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longitudinalwaveme · 5 months ago

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The Rogue Backstory Information Masterpost

Or, everything you always wanted to know about the Rogues' canon backstories, but were afraid to ask.

This post would be much simpler and less confusing if writers weren't constantly retconning each others' work.

Captain Cold

Showcase #8 (1957): Len Snart is a, quote, "ambitious" crook, who has realized that, if he's going to be successful as a criminal, he's going to have to find some way of dealing with the Flash. Conveniently, the newspaper he's reading informs him that a "scientific magazine has prepared a comprehensive article on Flash!" Hoping that this article might give him an idea, Len breaks into the office of the magazine, takes the manuscript home with him, and reads it. From this article he learns that "a cyclotron might effectively interfere with Flash's speed". Cold decides to imbue a weapon with the power of a cyclotron, and, to this end, breaks into the cyclotron building that is located "in a a suburban area" a few nights later with what appears to be a toy gun. He turns on the cyclotron and starts fiddling with it, but pulls the levers the wrong way, irradiating the gun and alarming himself. Assuming that he's failed, he goes to leave, only to run into the watchman, who pulls a gun on him. Len, in response, points his own gun at the watchmen in the hopes of scaring him off, and accidentally pulls the trigger...which causes the watchman to be frozen solid. Surprised but pleased by this turn of events, Len designs a uniform for himself (his classic parka---which we would learn in Flash #141 was sewn by a tailor named Paul Gambi), and comes up with the costumed identity of Captain Cold. (Rejected names included Mr. Arctic, the Cold Wave, Sub-Zero, and the Human Icicle.) He then goes out to commit crimes and fight the Flash.

Flash #250 (1977): We learn that Captain Cold has a younger sister named Lisa Snart. She's a professional figure skater who goes by the stage name of Lisa Star, presumably in part to avoid being connected to her infamous brother. Len tries to talk her out of taking revenge on the Flash for the death of Roscoe Dillon (aka the Top), her boyfriend and his fellow Rogue, but fails pretty spectacularly. This issue also is the first time one of Len's parents is mentioned, albeit in an offhand way; Lisa says "mother would never forgive you for snuffing her only daughter!"

Flash #300 (1981): The backstory presented here is mostly the same as that seen in Showcase #8, with a few minor differences. "Many years ago, Len Snart was a small-time crook who broke into a research lab, looking for an experimental weapon he could use against me [me here referring to Barry Allen, who was reviewing all of his enemies' backstories in the hopes of determining which of them was behind the most recent plot against him]. What he stole was the prototype of a revolutionary cold-gun." The main change here is that Snart appears to have stolen his gun, rather than having created it by complete accident after pulling some levers the wrong way...though it is possible that perhaps Barry has been misinformed about the creation of the cold gun.

Secret Origins #41 (1989): This retelling of the origin is completely identical to the one found in Showcase #8; although the fact that it's being narrated by the Rogues' tailor Paul Gambi does give it some extra flavor. The only new detail is Gambi's suggestion that Len didn't do too well in school: "The trouble is---and this would not have surprised your teachers---you figured it wrong!"

Justice League Quarterly #2: This story may not be canonical, but in it, we learn that Snart calls his cold gun Shirley, after his mother, indicating that her name may be Shirley Snart.

Flash vol. 2 #165 (2000): "The place reminds me of my parents' house. Smells like cigarettes and pine sol. All my dad did was smoke; my mother cleaned. They didn't drink much. That was me and my sister's job." This was written by Geoff Johns, and he would later retcon out most of this information. This story was also the first to suggest that Captain Cold didn't have a good relationship with his parents: "My name's Leonard Snart. It's a bad name, I know. But my parents were bad people."

Flash vol. 2 #182 (2002): This is the famous Cold origin story, and still the best one. It establishes that Leonard Snart grew up in a trailer home outside of Central City. His father was unemployed and on disability; he had once been a police officer but was fired for being drunk on the job, which led to his partner getting killed and himself being shot in the arm. He abused his wife (who would leave for days, but would always be forced to come back due to lack of resources) and both of his children, both physically and verbally. He was especially aggressive in response to words of affection or love from his children.

Leonard's grandfather (who was his father's father) was "the only real adult in my young life". He intervened to protect Len and Lisa whenever he could, but due to his poor health, wasn't able to take the children in himself. The grandfather drove an ice truck and used the truck to take his children to visit places like ball parks and restaurants that they otherwise didn't get to visit. Unfortunately, this grandfather died before Len turned twelve, leaving him alone with his sister, his often-absent mother, and his abusive father.

Len left home himself in his late teens. At this point, his mother had been dead for over a year, and he was fed up with his father's abuse. His sister, Lisa, wanted to leave home with him, but Len had already gotten involved with a bad crowd, and didn't want to put his sister in danger. "Keep skating, kid. You've got talent. You'll be fine." It's clear that leaving his sister alone with their father later haunted him, and it seems to be one of his biggest regrets.

Leonard quickly joined up with a gang, and one of its members invented goggles that protected their eyes from gunfire and contained a police band receiver as well. Len thought that these were cool, and they would ultimately serve as the goggles he would wear as part of his Captain Cold uniform. He and this gang then went out to rob a pharmacy...only to be stopped by the Flash and sent to prison.

While in prison, and seeking revenge on the Flash, Len "studied kinetic motion and thermal energy. But what really caught my eye was an article on absolute zero....Absolute zero means zero atomic motion". When he was released on parole, he "broke into one of the labs I'd read about. I never was too great at all the science, so I needed some help. I stole some blueprints. And I made a weapon." From here, Len used this gun to become Captain Cold.

Flashpoint Citizen Cold #1 (2011): Technically, this takes place in an alternate universe, but it included a recap of the Snarts' past, and it seemed identical to the one provided in Flash vol. 2 #182, so I'm going to note a few relevant details that this issue added. First, Len's dad is named Lawrence, and second, he's suspected to have mob ties. In other words, there's a good chance that Leonard's father was a corrupt cop.

Rebirth Flash #14: Most of the backstory remains the same as what we saw in Flash vol. 2 #182. "I'm sure you know their father was a real piece of work. After their mother died, he lived off hate and drink. Lisa used to tell me that her grandfather would take them on his ice deliveries. It was their only escape. They felt protected with him in the cold." That being said, the notion that Len's dad only became abusive after his wife died is new; in Johns' version he was just as abusive to his wife as he was to his children. This version also claims that Len was directly responsible for Lisa's turn to crime; in all previous versions of the story she didn't become a criminal until Roscoe's death.

Rebirth Flash #38: "Y'know, Flash, every time my dad would hurt my sister and me? He would beg for forgiveness afterward. And then he would just do it again. [I'm not like my father.] I would never ask for forgiveness." I'm not crazy about Williamson's version of Captain Cold's past, and this is a big part of the reason why.

Rebirth Flash #72: We learn that Clive Yorkin (the criminal who is experimented on, A Clockwork Orange-style, and then becomes a monster in the 1979 Death of Iris Allen arc) was part of the gang Len was in before he became Captain Cold. Yorkin is a wild card, and nearly shoots Iris (who is reporting on the scene of their crime) despite Cold's attempts to talk him down. Barry saves her, and then defeats the gang and takes them to prison (as we saw in Flash vol. 2 #182).

Golden Glider

Flash #250-251 (1977): "The girl at the grave is Lisa Snart---younger sister of the notorious Captain Cold! Small wonder, then, that ice played a vital role in her life, too---as a champion skater who performed in ice shows all over the world!" Lisa performed for the Futura Ice Company under the name Lisa Star and was internationally famous for her unparalleled spinning ability---something that had been taught to her by her boyfriend, Roscoe Dillon, who was also her (presumably unofficial) figure skating coach. Their romance "blossomed for months--but undercover", during which Roscoe followed her from city to city to watch her performances---but then Roscoe died from a brain hemorrhage; the result of his battles with the Flash (see Flash #243-244 for more details on this). Lisa swore revenge on the Flash for her lover's death and became the Golden Glider in response, using her brother's cold guns, her boyfriend's tops, and a pair of ice skates which produced ice in mid-air (also invented by her brother, Captain Cold) as the tools of her deadly scheme.

Flash #257: We learn that Lisa can read lips. Where and how she learned this is never explained, but she can. We also learn that she apparently has quite the inventive prowess, as she is now armed with a whole arsenal of jewel weapons.

Flash #300 (1981): Barry's recap of Lisa's past: "At one time she was a world-renowned figure skater travelling all over the country as the star of an ice show by day....while carrying on a torrid secret romance from city to city by night. The object of her passion---an infamous costumed criminal who just happened to be one of my most cunning long-time foes---one Roscoe Dillon, better known to the rest of the world as the villainous Top!" After a brief detour into Roscoe's past (more on that later), he gives us some new information about Lisa's past: "Dillon shared the grim details of his imminent doom with only one person---his grief-stricken sweetheart, Lisa! The final spin for the Top came the following day---as Roscoe Dillon became the first of my personal Rogues' gallery to die in his prime." This story also reaffirms the notion that Lisa frequently made visits to Roscoe's top-shaped tombstone after his death.

Flash vol. 2 #165: Len claims that he and Lisa drank frequently.

Flash vol. 2 #182: Most of the backstory overlaps heavily with Len's; since they're siblings and thus had the same runaway mother, abusive father, and kindly but sickly grandfather. Lisa was left alone with her father by Len, but managed to escape a few years later by becoming a figure skater. The rest of her backstory is basically identical to the one that was already established for her, but this issue claimed that Lisa, in addition to wanting revenge for Roscoe's death, became a Rogue because "I wanted to be like my brother. With my brother."

New 52 Flash Annual #1: We learn that Lisa is Sam's girlfriend, and that she was not properly a member of the Rogues until Len got the bright idea to give the Rogues superpowers and she was put into a coma but also given astral powers. This backstory would be retconned out only a few years later by DC Rebirth.

Rebirth Flash #14: We learn that Lisa was coached in figure skating by a woman named Glenda Dillon (Joshua Williamson says she's Roscoe's mother.) Glenda implies that Lisa gave up figure skating and went into crime in order to protect her brother. "Leonard always thinks he's taking care of her. But the reality is Lisa takes care of him. It's why whenever he asks for help she follows him." This backstory also seems to suggest that Lisa never became a professional skater or dated Roscoe in this version of events and makes Lisa's motivation entirely about her brother, who appears to have led her into a life of crime in this version of the story (in contrast to all of Len's earlier appearances, where he tried to dissuade her from becoming a criminal until she made it clear that she was going to become one no matter what he said).

Flash Rebirth #83: We learn that Lisa, for some reason, was terrified of dogs as a kid, and that Len knows this and thus also presumably knows why. Did it have something to do with their father's abuse?

