a gadget that happens to look exactly like the pre-Flashpoint Trickster, James Jesse, referring to it as an “ol’ classic.” Is this a nod to the pre-Flashpoint continuity, or a hint that DC’s Rebirth is reinstating the original Trickster to the official continuity?
Negatives
There’s no sign of Wally this month. This is disappointing for his fan’s but it’s good to see Barry having solo adventures too. Also, Iris is absent, but I’m sure we’ll get to see more of the Barry-Iris relationship soon.
Verdict
The return of the Rogues does a lot to make the book feel like the classic comics. Joshua Williamson has done a great job of bringing the Flash back to his classic roots, and pitting him against the Rogues takes this even further.
