Flash 170

2.25 USD/3.50 CAN @ March 2001

"Blood Will Run, Part One: Breaking the Foundation"

Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciller: Scott Kolins
Inker: Doug Hazlewood
Letterer: Gaspar Saladino
Colorist: James Sinclair & Digital Chameleon
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Executive Editor: Mike Carlin

Synopsis: The Flash is running through Keystone City sharing some thoughts about how he grew up in the city that he loved. Later on, as Wally West, he and his wife are attending a professional hockey game, when he received a call from Jesse Quick regarding business and pleasure as she engaged a supervillain in battle. As Wally hung up the cell phone and about to excuse himself from his wife, he spotted Len Snart aka Captain Cold and was surprised to see him, as he knew Cold bolted Keystone City with Mirror Master from the previous issue. Before he could act on it, a police officer approached Wally if he can have The Flash help out as backup with a trouble the police are having at Keystone Motors.

In another part of the city, the villain Pied Piper is back in Keystone City dressed as a civilian, and thinking he can do well by starting a crime spree as a criminal, but thought better against it.

At Keystone Motors, cops are engaged in a gunfight with criminals. A cop was about to get hit, when The Flash arrived and prevented the bullets from striking the police officers and tied up the female criminal with chains. As they thanked Flash, an engine was falling from above about to crush them, when the villain known as Magenta suddenly made her presence know by stopping the engine from crushing the police officers underneath. This was met with a frown by The Flash as he didn't need to meet an ex-girlfriend now. Magenta was an ex-girlfriend from the midwest who after using her magnetic powers would suddenly have a bloodthirsty personality emerge from her. As he tried to talk to her, the chained female criminal had dynamites and bombs on her and she pressed a button to detonate them. Flash moved quickly and ran the explosives far away and placed them underneath a mountain of tires in a junkyard to detonate without hurting any civilians. When he came back to Keystone Motors, the cops were investigating the suddenly dead criminals who were stabbed by a knife.

A commissioner of the union, Goldface appeared just to mention that Keystone City is one of the last places to be known as Made in America, and gave a little mini speech to the crowd outside. Flash was going to get the criminal but was stopped by the cops citing that Goldface was released from Iron Heights prison a few years ago. But the female officer, Julie grabbed Magenta's wrist to handcuff her for her criminal behavior when she was last seen at Keystone City. Magenta was about to go ballistic, but Flash was able to calme her down. She went with the cops to go to jail for her past misdeeds.

As officer Julie arrived at her home later that night and the babysitter left, she was attending to her baby in the crib. A criminal entered her home, and they briefly struggled, as she reached for her gun, the man stabbed her and left her bleeding to death as the baby cried.

Comments: Finally! We have the collaboration of the super creative team that will make the Flash a top tier title in DC, and at the same time revitalize the Rogues and bring them acclaimed stories that give them depth as non-flat characters.

For some reason, Wally has that "Peter Parker luck" having to leave quality time with his wife, Linda, to attend to being a superhero fighting crime. And then when all is finished, the quality time is over at the ball game. So he couldn't go back to that. At the same time an ex-girlfriend who is currently a super-villain trying to reform, made a surprise appearance in his life. And a police officer is murdered at the end of the issue.

The last scene is a pointless death. The villain could have been shown in a different light to be showcased as a dangerous assassin instead of killing a hard-working woman who arrived home to attend to her baby as a single parent, after a hard days work. I suppose at this time, DC is still in its "Women in Refrigerators" prime. Too bad Geoff Johns bought into it.