Customer Reviews

Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge HC

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The last couple of years have not been kind to the Flash Rogues. After reuniting and being re-energized during Geoff Johns' 2000-2005 tenure on "The Flash", the Rogues (along with the overall Flash mythos) were thrown under the bus for the "Full Throttle" storyline in 2007. Their characterization and their refusal to work with speedsters like Inertia was ignored and they ended up as accessories to the murder of Bart Allen and fugitives on the run. Needless to say, the Rogues were in serious trouble both in-universe and outside of it. Thankfully for fans, Geoff Johns returns to perform damage control and help the Rogues revenge themselves upon Inertia.

I'll get my only major complaint out of the way. "Rogues' Revenge" started off as a six-issue mini-series before being condensed into three issues and becoming tied to Final Crisis. It suffers a little bit, but the story is still strong. An earlier review characterized this as being too similar to Gail Simone's "Villains United". However, it's a different story than the Secret Six's struggle against the Society. It's more "Rogues: Rebirth" as the Rogues struggle to move forward into the next stage of their careers and reclaim their status as the most unique rogues gallery in the DCU. Geoff Johns proves that 3 years away from the characters haven't affected his understanding and love of them. He manages to tie up several loose ends from his prior run (though new readers won't be lost. In fact, the collection also contains Johns' Rogue Profiles focusing on Captain Cold and Zoom, so new readers can quickly be brought up to speed).

The other major, heh, draw of the story is the return of Scott Kolins to the Flash mythos. For me, Kolins is to the Flash what Bruce Timm is to Batman; his renditions of the Scarlet Speedster and his adversaries are the definitive visual takes on the characters. So, I was initially disappointed that Doug Hazelwood, Kolins' inker during his Flash tenure, wasn't returning and that Kolins was inking his own work. The end result, however, is a grittier art style that works wonderfully in tandem with the dark story.

How do you get superhero fans to read crime comics? Why, by casting supervillains in the loner/tough guy/anti-hero roles and then letting them off the leash to prey, not on the public, but on each other. It's this simple but effective formula, coupled with writer Geoff Johns' singular insight into what makes Keystone City's roster of B-list costumed criminals tick, that makes ROGUES' REVENGE such an enjoyable piece of pulp fiction from start to finish.

In the year since Bart (Kid Flash) Allen was murdered, the Rogues have been through hell, including a stint on an extraterrestrial gulag, and now they've had enough. Returning to Keystone to hang up their costumes and disappear, they find their way blocked by Libra, a mouthpiece for Darkseid, and by Libra's hand-picked enforcers, whom I'll let you discover for yourselves.

The story is pretty violent, even by contemporary comic book standards, but what's fascinating about the Johns/Kolins partnership is the depth they bring to their depiction of the Rogues. For Captain Cold, a thief and murderer for whom morality exists only in shades of gray, the deeply damaged men who form his crew also form a kind of family, one complete with a black sheep (that perpetual misfit, the Pied Piper) and an annoying kid brother (Axel Walker, the teenage sociopath who's become the new Trickster). None of them would ever admit to that "family" stuff, of course; it would just sound way too sappy.

Over a three-issue story arc, the Rogues elevate themselves from a tired band of middle-aged career criminals to a precision band of murderous outsiders, their bond symbolized in the summary execution they jointly enact on a major enemy at the story's climax. ROGUES' REVENGE is one hell of a thrill ride, and the backup stories -- two reprints from THE FLASH's "Rogue Profile" series-within-a-series -- don't disappoint, either.

Overall, it was a nice book and my first Flash comic. However, I had a few minor problems that might just be nit-picking. The mixing of gritty and very shiny artwork felt awkward. I wish they'd stuck with gritty to compliment the older villians' revenge concept. In some ways, it felt like a mild version of Wanted, but with characters significantly easier to empathize with, excluding the new Trickster.

I wish the secret society had been played down b/c it seemed like a distraction. I actually bought this book instead of Villians United b/c I thought the society was a small part based on earlier reviews. I'm not saying a villian society can't make a good story, but this story didn't need one. Having said that, the fight with the knock off rogues was pretty nice.

The bonus stories were enojoyable, but felt mostly unnecessary. Any additional information provided could've been inserted in the main story and made the original arc better instead of repeating details, thus improving the cohesion of the book. I'm not sure that should really count against the comic though, since it's meant to introduce characters and themese to potential new customers for single issue sale's sake. It's probably the same reason for all the direct referencing, which aren't usually required. For example, I didn't need to know which comic Captain Cold killed the Candy Man's brother in.

I'm not suggesting that these are intended insults towards readers and I'm probably completely off base, but it feels like these distractions add up and are atleast partially responsible for why comics aren't as accepted in the public psyche as books, art, or movies despite having roughly equal good vs bad quality ratios.

It sounds silly, but just because you have super humans in flamboyant clothes doesn't mean you can't have subtelty. The super villian psychology explained in the bonus material goes so far as to incorporate the themes, puns, and costumes in a mature way. Maybe I'm wrong. Ultimately, I'm glad I bought it.

