'The Flash': DC Comics References You Might've Missed In "Elongated Journey Into Night"
The Flash introduced two new characters in tonight's episode - and brought along plenty of DC [...]
Barry Getting Fat
When Barry Allen/The Flash (Grant Gustin) and Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) went to visit Ralph's PI office, Barry remarked that something was different about his old coworker. Ralph referenced his "spare tire", and suggested that Barry himself will get fat...someday.
Within the confines of The Flash, that seems highly unlikely, considering Barry's impressive metabolism. (Although fans did get a visual indication of what that would look like, when Barry's new suit inflated in 'Mixed Signals'.) But it did actually happen in DC Comics - in an issue appropriately titled 'The Day Flash Weighed 1,000 Pounds.'
In the 1960 issue, Flash's weight is significantly increased by a machine engineered by the villain Psykon. The villain then puts Barry on display in a freak show, until Barry runs to a dehydration plant (yes, really) to shed the extra water weight.
I Smell A Mystery
In that same scene, fans got an Easter egg from Ralph's comic history - namely, his increased sense of smell.
At one point, Ralph remarked to Joe and Barry that he "smells a mystery". In the comics, that ability manifests pretty literally, with his powers causing him to sense danger or clues. Ralph usually marked the occasion with a rubbery nose twitch - something he later did in tonight's episode.
Morlock?
And finally, a certain name that was mentioned by Breacher happened to catch our attention. While trying to intimidate Cisco Ramon/Vibe (Carlos Valdes), Breacher began rattling off the names of criminals he put away. There were some that didn't seem to have a DC Comics counterpart - like the Sand People. But one name sounded a lot like an established DC Comics villain - Morlock.
Fully known as Bernard Emil Morlock, or B.E.M., Morlock mainly served as a Superboy villain in the mid-90s. The blue-skinned, white-haired teenaged villain lived a lonely life in Hawaii, before realizing that he could transform into any monster - real or fictional - he could visualize. He squared off against Superboy on three separate occasions, before he was defeated and thrown into S.T.A.R. Labs.
Sure, Breacher very easily could've been referencing another element of DC Comics lore. But it's safe to say that Morlock would certainly be "powerful" within the Arrowverse, and give Breacher one hell of a story to tell.
