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Rogues #1-4
Rogues
Incarcerated. Retired. Dead. Nothing's gonna stop these Rogues from getting theirs, as the Flash’s deadly enemies come out of retirement for one last—and potentially fatal—score!
Ten years ago, the Rogues disbanded and went their separate ways. But time hasn’t been kind to the former blue-collar super-criminals. Caught in an endless cycle of prison, rehab, dead-end jobs, broken relationships, probation, and endless restitution fees, the Rogues—Captain Cold, Magenta, Trickster, Golden Glider, Bronze Tiger, and Mirror Master—are sick of paying for their crimes.
Luckily, Captain Cold has a plan. One last job that will leave them all richer than their wildest dreams and free from their past...if they can survive. Easier said than done when the job takes them to Gorilla City—with a version of Gorilla Grodd unlike anything you’ve ever seen waiting for them.
Following decades plaguing the Flash as some of the most enduring antagonists in all of comics, these are the Rogues as you’ve never seen them before, reimagined by the incredible talents of master storytellers Leomacs (Basketful of Heads) and Joshua Williamson (Batman, The Flash, Infinite Frontier). Rogues is a neo-noir heist that will make your blood run cold.
This volume collects Rogues #1-4.
Ten years ago, the Rogues disbanded and went their separate ways. But time hasn’t been kind to the former blue-collar super-criminals. Caught in an endless cycle of prison, rehab, dead-end jobs, broken relationships, probation, and endless restitution fees, the Rogues—Captain Cold, Magenta, Trickster, Golden Glider, Bronze Tiger, and Mirror Master—are sick of paying for their crimes.
Luckily, Captain Cold has a plan. One last job that will leave them all richer than their wildest dreams and free from their past...if they can survive. Easier said than done when the job takes them to Gorilla City—with a version of Gorilla Grodd unlike anything you’ve ever seen waiting for them.
Following decades plaguing the Flash as some of the most enduring antagonists in all of comics, these are the Rogues as you’ve never seen them before, reimagined by the incredible talents of master storytellers Leomacs (Basketful of Heads) and Joshua Williamson (Batman, The Flash, Infinite Frontier). Rogues is a neo-noir heist that will make your blood run cold.
This volume collects Rogues #1-4.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published December 20, 2022
16 people are currently reading
306 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
November 3, 2022
This one was so good omg!
So we have the Rogues on one last mission in their lets say old age and then we see how they come together under Snart and I like how they are at such messed up places in their life and well their plan is to get some gold from Gorilla city which has transformed and so its a heist story vs Gorilla Grodd but we see he may not be the Grodd we remember and he has changed for sure and what that results in leads to one of the best Rogues story. Divided loyalties, moral conundrums and one epic last stand and the way they go out.. wow its violent for sure but Williamson makes sure each of them get their moment in particular Leonard and Mick and yeah its epic by the end!
Yeah a somewhat decent ending to the sage of the Rogues and in a way Williamson capping off his Flash run like how he wrote them so much and this is one way to end the saga of the Rogues and its not bad and just shows them going off the way they knew how and good focus on Captain Cold! The art was great for this type of story and definitely makes for a good read! I recommend this!
So we have the Rogues on one last mission in their lets say old age and then we see how they come together under Snart and I like how they are at such messed up places in their life and well their plan is to get some gold from Gorilla city which has transformed and so its a heist story vs Gorilla Grodd but we see he may not be the Grodd we remember and he has changed for sure and what that results in leads to one of the best Rogues story. Divided loyalties, moral conundrums and one epic last stand and the way they go out.. wow its violent for sure but Williamson makes sure each of them get their moment in particular Leonard and Mick and yeah its epic by the end!
Yeah a somewhat decent ending to the sage of the Rogues and in a way Williamson capping off his Flash run like how he wrote them so much and this is one way to end the saga of the Rogues and its not bad and just shows them going off the way they knew how and good focus on Captain Cold! The art was great for this type of story and definitely makes for a good read! I recommend this!
November 23, 2024
This was great!
October 29, 2022
What happens when you tell a superhero story without the superhero, and all you have are the villains? Well, if you’re smart enough to do it with an outfit like the Rogues, if you’re Joshua Williamson, you get a pretty great comic out of it.
The Rogues are the collection of villains who’ve bothered the Flash since the Silver Age. They’re chock full of gimmicks, but what sets them apart is that as the Flash’s enemies, they always get to operate as just this side of the real world’s petty criminals, so that the jobs they pull are bad enough to keep them on the wrong side of the law, but never give them the image of psychopaths, like, ah, the Joker, or killers.