Trickster #1 (James Jesse/Giovanni Giuseppi)

Flash #113 (1960): James Jesse is the youngest member of the Flying Jesses, a family of high-wire walkers who work for the creatively-named Big Circus. His mother's name is Helen; his father goes unnamed. Unfortunately for James, he's afraid of heights (or, more accurately, of falling) and thus is resistant to practicing. He prefers to read books, particularly books about his "reverse-namesake", the outlaw Jesse James. James' parents do not approve of his reading choices, and insist that he focus more on practicing (in part, I think, since he hasn't ever told them about his fear of heights).

In spite of his fears, James still wants to be a famous aerialist, so he invents a pair of shoes that use jet propulsion systems to let him walk on air. It takes him years to create and master the shoes, but once he completes them---from all appearances, when he's still a teenager!---they allow him to become a champion tightrope walker and the star of his circus. He also earns his parents' praise for his abilities.

However, this soon proves too boring for James, and he decides to become an outlaw like Jesse James in order to get more excitement. "But instead of holding up railroad trains like he did---I'll be a 20th-century version of Jesse James---and hold up airplanes!" James proceeds to do just that, and becomes the Trickster.

Flash #300 (1981): "I'll become a famous criminal--like him...a 20th century version of Jesse James! With my jet-shoes I can pull of the trick! And that gives me my name, too! I'll become---the Trickster!" That seems like a bit of a stretch, but I guess that's where the name came from. Barry also calls James "the most famous acrobat of all", implying that he did pretty well for himself in the circus.

Secret Origins #41 (1989): We learn that James Jesse is a stage name, with James' real name being Giovanni Giuseppi. His family comes from Naples, so James is either Italian or of Italian descent. This version of the origin story also strongly implies that his father was an unpleasant man; he insults James for reading and wrenches James' arm out of his socket when he gets distracted by some of the women who work with them at the circus. "It wasn't the heights you were afraid of---it was the old man dropping you!" This story also suggests that the Giuseppis did some trapeze artistry in addition to their high wire walking.

And then there's James' explanation (in song, no less!): "Oh, I flew through the air with the greatest unease, till I thought it all over and came up with these! My airwalker shoes were undreamed of by sages, and I did in one song what took Gambi two pages!"

New Year's Evil: The Rogues (1999): We learn that, twelve years prior to the start of the story, James had a relationship with a woman named Mindy Hong, whose family had its roots in a fictional Asian country called Zhutan. It's not 100% clear that this relationship happened prior to his becoming the Trickster, but it seems likely. This relationship also produced a son named Billy.

Rebirth Flash #66: The basic backstory for James remains the same (circus, reading about Jesse James, fear of heights, airwalker shoes) but a lot of the details are different. This story doubles down on making his parents awful; both of them are neglectful of and verbally abusive towards James. They're also portrayed as being con artists who use their act as a distraction while they pickpocket people, rather than being legitimate performers as in previous versions. The origin of the airwalker shoes is also quite different in this version of the story. Instead of making the shoes on his own so that he can better perform in the family's act, in this version he ran away from his parents and the circus, and pulled a "long con disguised as a lab tech at S.T.A.R. Labs. Fooled some lonely scientist into falling in love with me. And I stole her research and sold it to Lexcorp. But I was living that scam long enough that I picked up a few things. Like how to make shoes that run on air." Then he became the Trickster. Interestingly, this version of the story also removes any hint of James' family being of Italian descent.

Captain Boomerang, Sr. (George "Digger" Harkness)

Flash #117 (1960): Digger Harkness, a criminal who has spent "years hiding in the Australian bush hiding out from the law", is reading a newspaper when he finds an ad from W.W. Wiggins' toy company. Wiggins is looking for a person who can throw boomerangs expertly to be a mascot for his toy boomerangs, and Digger, who has been thinking about becoming a costumed criminal and becoming famous, decides to apply for the job himself under the alias of George Green. He is promptly hired, due to his incredible skill with boomerangs, and is given the name and costume of Captain Boomerang. Digger does work for the company for awhile, serving as the mascot, but commits crimes at the same time. Eventually, he and the Flash come to blows and he is exposed and arrested as a criminal.

Flash #227: We learn that Digger's father is called "Aussie" Green, and that he's a small-time crook from Australia.

Flash #300 (1981): Barry gives a beat-for-beat retelling of Digger's origin story from Flash #117. No new information is given.

Flash #310 (1982): We learn that W.W. Wiggins has a young son named Willard Wiggins Jr.; later revelations would make Willard Jr. Digger's younger half-brother.

Flash #311 (1982): "Regardless of the exact year, we calculated the arrival would take place somewhere over the South Pacific---which means a splashdown in the ocean---and my parents never taught little Digger how to swim!"

Secret Origins #41 (1989): Gambi gives another beat-for-beat retelling of the origin story from Flash #117.

Suicide Squad #44 (1990): This is the famous Captain Boomerang origin. It establishes that Digger grew up poor in Korumburra, a rural town in Australia. He lived with the man he believed to be his father, Ian Harkness, his mother, Betty Harkness, and his older half-brother Tom Harkness (who would eventually become an accountant). His mother was loving towards him, but his father was neglectful and abusive.

George made his first boomerang in elementary school, and, after being taunted about it by a kid named Mick Wentworth, he threw it in anger and managed to hit a kookaburra with it...which set him on the path of using boomerangs as weapons. Digger and Wentworth (so called as to not have him confused with Mick Rory/Heat Wave) promptly became friends, and proceeded to cause all sort of trouble together as juvenile delinquents. (His mother bailed both of them out of trouble frequently.)

When Digger turned 18, he tried to rob a general store, got caught, and narrowly managed to escape using a boomerang. This led to an argument with his father, and, after his mother tried to take his side, arguing that he was Ian's son, Ian flipped out and slapped her across the face. Digger responded by punching out his father, and his mother, in a panic, contacted W.W. Wiggins and had Wiggins give him a job in America. Wiggins made him a toy salesman, but after a few weeks (maybe months) on the job, Digger got sick of being a toy salesman and tried to pick somebody's pocket. The Flash saw him and tried to intervene, but Digger managed to tag him with a boomerang and knock him out. This led to Digger's official career as a costumed criminal.

It wasn't until Digger attended his mother's funeral that he learned (from W.W. Wiggins) that his mother had had an affair with W.W. Wiggins when he was a soldier stationed in Australia, and that that affair had been reignited many years later when Wiggins returned to the country, this time as a toy salesman, albeit only for one night. This affair produced Digger---and was the main driving force behind his father's dislike of him.

Flash (2010) #7: This origin is basically the same as the one from Suicide Squad #44, although in this version instead of completely ignoring his son for 18 years, W. W. Wiggins sends little Digger boomerangs. Also, Digger tried to rob a pawnshop instead of a general store at age 18, and it was he rather than his mom whom his father hit. This version of events also implies that W.W. Wiggins went bankrupt trying to promote the boomerangs, and that it was this financial difficulty that led to Digger becoming Captain Boomerang---he wasn't getting paid because Wiggins had no money, and so decided to steal money instead.

Suicide Squad #47 (2019): Most of the backstory remains the same, but now Digger was also at some point a secret agent for the Australian government. No, really. This is actually a thing that was established in this issue.

Heat Wave

Flash #140 (1963): "I used to be a fire-eater in the circus, but I lost my taste for the work! And then one day a week ago I finally made up my mind for---er---private reasons, I must say--- to embark on a criminal career in a big way! Naturally, with my circus background you understand why I chose the character of Heat Wave! I created my own uniform---and my weapon--a heat gun!" The "private reason" for Heat Wave's criminal career was...a desire to impress a local TV personality called Dream Girl. No, really, that was why.

Flash #266 (1978): Mick, at the age of nine, went on a field trip with his school to a meat packing facility. Being curious, he wandered off on his own, and accidentally shut himself into a meat locker. After nearly freezing to death, he managed to use the heat of his breath to "un-numb" his fingers enough to open the latch on the door and escape. This near-death experience gave young Mick intense cryophobia and a love of heat and warmth. Mick felt comfortable only when wearing several layers of clothes (even in the summer) and he spent his teenaged years experimenting with heat. When he became an adult, he became a fire-eater in the circus, and then fell into crime (presumably for fame and/or to impress girls as per Flash #160). It's also worth noting that we see two people who look very much like they're probably supposed to be Mick's parents looking at their teenaged son with concern as he experiments with fire, indicating that his parents did not die when he was a child.

Flash #300 (1981): Barry gives a beat-for-beat retelling of the origin from Flash #266, with one exception...Mick is said to be ten years old, rather than nine, during the meat locker incident. This was probably just an error on writer Cary Bates' part, rather than a deliberate retcon.

Secret Origins #41 (1989): Gambi gives us a mostly beat-for-beat retelling of the origin from Flash #266; the only new information we learn is that Mick ran away from home in order to join the circus as a fire-eater.

Flash vol. 2 #218: This is the famous Heat Wave origin. It mostly follows the facts established by the previous origins, but adds a really disturbing twist to them.

Mick Rory grew up on a farm with his mother, father, grandmother, and brother. He had a mostly idyllic life---but he was a pyromaniac, obsessed with flames. (In all previous retellings, Mick was obsessed with heat more than with fire, and his obsession only manifested after the meat locker incident.)

When Mick was 12 years old, he couldn't resist the urge to set the family house on fire...and was so transfixed by the flames that, even though he wanted to help his family, all he could do was watch as they burned alive. Mick was then sent to live with his uncle.

Mick's classmates made fun of him because he wore winter clothes at all times of year, and one day, on the tour of a local slaughterhouse, Brad Riker locked Mick in a meat freezer. Mick took nearly an hour to free himself, and the next night, he felt compelled to lock Riker and his family in their house and burn it down. Horrified, Mick then ran away from his uncle's house and joined the circus, where he became a fire eater. He was happy there for a few years, but then his urges surfaced again and he set the circus on fire. And this time, he took pictures.

When Mick saw the developed photos, he was disgusted with himself and what he had done, and, when he saw Captain Cold on the news, he decided that the best way to get his urges under control was to make them into a gimmick for costumed crime.

"I designed a heat-gun based on the flame-thrower. I compacted the fuel in catridges at the base of the gun, focusing on a mixture of Greek fire and butane gas. Originally, the ignition system in the tip was the typical electrical coil. Through the years, I managed to improve it, adding in a laser that super-heated the fire and helped me control its shape. I lined my fireproof suit with hoses filled with the fuel. And gave the gun a quick reload system which would replaced the tanks whenever I locked it down into the holster." After completing his gun, Mick set off to become Heat Wave.

I'll be honest and say that, while this origin is iconic at this point, I don't really like it. I feel like the death of his family was sufficiently horrible and tragic to make the point about his pyromania; having him kill another family and burn down a circus was a bit much.

Mirror Master II (Evan McCulloch)

Animal Man #8, #17, and #21 (1989-1991): Evan McCulloch is introduced as a Scottish hitman, and is hired by an organization composed primarily of three powerful corporate businessmen to scare Animal Man away from crime-fighting, since his focus on protecting animals was cutting into their profits. They give him the Mirror Master costume and gear so that people will assume that the attacks are supervillain shenanigans rather than a corporate hit.

