Tag: eobard thawne

The return of Professor Zoom part 4

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The previous parts of this review can be found here; PART 1, PART 2 & PART 3

The next ones are here; PART 5, PART 6, PART 7 & PART 8.

The Flash 43: Getting the drop

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This issue starts with Eobard Thawne aka Professor Zoom, addressing his acolytes; Block, Magali, Roscoe Dillon, Selkirk and Xolani aka the Folded Man. Block wants to just kill the Flash (aka Barry Allen) but Eobard makes the point that the Flash is more than a person, he is an icon, and his image must be destroyed before they can kill him.

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Meanwhile, over in the Aspen Valley neighbourhood Henry Allen, Travis and Ernie are still on the run. They’ve come to meet Anthony aka Girder, but he was apprehended by the Flash in the last issue. Instead it is Barry Allen that they find there. Ernie and Travis try to attack Barry but Henry fires a warning shot to get them to back off. Ernie and Travis do so and Henry gets some alone time with his son. Barry is all up for hugs but Henry is more concerned about Barry’s investigation. Barry says that he saw another speedster at the family home and Henry totally flips out, telling him to run and stop investigating. Barry begs him to turn himself in, but Henry says he is out for vengeance. Barry runs off vowing to clear him anyway. Henry joins Travis and Ernie, promising them money in exchange for help.

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Barry gets home to find that his housemate Hartley Rathaway (previously the Pied Piper) is still up mixing music. They have a heart to heart about how Barry shouldn’t take the law into his own hands and that he should trust the police to bring his father in alive. Barry decides it’s time to sleep as he’s meant to be seeing Iris’s nephew, Wally West tomorrow. Hartley makes a comment about how he’s doing it for Iris really, but he denies it.

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The next day we switch to Wally West who is doing some sort of off road racing for his school. His teacher seems very impressed at least. Iris and Barry turn up to cheer him on whilst wearing ‘Team Wally’ t-shirts which is kinda cute. However the football coach is less than happy with what Wally’s homemade racer has done to his football field. He starts shouting but Barry pushes him back, knocking him down and pointing out that football season isn’t for another month. The guy backs off, not wanting to be sued, again. Wally is super perky and happy that Barry stuck up for him. He tells Barry that he knows what it is like to not have a father and gives him some advice and a big hug.

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Later that day the Flash is out on patrol when he picks up a police transmission that says that there is a hostage situation and the perpetrators will only speak to the Flash. Flash gets there, saves the hostages, finds out that they are actually mannequins and that the perpetrator is Henry. The reason Henry staged all this is that he wanted to talk to the Flash (he is unaware that Barry and the Flash are one and the same). Henry explains that his wife was killed by a man called Eobard Thawne and that he is afraid that Eobard is now going to hurt his son Barry. He says that he believes the Flash is a hero and as Eobard also has superspeed, the Flash is the only one who can stop him.

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The cops turn up and arrest Henry and co. Whilst they’re in the back of the van Darryl yells at Henry telling him that he now has no chance of clearing his name and getting out of prison. But Henry is more concerned about Thawne being back. Turns out that Darryl knows about Thawne killing Nora, even though they couldn’t prove it at the time. Henry confesses to being jealous that Darryl got to raise Barry but knows that he can’t do anything from prison and so wants Darryl to swear that he’ll protect Barry. He agrees but then a woman, Block walks out in front of the van (I must confess that I actually quite like Block. She’s a kickass strong female and I’d really like if they wrote some seperate stuff for her later on in the series. Magali too.)

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Block destroys the front of the van and then hands over to Roscoe who spins the doors off allowing Magali to abduct Henry. The Flash is about to step in when the Folded Man gets in the way and Barry suddenly finds himself teleported into the deep ocean.
The comic ends there, Part 5 tomorrow.

The return of Professor Zoom part 3

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The previous comic reviews can be found here; PART 1 & PART 2

The next parts are here; PART 4, PART 5, PART 6, PART 7 & PART 8.