And enough writers have been giving them enough attention as fleshed out characters that it was just about time someone came along and told their story this way. Williamson has been working his way to the top for years, and hit the jackpot when he scored his own Flash gig, and Rogues is perhaps his crowning achievement, at least in this corner of the DC landscape, to date.
The Black Label comics aren’t necessarily part of continuity, but it doesn’t matter. The bad guys got old, got tired of losing, and so they try one last desperate stab for glory, and of course it goes horribly wrong. A good villain keeps popping up because it’s always fun to see them, but in the movies it’s usually easier to just take care of business, which is why so many of them just die at the end. They made their mark. The end. So Rogues is kind of a movie experience. Make a movie of it and I think people would be interested. I know, there’re some Suicide Squad movies that cover similar ground, but honestly I think none of those have been as successful as they could be because general audiences just can’t wrap their heads around them. This is straightforward stuff, here. The story is familiar, but context is everything.
That’s not being cold. That’s just seeing things as they are.
The Rogues are the collection of villains who’ve bothered the Flash since the Silver Age. They’re chock full of gimmicks, but what sets them apart is that as the Flash’s enemies, they always get to operate as just this side of the real world’s petty criminals, so that the jobs they pull are bad enough to keep them on the wrong side of the law, but never give them the image of psychopaths, like, ah, the Joker, or killers.
And enough writers have been giving them enough attention as fleshed out characters that it was just about time someone came along and told their story this way. Williamson has been working his way to the top for years, and hit the jackpot when he scored his own Flash gig, and Rogues is perhaps his crowning achievement, at least in this corner of the DC landscape, to date.
The Black Label comics aren’t necessarily part of continuity, but it doesn’t matter. The bad guys got old, got tired of losing, and so they try one last desperate stab for glory, and of course it goes horribly wrong. A good villain keeps popping up because it’s always fun to see them, but in the movies it’s usually easier to just take care of business, which is why so many of them just die at the end. They made their mark. The end. So Rogues is kind of a movie experience. Make a movie of it and I think people would be interested. I know, there’re some Suicide Squad movies that cover similar ground, but honestly I think none of those have been as successful as they could be because general audiences just can’t wrap their heads around them. This is straightforward stuff, here. The story is familiar, but context is everything.
That’s not being cold. That’s just seeing things as they are.
December 22, 2022
ROGUES BY JOSHUA WILLIAMSON AND LEOMACS IS ANOTHER DC BLACK LABEL CLASSIC THAT YOU NEED TO CHECK OUT NOW!
I can’t express how much fun I had reading this mini-series. Rogues is a story about the old rag and tag bad guy group getting back together to do one last big hit. It’s been 10 years since Leonard Snart dawned his Captain Cold alias, and he’s turned to a normal life of working in line management in Central City. He’s checked on by parole agents to make sure he isn’t up to his old ways. He feels like his life is being wasted. He’s treated like a nobody and feels like a loser. He remembers hearing about Gorilla Grodd’s hidden city and how there might be gold hidden underneath it. He gathers his things together and reunites the living past Rogue members as a last ditch effort to get a huge score. After some convincing he gets his sister Lisa Snart (Golden Glider), James Jesse (Trickster), Ben Turner (Bronze Tiger), Frankie Kane (Magenta), Mick Rory (Heatwave), and Evan McCulloch (Mirror Master) to form back together and infiltrate Gorilla City.
Joshua Williamson writes an absolute blast of a story and I could not get enough of it. He takes on a respected, but sometimes forgotten group of characters, and gives them a deserving heist story. With it being a ‘Black Label’ imprint Williamson gets a bit more room with the mature content, and I feel like he executes well. The story *is* about a group of previous baddies so it's a great fit. It never feels over the top, or too edgy though, and I really appreciate that from Williamson. I like the way he writes each character and especially Captain Cold. He doesn’t try to rope you in, and make you feel bad for the guy, and then make this his sort of redeeming story. No, he shows you how terrible of a person Snart is and what his selfish ways lead to. There’s awesome pacing in this book, and the last 2 issues really had me going “OH SHIT”, and I could not turn the pages fast enough. I do know a couple people were upset with the ending and although it was kinda cliche, I still enjoyed it and thought it was the best outcome for the story Williamson wrote.
Leomacs is the artist on this series and I’ve seen his work with ‘A Basketful of Heads,’ and I loved it then so you know I loved it now. His pacing and action scenes were badass, and he drew great detail with the Gorilla City scenes that made it look really cool. Leomac is a brilliant cartoonist and it’s always a pleasure to see his work.