Anyone who was a fan of the Johns/Kolins run on the Flash will not want to miss this. I've long since stopped the weekly fix and rarely will pick up a comic anymore but sometimes a story comes along which you simply can't resist and in this instance I can honestly say I wasn't disappointed.

Johns `gets' things about the Rogues, things other writers gloss over and because of this reverence Johns is able to add to the Flash mythos. Kolins artwork especially on these characters is a joy to behold.

Overall the entire package is on entertaining tale picking up the loose ends from the death of Bart Allen at the hands of the Rogues. I don't read comics these days, so I was less concerned about how the story worked within the current events of the DC Universe and able to just enjoy the story on its own merits. I can't speak to how the events work or don't work with the latest mega event but I enjoyed the book immensely. It's the perfect kind of story to receive this treatment (the entire tale in a single hardcover) and on exhibit are the kind of writing and art that should remind fans of how it's meant to be done.

A terrific turn by these two talented pros casting the Flash's long time enemies in an uncharacteristically sympathetic light. Sure, these guys are evil... they're villains; they steal, they cheat and they kill but, there is a logic and motivation behind their actions. It's a logic long time Flash fans can appreciate and it reinforces once again how some of these `old' characters can still be vibrantly entertaining when placed under the stewardship of the right people.

This is more like it!.

After reading the abstract and incoherent Final Crisis it was a drink of cool water to read this tie-in. I'm not familiar with the Flash nor the Flash Rogue Galery, so I read this on my own risk.

The events on this book accour after Salvation Run and it does have Libra as one of the main components, so yeah, I would call it a tie-in no questions ask. It might not have anything to do with the end or resolution of Final Crisis, but whatever, I enjoy it.

What it does offer is a good start for the relaunch of The Flash (Barry Allen). It does also offer some background for Captain Cold and Zoom, which I wasn't familiar either.

Some might that this is a copy of Villains United, but I jist don't see it that way.

The story is solid and the art is good, but the most I enjoy of it is the simplicity of it all.

Buy it. This is good stuff... not great (change the way comics are made) great, but is really good.

Geoff Johns, has taken the rogues to new heights. Having collected comics for 30 + years I can honestly say Geoff's love and reverence for comics and it's characters shines through once again. Without spoiling the plot of this book incase you haven't yet read it, it starts out with the "Flash Rogues gallery talking of retiring. Captain Cold and the crew have been played, put through the ringer and are now facing another looming "Crisis" But alas after being prodded by the "Next Ultimate Baddie" they have to prove that "a rose by any other name is full of manure". They have a code about not killing speedsters that was recently broken and heaven help the one who made them break it. With one last score to settle, it's a methodical mayhem and violence tour de force , kinda like a reverse "Dirty Harry".

Grant Morrison is following in the footstep of some great European comic writers including the legendary Englishmen Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman. Their works tend to be cerebral, multidimensional and often dangerous. I've loved almost everything Moore ever put out and about half the stuff Morrison has written. The one great decision Morrison made in plotting Final Crisis was basing the `event' on Jack Kirby's Fourth World. Unfortunately when you write on the edge you risk disaster and Final Crisis is an incoherent mess that I suspect history will not be kind to. But this review isn't about Morrison it's about Geoff Johns Final Crisis tie-in Rogue's Revenge.

Rogue's Revenge has two things immediately working against it. First, it's a tie in to Final Crisis and second it's a near carbon copy of Villains United written by Gail Simone. In this case the Rogue's take on the role of the Secret Six and Libra acts as Lex Luthor (Alexander Luthor). The Detroit born Geoff Johns tends to be a safer writer than Morrison but he definitely has the skills to knock a story out of the ballpark (see his work on Green Lantern). In the inevitable comparison to Villains United I have to give the award to Gail Simone for creating a more compelling story. It's not that Rogue's Revenge isn't great but it reminds me of Geoff Johns story arc on Brainiac. It just felt overly safe and forgettable. There is one moment in Revenge where Captain Cold encounters his abusive father that I thought was very well done but I'm likely to file this book away and forget about it. Again, it is in no way bad and I'm a fan of stories that focus on the villains it just didn't live up to my expectations and the high industry praise it received.

Visually it's quite interesting. Scott Kolins art has the unpolished look of an independent artist and I can't say that it feels completely comfortable in such a mainstream story but it has a charm. Kolins has a very distinctive look that grew on me. The Rogue's Revenge mini-series only lasted 3 comics so the book also features 2 issues of the Flash, one focusing on Captain Cold and the other on Hunter Zolomon (Zoom). Like the rest of the book they were solid but no candidates for story of the year. I'd say that the book is well priced on Amazon and I don't regret purchasing it but this is one of those cases where the story will do better if you temper your expectations. I do like the fact that Johns acknowledges in the book that among the rogue's Weather Wizard is the standout power wise. It did feel like he was kind of slumming it hanging around with The Trickster and Heat Wave.