The Flash 42: Blood is thicker

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Barry Allen, aka, the Flash, races over to Iron Heights prison as soon as he discovers that his previously incarerated father is missing. He wants to examine the scene but is denied as he is apparently too close to the case. He is told that his dad was part of the break out but he refuses to believe it, thinking that he has been kidnapped instead. So Barry examines the room at super speed (I love that he is wearing a Batman shirt) finding nothing. Iris turns up but she’s not looking for a story cause she’s meant to be on only Flash stories. She tells Barry that the Flash is hated by the cops and seen as a problem by the people of the city due to the damage he leaves in his wake. As per usual, disaster and character assassination are at the forefront of ‘good’ news reporting. Anyway, Iris was actually there to see her brother Daniel West aka Reverse Flash. She reports that Wally, her nephew, is now doing well, applying himself at school so that’s a good thing at least.

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Meanwhile at a Medi-Barn distribution centre, Henry Allen and co are stealing stuff. So much for Henry not being a criminal. (There is a nice nod to Kord industries on one of the boxes.) Henry apparently has a plan but unknown to him, Eobard Thawne aka Professor Zoom, is watching him unseen. Henry and co are about to leave when Professor Zoom triggers the alarm just to be annoying. A guard rushes in and Henry tells him not to shoot, that they can come to a peaceful arrangement, but Professor Zoom has other ideas. From the unseen dimension / speedforce Professor Zoom makes Henry pull the trigger on his gun, killing the guard. Henry is confused but they need to run before they get caught, so off they go.

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Anthony aka Girder goes back to Keystone city to visit his grandma. She is just about to fix him a snack when the Flash turns up. Grandma is having none of it and threatens the Flash, however Girder just goes straight ahead and fights him. The Flash agrees to leave Girder’s gran alone in exchange for knowing why they kidnapped Henry. Girder tells him that they didn’t but he doesn’t believe him. They continue to fight and Barry eventually leads him to a junk yard where he captures Girder using a giant magnet. He tells him to talk, but Girder isn’t believed and so just tells the Flash to ask Henry himself.

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The Flash then turns up at one of the prison guard’s house. Turns out that the guard’s wife is dying of a blood disease and Henry promised to help cure her if he helped him escape. The guard had looked into it and found out that Henry was indeed an amazing blood doctor previously at the forefront of his field and so agreed. He’s prepared to go to jail for this as long as his wife gets treatment but the Flash says he won’t turn him in as long as he says when he sees Henry again.

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As the Flash is running home, Professor Zoom pulls up next to him. Barry asks who he is but Eobard just asks why Barry is so angry, insinuating childhood trauma as the cause. Barry goes to grab for him but Eobard is too fast. Eobard disappears and Barry finds that he had chased him down to in front of Barry’s childhood home where his mother was murdered.

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The comic ends there with Barry striking a rather flexible pose. I can’t pinpoint what exactly is wrong with it, or maybe I’m just distracted by how fabulous his butt looks, but I’m sure there is something up with that position.

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Part 4 tomorrow.

The return of Professor Zoom part 2

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Part 1 of this 8 part review of the newest Professor Zoom story arc is HERE

The following parts are here; PART 3, PART 4, PART 5, PART 6, PART 7 & PART 8.

The Flash 41: Yellow

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I’m so conflicted about Brett Booths artwork. Some of it is awesome but then there are anatomy mistakes and he is just not great with faces. Anyway, on to the plot.
It’s another beautiful day in Central City and the Flash, aka Barry Allen, is fighting an 8ft mech rhino-guy. As this is happening and Barry is bragging about being the fastest there is another figure, Professor Zoom aka Eobard Thawne watching the fight. He is literally walking round Barry, talking to him as if he was in slow motion. Barry notices enough to be distracted and so rhino-guy knocks him down.

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Then it changes to now, the previous battle being a flash-forward. Barry Allen is taking a shower and just as he gets out he is startled by a large black and white rat. Which is what he gets for sharing an apartment with former Pied Piper, Hartley Rathaway. The rat is called Moon and is apparently very tame.

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So Barry dresses and takes off to visit his dad Henry at Iron Heights prison. Henry is incarcerated for killing his wife and Barry’s mother, Nora. Barry is excited as he has apparently found some evidence to help clear his father’s name, however Henry is less than happy, telling Barry to stop. But then Barry mentions a name, Thawne, and his dad loses it, confessing to the crime and putting the phone down.