Overall; This read was super cool (PUN INTENDED), and it just shows how creative creators can get when you give them free liberties on their stories. I remember DC’s Black Label line not starting off too hot, but recently we’ve gotten some great material. This being a perfect example. Do yourself a favor and pick this up.
I can’t express how much fun I had reading this mini-series. Rogues is a story about the old rag and tag bad guy group getting back together to do one last big hit. It’s been 10 years since Leonard Snart dawned his Captain Cold alias, and he’s turned to a normal life of working in line management in Central City. He’s checked on by parole agents to make sure he isn’t up to his old ways. He feels like his life is being wasted. He’s treated like a nobody and feels like a loser. He remembers hearing about Gorilla Grodd’s hidden city and how there might be gold hidden underneath it. He gathers his things together and reunites the living past Rogue members as a last ditch effort to get a huge score. After some convincing he gets his sister Lisa Snart (Golden Glider), James Jesse (Trickster), Ben Turner (Bronze Tiger), Frankie Kane (Magenta), Mick Rory (Heatwave), and Evan McCulloch (Mirror Master) to form back together and infiltrate Gorilla City.
Joshua Williamson writes an absolute blast of a story and I could not get enough of it. He takes on a respected, but sometimes forgotten group of characters, and gives them a deserving heist story. With it being a ‘Black Label’ imprint Williamson gets a bit more room with the mature content, and I feel like he executes well. The story *is* about a group of previous baddies so it's a great fit. It never feels over the top, or too edgy though, and I really appreciate that from Williamson. I like the way he writes each character and especially Captain Cold. He doesn’t try to rope you in, and make you feel bad for the guy, and then make this his sort of redeeming story. No, he shows you how terrible of a person Snart is and what his selfish ways lead to. There’s awesome pacing in this book, and the last 2 issues really had me going “OH SHIT”, and I could not turn the pages fast enough. I do know a couple people were upset with the ending and although it was kinda cliche, I still enjoyed it and thought it was the best outcome for the story Williamson wrote.
Leomacs is the artist on this series and I’ve seen his work with ‘A Basketful of Heads,’ and I loved it then so you know I loved it now. His pacing and action scenes were badass, and he drew great detail with the Gorilla City scenes that made it look really cool. Leomac is a brilliant cartoonist and it’s always a pleasure to see his work.
Overall; This read was super cool (PUN INTENDED), and it just shows how creative creators can get when you give them free liberties on their stories. I remember DC’s Black Label line not starting off too hot, but recently we’ve gotten some great material. This being a perfect example. Do yourself a favor and pick this up.
June 26, 2024
Fantastic! Not often do I find the DC Black Label books be very good, but this one hit very well! Great writing and I’m a big fan of the art style! I’m glad there were no appearances by heroes and this one stayed contained as a story within the Rogues themselves. Great setting and story from beginning to end.
November 9, 2022
This flirted with a perfect score in some parts, it was very close decision.
Approach this as “the last Rogues story” and enjoy the ride presented by Williamson and Leomac’s beautiful art. It does for Cold what the Logan movie did to Wolverine. The Rogues are all awesome and well written but there’s so much good work done on Snart, it’s incredible! The depiction of Gorilla City is also amazing. I wouldn’t be surprised if this noir heist story became a classic for DC, very good book!
Approach this as “the last Rogues story” and enjoy the ride presented by Williamson and Leomac’s beautiful art. It does for Cold what the Logan movie did to Wolverine. The Rogues are all awesome and well written but there’s so much good work done on Snart, it’s incredible! The depiction of Gorilla City is also amazing. I wouldn’t be surprised if this noir heist story became a classic for DC, very good book!
July 16, 2023
The Rogues, the group of street-level, blue-collar Flash villains out of Central City are popular for being much more grounded supervillains than people are used to seeing in superhero comic books, as they were envisioned by Geoff Johns in his Flash run. Joshua Williamson now has the wonderful idea of telling the last story of the Rogues, giving them a “one last job” heist story, where an aging, paroled Captain Cold gathers the crew together for one final job, the heist of all heists, stealing a pile of gold from a vault deep within Gorilla City.
It’s a fantastic idea, with double crosses, and plot twists, but I couldn’t help but wish a more capable writer took a crack at it. I barely understood what the plan was and the heist itself was pretty damn weak, and this whole thing was just a bit unremarkable, with characters that felt diluted. I wish someone like Ed Brubaker or Greg Rucka had a crack at something like this. The potential here is a little wasted.
