Rogues

It's been a long time since DC or Marvel produced a true crime heist story involving super villains. 2006's Secret Six miniseries might be the closest thing we've had and that was more about baddies acting righteous during a time when the heroes were acting criminal.

In Rogues, Leonard Snart's glory days as one of the Flash's arsh-enemies is long past. In his late 50s, balding, overweight and kept on a tight leash by a parole officer who deserves his own spot behind bars, the former Captain Cold is a broken man. 2 of the Rogues are dead. His sister, the Golden Glider has renounced her life of crime and became an inner city social worker. The Trickster has become a hack magician, performing to elderly crowds. Mirror Master lost his mind in a drug induced haze. Mick Rory, AKA Heatwave, still plays with fire. Only, he does it with an entrepreneurial flare, committing arson by torching buildings for a cut of the insurance check. 

Now is the time to bring the gang back together. For years, Smart has been planning a heist so outrageous, that it's literally a suicide mission. With Captain Cold's guidance, the Rogues are going to infiltrate Gorilla City and rob Gorilla Grodd's personal vault laden with tons and tons of gold. Good thing Smart has decided to recruit a couple of former members of the Suicide Squad to help in executing this insane plan!

Joshua Williamson penned this story which is nearly flawless. I don't even mind that there's zero appearance of any of the multitude of men to carry the moniker of the Flash in this book. My biggest issue is the addition of DEO agent Maggie Sawyer. She's a great player in Metropolis. But she really doesn't seem to have a place in Gorilla City. At least not here in this story.

Rogues was originally released as a 4-issue miniseries in 2022. The first 3 issues were by Italian artist Leomacs. Issue #4 marks the debut of artist Luca Finelli. The transition between the two was flawless. I didn't even realize about the shift change until I was reading the biographies at the end of the book. I don't know who's talent that speaks higher of. But I loved the artwork throughout this entire piece.

This is a Quentin Tarantino level story and that's not just because of the amount of violence. Tons of swears. Tons! And we're talking F-bombs. This might be a DC Comic title but it's a Black Label release. Definitely not for the kids. But a must for fans of the Scarlet Speedster and his gallery of Rogues.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Justice League Unlimited #12

The Flash answers a JLA distress signal only to find that his fellow teammates have been trapped by the Mirror Master! Now a prisoner himself, the only person that can save The Flash is... The Flash?!

It's Jay Garrick to the rescue as the JSA-er makes a special appearance in this issue of Justice League Unlimited.

I loved the issue. A good story starring the Speedsters. Knowing that The Flash in the JLA is Wally West, I understand that they couldn't have a Kid Flash in this story. But that's all that's really missing from this adventure was a Kid Flash. No, you couldn't have Impulse, he would have been too all over the place. Thus his presence would have ruined the pace of the story. But a Kid Flash was missing from this issue.

I enjoyed the interior artwork by Carlo Barberi. It was very similar to that of the Cartoon Network series of which this comic is based. But what is up with the front cover? 

Jay Garrick looks awful. I mean it looks about as bad as I draw. Garrick appears like somebody accidentally drew Powdered Toast Man (from Ren & Stimpy) as the Golden Age Flash. 

Yikers!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.