SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for The Flash #53, by Joshua Williamson, Christian Duce, Luis Guerrero and Steve Wands, on sale now.

Making his first appearance in 1960’s The Flash #112, by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, Ralph Dibny, aka the Elongated Man, hasn’t been seen in any DC Comics titles in quite some time. In fact, his last appearance was in Gail Simone and Tom Derenick’s Secret Six #14, which was released just as the DC Universe was entering the Rebirth era in May 2016.

Nevertheless, Ralph’s history is intrinsically tied to Barry Allen, so it’s only natural that the character would make his return in The Flash #53. The problem, however, is that it’s not the Elongated Man that we get in this issue, but rather a twisted future incarnation of the stretchy sleuth.

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The issue begins with a police standoff at S.T.A.R. Labs in 25th-century Central City. Instead of attempting to negotiate with the perp, though, one of the commanding officers storms the building, only to find that all the hostages have been killed.

“Y’know my predecessor used to work cases with The Flash?” the rogue says. “They were a crime-solving team. I bet they wouldn’t have been able to catch me…”

Looking on in horror, the officer then addresses the flexible foe as Elongated Maniac, leaving little doubt that he’s either a distant relative or a radicalized successor of Ralph Dibny.

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Unfortunately, we don’t have much time to learn which case it truly is, because the officer quickly begins firing shot after shot at Elongated Maniac, killing him where he stands. As it turns out, though, the reason for this introductory flash-forward has less to do with the legacy of the Elongated Man and more to do with the legacy of Commander Cold.

Later in the issue, we return to the 25th century to find the officer/future Commander Cold reflecting on the events from S.T.A.R. Labs. However, he’s soon approached by the hooded figure that was revealed to be Hunter Zolomon/Zoom in The Flash Annual #2, who recruits the Commander to the Renegades and presents him with his cold gun.

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Of course, while Commander Cold has been a reluctant ally of Barry in recent issues of The Flash, Issue #53’s closing page seems to indicate that the pair’s dynamic might be taking a turn for the worse. Still, it’s interesting to note that while Zoom has long been fixated on turning Wally West into the greatest hero of all time, he ultimately created another hero in the form of Commander Cold. How long Cold’s “hero” status lasts, though, remains to be seen.