Evan readily agrees to harass and beat up Animal Man, but when this fails to scare off the hero, the organization then orders him to kill Animal Man's wife and two young children. McCulloch promptly refuses, as he doesn't kill women or children, and he is replaced as an assassin by someone willing to take the job. We also learn that he has spent a considerable amount of time in Glasgow.

Justice League #10-12, 15: We learn that Evan McCulloch grew up in an orphanage. Batman offers to donate money to it in order to get Evan to turn against the Injustice League formed by Lex Luthor.

Flash vol. 2 #212: This is the famous Evan origin.

As a baby, Evan McCulloch was abandoned in a basket on the doorstep of an orphanage in Kirkaldy, Scotland. A picture of his parents was tucked inside the basket with him. The orphanage was run by a kind-hearted woman named Miss McCulloch, who did her best to be a mother to all of the children at her orphanage, including Evan. As such, while he obviously wished for his parents, Evan was generally pretty content at the orphanage.

There was only one problem: an older boy named Georgie, who came into the rooms of the younger children at night, dragged them outside, and sexually assaulted them. When Evan was eight, Georgie dragged him outside and attempted to abuse him, prompting Evan to kill him in self-defense.

Evan left the orphanage when he was 16 and ran away to Glasgow, where he spent a few years on odd jobs, then drifted into crime. Eventually, he became a hitman, and was hired to kill two people in one day. The first target put up a fight and cut Evan across the eye, thus impeding his vision and preventing him from realizing that his second target was his father (whom he knew from the photograph) until it was too late. Evan shot his father, and, when he went to confess to his mother after his father's funeral, he found her dead in the bathtub from suicide. After killing the man who hired him to kill his father, Evan planned to turn himself in, only for the American government to turn up and hire him as their hitman. When Evan agreed, they gave him the Mirror Master costume and gear (again, to ensure he wouldn't be traced back to them). Mirror Master worked for them for awhile, then got fed up with them, trapped them in a mirror dimension, went to Central City, and joined up with the Rogues.

Pied Piper

Flash #106 (1959): "I am a master of sound! For years I studied sound in all its phases! Do you know what it's capable of? Maybe you've heard of sonic booms---explosions caused miles away by an airplane passing through the sound barrier!...Don't worry, I'll stop the Flash!" And for over twenty years, that was all the backstory we had for the Pied Piper!

Flash #300 (1981): Barry on Piper's mysterious past: "In all the years I've been battling the Piper, I've never been able to learn much about his pre-Piper days or the origins of his expertise in the science of sonics!"

Flash #307 (1982): Cary Bates provides us with what is effectively Hartley's definitive backstory.

Hartley Rathaway was born to the millionaire publishing magnates Osgood and Rachel Rathaway. He was born deaf, and his parents spent millions of dollars for highly-advanced hearing aids that would allow him to hear. Once he could hear, Hartley became fascinated with music, but didn't seem to have an aptitude or interest in much of anything else, much to his parents' frustration. What they didn't realize was that Hartley had begun to tinker with musical instruments----or that he would learn how to use them to control minds by the time he was a teenager.

For his sixteenth birthday, his parents gave him a silver-plated flute.

When Hartley graduated from high school, his parents bribed his way into a top college, bribed his professors into giving him good grades, and then bribed his way into an executive post at a major firm. Hartley wasn't interested in any of this, and instead just used his hypnosis to make things even easier for himself. Bored out of his mind by how easy life was for him, Hartley decided to become a criminal to finally experience risk and excitement (or at least, that's what his parents, Rachel and Osgood, seem to think). And so the Pied Piper was born.

To keep anyone from learning that their son was a costumed criminal, the Rathaways bribed everyone from the chief of police to the FBI to created the identity of Henry Darrow for the Pied Piper, and it was by this name that Hartley was known for much of his criminal career.

The Pied Piper himself also gives his own opinion on his childhood later in this issue, when he arrives at the Rathaway mansion with stolen goods and reveals that he has been giving much of the money he's been stealing to his parents---"At last I've paid back every Rathaway dollar my parents spent on trying to mold me into someone I could never be!" He also argues that his parents never wanted what was best for him, but rather "what was best for the Rathaway name! What I wanted never really mattered much to either one of you!"

Secret Origins #41 (1989): Gambi gives a beat-for-beat retelling of the origin from Flash #307.

Flash vol. 2 #32: This story establishes that Hartley has a younger sister named Geraldine, who appears to be about eight to ten years old.

Flash vol. 2 #190: This story is mostly the same as the one in Flash #307, but it does change some details and add a few things. This issue establishes Hartley's middle name as Robert and identified Dr. William Magnus, the inventor of the Metal Men, as the man who invented Hartley's hearing aids (when Hartley was nine). It also establishes that these hearing aids give him super-human hearing.

In this version, Hartley's parents are obviously neglectful---they went out every night for the first month of his life rather than spending time with him, and they don't even notice he's deaf until he turns two.

Hartley loves listening to music, but doesn't have much talent for playing it. He also felt as though he could never relate to his parents or their friends; the people in his social class looked down on him and gossiped about him behind his back.

Hartley got himself kicked out of every college he was sent to, apparently as a form of rebellion, and things only got worse when he came out to his parents. It sparked a huge argument, and in response, Hartley ran away from home, taking his musical instruments and some of his parents' money with him. He then used his knowledge of sonics in the hopes that he would be able to create and sell his own instruments...and then stumbled upon his mind-controlling flute, which gave him a sort of power he had never had over his life before. Intoxicated by this control, and angry at the world, he took to a life of crime as the Pied Piper.

Weather Wizard

Flash #110 (1959): Mark Mardon was a petty crook, and had been arrested for burglary on at least three separate occasions; once by a Central City police lieutenant named Jim Harvey. On his third arrest, he was sent to Tri-State Prison on a train...and escaped by jumping off of the moving vehicle! After his escape, he decided to hide out with his brother Clyde, whom he knew lived along the shores of Big Water Lake as something of a hermit.

When Mark arrived at his brother's house, he was surprised to find what looked like a scientific laboratory, and even more surprised to find that his brother was dead of a heart attack. Shortly thereafter, Mark stumbled upon his brother's notes and learned that his brother had been about to announce to the world that he had learned how to build a device that could control the weather. Clyde had intended to use his device to help the world, but Mark had a "better" idea: he would follow his brother's notes and build his own weather-controlling device to get rich and revenge himself on the men who had sent him to jail. After building the wand using the notes, Mark dubbed himself the Weather Wizard, donned a costume that even he called "bizarre and original" and set out on a life of crime.

Flash #300 (1981): Barry gives a beat-for-beat recap of the origin from Flash #110.

Secret Origins #41 (1989): Gambi gives us what is mostly a beat-for-beat recap of the origin from Flash #110, but adds a few new details. "Your brother Clyde---who had always had everything better than you except a first name (and your mom almost made you switch that)---lived not far away on Big Water Lake." This is the first evidence we have that Clyde was favored over Mark by their parents. Or at least their mother.

The Flash: Iron Heights (2001): We finally get confirmation that Clyde was Mark's older brother, and that he was a meteorologist. This is also the first time that Geoff Johns starts hinting that Mark killed Clyde after escaping prison (as this had not previously been part of the story).

Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge #3 (2008): We get confirmation that Mark killed Clyde after escaping prison (albeit by accident). When Mark arrived at his brother's laboratory, Clyde went to call the police, telling Mark that he had to turn Mark in and that it was for Mark's own good. Mark reacted in a panic, insisting that he couldn't go back to prison (and perhaps hinting that something rather bad might have happened to him the last time he had been sent to prison--though that's speculation). In his panic, he grabbed the Weather Wand, and accidentally killed Clyde.

New 52 Flash #10: Marco Mardon is from Guatemala, and his older brother is now named Claudio. His family ran a drug cartel (because stereotypes). Their father didn't think either of them were fit to run the cartel, but after he died, Claudio became the head of the cartel anyway. Marco, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with the cartel and ran away to Central City, where he would ultimately join the Rogues. His brother, Claudio, later came to the city on a "business" trip, and attempted to convince him to join him in running the cartel. "When we were kids, you said you'd always look out for me." While he's on the phone with Marco, he gets murdered, and, as we find out later, the hit was ordered by his own wife, Elsa, who thought that Claudio was too weak to do what needed to be done as the head of a drug cartel. When Marco found out about this (after he became the Weather Wizard), he was understandably upset and attempted to kill both her and himself with a lightning strike (though he managed to survive).

Rebirth Flash #85: "Marco was a loner in a family of criminals. He tried so hard to escape that life---that family--and it hurt people he loved. He can never escape the pain." Weirdly, the art makes the Mardons look more like 1920s gangsters than a modern drug cartel.

The Top

Flash #122 (1961): When Roscoe Dillon was a boy, he discovered some toy tops in the attic and became fascinated with them, to the point that he preferred spinning tops to playing with other children. As he grew older, he drifted into crime, and, after the second time he was caught (he wasn't the most successful criminal), he hit upon the idea of using his old boyhood hobby of spinning tops as a way to improve his criminal career. He immediately plunged himself into research on tops and learned everything he possibly could about them.

"Tops are amazing! They're linked up with intricate scientific devices like gyroscopes! Although they've been just about forgotten, they are the basis for some of the most startling advances in science! The theory behind tops gave rise to guided missile systems---to the gyrostabilizers of ocean liners! And unless I miss my guess, the same theory will help me reach the top of my profession!"

Roscoe invented a huge array of weaponized tops, and also taught himself how to spin at incredible speed. This spinning also increased his brainpower, and, filled with newfound confidence and weapons, he set out to take over the world as the Top.

Flash #300 (1981): Barry gives us a beat-for-beat recap of Roscoe's origin from Flash #122, although the art does seem to indicate that Roscoe was playing with tops well into his teenage years.

Flash vol. 2 #120-121: Roscoe offhandedly mentions that growing up on the streets of Brooklyn didn't provide him with the education that he would need to become president. This doesn't really jive with any of the other backstory information we're given on him (the scenes of his childhood from Flash #122 seemed quite suburban, for example).

Flash vol. 2 #216: "His name was Roscoe Dillon. But you know him better as the Top. For a long time he was just another one of the Rogues. A crook from Central City who got creative like Len Snart and Digger Harkness. He had a talent for inventions and explosives, and an obsession with, of all things, tops. The only good memory of a horrible childhood, he claimed."

More specifically, it appears that his parents were extremely demanding of him. "When I was growing up, it was always be the best, be the greatest. Show the world you're my son. When I couldn't, I lashed out. I rebelled against everything."

We also learn that, while he was inventing his tops, Roscoe tested them out, hurting innocent people in the process.

Flash vol. 2 #217: This issue reveals that Roscoe visited a Wiggins Toy Company toy shop every day when he was a child, presumably because they sold tops there.

