Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Final Crisis Rogues Revenge #1
DC Comics
Johns & Kolins

When I last left the Rogues they were in Flash and being scribed by Geoff Johns. I didn’t read Bart Allen’s Flash, I didn’t read any arc about the villains uniting, getting exiled and I am not reading Final Crisis. Despite all of this I loved this story. I thought it was one of the most surprising comics I’ve read some far this year.

The comic is the story of four Rogues: Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard and Heat Wave and how they have come back to settle a score. They arrive in Keystone City after being on the run. They find one of their hideouts to be occupied by a poser Rogue: Trickster.

The opening of the issue gives you all the background you really need. The Rogues killed Bart Allen by accident and they are hanging it up. They are sick of being hounded for what they had done. They liked playing with the Flash, but they don’t want the heat that would come down on them for actually killing a Flash.

The issue takes a quick lap through the world of former Rogue: Piped Piper. Not a lot of background is given on him, but you can tell that his presence looms on both sides – with the Rogues and the police department, of which he defected to. His motivations are not clear at all at this point.

Libra is told by Cold that the Rogues are out with whatever plans that Libra has cooking up. I don’t know how this will loop back into Final Crisis or if this two page inclusion is all that Final Crisis has to do with Rogues’ Revenge. I’m not sure, but the Libra character doesn’t seem to be too important to this particular story at this point.

The issue has an interesting continuity problem. In the regular Flash title, the Flash museum was on fire and Inertia was moved by Flash. In this issue the police are moving Inertia from the Flash museum that doesn’t appear to have been on fire at any point in the recent past. Something happens and Inertia wakes up. Another villain shows up looking to take Inertia under his wing. When Cold learns that Inertia escaped, he decides to Dirty Harry Up and find him.

It’s a great issue. Flash is not in this issue and yet you feel the impact they (Barry, Wally and Bart) have had on almost all of these characters. For a change it feels like the Flash is relevant. The comic really shows that Flash has some very interesting villains with very interesting motivations and backgrounds. This issue explores a lot of those ideas very well.

The art leaves something to be desired for me personally. It just isn’t my style, but it may be yours. I find it to be unpolished and difficult to tell the character’s faces apart. However, the bulk of this issue does take place in the driving rain which tends to make things murky.

This series is really a great idea to help tie up some loose ends between the Flash titles, but it may turn out to be one of the classic Flash arcs in a long time. It will be odd looking back to see that one of the best arc took place in a title called “Final Crisis…” I’m very pumped up for the next issue. Too bad the regular Flash issue couldn’t leverage this arc somehow.

5 out of 5 geek goggles


Final Crisis Rogues Revenge #1 (of 3) (Cover A)

Final Crisis Rogues Revenge #1 (of 3) (Cover B)

Final Crisis Rogues Revenge #2 (of 3)

Final Crisis Rogues Revenge #3 (of 3)