The Flash: Who Is Evil Eye?
The Flash's eighth season is currently underway, but the stories of the hit The CW series are being explored beyond the small screen. This week saw the release of Earth-Prime: The Flash, a new tie-in comic that is part of a larger crossover event between The CW's various DC television shows. The Flash's issue put the focus on the adventures of Bart Allen / Impulse (Jordan Fisher) and Nora Allen / XS (Jessica Parker Kennedy), and shed a bit of light on what the Arrowverse would look like in the 2040s. In the process, it introduced readers to a new take on a long-running, but unique, villain of Bart's. Spoilers for Earth-Prime: The Flash from Jess Carson, Emily Palizzi, David LaFuente, Pablo M Collar, Miquel Muerto, John Kalisz, Andworld Design, and Tom Napolitano below! Only look if you want to know!
The issue sees Bart and Nora attempting to lead a low-key life while Barry and Iris are on vacation, which includes Bart going to school at Central City University. Bart is put into conflict with a fellow student named Will Parker — only to eventually discover that Will is a meta with the ability to mind-control people with his vision. Bart decides to break into Tannhauser Labs to create technology to counteract Will's powers, and runs into Caitlin Snow in the process. After explaining his situation, Bart nicknames Will "Evil Eye", and Caitlin remarks that even Cisco Ramon would be proud of that nickname. The remainder of the story consists of Bart, Nora, and Wally West / Kid Flash teaming up to apprehend Will, after he used his social media following to start an anti-establishment riot.
Evil Eye has had a unique tenure in DC Comics, beginning with Otto Binder and C.C. Beck creating a version of the character in Captain Marvel Adventures #41. That incarnation was a troll-like creature who hypnotized people for Mr. Mind, the villain of Billy Batson / Captain Marvel. The character was then reimagined by Mark Waid and Ruben Diaz in 1997's Impulse #27 as Eddie "Evil Eye" Parker, Bart's school bully. Eddie was the son of a retired supervillain, who owned the moniker of Evil Eye as he tormented other children in school — but eventually revealed his insecurities.
While Earth-Prime's version of Evil Eye is a bit different (in particular, he doesn't feature an E-emblazoned eye patch that Eddie uses in the comics, he is still recontextualized in a way that makes sense for The Flash. Plus, now one of Bart's most specific villains exists within the world of the show.
The Flash airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.