As I need a holiday (a long holiday) from Morrison's Gotham, I decided to revisit Central City from a more innocent time. Or was it? The first year or so that I read comics was a particularly fatal time as both the Invisible Kid and the Swordsman died during it. And there were more to come.
The Flash #243-244 (Au-S'76) featured the death of long-time Rogue, Roscoe Dillon AKA The Top. He specialized (on purpose yet) in gimmicked tops. Apparently he felt jacks and yo-yos weren't manly enough. He could also spin pretty fast. And the Flash considered him a threat. I think he just didn't want to hurt the Top's feelings. You know Barry...
It opens with six Rogues standing over the body of a seventh. The Flash's villain roster was second only to Batman's but they had more personality and charm. Granted some were dangerous like Gorilla Grodd, Reverse-Flash and Abra Kadabra but the others had their own problems and foibles that made them more relateable. The six were summoned by the Spinning Heel's message-top as he was dying. They were:
Mirror Master: the original, not the coke addict. He was usually the leader of the Rogues with the most cleverest schemes, one is unfolding in the Flash's current series as we speak.
Captain Cold: the (icy) heart of the Rogues, a hopeless romantic. More adept than one would think.
The Trickster: anti-gravity shoes and havoc-causing pranks. Not the best costume.
Weather Wizard: Nature's fury in a wand. Under-rated and under-estimated. Also battled Batman and Superman.
Captain Boomerang: gets an "A" for effort and enthusiasm. Most affected by the Top's demise as the title of "Lamest Rogue" was now in his favor.
Heat Wave: still the New Guy. Captain Cold's rival and partner.
The Top's final message reveals how his twirling around had given him enormous mental powers which made him a genuine menace. Unfortunately it seems being next to the Flash's super-speed vibrations altered them so now they were killing him. So the Turning Terror continued to battle the Scarlet Speedster all over Central City until his affliction overcamed him.
There's a nice scene where the Rogues theorize on Flash's secret identity. But then the Rogues learn of the Top's real plan. He placed six bombs throughout Central City to go off in 24 hours unless the Rogues find them and stack them ontop of one another. The beauty is if the Flash stops one of them, Central City will be destroyed. The Rogues are attached to the city and don't want to relocate. Also they decide they can't tell the Flash because he won't believe them.
The next issue begins with the Rogues urging the readers to root for them, not the Flash. Next we see the public funeral of the Top, complete with mourners.
The Flash is also baffled by the Rogues breaking in to places yet not stealing anything. He captures Captain Cold and confiscates a top-bomb but has no idea what it is. Later, thanks to Iris getting some of the Top's notes, he figures it out and protects the Rogues from the police until they gather all six. Unfortunately, the Flash is spotted and attacked by Mirror Master's distortion ray!
When the Rogues stack the bombs, they trigger a recording explaining the Whirling Weasel's true plot. The bombs have to be stacked in a certain order to deactivate them AND there are 720 possible combinations AND the bombs will go off in one minute. Luckily Flash recovers and solves this problem in one second! He captures the Rogues but hopefully he'll speak on their behalf.
It's a neat story from regular Flash and Superman writer (and JSA villain) Cary Bates. He kills off a quite frankly silly Flash-foe with clever plot twists. Of course, why couldn't the Rogues tell the Flash? Could he really afford not to belive them? And could the Top, of all people, create six bombs capable of destroying an entire city?
Plus this story did have several ramifications. A new villain, the Gyro-Master, had to be created for Karate Kid when they were told they couldn't use the Top. And a new Rogue would be introduced with ties to the Top and another Rogue. And the Top would attack the Flash once more using the most unlikely of accomplices.
Hard to TOP that!
Replies
That's right, because dagnabbit Karate Kid just had to fight a guy with a spinning theme!
Maybe the mental powers he gained, gave him the knowledge he needed to create such devices.
I don't know how smart the Top became but he really became ruthless. He did all this and wanted the other Rogues to be helpless to stop it. He must have resented them for having cooler names and weapons, even Captain Boomerang. I only recall two or three solo-Top stories from the 60s. After that, he was always seen as one of the Rogues.
BTW, wasn't it odd that they excluded Mister Element/Doctor Alchemy, the Turtle and Mazdan from their ranks since all three (four?) reappeared in the Bronze Age?
The death of the Top tale may have been the first time the Rogues appeared in one of Bates's stories as a group. In the 60s they teamed up in #155 and #174, but I haven't seen those stories.
My first Flash story may've been the lead tale from #237 instead. Right now I can't remember.