Videos by ComicBook.com
In spite of a very plot-heavy episode, which usually doesn’t allow for too many clever winks and nods, “The Nuclear Man” seemed to be dropping names all over the place.
Check out what we caught below. Check out what we saw, let us know what we missed, all that good stuff. Below.
Mr. Punctual
Of course, the jokes about Barry being Mr. Punctual play on the fact that in the comics — and in early episodes of the series, but more especially on Arrow, there’s a running joke about how he’s always late for everyting — even after he gets super speed.
52nd & Waid
A twofer. Not only is 52 a weekly series from DC Comics and The New 52 the name of their recent relaunch (which gets a ton of references on this show in general), but the weekly series was co-written by Mark Waid, a longtime writer on The Flash who gets name-dropped pretty often here, too.
The Firestorm Matrix
Check out our story here.
Quentin Quayle
That’s the name of the scientist who was injured in Professor Stein’s first explosion. Any relation?
Too young for that
“That is what they tell me,” Barry admitted after Professor Stein said he looked too young to be a CSI.
This seems to me like it’s a nod to the initial reaction to Grant Gustin’s casting, especially since the scene was set a year ago on the day of the origin of The Flash.
Conway Prize for Scientific Advancement
Firestorm was created by Gerry Conway, the same writer who created Felicity Smoak on Arrow.
Clarissa Clemens
Clarissa is the name of Stein’s in-story ex-wife in the comics.
The musician Barry wants to go see before Linda tackles him to make out? Yeah, that’s Vox/Guardian.
Last seen on Young Justice, he’s got ties to The Flash and as Vox, has an item called the Gabriel Horn, which he uses to simulate sonic powers and travel through dimensions.
I see what you did there.
No love for Felicity? That’s cold.
Flashpoint
There were a few things to take away from the blood test. First of all, Barry was back in time, trying to stop whoever killed his mom. Second, whoever did it was apparently not Professor Wells, even though Wells is the Reverse-Flash.
Who was it, then? Seems likely we’re dealing with the same question we have been all season: which Reverse Flash is Wells? And who is the other one?
In the comics, Eobard Thawne is a villain from the future who travels to the past and, using the same powers as The Flash, raises hell. Hunter Zolomon is a man from the present whose relationship to time is shifted, giving him an approximation of The Flash’s powers, after an accident with The Flash’s time-traveling cosmic treadmill.
It’s Thawne who killed Barry’s mother in Flash: Rebirth…and it’s in the story Flashpoint that Barry successfully stopped him…but is screwed up the timestream and had to be reversed.
That looks an awful lot like the Firestorm logo.