Blackest Night: Flash #3 spoilers
You're going to want to read the issue before peeking at the spoilers.
Sorry guys, no Piper in this :\
As seen in the preview, Owen pushes a wannabe Rogue who's a sex offender into a pit where zombie Digger is chained up, and the guy is promptly killed. There are other dead people in the pit too, and Digger claims that the more people he kills, the closer he comes back to life.
Barry and Wally are trying to save BL Bart before the black ring kills him, and have to deal with zombie Bart, Solovar, and Prof Zoom all attacking them. We then get the presumed end of Flash: Rebirth spoiled for us (it's out next week...only many months late), because we discover that the living body of Eobard Thawne has been captured and imprisoned at Iron Heights.
Meanwhile, the living Rogues are on the run from the zombie Rogues. There's a weird art/speech balloon error, as McCulloch is with them and Axel's dialogue is attributed to him even though Cold frees him from the mirror trap a few panels later. Mark and Mick try to melt the zombies (including Lisa, who re-formed off-panel), with a little help from Axel.
BL Bart tries to vibrate his hand through Wally's chest, only for Wally to see that in the Speed Force (or something), that Bart's alive and remorseful for all the nasty things his zombie self said. But the black ring then kicks Wally out, leaving BL Bart otherwise intact.
The zombie Rogues are still advancing on the living ones, but then happen to walk by Eobard Thawne's cell, and it attracts their attention somehow. They stand at the door and stare in as the black ring speaks to Eobard, but seems unable to complete its mission. It says "Eobard Thawne of Earth", but then says gibberish instead of telling him to rise. So Len, who as everyone knows is the most awesome king of the Rogues, takes advantage of the zombies' inattention to throw a cold grenade at them, which freezes the entire prison...
[Edited to add: I didn't realize it at first, but living-Thawne has a White Lantern symbol coming off him. That's presumably what stopped the black ring and interested the zombies so much]
...and interestingly, freezes zombie Thawne too, even though he's nowhere nearby. What's up with that? Wally tells Barry that he (Barry) can save Bart by vibrating through him, so Barry goes into the Speed Force to talk to living sad Bart. Barry convinces Bart that he's not going to die and gives him a peptalk, and they hug and Bart is free. Now-living Bart says that Nekron is calling all the Black Lanterns to Coast City, so the speedsters head off there, but not before noting that they can see the reflection of living-Thawne in frozen zombie Thawne.
Oh boy, there's one more plot point to wrap up, and it's ugly :\ The living Rogues go to find Owen and Digger. Owen insists that he can bring his dad back if he feeds him enough people, and of course Len tells him that's BS, in addition to telling Owen he's a bit of a screw-up. Len asks how many people he pushed into the pit, and asks if there were any women or children. Then we see some toys and what might be a woman's ring on the ground. Len sternly tells him "Owen. The Rogues don't kill women or children" (as McCulloch is standing behind him, looking as innocent as can be), and shoves Owen into the pit.
Digger tells Owen he's close, and Owen says he'll find him another, but Digger replies "No, Owen. You've done enough for dear ol' Dad," and kills him. As Owen rises as a Black Lantern, the speedsters are going off to fight Nekron in Coast City and the Rogues are going off to wherever it is they go. Len and Barry apparently share a hivemind and say mostly the same closing dialogue in unison.
Ouch. This issue really made me wince at the end, for so many reasons. Feeding kids to Digger is pretty awful, and so was Owen being sent to his fate and getting killed by his dad. The solicit said Plus, the Rogues witness an act so horrifying that it changes one of their own forever , which is kind of misleading but makes sense if you squint a bit.
We got even less of the zombie Rogues in this issue, aside from Digger, which kind of bugs me. And Johns had said we'd be getting info about Owen's origins in this series, but presumably that didn't pan out. There was also no Piper, which is puzzling. On the plus side, none of the zombie Rogues were destroyed, which gives me hope that they'll be resurrected at the end of Blackest Night.
The art is still a bit sketchy with those really thick lines I don't much like from Kolins, and I find backwards-Roscoe (even when he's standing still) rather eerie. I do like that one of the corpses Owen lands on in the pit appears to be Cyclops of the X-Men :> Owen himself looks really ragged in the issue, which makes sense.