It’s a fantastic idea, with double crosses, and plot twists, but I couldn’t help but wish a more capable writer took a crack at it. I barely understood what the plan was and the heist itself was pretty damn weak, and this whole thing was just a bit unremarkable, with characters that felt diluted. I wish someone like Ed Brubaker or Greg Rucka had a crack at something like this. The potential here is a little wasted.
October 17, 2024
"Rogues" promises to be a rewarding "Last Heist" or "Final Redemption" tale. The portrayal of the Rogues and their plights after disbanding and paying for their crimes is touching and respectful. Readers will immediately identify with many of these characters and the book seems to offer a ray of sunshine for the future.
However, the book falsely raises the readers hopes only to then brutally smash them with pointless violence and an exceedingly high body count. Perhaps the worst thing about this book is that the reader can just begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel for many of the more likeable characters when the book suddenly devolves into a frenetic bloodbath.
Also quite disturbing is the violent and hateful treatment of the many gorilla characters in this book. Gorillas are portrayed as fully sentient, with a complex social organization on par with humans and significantly higher technical accomplishments. Their treatment in this book, is highly problematic and essentially reads as coded racism.
All in all, this book initially shows great potential which is then squandered through cheap and violent plot twists. This approach is both pointless and lacks creativity.
This book is recommended, with serious reservations, for fans of the Condiment King, who is the only character who receives a less than completely negative treatment in this book.
However, the book falsely raises the readers hopes only to then brutally smash them with pointless violence and an exceedingly high body count. Perhaps the worst thing about this book is that the reader can just begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel for many of the more likeable characters when the book suddenly devolves into a frenetic bloodbath.
Also quite disturbing is the violent and hateful treatment of the many gorilla characters in this book. Gorillas are portrayed as fully sentient, with a complex social organization on par with humans and significantly higher technical accomplishments. Their treatment in this book, is highly problematic and essentially reads as coded racism.
All in all, this book initially shows great potential which is then squandered through cheap and violent plot twists. This approach is both pointless and lacks creativity.
This book is recommended, with serious reservations, for fans of the Condiment King, who is the only character who receives a less than completely negative treatment in this book.
August 16, 2023
Speechless. This is one of, if not the best graphic novel I have ever read about a group of villains and might be one of the best things in the DC Black Label. It’s outstanding. It’s dark, action packed with brilliant writing…and holds nothing back. This was absolutely insane!
January 10, 2023
This was great. Such a breath of fresh air to have the DC Black Label NOT focus on Batman, Joker or Harley Quinn. Just a strong focus on other characters (in this case, the Flash Rogues) telling stories that don't fit in normal continuity that can go a bit darker. And the ending was just right.
February 17, 2025
A great twist on the heist genre! I really like the gritty versions of old, golden age comic book villains.
March 12, 2025
A solid standalone! It's fun reading a superhero story with no heros. Bleak ending but it fits the story
September 28, 2023
Rogues by Joshua Williamson is a Black Label book by DC that shows readers a different world where the Rogues are older and more sad. Captain Cold decides to pull them together one more time for a giant score. His plan to rip off Grodd and Gorilla City obviously doesn't go as planned in this heist/noir book. Williamson does a really great job with this group especially Len and Lisa. I really enjoyed it as it was a somewhat different take on the crew and more adult. Grodd was also quite different and I liked it a lot. Leomacs is responsible for the art and did a very good job. Gritty linework that made everything look realistic, even talking gorillas. The book could have spent a little more time fleshing out some of the Rogues backstories and I thought the ending was pretty obvious but overall, this was entertaining as hell.
January 2, 2023
Dark and bleak, in the best possible way. This could be a classic villain story.
May 23, 2023
I enjoyed the character study of Leonard Snart, aka captain cold, and giving some of the Flash's iconic rouges gallery their own villainous old man logan/dark knight returns type of story. That being said, the three main glaring flaws in this story really hamper the experience and left a bad taste in my mouth;
1. Despite the story showing that this takes place in a world where Superheroes like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman exist and their own associated foes, there is literally no mention of any of the flashes, which is so bizarre considering the unique relationship that almost all of them have with their villains. While I can appreciate Williamson's idea that the Rogues are their own people with wants and needs independent of the Flash's influence but at the same time, Catwoman: lonely city is a book with a similar premise and that one at least had the foresight to mention Bruce Wayne's death to explain the character's absence.