Trickster II (Axel Walker)

Flash vol. 2 #183: Axel Walker comes from an upper-class family. When his parents divorced, he drifted into juvenile delinquency, doing drugs and vandalizing buildings. Then he broke into one of James Jesse's old storage units in Keystone City and stole his costume, his tricks, and a pair of airwalker shoes. Axel then used these to become the new Trickster.

Flash vol. 2 #1/2: "When my mom divorced my dad, Pops told me, 'There's two things you can be in life, Axel. Either you're the Trickster, or you're the one getting tricked!'"--Axel, on his dad's life advice.

Mirror Master I (Sam Scudder)

Flash #105 (1959): Sam Scudder was sent to prison for robbery. While he was working in the prison's mirror factory, he made a mistake, putting a wrong chemical in the silvering of the mirror. The prison foreman (Tyler) ordered him to throw it out, and, as he was in the process of doing so, he was stunned to discover that the mirror had held the image of the foreman like it was a camera. Sam decided to hang onto the mirror, and hid it so that he could study it later. He spent the rest of his time in prison studying mirrors, and, upon being released, put his knowledge to good use to invent what was effectively a 3-D printer, which he used to commit crimes as the Mirror Master.

This issue also implies that Sam feels some level of resentment towards society generally: "Besides, why should I try to help science and society? What did they ever do for me--besides put me behind bars?"

Flash #206 (1971): "Posters of famous movie cowboys! That's why Mirror Master went through that gunslinger bit---he was a rabid cowboy fan! Probably wanted to be in a real showdown ever since he was a kid!"

Flash #255 (1977): "A nice save, old foe! How'd you know I couldn't swim?"

Flash #300 (1981): We get what is effectively a beat-for-beat recap of the origin provided in Flash #105, although Barry describes Sam as "a hard-case prison inmate", implying that he might have been arrested more than once prior to becoming the Mirror Master. Barry also claims that Sam didn't really start studying the strange mirror until after his parole.

Flash vol. 2 #212: "I'm not the first Rogue to go by this name. No. Sam Scudder was. Kansas City boy. Simple thug."

Flash: Rebirth #2: In a frankly unnecessary bit of grimdark retconning, Sam is sentenced to prison for burglary and murder instead of robbery. Barry Allen, police scientist, is responsible for his conviction (I have no problems with Barry Allen convicting Sam---but couldn't he have convicted him for robbery rather than murder?)

Flash: Blackest Night #2 (2009): "I know where you're comin' from, McCulloch. I was like you. Hatin' who Sam Scudder was. Puttin' on a mask to escape it. Like all the Rogues. Running away to Wonderland."

As you can see, we don't know much about Sam's backstory....

#the rogues #flash comics #long post

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siremasterlawrence · 11 months ago

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Bloody Valentine Part 4

Green Arrow launching a arrow in through the cave landing on to my computer cause a commotion exploding it upon impact as the cave goes down.

He has no idea that we have moved from the cave to Stark Tower but I still enjoy it all from my safe space and I head to the Iron man laboratory he built.

A screen pumps down from the ceiling on to him with my presence because he looks on very unnervingly at me and I was him off in excitement.

“Hello Arrow”

“You bastard “

“Where are you ?”

“Tsk tsk tsk”

“Answer me”

“That is no fun”

“This is not a game “

“I am well aware”

“I will prevent you from creating anymore undo damage.”

“Duly noted “

“You are so confrontational and combative “

“It comes when I deal with you “

“Mwahahahahaha…you are so locked in yo your thoughts.”

“What if I am?”

“You can’t tell it’s finished, I have locked you in.”

“What are you concocting?”

“The end?”

“Your end “

“Mwahahahahaha “

“You have five minutes “

“Nnnnnoooooo!”

“1…2…3…4…5”

“BOOM”

“Aaaahhhhh”

“I warned you “

“Go collect him”

“Yes Master”

“Oh Tony! Soon enough “ I say flipping off the screen as I spin back my chair to face him because I am and eventually assume control of it all.

“Bloody Valentine he is scratched it’s in his blood stream.”

Barry Allen Aka The Flash is speeding down the city streets of New York heading to The Great Stark Tower and as he hits the exact block.He races up the glass windows straight up to the top of tower causing his body to spin in to the room sendings shards coming in a way crashing everywhere.He stops channeling all of my energy in to his core channeling them in to both of his hands then take a stance shooting up to bolts of thunder.The door erupt open sliding to the side in a bit of fever spinning in to a tornado as his inner body transfers from this reality in to the speed force.Right and the left transform in to golden wall as he sped down the road when he sees his own doppelgänger standing right in front of him be puts on the breaks.Barth is left confused at what he see staring back at him as if he is a glass image, a clear mirror image that he touch and not break so easily.Barry is in disbelief at the sight as the man who is flashing a bright smile staring at him because he is Barry obviously but how can that be.On the walls the images of covering the gold area in display a stand up stronger and very resistant to it all but he frowns disappointed in my action. Barry the fake doppelgänger does another form of a might tornado spinning down his way in the aisle coming at him and knocking him to ten ground. A devastated Barry takes a change when his doppelgänger seizes control of the real situation and he broke free to escape from his trap.It is a trap of torment with loads of thunder bolts lightening hitting him head on sending him flying across the room and the impact from the ground shows.Barry appears with cuts on his face losing all of his time he decides to go head to head and toe to toe throwing punches right and left.

“Who are you and what are you doing?”

“I am your of course Barry”

“Who are you really?”

“The core of you “

“My subconscious and inner mind”

“I am the one who wants to submit “

“No! No way! I would never do it”

“Oh you do! You need a real family “

“I do have one “

“Not team Flash! Mwahahaha”

“You are so delusional Barry”

“Excuse me”

The end

#the flash barry allen #grant gustin #hypnosis #mind control #hypno slave #reprogramming #speed force #bloody valentine #doppelgänger #subconscious #inner identity

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zahri-melitor · 10 months ago

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i mean this in the most politely curious way, what do you mean by Geoff Johns like? i’m newer to comics, so i really don’t know a whole lot about the writers. i see his name tossed around a bit and i can’t quite parce out what about his writing bothers the people who dislike him, and i’m so curious.

i haven’t really read anything of his yet, i don’t think, but i do know some of his stuff is on my want to read list, so i’m wondering if like…is his writing just awful?

Okay. In my own particular parlance: "Geoff Johns-like" means "banging on about Johns' favourite characters, noticeable bronze age groupy preferences, will not be shocked if it contains retcons changing things Johns doesn't like".

I am not saying that something is bad because it's written by Geoff Johns (in fact there are multiple storylines he's written I quite enjoy - go read Kon's Adventure Comics run, which contains some of my favourite Kon characterisation ever). It's meant more in terms of the fact that a lot of comics writers are quite distinct in their writing style, and you get to know their habits the more you read them. Alan Grant is going to try and sell you on the politics of anarchism. Greg Rucka really really really loves hyper-competent 30ish women with an edge, a grudge and a willingness to be seen as morally grey to achieve their aims. Scott Snyder really likes sweeping stories that have characters questioning their moral cores. Chuck Dixon is going to write everyone from a conservative viewpoint and specialises in character interaction. Grant Morrison loves pulling in pre-Crisis continuity points, whether or not they make sense. Paul Dini is Harley Quinn's biggest supporter and tends to write slice-of-life storylines in the same mode as he wrote BTAS. And so on.

The hallmarks of a Geoff Johns story are fundamentally the following: a massive hard on for the Green Lanterns Corps and Hal Jordan as the best Green Lantern in existence; he thinks Barry Allen is an interesting character; strong dislike of a lot of 90s storyline decisions, particularly the post-Crisis 'Last Son of Krypton' policy (aka 'Clark can be the only Kryptonian') and Hal as Parallax; inability to turn a script in on time; and he's one of the main writers interested in JSA stuff due to the historical quirk that his entry into DC comics came via JSA-related characters and writing. The man is not afraid of a big retcon to fix a situation he doesn't like.

I wouldn't say Johns' writing is awful. I would say he writes stories that you can pick out as specifically written by him as he has a distinct voice, and you'll have a better time with his writing if it's about a character he loves to pieces, if you also like that character.

Most of what people strongly dislike about his writing falls into his willingness to retcon situations and push particularly Hal and Barry as main characters (and people who don't like the Kon's parentage retcon).

I wouldn't actively avoid him, but I would say if you read some of his stories and decide you don't want to read more, you're not the only one.

#there's also a whole thing around Courtney Whitmore which makes sense in context #but is beyond the scope of your ask #Courtney doing Courtney-things is also very Geoff Johnslike #(short version Courtney is based on his dead little sister and Johns is VERY protective of her)

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kitkatt0430 · 5 months ago

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My progress may be slowed by carpal tunnel but not stopped!

Anyway, here's some stuff I've been working on lately.

“And in other news, the illegal broadcast known as The Genocide Report has once again spread lies about the Empire. It’s latest slanderous allegations blame Imperial forces for the Caamas Firestorm that led to the eradication of all life on the Caamasi home world, a terrible natural disaster that occurred approximately fourteen years ago…” “Turn that off.” Alex looked over at Captain Zataire, who’d voiced the command. Hiram Zataire, who had a son with known rebel sympathies. The question was, of course, did Zataire share his son’s loyalties. As a storm trooper rushed to turn off the Imperial News broadcast, bringing the ship’s bridge into silence once more, it didn’t exactly seem unlikely.

From the Genocide Report fic idea that I couldn't resist turning into an actual fic series, this is from the very first scene of the fic. Alexsandr Kallus, ISB Agent, has just arrived on a Star Destroyer over Lothal. A place far away from Coruscant where he'd much rather be digging for information on the Jedi massacre from the end of the Clone Wars. He figures that eventually being 1/2 of the Genocide Report team is gonna get him killed, so he'd like very much to get that information disseminated before he gets executed for treason. instead he's been sent to Lothal to root out sympathizers - funny, he is one - and the local rebel cell - that he's hoping to make go quiet long enough that he can get a better assignment.

Of course, Kallus is about to meet the cell and get the shock of his life when he realizes that one of them is a Lasat. And then he has to figure out what to do with 'Jabba' aka Ezra Bridger. So many headaches headed his way and that's before he finds out that the former bartender in the rebel cell is actually a not so former Jedi too.

He couldn’t talk to Cisco and Caitlin about what was going on because they had no idea who he was. They’d been Barry’s best friends and now they were strangers. Barry’s speed was gone and the only way to get it back was to let a tragedy happen. Which wasn’t acceptable, but how could Barry stop the accelerator? It wasn’t something he could go to Joe about. After all, Joe was back to believing Henry Allen was guilty of Nora Allen’s death and that Barry had lied to himself about what happened that night for so long that he was little delusional about the whole thing. Iris might believe him, but confessing his feelings to her had put distance between them that would take time to fade. Now was not the time to be going to her with a story about time travel.