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On the way back to his cell, Henry is given a message by the criminal Double Down, saying that ‘the Professor sends his regards’, and that the man in yellow is coming. This is apparently enough to send Henry over the edge and a fight starts, though not for long as a friendly guard breaks it up. Once back in his cell with cell mates Travis, Ernie and Anthony, Henry hatches a plan. Lucky for him his cell mates are actually Mogul, Black Mold and Girder.

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Meanwhile Barry hasn’t given up and is explaining about his lead to his boss and surrogate father Darryl at the GCPD. They are having a heart to heart when there is a report of a break in and the need for immediate back-up. Barry runs off to become the Flash and we are back at the fight from the beginning. It recaps Barry being distracted and getting hit, but then he gets up, speeds round the rhino-guy who promptly passes out from lack of air.

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Meanwhile over at Iron Heights, Henry is pretending to be sick so that they can escape. To be honest it is the oldest trick in the book. They escape, hijack a boat and Henry goes off to protect his son. Though I’m not sure how he plans to do that all things considered.
The comic ends there. Part 3 tomorrow.

The Return of Professor Zoom Part 1

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The Flash relaunched back in 2011 as part of DC’s N52 range. Most of the Rogues were there, though slightly reinvented however Professor Zoom previously Reverse Flash, aka Eobard Thawne, was missing. Daniel West, Iris’s brother took up the mantel of Reverse Flash after an accident and turning evil. However in 2015 Professor Zoom returned.

All the following parts of this review are here, PART 2, PART 3, PART 4, PART 5, PART 6, PART 7 & PART 8.

The Flash Annual 4: The Acolytes of Zoom

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Before I get onto the story I just wanted to talk about the art. It isn’t bad but I don’t feel it’s up to DC best standard as there are inconsistencies and I just don’t find it as polished as it could be. I’ve seen worse but it annoys me when things like eye colour changes between panels, or basic anatomy obviously isn’t right.

Anyway, so this story starts out in 1520 Aztec South America. The Aztec empire is dying as the Spanish have invaded. But there is one beautiful Aztec woman who isn’t running, Magali, the fountain of youth who has the power to change the age of anything organic. The conquistadors have surrounded her but there is an old man traveling with them. He introduces himself to Magali as Eobard Thawne and claims that he will save her if she makes him young again. She agrees and Eobard deals with the conquistadors in a flash of black lightning, revealing himself as a speedster. He then invites Magali, to join him in recruiting others who have been given power by the lightning to fight against a great future evil called The Flash!

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Next they are in 1883 at a diamond mine in Africa. Someone with powers is stealing the diamonds. It turns out that it is Xolani, one of the Zulu and he has the power to become a teleporting shadow type creature. He briefly visits his wife before going to hide the diamonds he stole, so that the white men don’t find anything. However his wife finds a diamond under her pillow, believing it a gift. Whilst Xolani is burying his stolen diamonds he is confronted by Eobard and Magali. A fight breaks out revealing that they all have powers. Xolani explains that he is burying the diamonds cause if enough go missing the white miners will leave and his village can be free. Suddenly there is an explosion from the village. When they get back there the whole village has been burnt down and his wife murdered. Xolani agrees to go with Eobard and Magali in exchange for help getting revenge.

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Next they are in 1957 Australia. There is a Maori woman on a carnival stage. She is apparently the unmovable human Block and punters are paying to try and move her. All of them fail, even the strongest man can’t lift her until a man comes up and insults her Maori heritage, so she punches him. A fight breaks out, someone then shoots her, which does nothing and then they turn on her completely calling her a witch and a freak. She is saved by Eobard and co. He explains that like them she is touched by the lightening and has god like power. She agrees to join him in his quest. Eobard is really good at giving a convincing speech that plays on the current vulnerabilities of the person he’s trying to recruit.

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The team end up in Oklahoma in 1982 during a tornado. The cause is actually a teenage boy. Xolani and Block stop him. The poor boy is Roscoe, his power to create tornadoes having destroyed his home. They were medicating him to control his powers but Eobard convinces him that he just need guidance and training. So on the promise of giving him a new family, Roscoe joins them too.