2. I'm a Flash fan and a big fan of the Rouges; they're a tight-knit group of professional criminals, thieves, and thrill seekers that treated their super-villainy as a wide range of things such as personal expression, letting out their resentments and good old profiteering. That being said, aside from the bar scene at the beginning of the story, Leonard's relationship with his sister, and the strong bond between him and Heatwave, there are not a lot of moments showing the back history of these characters, and it's more among the lines of you're expected to know already these characters which again for someone like me is fine, but I can imagine someone who's only tangentially familiar with the flash picking up this story and going "what's the deal with Magenta, this sort of female Magneto? I don't recognize her in any of the classic line ups" which again draws back to my statement of where are the flashes in this story considering her story and mental illness are heavily intertwined with her past relationship with Wally West, the third flash.
3. The ending is bad; it's the worst type of the rocks fall, everyone dies trope where it feels like Williamson wrote himself into a corner and couldn't come up with either a way to get all the rouges out of Africa after the heist was over or what to do after they escaped. The way Lisa and Bronze Tiger just die from being shot by the American Federal Authorities feels so random and anti-climatic even though we, as the readers, knew there would have to be a confrontation with them by the end. I'm not saying it should have been a happy ending with the surviving members holding hands and walking into the sunset but at least not have the finale feel so abrupt.
I'd give it 3.5/5 rather than a 3, There are some fun character moments, and I like Snart's monologues, but those three flaws ate away at me throughout the story.
1. Despite the story showing that this takes place in a world where Superheroes like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman exist and their own associated foes, there is literally no mention of any of the flashes, which is so bizarre considering the unique relationship that almost all of them have with their villains. While I can appreciate Williamson's idea that the Rogues are their own people with wants and needs independent of the Flash's influence but at the same time, Catwoman: lonely city is a book with a similar premise and that one at least had the foresight to mention Bruce Wayne's death to explain the character's absence.
2. I'm a Flash fan and a big fan of the Rouges; they're a tight-knit group of professional criminals, thieves, and thrill seekers that treated their super-villainy as a wide range of things such as personal expression, letting out their resentments and good old profiteering. That being said, aside from the bar scene at the beginning of the story, Leonard's relationship with his sister, and the strong bond between him and Heatwave, there are not a lot of moments showing the back history of these characters, and it's more among the lines of you're expected to know already these characters which again for someone like me is fine, but I can imagine someone who's only tangentially familiar with the flash picking up this story and going "what's the deal with Magenta, this sort of female Magneto? I don't recognize her in any of the classic line ups" which again draws back to my statement of where are the flashes in this story considering her story and mental illness are heavily intertwined with her past relationship with Wally West, the third flash.
3. The ending is bad; it's the worst type of the rocks fall, everyone dies trope where it feels like Williamson wrote himself into a corner and couldn't come up with either a way to get all the rouges out of Africa after the heist was over or what to do after they escaped. The way Lisa and Bronze Tiger just die from being shot by the American Federal Authorities feels so random and anti-climatic even though we, as the readers, knew there would have to be a confrontation with them by the end. I'm not saying it should have been a happy ending with the surviving members holding hands and walking into the sunset but at least not have the finale feel so abrupt.
I'd give it 3.5/5 rather than a 3, There are some fun character moments, and I like Snart's monologues, but those three flaws ate away at me throughout the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 11, 2025
It's been a long time since DC or Marvel produced a true crime heist story involving super villains. 2006's Secret Six miniseries might be the closest thing we've had and that was more about baddies acting righteous during a time when the heroes were acting criminal.
In Rogues, Leonard Snart's glory days as one of the Flash's arsh-enemies is long past. In his late 50s, balding, overweight and kept on a tight leash by a parole officer who deserves his own spot behind bars, the former Captain Cold is a broken man. 2 of the Rogues are dead. His sister, the Golden Glider has renounced her life of crime and became an inner city social worker. The Trickster has become a hack magician, performing to elderly crowds. Mirror Master lost his mind in a drug induced haze. Mick Rory, AKA Heatwave, still plays with fire. Only, he does it with an entrepreneurial flare, committing arson by torching buildings for a cut of the insurance check.
Now is the time to bring the gang back together. For years, Smart has been planning a heist so outrageous, that it's literally a suicide mission. With Captain Cold's guidance, the Rogues are going to infiltrate Gorilla City and rob Gorilla Grodd's personal vault laden with tons and tons of gold. Good thing Smart has decided to recruit a couple of former members of the Suicide Squad to help in executing this insane plan!
Joshua Williamson penned this story which is nearly flawless. I don't even mind that there's zero appearance of any of the multitude of men to carry the moniker of the Flash in this book. My biggest issue is the addition of DEO agent Maggie Sawyer. She's a great player in Metropolis. But she really doesn't seem to have a place in Gorilla City. At least not here in this story.