From a slowly moving wip sequel to my Hartley, Roderick, and Barry accidentally did mental time travel from the sonic powers/lightning clash at the dam. Barry won't admit it, but learning that Hartley and Roderick are also looking for legal ways to stop the accelerator in time is a relief to him, even if he doesn't want to believe that Wells is involved with the Reverse Flash.

Of course Barry took the opportunity to confess his feelings to Iris before she ever even meets Eddie and... strikes out. Because Iris loves him here, but she's not in love with him. And Barry's finally going to have to accept that.

I'm still tentatively plotting for this series to be endgame Barry/Hartley/Roderick but there's a lot of time before that could conceivably happen that I might decide it'll work better going in a different direction. *shrug*

#six sentence sunday #the flash #star wars: rebels #fanfiction #alexsandr kallus #barry allen

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somefanficrecomendations · 8 months ago

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Podfic Recs!

One of my favorite things about fanfic is the existence of podfics. That said, I'm excited to share a few of my favorites with you! I tried to go for a wide range of fandoms so there should be something for everyone.

Works Alone read by kbirb pods (kbirb) Batman, (gen), 20 mins, Crack, Batfam When trying to pull the team together, Bruce’s ideas are dismissed, because he 'works alone'. He goes home to his kids to pout about it.

Straight On Till Morning read by reena_jenkins DC Legends of Tomorrow, (Sara Lance/Mick Rory/Leonard Snart), 2-2.5 hrs, AU-Canon Divergence Left alone in the Refuge, Mick and Sara decide they're going to be proactive about their fate. They end up becoming time pirates. Because of course they do.

The Haunting of Harrison Wells read by luvtheheaven (VioletEmerald) The Flash, (gen), 2-2.5 hrs, AU-No Powers, AU-Ghost Story Harrison Wells died in 1958. Almost sixty years later, Barry Allen meets a ghost in STAR Labs.

Not a Damsel in Distress read by nickelmountain Supernatural, (gen), 10-20 min, Pre-Canon, Case Fic Mary smiles and shrugs when her dad looks at her. Mermaids. She hates water-creatures. She hates killing things on family holidays. “Mary can come with me,” David says grandly. or, Mary and a cousin go hunting. The cousin is less than helpful.

With a Conquering Air read by AceOfTigers The Witcher, (Geralt/Jaskier), 3-3.5 hrs, Accidental Warlord AU, Slow Burn Jaskier arrives at Kaer Morhen knowing his family gave him up without a second thought, and absolutely sure that the dreaded Warlord of the North will value him even less than his own blood did. But the White Wolf and his pack are not what Jaskier expected...and if he's unreasonably lucky, Kaer Morhen might become far more of a home than Lettenhove ever was.

both have sharp teeth read by Shmaylor Daredevil, (gen), 1.5-2 hrs, Angst, Black Widow!Karen "And there are stories about wolves and girls. Girls in red. All alone in the woods. About to get eaten up. Wolves and girls." -Black Widow, Nathan Edmondson She is one of 28. The story of the girl who would be Karen Page, through Russian winters and New York streets.

If They Haven't Learned Your Name read by quietnight MCU, (Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes), 24 hrs, Buck Barnes World Revenge Tour, Humor Steve gets out of the hospital in two days, but just barely. “I’m fine,” he tells Sam, Nurse Eunjung and the phalanx of doctors assigned to make sure Captain America didn’t bleed out and die and get bad PR all over their nice clean hospital.“I have an advanced healing factor. It’s fine. See? I’m standing.” “That is not standing,” Sam tells him. “You’re bending the IV stand,” Nurse Eunjung adds pointedly. “Let go and sit down, they don’t grow on trees.” aka Steve and Bucky's Global Honeymoon Revenge World Tour.

#podfic rec #batman fic rec #daredevil fic rec #stucky fic rec #supernatural fic rec #the flash fic rec #the witcher fic rec #accidental warlord au #dc legends of tomorrow

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eyes-of-mischief · 11 months ago

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weekly fic recs | 46

fandoms: aftg, atla, dc, mdzs

aftg

raze it to the ground by ilgaksu

It stops being about Neil entirely, and it starts being about this: Andrew is really, really fucking tired.

Dead of Night by NikNak22

(explicit) (graphic depictions of violence, rape/non-con)

It’s Kevin’s senior year at PSU, and things are…okay. But that changes when a single question from a nosy reporter sends his life spiraling. The descent is slow and maddening – memories and trauma from his past weave together to form the image of the man that stands there today. As Kevin begins to look around him with a new and critical eye, though, he’s no longer sure that man is who he wants to be.

So the question is - when faced with the truth, is it a case of Kevin finally getting what he deserves? Or is it about time to prove a lot of people (including himself) wrong?

Aka the fic that’s all about Kevin Day.

Clickbait by Frostandcoal

It is fitting that Josten is set to don a Dragons’ uniform. Like his new mascot, Josten is a fire-breathing, relentless, somewhat mythical creature whose very existence seems larger than life. And Minyard is the perfect manifestation of a Cyclone; an inescapable, violent maelstrom of unpredictability, where your only chance of survival is to hunker down and wait out the storm.

What happens when a dragon battles a force of nature? That’s what we’re all waiting to find out. The media reacts to teammates-turned-rivals in the summer before Neil Josten’s first year in the pro’s.

Latchkey Child by vicariously kingly (pelted)

(underage)

The segment’s title declared EXY’S DARLINGS - WHERE WILL THEY GO FROM HERE? in a yellow banner along the television screen's bottom. It was a spotlight feature on where Kevin Day and Riko Moriyama were planning to go after their high school graduation. Of course they were expected to join the best, but a few reporters speculated on favoritism from the Raven’s coach if they signed on at Edgar Allan, and if that’d impact the Exy prodigies’ relationships with their potential teammates.

Usually his mother would box his ears for looking at anything Exy-related, but he changed the channel long before her shower finished, the black ink on a younger Day’s cheekbone haunting him worse than the date in the corner.

( Neil wakes up seven years younger, and, slowly, takes matters into his own hands. )

atla

While Mighty Oaks Do Fall by WitchofEndor

High Sage Kenji blesses Fire Prince Zuko with the resilience of the reed, who bends in the wind and never breaks. When he is done, Fire Prince Ozai narrows his eyes, seemingly displeased by this blessing. But Kenji does not speak for himself; he is only a vessel.

The newly-crowned Fire Lord Ozai offers his firstborn son to service in the temple.

This turns out to be a catastrophic mistake.

rabbitbrush by curiositykilled

There’s the sound of Katara groaning and Toph thumping Sokka with a rock, but Zuko’s chest is tight and cold. He can’t laugh at Sokka’s pun. He has to swallow to speak.

“Azula’s not going to prison.”

An Internal Affair by nirejseki, robininthelabyrinth (nirejseki)

Leonard Snart, the CCPD Captain of Internal Affairs, is known as Captain Cold for a very good reason: He hates corrupt cops with a merciless vengeance, and once you're on his list, you're in serious trouble.

His next target?

A CCPD lab tech named Barry Allen who's developed a suspicious habit of disappearing at random intervals.

Family You Made (Go Back, Do it Again) by JUBE514

He’s nine again– nine and new and knows so many things now so rather than try to go back–

He thinks he has the chance to make things right.

The bright blue trainers he puts on are a pair he hasn’t worn in forever, something he never thought about after he grew out of them (will grow out of?) a year from now, and sets off into the night and into the rain.

The plan he has in his brain is not really a plan, moreso just a couple of half thrown ideas and maybe five steps into building back the life he had in the most painless way he could.

Maybe, he thinks, maybe this plan can start off with the family he misses– because he’s sixty and most of them too injured or too old or too dead–

Call him selfish but he misses them. He would rather find them than get himself back into that lonely existence he called a life before he woke up at nine.

Dick makes do because that’s all he can do really.

Dick gets sent back in time, but don't worry, he's got this. (Probably)

mdzs

Lynchpin by ShanaStoryteller

He can’t get Jin Guangyao’s words out of his head.

If he’d only believed in Wei Wuxian, if he’d only been willing to stand up for him, could it all have been avoided?

Bend by ana_cp

(explicit)

Wei Ying does not have a crush on Lan Zhan anymore. Those feelings have been gone for a long time. He's over Lan Zhan. He is.

Deep down, he knows they'll never be compatible in a relationship. Even though Lan Zhan is gay. Even though Lan Zhan is also into BDSM. Because Lan Zhan is a Dom.

And so is he.

or, Wei Ying makes some very wrong assumptions about Lan Zhan's preferences, finds out just how far from the truth he is, and immediately makes a plan to fix it.

#weekly fic recs #no prompt #aftg fic recs #aftg #atla fic recs #atla #dc fic recs #dc #mdzs fic recs #mdzs

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preciousdemonbrat · 3 months ago

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Justice League Fancast

Ok besties now that David Corenswet has been cast as Superman it’s time to start manifesting the other Justice League members. I’m so excited for David! I think he can play into the warmth, determination, and confidence that Superman shows as well as the more himbo aspects of the character. I love Superman having this innocent himbo energy to him that has people totally convinced he’s an idiot. In the Superman animated series the only way Clark defeated this villain was by allowing him to think Clark was an idiot. Superman is one of the most powerful heroes in DC, but seeing him best his opponents through kindness or his own intelligence is wonderful. Plus David is a Jewish actor, which is exciting because Superman’s creators were both Jewish and drew inspiration from their experiences as Jewish men in a time when Nazis were on the rise globally. Superman was created in 1938 and in 1939 there was a massive Nazi rally at Madison Square with 20 thousand people attending. Though it was a rally in support of Hitler and fascism, people called it the “Pro American Rally.” During this time people did need hope. Superman originally saved the people from the violent cops and women from their abusive husbands and people from the corrupt banks. Superman was someone who would do good simply because it was the right thing to do and that gave people hope. This love of people is an aspect of Superman which is super important. Sorry for the tangent…

————————————————————————

Anyways, onto fancasting the best boy ever… Flash!! Though both Kyle Allen and Mike Faist are dancers, Kyle Allen has been training in acrobatics from a young age. In The In Between Kyle captures a awkward and kind energy that I think would really work for Barry. I would also like for Barry to be the youngest member of the JL. I want a Barry that is late to everything because he just can’t help but stop to help everyone on the way to places. I want this more quiet “actions speak louder than words” kind of Flash. Here are some comic quotes to show what I’d want from Barry:

“Hal Jordan- AKA Green Lantern- was uncle Barry’s best friend. They had a lot in common. They were both noble… brave and hopelessly tragically unhip” -Wally West

“Bruce was the only person who would listen to me ramble about evidence techniques and crime scene investigations. I’m still in awe of how his mind works.” -Barry. I love that Barry rambles about his interests

“Mom, if it was me I’d stop and help.” -Barry

“He might be quiet or distant or awkward, but he’s never mean” -Bart Allen

Either Kyle Allen(28) or Mike Faist(31) as Barry Allen

John Boyega has range. In Star Wars he plays this energetic character who has no idea what he’s doing and in the Woman King he plays a serious king who commands attention. I think he can play John Stewart as this stoic person who has set morals and will stand his ground. I also think that Boyega can also pull off John Stewart’s dry sense of humor. John Stewart was one of the first black superheroes, so in his comics he is outspoken against racism and doesn’t put up with anyone’s bs. I think it’s also important to note that he refused to hide his face.

