Warning: The following contains spoilers from Suicide Squad #4 by Tom Taylor, Daniel Sampere, Juan Albarran, Adriano Lucas, and Wes Abbott, on sale now.
The Flash has one of the most colorful assortments of villains in the DC Universe. As such, many of his opponents have transitioned well into his television series and have become established parts of the DC Extended Universe and the Arrowverse.
Captain Boomerang, or George “Digger” Harkness, is no exception to that rule. Although his comic book costume did not make the transition, his persona and deceptively effective weapon of choice have jumped over into other media too.
While boomerangs might not seem like the most dangerous weapons, the Suicide Squad veteran just reminded everyone why he's a force to be reckoned with in Suicide Squad #3. After Digger threatens o reveal sensitive information about the team, a trained team of armed soldiers is sent to deal with the situation, which gives Harkness the chance to show a thing or two about what he's learned over the years with his arsenal of razor-sharp boomerangs.
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Surmising that they now have a problem, the Suicide Squad is dispatched to deal with Boomerang. Remembering that he is traditionally bested by the Flash, the Squad is encouraged by new team handler Lok to bring along their speedster, Jog, and is reminded that Digger has “had trouble with speedsters before.”
After tracking down Boomerang and planning to take him by surprise, Deadshot is surprised to find Digger waiting for them. He shouts out a warning to Jog, who is already barreling full speed toward a ready and waiting Harkness. As Jog approaches, Boomerang pushes a detonator that he's holding in his hand, setting off a bomb that intercepts the speedster and catches him in a violent explosion, all without even spilling his beer.
This portrayal of Captain Boomerang is a huge upgrade from previous depictions of the villain that shows just how far he's moved past the "trick" boomerangs that once defined him.
When Boomerang was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino in 1960's The Flash #117, Captain Boomerang was portrayed as a “gimmick” villain who used boomerangs in much the same way as Green Arrow used arrows. He was never a particularly lethal opponent, relying instead on trick boomerangs and elaborate plots such as tying the Flash up to a giant boomerang and launching him into the ocean.
Eventually, Boomerang was inducted into Amanda Waller’s Suicide Squad, where he was a mainstay of the team, even though his antics regularly caused trouble for the team. In Brad Meltzer and Rags Morales' 2004 series Identity Crisis, Boomerang proved that he was capable of causing lasting harm when he killed Jack Drake, the father of Batman's Robin, Tim Drake.
Even since then, Boomerang has retained his razor-sharp edge and proven himself to be a serious threat. He's come a long way from the objectively silly character he started out as, and Boomerang is poised to give the Flash a run for his money when they next meet.