PepperCat

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(The embedded last page can be seen at full size here if that’s easier to read.)

Spoilers for Flash #66!

You can see the first few pages here.

I was a bit disgruntled upon first reading this issue, but after re-reading it and some digesting I’ve decided I like it.  I will never not be grumpy about changes to canon – such is the life of a continuity nerd – but there are enough callbacks to continuity here that I’m satisfied it hasn’t all been thrown out and wasn’t done carelessly.

As you see here, the terrible scene with his parents at the circus was all part of a trick, which is a nice surprise.  His parents are clearly still awful, as I presume the scenes of them verbally abusing him in private and ignoring his attempts to connect with them are real, and of course they’re teaching their kid to steal and scam people.  But they’re no longer cartoonish monsters, which is a relief.  And, as we can see, the effects of their abuse are lasting into adulthood, with James still desperate to impress them/everyone.  Warden Wolfe contributed to that impulse too with his own abusive behaviour and his claims that no one remembers the first Trickster, but at heart I think James still wants to prove himself to his folks and win their approval.

And yes, Wolfe is the main villain here, not Neron.  Wolfe’s up to his old awful habits in a bit of inserted continuity, which now has James spending years in Iron Heights at the cruel mercies of a warden who tries to destroy his spirit, so we can see why James indicated in earlier issues that he’s getting revenge on Wolfe.  No wonder he and Axel are getting along so well; they’ve got a lot of painful history in common.

But after James escaped, Wolfe was so furious that he destroyed all records of his existence, which is a) facilitating James’ current scheme, b) explains why Wolfe flipped out when Mick mentioned James, and c) presumably part of what Kristen and David Singh have been investigating.  I like that there was early foreshadowing to this arc, and it sure will be satisfying if/when Wolfe experiences some consequences for his actions.  As I’ve said recently, I think Wolfe is a good antagonist and would like him to be around in some fashion, but it’d be nice to have someone keep him in check so he can’t continue his abuse.

As mentioned above, there are definitely continuity changes here, but also some direct callbacks to pre-Flashpoint canon.  In the ‘changed’ category, James’ parents are very different, he seems to have invented his airwalking shoes in young adulthood, and he worked with the FBI and “faked” his death in Countdown before Axel came along.  He also had a years-long stint in Iron Heights. (I kind of love that Countdown just gets dismissed like that, though.)  Another major change, however, is that he says “Money is everything.  If you don’t have it, you’re just a waste”, which is a lesson he’s taken from his revamped parents but is very much at odds with parts of James’ history.  This is the guy who gave back the money he’d stolen in the Silver Age simply because it didn’t interest him, and donated all the money he’d scammed in a major scheme to charity.  So I’m uneasy about this change.

Of course, it has occurred to me that we don’t know how much of James’ words are true and how much is Trickster bullshitting.  There’s a good chance his narration isn’t entirely honest, just as he fools the readers with the circus scene, so that’s something to keep in mind.  We’ll have to see what his ultimate scheme is, and what exactly he gets out of it.  If he’s looking for money above all, that’d be disappointing, but if he wants to take down Wolfe and show the world who’s the supreme Trickster (and maybe get some cash to support himself too), that’d be fine with me.

So as I said, I like the issue and think it works pretty well.  Very curious to see what this whole arc is like and what he’s got planned; the solicits certainly hint at it, but we’ve seen them be misleading.  I’m eager to see where this goes.

@tricksterrune @secondratevillain @peppersandcats @truxi-twice @katzedecimal @belphegor1982 @bloodsahdow213 @ohhicas @hesmiledlikeaweatherman @meinarch @lupintyde

Honestly, my only problem with this issue is the idea that James stole the research that he used for his air-walking shoes, instead of coming up with it himself.  James actually making his gadgets was always one of the reasons why I prefer him over Axel.

That, and everything in Countdown being reduced to “I faked my own death.”  James, buddy, you got shot in the head and chest, then Piper dragged your corpse across the desert and eventually cut your hand off.  How do you fake that?  Was it the world’s most realistic mannequin?  Countdown was terrible, so I don’t mind it being written off, but that’s a hell of a trick.

If it helps, he didn’t necessarily steal the tech for the airwalkers; you can read it as while pretending to be a lab tech to steal research that he then sold, he also picked up enough from STAR Labs in general that he figured out how to make airwalkers. (I mean, unless there’s some canonical Lexcorp use of the things.)

I continue to be glad that Mick knows about him.

(I am 80% sure that in the panel where he’s sneaking towards the old theatre, the letters on the marquee are meant to suggest “Flash vs Trickster”.)

Adding my voice to the chorus of voices wishing horrible things upon Wolfe. Again. Bad man.

((please consider that to be a reference to Jerome Bixby’s very old science fiction story “It’s a Good Life”, which contains the text “Bad man,” Anthony said, and thought Dan Hollis into something like nothing anyone would have believed possible, and then he thought the thing into a grave deep, deep in the cornfield. I am down for something like that happening to Wolfe, honestly. I accept he could be a great antagonist to keep around, but oh god there would be satisfaction in something horrible happening to him.))

Overall… Hmh. I’m glad to know where the continuity is coming from, I’m glad they’ve toned down the miles-of-abs (at least this issue), and I really liked the weight–through dialogue, art, and reference–that the entire issue gave to James’ final escape from Iron Heights. The twin guns are odd, but they work with the Western outlaw theme the issue’s establishing as a backstory element.

That said, I’m not quite at home yet to the… the note of desperation under how he’s driven? I get the sense of drama, but it feels like there’s a difference between that and “I’ll do anything to show the world I’m more than what you think of me”, and the latter seems…

I don’t know. Different. Other-defined. More Syndrome than Megamind, if you will pardon going very far afield from DC.

Mind, they could do some interesting things comparing and contrasting James’ desire to impress his family with Axel’s self-sacrifice to save his family, and I am kind of hoping that that comes up a little…!

(insert standard hopes for more Detective Burns and an explanation of how the hell Jesse got Axel out from under Iron Heights here)