There’s this comic panel where he and Hal run into this racist politician and have a bit of a kerfuffle. John “accidentally” gets black gunk on his face and says, “…haven’t I seen you picking cotton someplace?” Hal then reprimands him for being rude and John is quick to defend himself. He then says, “so I missed my aim with the power beam, and the senator got a little blackened. What’s to worry about? I’ve been dark all my life and I’m surviving!” When Hal says he doesn’t believe that he missed John responds, “okay, I didn’t! Listen, whitey, that windbag wants to be president! He’s a racist… and he figures on climbing to the White House in the backs of my people.”

Likewise, Boyega has been open about the racial discrimination he received from Disney and fans when playing Finn in Star Wars. During he spoke out during many BLM protests and has been open in interviews as well. He’s said: “I feel like, especially as celebrities, we have to talk through this filter of professionalism and emotional intelligence. Sometimes you just need to be mad. You need to lay down what it is that’s on your mind. Sometimes you don’t have enough time to play the game.”

Here are some quotes that represent John Stewart:

“John Stewart was patient. Meticulous. Makes a plan and waits until the best possible moment to strike. His will is all about restraint. I don’t get that guy at all.” -Hal

“We have too much power to not be (held accountable)” -John

I also love this interaction with his eventual best friend, Guy. Where John is building a bridge out of toothpicks and Guy says to him: "Do you have any idea what it costs me to ship toothpick to OA?" "A lot, huh?"- John "Nah, I know a guy who knows a guy."- Guy "with the food you serve in this place you should probably use switchblades."- John "Nobody uses the picks for their teeth-- they're for keeping the club sandwiches together." -Guy "Right, what's a good sandwich without a splinter?" "Cool... sometimes I forget you like to build things more than you like to blow things up." -Guy "That's me, a walking contradiction."-John

John Boyega(31) as John Stewart

I absolutely love Jaime Alexander(39) or Elodie Yung(42) for the the part, but Diana is basically an eternal being, so I think they should go for a younger actress. Anya Charlotra has done the whole fantasy thing with the Witcher and is going to be in an upcoming action series called Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas. I think that she is someone who could capture Diana’s wisdom well. She is someone who can command attention in a room. I would want Diana to have been with people since the 40s that gives her a distinct perspective from the rest of the Justice League. She has seen history repeat itself time and time again and has had people close to her age and die.

Diana Prince quotes:

A little girl she meets says she wants to be a hero and is surprised when Diana doesn't tell her that she is too young to be a hero. Diana responds with: "Heroism is not a function of calendar, sister. It's your life to live."

After the little girl vows to protect innocent people Diana says, "then I says this, princess bouquet. It is not for me to say how one life serves others. I place my trust in your heart. And your wisdom."

"Don't kill, if you can wound. Don't wound, if you can subdue. Don't subdue, if you can pacify. And don't raise your hand at all, until you've first extended it." -Diana

"I can lead the way, but I can't make anyone follow. Friends, rivals... I owe them all a great debt. I wouldn't be who I am today without all of them." -Diana

Diana to Cathy who's using magic she shouldn't: "Outside of Themyscira shores, this may be my favorite place on earth. Nature's magic.. something I only stopped to notice when I'd been stripped of my powers and lived as a mortal."- Diana "Damn it, Di. I'm kind of past the 'life is beautiful' speech here." -Cathy "I only want you to see what I see. One of the things I learned during my time as a mortal is that time is commerce. Hours can be spent, or hours can be burnt. That pendant's spell gives you the fatal gift- time. I question the gift's value when you're confined within its walls, unable to be a part of the world whose wonders you still crave." -Diana "I just want to live, Diana."-Cathy "Then don't cling to a tomb." -Diana

Diana to Poison Ivy: "You think you can hold me? I am Diana. Daughter of the Amazonia. You cannot hold me. I do not want violence, but I can crush your face if this attack continues."

Diana encouraging Donna: "It's always been like that , huh? Everything seems to work out when you're around. Meanwhile I work twice as hard with half the results..." -Donna "Donna... your work has never gone unnoticed. When I look at you, I see one of the most capable women I have ever known. through you... I see the future." -Diana "it means a lot to hear you say that." -Donna "It's the truth. You'll always be a beacon." -Diana

Interaction between Diana and Nubia: "It's a comfort to know we all still have the ability to grow." -Nubia "Sometimes change is the only constant." -Diana

Diana encouraging Jessica Cruz: "thank you. For that, and for training us today."-Jessica "Training you? I was training with you. Steel sharpens steel. You were worthy opponents."-Diana

Bonus: Diana about Bruce: "I think standing in the darkest part of the room doesn't make you cool."

Bonus #2: "We should have brought a psychologist."- Batman while in J'onn J'onnz mind "We'd have him start with you, Batman."- Diana

Anya Charlotra(26) as Diana Prince

Seasoned Batman for the win, so that we can already have nightwing and the teen titans. Karl Urban has some roles that are reminiscent of Batman, but he doesn’t play one-note stoic characters. There’s so much depth to his characters-something that I think Batman needs. After the Supernatural meme where we all get our news from, I didn’t get the Jensen hype. But after seeing him in the Boys and Under the Redhood I get it. And he just really loves Red Hood and Batman. But at the end of the day I would want someone who understands Batman the way that Kevin Conroy did.

My favorite Batman moments are when he comforts others. I love the episode in Justice League Unlimited when Amanda Waller says that Batman’s greatest strength is his compassion. Bruce is bad at communicating and hard to get to know, but he has this determination to never let anyone go through what he went through. His devotion to the mission and his set ideological views can sometimes push people away, but those that get to know him do end up really loving him. His family and close friends like Clark and Diana poke fun at him, while showing him love. Dick Grayson and him, though they have had conflicts and misunderstandings they both are quick to defend one another and eventually reconcile. Dick and Clark are both people who come to understand Bruce and influence him to make changes. Hal Jordan could not be more different from him and yet they still developed a strong friendship as well.

I love how when he went up against Babydoll and she began sobbing he simply went up to her and placed his hand on her head.

And when Mr. Freeze escaped prison and makes it snow in Gotham. Batman finds him at his wife’s grave and just listens to what he has to say. He gives him a moment and then takes him back to prison.

In the comics he sits and holds the hand of the man who murdered his parents in his last moments, so that he wouldn’t be alone. That act to me is the most impactful. His parents death influences every decision he makes and yet he still chose compassion when confronted with his parents killer.

Also I want a Batman who is hyper fixated with dinosaurs. It’s also cannon that the cape is really heavy. I’d like to think he likes the feel of his weighted cape.

Favorite Batman Quotes:

“Why’d you stay with me all day? Risking your butt for someone who’s never given you anything but trouble?” -Harley Quinn “I know what it’s like to try and rebuild a life.”-Bruce he then hands her the dress she was going to buy, but the store owner assumed she was stealing. “I had a bad day, too, once.”-Bruce “Nice guys like you shouldn’t have bad days.”-Harley

“Master Bruce was the most selfless individual I ever met. He never wanted any credit for the work he did when he put on that cape. But now that he’s gone, I want people to know the truth. Those who thought Bruce Wayne was merely an idle playboy should know he really was, everything sacrificed to protect this city he loved so much. The world should know… the world should know what my son did.” -Alfred

“Bruce was the only person who would listen to me ramble about evidence techniques and crime scene investigations. I’m still in awe of how his mind works.” -Barry (me citing this for different reasons than before)

Example of Bruce listening to the person ramble to being the one to ramble. “No dinosaur fights?”-Hal “they’re just animals. If we can avoid it…”-Bruce “Gorgeous creatures.”-Hal “it’s fascinating, actually. The island was first discovered in the year 1927 when German World War I pilot Hans Avon Hammer-” -Bruce “you know, you have never been to my house.”-Hal

I love when Bruce is sassy. Exhibit A. Bruce is in his house going up the stairs when he sees Damian hanging out the window. “Hello.”-Damian “Hnn. 'Morning.”-Bruce “there’s a problem father.” “Obviously.”-Bruce

Even better when Superman is poking fun at him. Exhibit 2.A. “There’s a whole desert to choose from. You can pick anywhere else but here to wait and watch.” -Bruce “yeah, but that’d be lonely.” -Clark “I don’t get lonely.” -Bruce “of course you don’t. Mind if I keep you company?” -Clark “Yes.” “Perfect. I’ll stay right here, then.” -Clark

Karl Urban(51) or Jensen Ackles(45) as Bruce Wayne

Mari McCabe is this free spirit. She is someone who shows to be intuitive and calls people out with ease and gentleness. She is someone who is fun to be around and aims to bring people together, that’s why her and Roy Harper got along really well.

At one point in comics Mari took two months to plan Christmas party for the JLA and they were all being lame. So she called Roy to come save the party. I love that she wanted all these heroes to just have fun for once.

When she was new to being a hero she began working alongside the Justice League she called Batman out for something he did. Eventually it led to him opening up to her about things. She comforting and understanding. Then she invites to have a night off. They go out and have dinner, but then their date is interrupted by an explosion. She then says to him “this was supposed to be your night to relax.” I like that she aims to help the people around her enjoy themselves.

Mari McCabe quotes:

“You can do this, Mari. When I was, briefly, in the JLA- they talked about you like you were… well, not like me. Like you were something special. Batman even said you had a rare elegance and grace.” -Helena

“Of course I’ll help. I never turn my back on those in need, despite my own needs.” -Mari

First interaction between Mari and J'onn: “Now, female, explain yourself.”- J'onn “ ‘female, explain yourself’ —I’m gonna choke, you guys are so funny. *snort* haha.” -Mari “she’s laughing at us?” -J'onn

Kiki Layne(31) or Jodie Turner-Smith(36) as Mari McCabe

#diana prince #mari mccabe #bruce wayne #barry allen #john stewart

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wolfsbanesparks · 1 year ago

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Besides shazam and batman (including batfamily), what other characters would you want to write about?

Hi anon! Thanks for the ask!

I have been slowly branching out to write about other characters as I get to know more about them and read some of their stuff. There are so many interesting characters to get into and I' be down to write any of them if I could come up with a decent story. So let's see:

I am very excited to write about Lois Lane and Clark Kent and have a story heavily featuring them in the works (though it's still in the early stages). I have also recently written a fic about Kara and would be thrilled to write about her again, both as a main character or as part of a larger cast.

I am also working on some ideas for Marcus Shugel--Shen (aka Monkey Prince) since I was rereading his solo recently. I absolutely adore his character and can't wait to write about him some more.