I get the feeling this issue is going to cause some unhappiness. Thoughts..?
Sorry guys, no Piper in this :\
As seen in the preview, Owen pushes a wannabe Rogue who's a sex offender into a pit where zombie Digger is chained up, and the guy is promptly killed. There are other dead people in the pit too, and Digger claims that the more people he kills, the closer he comes back to life.
Barry and Wally are trying to save BL Bart before the black ring kills him, and have to deal with zombie Bart, Solovar, and Prof Zoom all attacking them. We then get the presumed end of Flash: Rebirth spoiled for us (it's out next week...only many months late), because we discover that the living body of Eobard Thawne has been captured and imprisoned at Iron Heights.
Meanwhile, the living Rogues are on the run from the zombie Rogues. There's a weird art/speech balloon error, as McCulloch is with them and Axel's dialogue is attributed to him even though Cold frees him from the mirror trap a few panels later. Mark and Mick try to melt the zombies (including Lisa, who re-formed off-panel), with a little help from Axel.
BL Bart tries to vibrate his hand through Wally's chest, only for Wally to see that in the Speed Force (or something), that Bart's alive and remorseful for all the nasty things his zombie self said. But the black ring then kicks Wally out, leaving BL Bart otherwise intact.
The zombie Rogues are still advancing on the living ones, but then happen to walk by Eobard Thawne's cell, and it attracts their attention somehow. They stand at the door and stare in as the black ring speaks to Eobard, but seems unable to complete its mission. It says "Eobard Thawne of Earth", but then says gibberish instead of telling him to rise. So Len, who as everyone knows is the most awesome king of the Rogues, takes advantage of the zombies' inattention to throw a cold grenade at them, which freezes the entire prison...
[Edited to add: I didn't realize it at first, but living-Thawne has a White Lantern symbol coming off him. That's presumably what stopped the black ring and interested the zombies so much]
...and interestingly, freezes zombie Thawne too, even though he's nowhere nearby. What's up with that? Wally tells Barry that he (Barry) can save Bart by vibrating through him, so Barry goes into the Speed Force to talk to living sad Bart. Barry convinces Bart that he's not going to die and gives him a peptalk, and they hug and Bart is free. Now-living Bart says that Nekron is calling all the Black Lanterns to Coast City, so the speedsters head off there, but not before noting that they can see the reflection of living-Thawne in frozen zombie Thawne.
Oh boy, there's one more plot point to wrap up, and it's ugly :\ The living Rogues go to find Owen and Digger. Owen insists that he can bring his dad back if he feeds him enough people, and of course Len tells him that's BS, in addition to telling Owen he's a bit of a screw-up. Len asks how many people he pushed into the pit, and asks if there were any women or children. Then we see some toys and what might be a woman's ring on the ground. Len sternly tells him "Owen. The Rogues don't kill women or children" (as McCulloch is standing behind him, looking as innocent as can be), and shoves Owen into the pit.
Digger tells Owen he's close, and Owen says he'll find him another, but Digger replies "No, Owen. You've done enough for dear ol' Dad," and kills him. As Owen rises as a Black Lantern, the speedsters are going off to fight Nekron in Coast City and the Rogues are going off to wherever it is they go. Len and Barry apparently share a hivemind and say mostly the same closing dialogue in unison.
Ouch. This issue really made me wince at the end, for so many reasons. Feeding kids to Digger is pretty awful, and so was Owen being sent to his fate and getting killed by his dad. The solicit said Plus, the Rogues witness an act so horrifying that it changes one of their own forever , which is kind of misleading but makes sense if you squint a bit.
We got even less of the zombie Rogues in this issue, aside from Digger, which kind of bugs me. And Johns had said we'd be getting info about Owen's origins in this series, but presumably that didn't pan out. There was also no Piper, which is puzzling. On the plus side, none of the zombie Rogues were destroyed, which gives me hope that they'll be resurrected at the end of Blackest Night.
The art is still a bit sketchy with those really thick lines I don't much like from Kolins, and I find backwards-Roscoe (even when he's standing still) rather eerie. I do like that one of the corpses Owen lands on in the pit appears to be Cyclops of the X-Men :> Owen himself looks really ragged in the issue, which makes sense.
I get the feeling this issue is going to cause some unhappiness. Thoughts..?