Rogues Revenge is Best ‘Final Crisis’ Tie-in So Far

I’m not a big fan of the multiple book crossover storylines that are in vogue at the present time. I often buy the main book, e.g., Civil War, Secret Invasion or Infinite Crisis, but can’t afford to buy the dozens of tie-in books, related mini-series, etc. that are part of the package. Case in point is the current Final Crisis company-wide crossover series at DC Comics. While the book doesn’t directly crossover in any ongoing DC series (or so the company promises), it has generated some two-dozen related one-shots and mini-series to date—with more, no doubt, to come. The main Final Crisis book has been slow in developing, so I’ve skipped just about all of the peripheral titles. However, one of the mini-series caught my eye: Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge, written by the ubiquitous Geoff Johns and illustrated by longtime Flash artist Scott Kolins. I think I was drawn to the book because it was Johns, who also wrote the Flash for many years, and Kolins together again—and it was only three issues! The third and final issue of the series was released this past week and it is fine. Johns has given remarkable depth to the Flash’s old villains, the Rogues (Captain Cold, Heatwave, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, the Pied Piper and the new Trickster). He has skillfully created a unique code of honor or ethics—if hardened criminals can be said to have ethics or honor—that demands they get revenge against another villain, Inertia, who coerced them into killing one of the Flashes (the Bart Allen version) about a year ago. Without giving away too much, suffice to say that Johns resolves some major loose ends in the Rogue storyline in this series and sets up a new role for the group in the forthcoming new Flash series, which, it has been reported, will bring back Barry Allen as the Scarlet Speedster. Enhancing the excellent story is Kolins scratchy artwork, which, while not appealing to everyone, captures the sort of frenetic energy that should be part of any story involving characters that can run faster than the eye can follow. It’s too early to say this is the best of the mini-series related to Final Crisis, since several are still to come, but it definitely is the best to this point in the story.—RFM

4/5 Stars