Absolute Flash has been following the example of the other Absolute books, taking a character that we all know and love, putting him in a world unlike anything we’ve ever seen. The Absolute take on Wally West’s life on the Absolute Earth is, inevitably, quite different. One of the biggest changes is the way that Wally and the Rogues are related. Wally’s father has been working for the government, along with Barry Allen and Elenore Thawne, creating the Rogues, with Wally gaining his powers from an experiment by Barry himself. Absolute Flash #7 sees the Rogues track Wally down for the government, but the end of the book sees them go, well, rogue. And they ask Wally to go with them.
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Absolute Flash included many Flash villains, reminding readers of the relationship between Wally, the Rogues, and the rest of the Flash’s villains. The Rogues’ history with Wally West is particularly interesting, of course. The Rogues aren’t like Batman’s villains; they aren’t killers, but honorable professional criminals. However, for fans who have paid attention to Wally West and the Rogues over the years, seeing the Wally of any universe work with them is an instant reminder of the Rogues’ lowest moment – the murder of Bart Allen. In that respect, Wally West joining the Rogues is something of a betrayal, and the best way to understand that is to take you back two decades to tell the short story of Bart Allen as the Flash and his death at the hands of the Rogues.
Bart Replaced Wally and Put a Target on His Back
This violent little tale starts with Infinite Crisis. Wally West became one with the Speed Force, and Bart Allen spent years holding Superboy-Prime in the Speed Force. After Prime escaped, something happened to the Speed Force, and Bart was left behind to become the new Flash, with most of the Speed Force’s powers in him. Bart had worked with Wally for years, learned being a speedster from both Jay Garrick and Max Mercury, and had served as Kid Flash in the new Teen Titans (not to be confused with the New Teen Titans) of the time.
Bart was a hero who was more than ready for the big stage, but he was thrown into the deep end almost immediately, thanks to his clone Inertia. Inertia recruited the other Rogues, and the group of them went after Bart. Right away, there was something much more vicious about the Rogues, a lot of which was Inertia. The clone was able to create a machine that stole the Speed Force power from Bart, which allowed the Rogues to kill Bart Allen.
While Flash villains like Reverse Flash, Zoom, and Gorilla Grodd are killers, the Rogues never really were. The Rogues were all about working together and staying out of jail, making the most money as they possibly could. The Rogues were an actual superteam, more like a hero team than a villain one, in a lot of ways, and they had a code of honor. The death of Bart Allen was the first time that the Rogues had broken their own rules.
It was the biggest mistake that the Rogues could have made, especially since the Legion of Superheroes, the Justice League, and the Justice Society brought Wally and his family out of the Speed Force in “The Lightning Saga”. Wally went hard against the Rogues and targeted Inertia. Using his powers, Wally robbed Inertia of his ability to move and made him into a statue in the Flash Museum. However, the DC Universe was changing a lot at this point, with the return of Barry Allen overshadowing all the drama with Bart Allen. Eventually, the Rogues faded from prominence, especially in the New 52, with the Absolute Rogues being the most important version of the team we’ve seen in a while.
Wally West’s History With the Rogues Makes This a Strange Alliance
Wally West always had a rather good relationship with the Rogues. He made friends with Pied Piper and Heatwave, helping them in their redemption; while he fought the Rogues, he never really hated them, and they respected him. The death of Bart Allen should have changed their relationship forever, but the return of Wally West as the Flash was soon overshadowed by Barry Allen’s resurrection. In the Absolute Universe, Wally’s relationship with the Rogues has been pretty contentious, but he’s a scared young kid with nowhere to go. The Rogues may be his only hope.
However, it’s always weird to see Wally West and the Rogues work together because of the death of Bart Allen. Allen has since been resurrected, and the Rogues have fallen from prominence, and it’s hard not to think that part of that is down to their murder of Bart. It’s hard to look at the Rogues the same way after this action; they once had rules and an honor code. Now anything can happen. While the Absolute Rogues aren’t the ones who killed Bart, it’s still hard to trust them, and it’s even harder to see Wally West alongside them, regardless of the universe.
Absolute Flash #7 is on sale now.
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Image courtesy of Lucasfilm
