Spoilers for Flash #60!
So James, Axel, and Copperhead are still hard at work together, and are no less ambitious than they were before. In fact, they may have an even bigger scheme than we previously knew. Commander Cold and Detective Burns find one of their former labs – filled with gun designs – and Barry separately learns that a corrupt cop in Corto Maltese has been getting illegal weapons shipments. Some are apparently conventional weapons, but the cop orders special ones after his conventional shipment is destroyed. And at the end of the issue, the cop shoots a Sage Force-powered bubble gun which sure looks like a Trickster type of weapon. So, is it one of James’ guns? One of the weapons blueprints in the hideout kinda-sorta looks like the bubble gun, but I don’t see anything that’s an obvious match. That doesn’t mean it isn’t one of James’ guns, though.
If the Corto Maltese weapons are James’ work, how did he manage to harness the Sage Force into a bubble gun? And what exactly is he planning? The implications in this issue suggest he’s trying to become a fairly typical crimelord rather than someone involved in a “long con” or simply seeking revenge on Warden Wolfe. It’s possible that weapons dealing is just a means to an end, but it’s pretty scummy to send weapons to a corrupt cop in an oppressive nation. Of course, it’s also possible that James is a red herring and the bubble gun has nothing to do with him…though I doubt it. So what is he up to? And what’s his endgame? I hope he isn’t just after power for the sake of it. It’s also possible that he’s conning everyone and the weapons don’t work like Cauldron (the bad cop) expects, and that’d be a pretty good gag.
Anyway, it’s a good issue and Fuerza is a cool new character I’d like to see more of. I hope she can keep the Strength Force and keep protecting Corto Maltese, and she and Barry make good allies for each other.
Also nice to see Commander Cold making friends – or more – and settling into the Central City of this era. He’s going to have an interesting dilemma if he ever gets the chance to return home, because he’ll have to figure out where/when is home for him. I don’t think he’ll be around forever, if only so Len can return without two similar guys running around, but he’s had more development and page time than I’d ever expected. One wonders if or when we’ll be learning more about his identity, and whether it will be significant (an Allen, a Thawne, or something else) or not. He may of course just be a random dude, but the book’s made a point about his name for a while now and all he’s offered is his first name.
So a lot of interesting stuff which furthers both the Tricksters story and the Force Quest…and possibly ties them together. Lots of food for thought here.
