Second appearance of the Reverse-Flash/Professor Zoom in the classic comics. I’m quite enjoying reading the old stuff cause frankly it is just silly. This issue starts with the Professor Zoom and Mr Element introducing themselves.

Then we cut to Barry and Iris going for food with ex-convict Al Desmond (previously Mr Element) and his new fiancé Rita. Al gets a headache mid meal, excuses himself and ends up back at his old hideout. Funnily enough all his nefarious inventions are still there, obviously the police didn’t investigate too much when they arrested him. He starts to mix chemicals against his will and Prof. Zoom appears. Cross-time hypnotism is now one of his powers it seems…

Having lost his super speed suit and been released from future jail (which I guess, like Arkham, has a revolving door), he started looking into other things to give him speed. He finds an element, names it after himself, but it’s unstable and thus he needs Mr Elements help. He refuses but Prof. Zoom uses more dubious hypnotism to bring out Al’s ‘Inner Criminal’, sending him on a crime spree to strengthen his criminal nature. Yeah, it’s really silly and tenuous.

So Flash turns up when Mr Element is trying to rob a museum, but he just can’t do it! He escapes from the Flash, leaving the hero very confused. Prof. Zoom is pissed at Mr Elements failure and sends him out again, this time following him. They run into the Flash and Prof. Zoom uses his mind powers on him….Yes, mind powers….(I’m so amused)

Ok, so it turns out that Prof. Zoom was actually an astral projection made flesh by chemicals. Does this mean that there are two of him now? One now and one in the future? Anyway, despite the incredibly silly science, Mr Element perfects element Z and Prof. Zoom gets his powers back as long as he wears it. Needing to get back to his own time, Prof. Zoom hijacks Barry’s cosmic treadmill. The first thing he does on returning is free his friend from prison. Zoomy and Foxy go way back (I’m so calling him Zoomy from now on).

So Zoomy threatens his government with releasing all the criminals unless they give in to his demands. But The Flash is hot on his trail and they fight. Turns out that The Flash has worked out how to move faster than Zoomy’s ‘Mind energy’. This catches him off-guard and The Flash beats him, removes his locket of element Z and returns him to jail.

Back in the present all is good. Luckily for Al, Zoomy kept a journal of how he was manipulating him and thus Al is exonerated.

Dr Drake (forgotten relation to Tim???) has sent a time capsule style satellite into the future. But he works out after that the atomic clock in the capsule will become an atomic bomb due to “science stuff”. So his friend, The Flash (Barry Allen), literally picks him up, introduces him to the Cosmic Treadmill and offers to travel in time to find and stop this bomb.

Meanwhile in 2463 mischief is afoot! The capsule has landed and a certain very bored wannabe criminal and time traveller has found the Flash uniform that was also in the capsule. Using yet more dubious science stuff he manages to get the suit to grant super speed when he wears it. He also changes the colour, admitting to liking the Flash’s powers but also hating that he used it for good and thus calling himself the reverse and dying it reverse colours.

He then decides to also name himself Professor Zoom because apparently his scientific leanings have meant the police and other crooks have already nicknamed him Professor (ok, though sounds more like wishful thinking…). Thus he does what any crook who has just gotten super powers would do and decides to go on a crime spree, looting fine art first.

So Flash eventually turns up in the future and has only an hour to find the bomb. But he gets distracted when he sees that there is a speedster criminal in town. He finds Professor Zoom really quickly but has to strain as he isn’t quite as fast. He almost gets him when Professor Zooms suddenly ignites his jet pack!! Yes, despite having super speed, good old Zoom decided he needed that extra boost that can only be provided by ‘twin portable electro-rockets’. But Barry has a few tricks of his own and follows Zoom’s invisible super speed molecule trail.

Then they fight! But Professor Zoom suffers from new villain syndrome and thus boasts about how he made the suit friction proof. Cause it is different from how Barry is friction proof he can use it to his advantage. Turns out that Professor Zoom is not as heat proof as he thought and with Barry pushing him faster he eventually overheats and submits. Barry then strips him and hands him over to the police. Ok so you don’t actually see that, but he says that is what he is going to do.
And with a few seconds to spare, the Flash finds the bomb and explodes it where it harms no-one saving the day yet again before returning to his own time.