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So with his team assembled and joined by a non-powered guy called Selkirk who is just really knowledgeable about the Flash, the team start training. They apparently train for centuries, getting the teamwork perfect so that they can take down the Flash. It is here that they start to call Eobard Professor Zoom and it is revealed that his powers are a control over time, not speed. I want to know in their centuries together, who does the cleaning, cooking etc. Do they have games night? Squabble over what movies to watch?

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Anyway, Magali eventually asks Eobard about his past but he doesn’t reveal anything to her. However we do get to see a flashback. Turns out that it was Eobard who set the conquistadors on Magali, who placed the diamond under the pillow and tipped off miners to Xolani’s village, who told the guy to taunt Block about being Maori and contaminated Roscoe’s meds to set him off. When they eventually find out, and I am certain that they will, they are going to be so pissed at Eobard. Oh and he’s taught them how to take out someone with super speed, yeah, that’s not going to back fire at all….
Part 2 tomorrow.

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eobeth: Yes please 🙂 I am so happy that Matt Letscher will be reprising his role as Eobard Thawne / Reverse Flash. I personally always preferred him as Eo cause of the similarity to the comics. Plus we can now have both Tom and Matt … Continue reading

The death of Iris West part 3

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The previous reviews can be found here, PART 1 and PART 2.

The Flash issue 283 – Flashback

(Or Professor Zoom’s guide to romance & rejection)

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In a quick flashback to the previous comic it is revealed that during his journey back to the 1970s, Barry Allen aka the Flash has worked out who killed his wife Iris. However, just as he gets back to his own time he is caught in an explosion. Zoomy (as in Eobard Thawne aka Professor Zoom / Reverse Flash) is waiting for Barry to arrive to watch his demise. There is a massive explosion and Zoomy believes that he has won, finally kiling the Flash.However he notices a film projector. Not expecting Barry to own one he investigates and finds the surveillance film that shows Iris’s death. He comments on how desirable Iris is and so steals a picture of her for later use, then runs off to cause more mischief in the city.

Turns out that Zoomy is behind the sudden rise in the drug trade. He is manufacturing heroine to create a nation of junkies that can work as his slaves.Yeah, cause junkies are so incredibly reliable. Apparently his reason for all this is simply because he’s bored as there is no crime in the future. Amusingly his drug making minions think that he’s crazy.

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Ok this is where stuff just gets creepy… Zoomy gets his minions to kidnap a woman, dose her with ether and then hands her over to a plastic surgeon so that he can transform her into Iris. Yeah… because that isn’t creepy as fuck! But apparently he’s still in love with Iris, so that’s what he’s going to do.

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So with his soon to be love undergoing surgery, Zoomy sits down to voice record his diary. I’m not sure why there is a name change but he calls himself Professor Adrian Zoom, (The writer, Cary Bates was unaware that John Broome had already named him Eobard in issue 153. It gets retconned back to Eobard later). Zoomy had actually removed the records that previously existed of what he had done in this time and for some unknown reason now feels the reason to replace them. He reveals that his plan was to escape the boredom of the future by coming to the 20th century, being a crime lord, kill the Flash and then take his wife. He regrets that the last part didn’t happen.

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He explains that many months ago he went to visit Iris when she was alone and confessed to her just how much he loved and admired her. He went on to pour out his heart, including his plan to kill Barry so that he’d have no competition. Zoomy obviously doesn’t quite understand how love is a two way thing. Iris laughs in his face and rejects his offer thus he offers her an ultimatum. Either she dumps Barry or he’ll kill her and she has 24 hours to decide. He wipes her mind of their conversation and then disappears. 24 hours later Iris is at the heroes and villains Whitlock masquerade party and Zoomy is stalking her. He gets a dance with her, tells her who he truly his and then asks her out again. Iris slaps him and that seals her fate.

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Barry has been injected with Angel Dust by this point and so is all woozy. Iris goes to get Barry some water and walks into the room where Yorkin aka Beast-man is (I have no idea why he is hiding out there). Anyway, Zoomy is hiding behind the door. He vibrates himself invisible and in what he calls a crime of passion, he vibrates his hand through Iris’s head, killing her. He leaves the body there, allowing Yorkin, who is known to be violent to take the blame.