Rogues was originally released as a 4-issue miniseries in 2022. The first 3 issues were by Italian artist Leomacs. Issue #4 marks the debut of artist Luca Finelli. The transition between the two was flawless. I didn't even realize about the shift change until I was reading the biographies at the end of the book. I don't know who's talent that speaks higher of. But I loved the artwork throughout this entire piece.
This is a Quentin Tarantino level story and that's not just because of the amount of violence. Tons of swears. Tons! And we're talking F-bombs. This might be a DC Comic title but it's a Black Label release. Definitely not for the kids. But a must for fans of the Scarlet Speedster and his gallery of Rogues.
In Rogues, Leonard Snart's glory days as one of the Flash's arsh-enemies is long past. In his late 50s, balding, overweight and kept on a tight leash by a parole officer who deserves his own spot behind bars, the former Captain Cold is a broken man. 2 of the Rogues are dead. His sister, the Golden Glider has renounced her life of crime and became an inner city social worker. The Trickster has become a hack magician, performing to elderly crowds. Mirror Master lost his mind in a drug induced haze. Mick Rory, AKA Heatwave, still plays with fire. Only, he does it with an entrepreneurial flare, committing arson by torching buildings for a cut of the insurance check.
Now is the time to bring the gang back together. For years, Smart has been planning a heist so outrageous, that it's literally a suicide mission. With Captain Cold's guidance, the Rogues are going to infiltrate Gorilla City and rob Gorilla Grodd's personal vault laden with tons and tons of gold. Good thing Smart has decided to recruit a couple of former members of the Suicide Squad to help in executing this insane plan!
Joshua Williamson penned this story which is nearly flawless. I don't even mind that there's zero appearance of any of the multitude of men to carry the moniker of the Flash in this book. My biggest issue is the addition of DEO agent Maggie Sawyer. She's a great player in Metropolis. But she really doesn't seem to have a place in Gorilla City. At least not here in this story.
Rogues was originally released as a 4-issue miniseries in 2022. The first 3 issues were by Italian artist Leomacs. Issue #4 marks the debut of artist Luca Finelli. The transition between the two was flawless. I didn't even realize about the shift change until I was reading the biographies at the end of the book. I don't know who's talent that speaks higher of. But I loved the artwork throughout this entire piece.
This is a Quentin Tarantino level story and that's not just because of the amount of violence. Tons of swears. Tons! And we're talking F-bombs. This might be a DC Comic title but it's a Black Label release. Definitely not for the kids. But a must for fans of the Scarlet Speedster and his gallery of Rogues.
January 9, 2023
Take Flash's Rogues and other villains, leave the heroes out of the story, while also not really making any of the villains out to be villainous, and you end up with a truly unique story within the DC world. Some of the Rogues are looking for a lifechanging score, and their target is another villain and sometimes friend, and everyone has their own motivations. This is a well conceived story, with an excellent premise and some truly stunning artwork. I was gripped from start to finish, in a DC black label story that rivals Catwoman: Lonely City.
This is not to say that the story is perfect. For one thing, it's a heist story, and the actual heist is poorly conceived. The heist only lasts a few pages and the execution is largely handed to the Rogues by a third party. If you're going to write a heist book, you should plan a really good heist, and maybe one of the four parts of the story should be taken entirely by watching the heist in real time. In this book, the heist is the weakest part. Secondly, the characters spend little actual time using their abilities. On the whole, this is a character story, and the characters are relatively well written - but as a heist story, it could have been better planned.
Aside from some minor issues, this is a great book with excellent artwork.
This is not to say that the story is perfect. For one thing, it's a heist story, and the actual heist is poorly conceived. The heist only lasts a few pages and the execution is largely handed to the Rogues by a third party. If you're going to write a heist book, you should plan a really good heist, and maybe one of the four parts of the story should be taken entirely by watching the heist in real time. In this book, the heist is the weakest part. Secondly, the characters spend little actual time using their abilities. On the whole, this is a character story, and the characters are relatively well written - but as a heist story, it could have been better planned.
Aside from some minor issues, this is a great book with excellent artwork.
August 29, 2023
Fantastic premise, I love the anger and desperation that Leomax so effortlessly captures in each panel of Captain Cold. An old, jaded man who refuses to go out like his father. Joshua Williamson is the perfect author to write a book like this after his incredible run on The Flash, no one can tell a rogues story quite like him. It’s truly a shame this book didn’t do well, would have loved to have seen what Barry was up to ten years later….
HOWEVER
The rest of the rogues give In to Colds plan WAY too easily. They all had so much reason to hate him and too much at stake to get caught with him again. I thought that Weather Wizard and Captain Boomerang’s deaths would have had more relevance to the plot. Instead they are simply mentioned in passing. I would have really enjoyed to have seen what the incident that got the rogues caught ten years prior was.