I'm currently working on a fic with Hal Jordan as one of the main characters so i've been dipping into Green Lantern lore which has been very fun, 10/10 will do again.

Some other characters I'd like to write but don't have specific story ideas for are Diana Prince, Barry Allen, J'onn J'onzz, Booster Gold, Courtney Whitmore (Stargirl), Plastic Man, Victor Stone (Cyborg), Xanthe Zhou (The Envoy) and Kit Freeman (Kid Eternity).

There are more of course, but I figured I'd just put the ones I'm most likely to write about. But like I said, I'm very open to writing new characters!

#ask me whatever you want y'all #dc comics #my writing #I have so many ideas and not nearly enough time to write them all #I've written scenes from a lot of these characters' POVs but not full stories about them #wait just got a vague idea for a Xanthe and Kit team up since they both are heavily involved in the spirit realm #one day I'll write about all of them #I also want to read JSA comics so I can figure out which members I'm drawn to

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shrinkthisviolet · 1 year ago

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The Flash had a problem with story arcs after Season 1 didn’t they? Amnesiac Barry could’ve lasted a few episodes. By contrast Iris stuck in the Mirror-Verse was WAY TOO LONG. (Like there were obvious signs she was an imposter - she could cook, she suddenly knew foreign languages, and was more aggressive, etc and nobody either Barry or Joe realized that right away

YEP honestly s3 in general had this problem: the “ooh big bad Savitar” mystery was stretched out too long, throwing in metas of the week to pad the runtime, which got boring real fast…and the actual interesting stuff (Flashpoint, Savitar being a version of Barry, Barry losing his memory, Killer Frost*, Savitar & Iris) was shortchanged. And meanwhile, like you said, Iris is stuck in the Mirrorverse for WAYYY too long…and when her husband gets suspicious, her own father tells him it’s fine!! He doesn’t notice anything wrong!! And in the following season, when Iris is bouncing through time, yet again no one is concerned except in small moments here and there—Joe even plays D&D while his daughter is lost in time!!

*you may ask, “Lavi, wtf do you mean KF was shortchanged, she got the whole season too?” Well, anon, I say this because KF is incoherent as a character, and the problems start here!

Because…okay. There are two possibilities here. Either KF is Caitlin, or she’s someone else. The first was what they were going with in s3, the second was established later. So let’s ask ourselves:

If it’s the first one: why is she so willing to kill all her friends? Why doesn’t she care about them suddenly? Cisco included?

If it’s the second one: why is she allied with Savitar? He’s promising to get rid of her powers…aka get rid of her, to restore Caitlin!

Also, why didn’t Caitlin talk to…idk, Harry? Sure, he knew KF was Zoom’s lieutenant, but he spent all of s2 learning that the Team we’re not their E2 selves!! Cisco had a whole arc about it!!

Though ofc given that the whole Team also reacted poorly to her powers, acting like she’d suddenly turn evil…maybe Harry would too 💀 who knows (and the writers did not help this notion by legitimately making her turn evil for no reason)

Also…Savitar & Iris is self-explanatory. We’re told he cares about her, loves her desperately like Barry does, and yet he’s willing to kill her just to exist?? That doesn’t sound like Barry Allen ✋ he would jeopardize his own existence for her

(Savitar in general was boring pre-reveal, and I’ll die on that hill)

TL;DR: Yeah the Flash in general had a weird pacing problem where some arcs were too long, others were too short, and I’m convinced sometimes they just did not realize the magic they had when they had it (or, in the case of Savitar, until it was too late to do much with it).

#the flash

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coolgirl32 · 1 year ago

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What does their baby's room look like. Hero edition part 2 part 3 come out remember I will not do villains because most of them are yandere or starting to turn into a yandere

Flash aka Barry Allen

What does his baby son's room look like.

Well to be honest it looks like this I had to add a few things so I think he uses super speed to make the baby's room also I think he would make it just to sleek theme he probably take a lot of pictures and show them all to the League members and probably some to the villains

Martian manhunter aka J'onn J'onzz.

What does his baby daughter's room looks like. Looks like this he would make it space themed with a little bit of Martian in it he will also put meteorology books in there to read to his daughter in Martian language so that his daughter would know about her Martian heritage

Green lantern aka hal Jordan

What does his daughter's baby room look like. Looks more like this space themed but green and a star night light some Green lantern onesies he had help from the Justice League

#dcamu x my oc jacqulyn aka nightmare

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random-movie-ideas · 1 year ago

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Flash Villain Movie Ideas, Part XVII: Godspeed

August Heart AKA Godspeed is a relatively newer Flash villain but one with a solid complex story. He was a close friend and ally of Barry Allen, whose brother had been murdered, but the evidence had been destroyed in the same accident that created the Flash. Later, during a Speed Force storm, August gained speedster powers himself, initially working as an ally of the Flash, but eventually becoming power hungry and stealing power from other speedsters, while also tracking down the person accused of his brother's murder and exacting his revenge. In the end, it is revealed that his brother's actual killer was none other than the Reverse Flash. Because of course it was.

Origin Movie: Strangely, he could work well in an origin movie, with him and Barry both gaining powers from the accident, and August going after the murderer himself because the evidence was destroyed. The only real problem would be doing a Flash origin and having Godspeed be the villain of all people over Grodd, Cold, Reverse Flash, Zoom, Trickster, Thinker, Captain Boomerang, Golden Glider . . .

Sequel Movie: Now, if the first movie just gave Barry his origin, and August was just a supporting character who turns to evil toward the end because the justice system and/or Flash failed his brother, and then gains powers himself in the sequel, that could be more reasonable.

Finale Movie: Now I could see Godspeed in a finale if, say, we had to deal with someone like Reverse Flash in the sequel, caused a speed force storm due to the battle, and then August gets caught up in it, kicking off said finale.

Supporting Villain: Clearly he and Eobard would be part of the same relative story, but otherwise, there's not too many he'd have to work with.

Here are my rankings:

Finale Movie: Both this and sequel are pretty strong.

Sequel Movie: Same.

Origin Movie: He's just the worst pick for a starter villain.

Supporting Villain: Meh.

What do you think? Who should I cover next?

#august heart #godspeed #barry allen #the flash #flash movie #it was me barry #I killed your friend's brother just so he'd become an evil speedster too #But in all seriousness this is just Zoom with extra steps

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brooklynislandgirl · 2 years ago

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Batman vs Superman?

Consider It A Challenge || Accepting

As far as questions go, this is one of those universal ones endlessly debated in comic shops, after movie premieres, and the entire basis of ruthless internet assassinations. The problem is that she doesn't really understand why. She knows what it is like being a billionaire with moral quandaries. There is a reason why she chose to become a Gardener. And perhaps seeing Batman's actions only highlight the doubts that come to stalk her in the darkest of hours, whether she is truly doing the right thing and how, every time she must prune a branch or pull up a weed, she makes mockery of her oath to do no harm. She is not an angel reaching for an ascension that might never come, but she doesn't think she is a devil, either. Father Vinnie would tell her if she were straying from her path, wouldn't he? Like, it's right there in his job description, being a shepherd of the Church, speaking with the authority of the Divine. As for Superman? Well, she's always made that comparison to Andy. The eternal Boy Scout, the protector and rescuer, bigger and better and stronger and faster than anyone else. But he's also not human. Can never be. There are times in those coloured pages that sometimes talk about what happens when he gets fed up. When through treachery or dismay, he turns. Then what becomes of those who look to him for mercy and protection? Maybe Lex Luthor isn't so crazy after all, a necessary evil that she can too easily also empathise with. She hates the one Justice League movie or whatever because the entire premise was built on the back on an idiot plot. Snyder should be ashamed of himself making two heroes fight to the death because they couldn't have a reasonable five minute conversation, and none of their friends seemed to be in on it either. Their agencies as people and as heroes was robbed of them. Plus Jessie Eisenberg? Now THAT is a joke. But maybe she's looking at it the wrong way. Maybe it has nothing to do with a battle of supremacy between DC's flagship heroes. Maybe the question is just which one she likes best. And the answer is simply...neither. Oh she loves Martian Man Hunter. And Constantine. She loves Barry Allen and Hal Jordan. There's Doctor Mid-Nite and Rorschach, Raven and Beast Boy, Dr Manhattan. Solomon Grundy and Gorilla Grodd. Jonah Hex and the Phantom Stranger. There's the Endless, whom she loves one and all. But really? Deep down in her heart of hearts, there's only two superheroes that she can truly love, support, and may have written fanfiction about. "Neiddah. My heart is torn between my two bes' ali'i. King of Atlantis- Aquaman aka Art'ur Curry... an' my truest love in comics, King Shark. Our god-prince, Nanaue."

#Mahalo!Nonnymouse <3333 #She's Talking to Angels {Bethisms}#Nanaue is actually part of Hawai'ian Mythology. How can Supes or Bats compete?#And unfortunately -- NO #she will NOT share the fanfic #Making Wishes on Passing Cars|Answered Asks

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afaimsarrowverse · 2 years ago

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The Top 25 Things the Arrowverse gave us:

25. Elseworlds

This Crossover-Event will always remain extra special, because it saw Oliver and Barry swap identities, an evil would-be Superman, the introducting of both Gotham City and Kate Kane to the Arrowverse and Kara finding sisterhood with another version of her sister Alex by just knowing her. Oh and Gary was there too, totally random in the Elseworld Version of Earth-1 but still totally Gary, while Cisco was kind of evil and Oliver’s enemies were all cops.

24. Crisis on Infinite Earths

„Crisis of Infinite Earths“ was the biggest Crossover-Event of Television, because not only did it crossover all Arrowverse-Shows including the not-yet-green-lit „Superman & Lois“ and the first footage from „Stargirl“, it did crossover all of DC Television and Film. We had „Lucifer“, „Smallville“, „Birds of Prey“, „Titans“, „Doom Partol“, the 60s Batman-Show, the 90s Flash-Show„Superman Returns“, the Burton-Verse and Ezra Miller in there, as well as Kevin Conroy and a lot of previously unfilmed Comic Stories on the top of that.

23. The Annual Crossover Events

Starting with the launch of „The Flash“ the Arrowverse started doing crossover episodes and most of them did occure just before the Mid-Season Break and featured episodes in more than one of the shows. Soon more and more shows got invovled in these crossovers, and they got bigger. The Annual „Autumn“ Crossover Event was something to look forward too as long as it existed.

22. The Olivarry Friendship

When it got announced that Stephen Amell would return to „The Flash“ for its final season the Internet almost broke. This shows how much the friendship between Oliver and Barry did impact the viewers and how special it was for everyone, who got to watch it grow and change over all these years. And why we will never forget it.

21. Ray Palmer

Brandon Routh may have played Superman, but the superhero who really had an impact on the cultural landscape was his Arrowverse Role, Ray Palmer aka the Atom. Introduced in „Arrow“, becoming a main character in „Legends of Tomorrow“, Ray showed up in almost every Arrowverse-Show, and the likeable nerd was very much missed when he was written out of the Arrowverse. Since then he has returned, but sadly the end of Arrowverse does also mean that we won’t ever see him again.

