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Last Updated on Sunday, February 08, 2004
CoreOuter Circle
They came from many walks of life, but they all had two things in common: they were all criminals based in Central City, and they all had a fixation with battling the second Flash. (Actually, most of them had the same tailor as well: Paul Gambi (see The Suit) did most of their costumes.) In fact, most of them retired or went part-time after Barry Allen's death, because the thrill of matching wits with the Flash had become more important than the monetary gains of crime. Still, five of them - Captain Cold, Heat Wave, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, and Captain Boomerang - could not resist when Abra Kadabra brought them an offer that would bring them respect. An offer that would "guarantee that they would be remembered forever not as has-beens... but as the most infamous villains of their age." What Kadabra did not tell them was that it would cost them their lives. The five died, and unleashed the demon Neron upon Earth (Underworld Unleashed #1, 1995). Neron was not finished with them, however. As part of a convoluted plot to force the Flash into a deal, he sent the Rogues' bodies to Earth without their souls. The bank robbers who had so enjoyed matching wits with the Flash were now soulless killers, in command of vastly enhanced powers, with even more powerful avatars that caused enormous damage and killed thousands before the Flash was able to turn the deal around and force Neron to halt the destruction and return the Rogues' souls to their bodies (Flash #127-129, 1997). The Rogues returned to their lives of crime, then teamed up briefly to seek a Zhutanian religious artifact for protection from Neron. This team-up ended with the Trickster forcing Neron to agree to forget the Rogues and let them be... and with Heat Wave retiring and joining the monks (New Year's Evil: The Rogues, 1998). Their experience in Hell has been a major turning point for all of them - turning some darker, like Mirror Master, and others, like Heat Wave, onto a new path. The latest wrinkle in the Rogues' evolution has been passing the torch to their tailor's nephew, Tony Gambi, now the living weapon known as Replicant. Text by Kelson Vibber. Do not reproduce without permission.
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