A Flash Rogue Just Got A Major Upgrade Thanks To The Strength Force

SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for The Flash #52 by Joshua Williamson, Christian Duce, Luis Guerrero and Steve Wands, on sale now.

The Speed Force isn’t the only cosmically powered extra-dimensional force floating around in the DC Universe anymore. Thanks to the destruction of the Source Wall in Dark Nights: Metal and the damage done to the Speed Force by Barry Allen and Wally West in “Flash War” we now have a Still Force, a Sage Force and a Strength Force. The Still Force is capable of stopping The Flash in his tracks, the Sage Force gives its wielder telepathy and telekinesis while the Strength Force is fairly self-explanatory.

The Flash is doing his best to find the sources of these new cosmic powers, but between Hunter Zolomon still being on the run, Commander Cold of the Renegades being stranded in the present day and the case CCPD is building against the corrupt warden of Iron Heights, Gregory Wolfe, he’s stretched thin.

Fortunately, several of those problems convene in The Flash #52 which at least gives consolidates The Flashes woes, if not making them slightly more insurmountible, as a member of The Rogues is taken by the Strength Force and develops new powers which may just prove them unstoppable.

Trick or Treat

While he’s been off on his cosmic adventures, The Flash’s hometown of Central City has continued to truck along. In the hero's absence, Detective Burns and Morrow of the CCPD have been working with The Trickster to build a case against Warden Wolfe of Iron Heights, who has been abusing and tormenting his charges. First introduced in 2002’s The Flash #183 by Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins, Axel Walker is the second villain to take on the mantle of The Trickster, after the original incarnation quit a life of crime to join the FBI. While his predecessor could be annoying, Axel was defined by obnoxious bratty attitude and unearned confidence; it took him a long time to be truly accepted as a Rogue as the group of Flash villains felt he hadn’t paid his dues as a costumed criminal.

When the DC timeline was rebooted post-Flashpoint, Axel was a member of The Rogues, and until it’s contradicted, he’s the only person to have gone by The Trickster. He was kicked out of the team for his obnoxiousness and for questioning their leader, Captain Cold and after attempting to go it alone for a short time, he saw an opportunity to reach the big leagues. When the army of Gorilla City led by King Grodd invaded Central City, Trickster presented himself to the monarch as a potential guide to the city but instead, Grodd ripped off his arm and left him for dead.

He rejoined the Rogues after being busted out of prison by the Crime Syndicate of America during their takeover of the world in Forever Evil, but remained sided with the Rogues when they decided not to bend the knee to the Crime Syndicate’s rule. The Rogues instead fought against the Crime Syndicate to keep Central City safe during the absence of the world’s heroes. He then later allied himself with The Riddler during the villain’s brief time in Central City, and he was rewarded a new cybernetic arm for his troubles. However, he and the other Rogues allied with The Flash to protect their city when The Riddler turned on them.

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Witness Protection

Most recently, Trickster has been held prisoner at Iron Heights and has become the favored punching bag of Warden Wolfe, who sees criminals as subhuman and has been abusing his inmates. While the Flash has been busy with fate-of-the-world matters, Central City Police Department has been carefully building a case against Warden Wolfe and Axel Walker is their key witness.

However, someone has hired the mercenary Para-Angels — new villains introduced for the first time in this issue — to stop Axel from talking to the police. The winged villains get away with CCPD’s key witness, but the timely intervention of The Flash and Commander Cold stops them in their tracks, giving Trickster the chance to slip away.

While the villain flees, Barry Allen is uncharacteristically hostile to Commander Cold, and gives him Batman’s patented “stay out of my city” speech. Commander Cold is a cop just like Barry, only from the twenty-fifth century where he was a member of the Reverse-Flash Task Force charged with bringing down Eobard Thawne. As the only people in history that were able to give a speedster a challenge were the Rogues of the 21st century, the Reverse Flash Task Force was modelled after the villains, and Commander Cold was their leader until The Flash broke time-travel and stranded him in the present.

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

As the two bicker — mostly due to Barry’s own issues teaming up with someone that reminds him so much of Leonard Snart — The Trickster isn’t feeling well, and as he attempts to flee the ground opens up below him and drags him into the Earth. Barry heads home to Iris, while Cold continues to look for Trickster and the trail leads him right to the alley in which Axel disappeared. Reconvening with The Flash, the two are surprised as the ground below them is busted open by a giant fist and a hulking Axel Walker, imbued with the Strength Force, emerges from the ground.

Trickster now has the Strength Force, but how he tapped into it is a mystery. Did it seek out someone at their weakest — as Axel was thanks to Wolfe — and give them the strength they need to fight back? Or is someone controlling the Strength Force and directing where it goes and who gets to wield it.

With the two heroes easily defeated by the newly powered Trickster, the villain sets his sights on Iron Heights to get revenge on Warden Wolfe and everyone else that made him feel small, and with The Flash still unsure of how the Strength Force even works, the Scarlet Speedster may not be able to stop him.