Also the modernization of Gorilla City seemed silly, and definitely not something Grodd would do. I loved the idea of a heist there but it just seemed goofy in execution.
Finally I think it would have been cool for Cold to have lived long enough to truly sit with the consequences of his actions in this book. For the book to end as it began with a bitter old man who ruined his own life somehow more than the first time.
HOWEVER
The rest of the rogues give In to Colds plan WAY too easily. They all had so much reason to hate him and too much at stake to get caught with him again. I thought that Weather Wizard and Captain Boomerang’s deaths would have had more relevance to the plot. Instead they are simply mentioned in passing. I would have really enjoyed to have seen what the incident that got the rogues caught ten years prior was.
Also the modernization of Gorilla City seemed silly, and definitely not something Grodd would do. I loved the idea of a heist there but it just seemed goofy in execution.
Finally I think it would have been cool for Cold to have lived long enough to truly sit with the consequences of his actions in this book. For the book to end as it began with a bitter old man who ruined his own life somehow more than the first time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 30, 2024
*3.5*
I certainly did not expect this miniseries to turn out like this, because the final issue and the overall ending was a doozy! But you have to admit, this was a heist story that did not follow the same tropes as typical heist stories, but for me personally, I would’ve liked to see this story uphold some of those tropes. The story was quite interesting, and it pretty much felt like your typical “One Last Job” kind-of story, but with a few twists, of course. However, I’m not sure what Capt Cold was thinking during the final issue, because his “plan” just seemed a little too out there (also, there’s a plot convenience surrounding a baby gorilla that didn’t make much sense only to add some tension to the plot). The characters were interesting, and their dynamics equally so, but somehow they didn’t feel too fleshed out (with some exceptions like with the Snart siblings). The artwork by Leomacs was pretty good, and I especially liked the splash pages.
Overall, I’m not sure if I can recommend this, because it’s definitely gonna leave you a bit confused. There’s also some world-building details that are a bit lacking, and I don’t know why The Flash (any version) couldn’t make a cameo in this.
I certainly did not expect this miniseries to turn out like this, because the final issue and the overall ending was a doozy! But you have to admit, this was a heist story that did not follow the same tropes as typical heist stories, but for me personally, I would’ve liked to see this story uphold some of those tropes. The story was quite interesting, and it pretty much felt like your typical “One Last Job” kind-of story, but with a few twists, of course. However, I’m not sure what Capt Cold was thinking during the final issue, because his “plan” just seemed a little too out there (also, there’s a plot convenience surrounding a baby gorilla that didn’t make much sense only to add some tension to the plot). The characters were interesting, and their dynamics equally so, but somehow they didn’t feel too fleshed out (with some exceptions like with the Snart siblings). The artwork by Leomacs was pretty good, and I especially liked the splash pages.
Overall, I’m not sure if I can recommend this, because it’s definitely gonna leave you a bit confused. There’s also some world-building details that are a bit lacking, and I don’t know why The Flash (any version) couldn’t make a cameo in this.
September 8, 2024
Dlouho jsem nad koupí této knihy váhal. Ale pak jsem si řekl, že by mě asi mrzelo, kdyby mi utekla. Však co, akce ve stylu Dannyho parťáků, v Black Labelu a bez superhrdinů, může být super. Zvlášť když je tam velká opice. S velkými opicemi, nebo s dinosaury, je každý komiks lepší, že jo?
Nevím, co bych tomu příběhu mohl objektivně vytknout. Klasický argument, že jsem se nedokázal s žádnou postavou ztotožnit, je tady lichý, protože Ranaři jsou banda lůzrů a z větší části taky nemorálních sráčů. S těmi se ztotožnit nechcete. Na konci jsem se přistihl, že nefandím Ranařům, ale jejich protivníkovi, velkému opičákovi v čele narkomafie. Přitom ty postavy nejsou napsané úplně špatně. Oni zkrátka mají být sráči.
Vytknout tomu nemůžu ani tempo. Pořád se něco děje, akce střídá akci. Když nad tím ale přemýšlím, možná tomu chybělo zvolnění a detailnější plánování. U Dannyho parťáků a dalších podobných filmů tyhle plánovací sekce miluju. Ale budu se opakovat, to by Ranaři nesměli být taková banda, ti plánují za běhu.
Výtku mám ke kresbě. Na začátku je kresba mnohem preciznější a detailnější než na konci. I koloring je na začátku tak nějak poctivější. Na konci je to pro mě pořád akceptovatelné, ale radši bych, aby to bylo celé jako na začátku.
