The rise of Darkseid’s Absolute re-imagining of the DC Universe continues to grow darker and darker. And after the villain managed to corrupt a founding Justice Leaguer into a nightmare weapon, he now looks poised to do the same with one of DC’s oldest heroes, and the first Flash family speedster, to boot.
The First DC Speedster, Max Mercury, Has Officially Turned Evil
The Flash #27 by Mark Waid & Christopher Cantwell, Vasco Georgiev, Matt Herms
The impossible twist was initially dropped on the final page of The Flash #26, after Bart Allen attempted (foolishly) to travel back in time to prevent Darkseid’s entire plan. But with Wally West in hot pursuit, both heroes were caught by Darkseid, and thrust even farther back through the timestream than they intended. Specifically, the year 1908. A period of history so early in the rise of metahumans, that only Max Mercury, a.k.a. ‘Whip Whirlwind’ was publicly active.
After witnessing Max take a knew before the acolytes of Darkseid’s Omega Legion, proclaiming to have “devoted my allegiance” to these forces of evil. And the following issue confirms things are just as bad as they seem. Not only is ‘Whip’ doing Darkseid’s bidding to unlock the mystery of “Omega Speed,” but it appears that either explicit corruption or mental influence means he will do, or kill, whatever he needs to.
The personal element at work in the corruption of Max Mercury makes the twist even darker than those which have come before. As not only one of the friendliest heroes in existence, but the tutor and mentor of Jay Garrick, Wally West, and Bart Allen, Darkseid has struck at the heart of the Flash family.
The Absolute Universe Turns Another Beloved Hero Into Darkseid’s Pawn
The Flashes & Max Mercury Bring Time Travel Into Darkseid’s ‘K.O.’ Attack
For the unfamiliar, Max made his debut all the way back in 1940 (just a few short months after Jay Garrick’s debut as DC’s Flash) going by the name “Quicksilver” in issues published by Quality Comics. As his modern origin would later explain, Max was born in 1830, before he was gifted a connection to the Speed Force by a friendly native shaman to become “Windrunner.” A leap through time turned him into ‘Whip Whirlwind,’ before he leapt further ahead to become ‘Quicksilver’ (explaining multiple different speedsters were one man, byt different named).
Dubbed ‘the zen master of speed’ by his students and friends, there is no speeedster more at peace, or in-tune with the mysticism of the Speed Force than Mercury. A fact clearly not lost on Darkseid, having turned him into a faithful follower of his own corrupted speed force. One thing is clear: whether or not Max succeeds in killing the Flashes, this is a cheap shot from Darkseid amidst his larger DC K.O. tournament.
The Flash #27 is available now from DC Comics.
- Created By
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Gardner Fox, Harry Lampert, Carmine Infantino
- First Appearance
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Flash Comics
- Alias
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Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West, Bart Allen, Avery Ho
- Alliance
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Justice Society of America, Justice League, Teen Titans
- Race
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Human
- Franchise
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D.C.