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Spoilers for Speed Force #2!

Whoever predicted that the Fiddler is the CEO of a probably-evil music app can give themselves a cookie, because I sure didn't. It seems he's the classic Flash character who's really into EDM as per the issue solicitation, and he's working with the Music Meister and appears to have Mas y Menos under his control. Considering the abilities and history of the guys who created the app, it's a good bet that it involves mind control or some kind of negative influence on its users, which is a huge problem because it's incredibly popular and a lot of heroes have installed it. Even Mr Terrific gets into it this issue, and it does seem to be addictively good.

This seems like a perfect situation for Hartley to join in the fight, but I guess we'll see if he's wrapped up in the plotline in the Flash title and is even available to appear in this book. It'd certainly feel like a missed opportunity if he doesn't help in the inevitable battle against Fiddler and Symphonee, and who doesn't want to see Hartley vs Music Meister?

My name is Jay Garrick, and it's sometimes funny for me to realize that I'm one of the most famous men on Earth, yet only a handful of people know me by that name. It's one of the odd things about playing this superhero game, being famous and anonymous at the same time.

Speed Force (1997) #1

(John Byrne)

The Injustice Society of America + "Kill or be killed"

The Flash by Joe Kubert

The Fiddler

- Marc Chagall

Today in "The different versions of Tobias Forge" we've got... THE FIDDLER!! Our dear Gustav in the Clark series! 🎻

Justice League of America v1 #22

Writer: Gardner Fox

Artist: Mike Sekowsky

Inker: Bernie Sachs

Tournament Round 16: Evan McCulloch (Mirror Master 2) vs The Fiddler

The master of the Mirror Realm faces off against the villainous violin-player from the Golden Age.

August brings us 75 years of the Injustice Society! One of the longest running villain teams in the DCU, it set the stage for all later groups that posed the question "If the heroes can team up, why can't their respective enemies do the same?"

Spoilers for Speed Force #4!

You can see some preview pages here.

It seems that Fiddler did indeed learn a fair bit of stuff from his online courses, so maybe it wasn't as much of a grift as I'd assumed. He worked hard, at least, alongside a mysterious "fellow Rogue" called "Mod" that I don't know if we're supposed to recognize. He might be a new character with a villainous backstory, or maybe he's an obscure established character with a makeover and perhaps a nickname. Either way, Mod has cozied up to Fiddler and seems like he might be subtly manipulating him for his own ends, so I wouldn't be surprised if Isaac gets betrayed and we learn he wasn't the true power behind Symphonee. And Music Meister seems to be in cahoots with Mod; I wonder if it's possible for Music Meister to control another music-based mind controller like Fiddler, or if they'd each be unable to affect the other?

Happy!Fiddler is weirdly adorable, and I can't help but root for him even though he's up to no good. And speaking of no good, it looks like Cadence also attended the Stagg online classes, so she's clearly got something planned and likely interned at TerrificTech in pursuit of that. Any aspiring villain would want to get their hands on that tech.

I have to wonder what this issue's got against Mark/Marco, because he just keeps getting name-dropped in negative ways :> Why does Music Meister hate him so much, is it his taste in music? I wouldn't mind seeing a minor gang war between the Rogues and some semi-related outsider villains like Music Meister over turf or personal conflicts, and then other semi-related outsider villains like Fiddler or Razer or whoever might have to choose sides. That could be a fun future story, especially if this series continues beyond the first storyline.

Anyway, it's a fun issue for the villains and gives us some insight into Avery's and Wallace's complicated personal feelings, so I thought it was pretty good. The story arc started kind of roughly, but has gotten a lot better over the past few issues, IMO.

GRATEFUL DEAD X MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE X MAGIC : THE GATHERING, tell me what more awesome than this?. should i made some merch of it? 😂

Flash thoughts 9x03

Okay, things are really heating up! (no pun intended, what with a heat-based meta appearing this week and all)

This was a really fun episode. I’m not personally invested in the Flash’s rogues but I know a lot of folks are, so i hope they’re enjoying this season cuz it’s going all in. This episode was delightfully comic-book-y. Great banter, fun camp, a little macgunffin-ish type thing, and a smidge of pathos to tie it all together.

was this the best episode? Nah. Not really any standout emotional moments or big reveals (i know there’s the ending, but we’ll get there) or anything, and it definitely doesn’t hit the heights of the previous episode's ethical core, but it was really fun, and it progressed the plot well along the way--so not a waste of time in my book. 

Hartley is delightfully smug, Goldface is campy fun as always, and Jago is a delight in his Regular Guy-ness--with the nuance of his son in the picture as well of course. (side note, the flirting between him and Fiddler was a lot of fun)

It was pretty clear Mark was heading down the path of teaming up with red death but i didn’t expect him to get there so quickly (damn you shorter episode count). Still, i think it works. 

Anyways the whole heist thing with Barry in a bit of a gray area was really fun. And yeah, while Barry has every right not to trust Goldface--or even Mark at this point--Hartley and Jago definitely didn’t deserve to be lumped in with them. Especially Jago, as he rightfully points out to Barry. It’s funny that these Rogues knew every one of them was going to try and steal it for themselves, but since they were all on the same page there they could kind of “trust” each other to be selfish. they knew exactly where each other stood. Barry would have tried to stop ALL of them, so they couldn’t couldn’t on him the same way.

Side note, I’m glad Barry’s “i have to give them a reason to trust me first” instinct wasn't to reveal his identity YET AGAIN. Probably only because half of them already knew it, but still--it was refreshing for him to try and figure some other way to get people to trust him. Plus the fact that the other two figured it out anyway was actually a lot more fun.

The Allegra and Chester thing has been going on for a while now, and while i didn’t love it in the beginning i have to say it’s grown on me. they’ve taken their time, had these two build up a rapport and a regular social life together outside star labs, and really leaned into the actor’s chemistry together. I’ve always been found it odd just how averse they are to dating when they both are pretty clearly on the same page there, so I’m happy we’re at least getting Alelgra’s side to that conflict finally. 

Khione continues to shine with her piercing insights. I really like her. 

WestAllen is still being written better than anything pre-s8 imo.

There’s not as much meat to this episode so i don’t have as much to say, so let’s finish off talking about the red Death developments.

So yeah, look, I knew it was Ryan Wilder months ago. It was announced officially i think. That wasn’t really a reveal. The question is, why? The next time teaser hints that Barry believes it’s current day Ryan corrupted by the Negative Speed Force, but Eric Wallace has hinted at something much deeper than that in interviews--so for the time being, I’m sticking to my theory that this is Armageddon Ryan, and we’ll see present day earth prime Ryan in the very near future--perhaps kidnapped by the Red Death so she could take her place and Wayne Enterprises wouldn’t be answering to two Ryans? I dunno. 

but MAN it feels good to see Javicia Leslie back in the Arrowverse one last time. A little bit of a missed opportunity to not have her say “I am justice” as opposed to “I am Vengeance” cuz i really liked that she was saying “justice will be served” last episode, but maybe’s she’s conflated the two? We’ll see. I’m very intrigued to see Javicia’s villainous turn. 

Injustice Unlimited from Infinity Inc. #34-35

mentally preparing myself for my first day of college by drawing. as you do

The Flash v1 #123

Writer: Gardner Fox

Artist: Carmine Infantino

Inker: Joe Giella

Colors: Carl Gafford