20. Steelatom

The Arrowverse presented us many forms of male friendships, but out of all of them the friendship between Ray Palmer and Nate Heywood undoubtable was one of the most special ones. Two soft male nerds becoming BFFs and in many ways much more each others significant other than their respective better halfs is still not something we are used to see.

19. Black Lightning (The Show)

Yes, „Luke Cage“ came first, but without „Black Lightning“ the MCU Show would have been the first and only not-animated Superhero Show with a black lead involving the Black Community. „Black Lightning“ did for DC what „Luke Cage“ did for Marvel, and it even got to go out own its own terms. So „Black Lightning“ will always be that Black Superhero Show with a Lebsian Female Lead, that came, did what it set out to do, and finished the narrative despite everything.

18. The Power of Goodness

Certain so called fans tend to see DC as this dark and broody and egdy Anti-Marvel Brand. The Arrowverse however did very much not fall in this trap. Yes, early episodes of „Arrow“ might have fooled you into thinking they were going there, but as soon as Barry Allen speed into the show, the Arrowverse showed us that, no, no matter how dark life becomes these shows and that whole franchise actually is a story about how in the end there is more good than evil out there, and how goodness can inspire other people into becoming good themselves. In all the shows our heroes did inspire others to do better to become more and to never give up. Instead of an edgy story about gloom and doom the Arrowverse was a story about how one’s inate goodness can overcome anything and can inspire everyone around to listen to the goodness inside themselves.

17. Soft Males

Sure, we got Alpha Males like Oliver Queen or Mick Rory, but the Arrowverse also held a significant number of Soft Males, that were even more fun and frankly more inspirering to watch. In the end people like Barry Allen, Ray Palmer, Winn Schott, Cisco Ramon, Nate Heywood, Behrad Tarazi, Querl Dox or Luke Fox do appeal to people much more than the typicial male macho, we get to see everywhere else. And when people like John Constantine, Oliver Queen or Mick Rory find it in them to also step out of their own shadow and discover their softer side, it is even more beautifiul.

16. Female Friendships

Many ensemble shows treat us with outstanding male friendships but not all of these shows are „Friends“. Most shows have to fight for their female characters to have a relationship with each other. So it is an accomplishment to actually see a postive female relationship outside of familial bonds and sexual interest flourish. Most of the Arrowverse managed to produced more than a couple of strong female friendships over their run. Bookclub matters, and so does the fact that, no Kara does not want to pounce her female friends, that Ryan is not ready to give up on Mary, this shows us that women actually care about each other. Something that especially male writers often forget about.

15. An Ace Superhero

The biggest moment of seventh season of „Legends of Tomorrow“ was the moment in „The Fixed Point“, when Spooner came out to Zari as asexual. After admitting that she did not think about anyone „that way“, Zari explained to her that she is probabyl ace and that there is nothing wrong with that, and that there are many people like her and many of them still have happy relationships. This moment is even bigger because it was a latinx woman coming out, and it did give us the first asexual superhero on screen ever and one of very view openly ace main characters on a Television Show.

14. A Trans Superhero

Season 4 of „Supergirl“ did introduce Nia Nal, who would go on to become the superhero Dreamer, the ancestor of Nura Nal from the Legion of Superheroes. Played be Nicole Maines Nia Nal is the first transgender superhero on our screens, serving us an inspiration for many by coming out about her true self in the show and fighting hate and even her own family for who she really is.

13. Sara Lance

In the beginning there was Sara Lance. Long before characters like Nia Nal or Spooner Cruz or even Alex Danvers or David Singh would grace the Arrowverse Laurel Lance‘s little sister kissed boys and girls on screen, fought and overcame trauma, and never gave up on finding herself. Sara Lance proofed to us that you can come back from everything and that strong bi-sexual females can be lead characters on action shows.

12. Avalance

Because of the rotating cast „Legends of Tomorrow“ did not really have a central romance for its long run. Changing up characters and romances, there was however one that stuck with us and the Arrowverse for most of its run, and that is the relationship between Sara Lance and Ava Sharpe, which did include getting married and having a baby. Even more important while same-sex-relationships were only secondary ships on „Supergirl“ and „Black Lightning“ Avalance, since it involved the lead character of the show, was the central ship of the show.

11. Westallen

People tend to overlook that taking after the New 52 Idea of making the Wests Black during casting was a gamble for „The Flash“. But it also was one that payed of. The only Arrowverse Show that actually had their central couple for all of its run, took an iconic couple from the comics and made it real and did stick to it. Westallen is also a mixed race couple in Prime Time Television and sadly that is still not something viewed as normal today.

10. Diversity

The CW did make „Dare to Defy“ their motto, but in the end they did give in, gave up their identity even before they were sold, because no one would buy them, if they would actually live up to their motto. Which is why half of the Arrowverse Shows was cancelled when they were. However while it was alive and prospering the Arrowverde did dare to defy. The Arrowverse had women, POCs, LGBTQ+ Persons, Non-Americans, Aliens and Non-Confermists as their protagonists and antagonists from the get-go. So of course I could not stay around.

9. Same Sex Weddings

Having celebrated their first Same Sex Wedding Of Screen during Season 1 of „The Flash“, the Arrowverse did feature no less than 3 [!] Same-Sex Weddings between Females in the year 2021, with Anissa and Grace getting married on „Black Lightning“, Sara and Ava finally tying the knot at the end of Season 6 on „Legends of Tomorrow“, and Alex marrying her girlfriend Kelly Olsen in the Finale of „Supergirl“.

8. Strong Female Characters

Yes, it all started with a man, but even the late great Anne Rice noted that she was intrigued that Oliver was surronded by women rather than men after the Pilot. Since then „Arrow“ always tried to aim for a strong female presence as well as female characters in general. The same is true for the other Arrowverse Shows, most notably of course for „Supergirl“ and „Batwoman“, but with Season 2 „Legends of Tomorrow“ switched Rip Hunter with Sara Lance as their main protagonist and Captain, and more than one critic has noted that „Black Lightning“ actually is much more about Jefferson’s daughters Anissa and Jennifer than about Black Lightning himself. And „The Flash“ tried really hard to keep both Candice Patton and Danielle Panabaker around until the very end, adding more female characters to their main cast over the years. And let’s not forget that the never picked up Backdoor-Pilot „Green Arrow and the Canaries“ would have centered around the daughter of Green Arrow and no less than two Black Canaries.

7. Season 8 of „Arrow“

Sometimes fans get something back. The short final season of „Arrow“ was very much a season tailored for the fans, a homage to the show’s history, that also aimed straight at the future of both the show and the franchise. Not as strong as Season 2 and not as shocking as Season 5, Season 8 of „Arrow“ still was something very special, which only the Arrowverse at that point of its existence would ever give to the viewers.

6. Season 1 of „The Flash“

While everyone might have their own personal favorite Arrowverse Season, Season 1 of „The Flash“ ist arguable the best out of all of them, most people would agree. The first real Superhero Show since „Heroes“, „The Flash“ paved the way for the rest of the more comicbooky Arrowverse, DC- and MCU-Shows, and probably even stuff like „The Umbrella Academy“. The show made people, who are not really interested in superheroes, interested in watching the show by putting the characters and their feelings and relationship first, but backing it up with an engaging story that relies on superpowers and time travel to work.

5. Legends of Tomorrow

The Arrowverse had a whole bunch of very different shows appealing to different audiences, but the one ouf of all of them that stood out was „Legends of Tomorrow“. After a luck-warm first season the writers threw out everything that didn’t work and went full in, embracing the fact that this was supposed to be a time travel show with superheroes and villains about a bunch of screw ups. They did not shy awawy from the crazy any longer but ran towards it instead. They made an outsider show for outsiders, that was beautiful and unique und very much not your average television show.

4. Coming back from Trauma

„Arrow“ very much had the message that in the end, no matter what happened to you, you can not only learn to live with it, you can come back from it. Oliver Queen’s whole journey is about becoming a new person, that is not ruled by his past anymore. And he isn’t the only one. When „The Flash“ started we learn about the murder of Barry’s mother and how he was able to come back from that, and how he had to learn to stop looking back and start looking forward. Supergirl’s whole planet was destroyed, almost everyone she ever knew died. And still she managed to go on after that und flourish. In some shape and form most Arrowverse Characters are shaped by trauma – and their shows tell us that this does not have to rule them.

3. The One where they are stuck on TV

The best Arrowverse Episode out of all of them probably was „The One Where We‘re trapped on TV“ from „Legends of Tomorrow“s fifth season. Not only that, it was also the best Television Episode of the year 2020. Honoring TV that came before as well as the main character of the show, the episode also did include a valuable lesson. In the end that little TV Episode did more than most shows are capeable doing in years.

2. A Voice

If we are talking about the question what the Arrowverse gave us, we should not forget to menton the most important thing it gave us: A Voice. Yes, the producers listened to the fans, but that’s not what I mean. The Arrowverse gave us a voice – the not privileged not white not straight not cis-males who were not brought up by a loving parental figure - it gave a voice to everyone else, to the damaged, the overlooked, the ridicouled, the bullied, the loners, the persons on the fringes. It gave a voice to those, who think no one ever listens to them, by having the heroes listen. For those magicial years of television all of us were heard. By going for Green Arrow, the Flash, Supergirl, Batwoman, Black Lighning and John Constantine the stories told by something with the DC Lable on it were finally about us.

1. Hope for a better Tomorrow

When Oliver Queen came back to Starling City, he was a broken man, but when „Arrow“ ended he had been healed, something he never would have thought possible. Kara Danvers might have lost her planet, but she found a new home on earth, a new family and her calling. Barry Allen might have lost his mother and his father, but he found a future, where he has a new family, that flourishes and grows. Gotham may be a crap hole, but the Batwomen stepped in, when no one else did and made it a better place. While the Pierce Familiy fought to do the same for Freeland. Everyone who ever stepped foot on the Waverider came out stronger and more whole when they left the ship again, even those who did not leave alive, ironicially enough. In the end the most important thing the Arrowverse gave to us, is hope – hope that this will also pass, hope for a better tomorrow. Hope for a tomorrow, periode.

The franchise saved lives – with every show, ever episode at a time, probabaly many more lives than most people realize. And then it all came crashing down after a decade, when it became clear it had all been a lie.

So maybe they shouldn’t have bothered to give us ten years of lies in the first place. Or anyhting else on this list for that matter, because giving someone something only to take it away again without warning or reason is cruel, but giving someone hope and then taking that away, well that is just criminal. So in the end the Arrowverse was just that: A Crime against Humanity, because they told us life could be a certain way, only to end with the clear notion, that it actually in reality can’t.

#Arrowverse #Arrow #The Flash #Supergirl #legends of tomorrow #Batwoman #Black Lightning #Constantine

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