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Zoomy stops his diary recording there, or as he calls it, ‘the Professor Zoom chronicles’. He’s all emotionally drained from talking about Iris and decides to take a nap, claiming that he’ll record about his killing of the Flash tomorrow.

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Meanwhile, the factory where the heroine is being made suddenly starts to tremble and falls apart. Back at his hideout Zoomy is woken up to the voice of the Flash stating that he knew that Zoomy had killed Iris cause only another speedster could be invisible on the film. He then goes on to explain that the explosion didn’t kill him but as it tore him apart he gained control of his molecules and moved them a few hours into the future and very slowly reconstructed himself. Yeah, I know, a very silly explanation, but all this old stuff is full of silly explanations.

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So obviously they both fight. Zoomy claims he loved Iris more. Barry just gets more pissed at him. Zoomy thinks he’s lost Barry after knocking him into the ocean and so goes to get in his time machine. However, Barry swam after him and gets to the time machine too, and knocks Zoomy out. He sets the machine for the future, hoping that they’ll reinstate the death penalty for Zoomy’s crimes, however they start going back in time instead.

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Zoomy reveals that the time machine is booby-trapped and that it will go back and self-destruct if anyone uses it but him. Barry decides to get out of there, despite Zoomy saying he’ll never outrun the time shock wave. Barry leaves anyway as Zoomy begs him not to let him die alone.

The next issue I’m not going to review as I’m only reviewing Zoomy centric comics. But I will tell you that Barry travels through his own timeline, eventually getting back to the present where he decides that he now must get on with his life without Iris. What happens to Zoomy is not revealed, he’s presumed lost in space and time, probably dead.

The murder of Iris West part 2

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First review in this arc can be found HERE. and the next part can be found HERE

The Flash issue 282 – Mishmash

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Barry Allen, a.k.a. The Flash is quickly sinking towards the centre of the earth thanks to heavy matter/ gravity boots put on him by Zoomy (Eobard Thawne a.k.a. Professor Zoom/Reverse Flash) in the last issue. Barry manages to vibrate enough to stop the heat from killing him as he gets to the earth’s core. The boots aren’t core proof though and so they melt from heat releasing the Flash to be taken back to the surface by lava currents.

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He pops up in the ocean only to discover Hal Jordan a.k.a. Green Lantern looking for him.  Hal picks Barry up, but Barry denies wanting any further help as he wants to track down Iris’s killer himself. Because Zoomy mentioned that Iris’s killer was a matter for the history books, Barry decides that he will go to the future and look through said books.

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Barry uses the cosmic treadmill and arrives in the 25th century, causing a flying car crash! He saves the car and a future policeman recognises him. Luckily he’s a fan and discovering that Flash is trying to apprehend Zoomy, he gives Barry directions to the historic library. He gets there and with the aid of a robot helper looks up Iris. It says her killer is unknown. Barry suddenly realises that Zoomy was just using this as a distraction.

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Meanwhile, the chief of central city police, Paulson has just landed in a small South American country for what his family believe is a vacation. However, in reality he is on the run because it was really him who put out the hit on Frank in the last issue. Anyway, the Flash suddenly turns up and drags Paulson out of his car. He’s going to drag him to jail for being corrupt and suggests his family take his money and hit Disneyland instead. He gets Paulson to confess, though he swears that there is another man behind the whole thing, a Mr ZYX, however he never saw him. The Flash drops him off at the police station, having recorded his confession and leaves him to be locked up.

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The Flash is just leaving the police station when Hal Jordan aka the Green Lantern turns up. He wants to talk to Barry but the Flash basically tells him to fuck off, even knocking him aside. Hal is confused by this and convinced that the Flash is still being effected by the Angel Dust. He tries to reach out to the Flash but is only met with violence. So Hal tries to capture him but it doesn’t work because lo and behold, it isn’t Barry at all but Zoomy in disguise. His yellow coloured suit still exerting the power to disrupt Hals green power ring. Zoomy gloats and runs off leaving Hal wondering where the real Flash is.

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Turns out that the real Flash is in 2479 but about to return home. He travels through time, gets back to his treadmill when suddenly there is an explosion! To be continued.