Nevím, co bych tomu příběhu mohl objektivně vytknout. Klasický argument, že jsem se nedokázal s žádnou postavou ztotožnit, je tady lichý, protože Ranaři jsou banda lůzrů a z větší části taky nemorálních sráčů. S těmi se ztotožnit nechcete. Na konci jsem se přistihl, že nefandím Ranařům, ale jejich protivníkovi, velkému opičákovi v čele narkomafie. Přitom ty postavy nejsou napsané úplně špatně. Oni zkrátka mají být sráči.
Vytknout tomu nemůžu ani tempo. Pořád se něco děje, akce střídá akci. Když nad tím ale přemýšlím, možná tomu chybělo zvolnění a detailnější plánování. U Dannyho parťáků a dalších podobných filmů tyhle plánovací sekce miluju. Ale budu se opakovat, to by Ranaři nesměli být taková banda, ti plánují za běhu.
Výtku mám ke kresbě. Na začátku je kresba mnohem preciznější a detailnější než na konci. I koloring je na začátku tak nějak poctivější. Na konci je to pro mě pořád akceptovatelné, ale radši bych, aby to bylo celé jako na začátku.
August 26, 2025
D'ordinaire assez allergique au travail de Joshua Williamson, ayant du mal à lui trouver quelconque profondeur, j'ai dévoré son travail sur ce "Rogues". L'auteur y aborde ce que l'on voit assez peu dans l'histoire ininterrompue des comics, la fin de carrière d'un groupe de lascars emblématique de l'univers Flash. Williamson joue les cordes joyeuses de la nostalgie, de la rage de vivre, et celles, plus graves, de la fin, qui s'imprime sur toutes les pages. Les illustrations de Leomacs sont idéales pour donner vie à cette étrange musique, son trait collant parfaitement au délire Pulps du groupe, mais aussi à la violence de l'histoire. Violence un peu trop soulignée dans les dernières pages du récit, mais pouvant se lire comme une critique acerbe de la violence policière, ce qui revient dans tous les chapitres.
J'ajoute que DC Comics / Urban Comics en France, essaye de vendre cette collection Black Label comme des romans graphiques indépendants, cependant je doute de l'accueil que pourrait lui réserver un public de non-initiés. Un chose est sûr, en revanche, ce tome va émouvoir tout fan de l'univers Flash !
J'ajoute que DC Comics / Urban Comics en France, essaye de vendre cette collection Black Label comme des romans graphiques indépendants, cependant je doute de l'accueil que pourrait lui réserver un public de non-initiés. Un chose est sûr, en revanche, ce tome va émouvoir tout fan de l'univers Flash !
March 29, 2024
Rogues collects issues 1-4 of the DC Comics Black Label series written by Joshua Williamson, art by Leomacs, and colors by Matheus Lopes and Jason Wordie.
The book opens in a villain bar with The Rogues living the good life. Fast forward 15 years, most of the Rogues are on parole, dead, or in dead end jobs. Leonard Snart, also known as Captain Cold, has been planning a job all this time and gets the gang back together for one last score. The job? Break into Gorilla City and steal Gorilla Grodd’s gold.
This was a really fun book! It could be seen as a sister series to Catwoman: Lonely City as they are similar stories. I always love a good heist story and you add-in the Rogues as washed-up has beens? Sold. This is also told how Black Label series books should be done - continuity isn’t as important as a well told story and breaking away from the PG-13 format. There is cursing and violence galore in this book. I also really enjoyed the art. It’s a bit cartoony, but it packs in a ton of detail.
I feel like I haven’t heard a lot about this book so make sure you give it a read!
The book opens in a villain bar with The Rogues living the good life. Fast forward 15 years, most of the Rogues are on parole, dead, or in dead end jobs. Leonard Snart, also known as Captain Cold, has been planning a job all this time and gets the gang back together for one last score. The job? Break into Gorilla City and steal Gorilla Grodd’s gold.
This was a really fun book! It could be seen as a sister series to Catwoman: Lonely City as they are similar stories. I always love a good heist story and you add-in the Rogues as washed-up has beens? Sold. This is also told how Black Label series books should be done - continuity isn’t as important as a well told story and breaking away from the PG-13 format. There is cursing and violence galore in this book. I also really enjoyed the art. It’s a bit cartoony, but it packs in a ton of detail.
I feel like I haven’t heard a lot about this book so make sure you give it a read!
October 26, 2022
Feels very much like a standard "one last job" story based on the set up in issue #1, but it does quite a lot to distinguish itself as a story over the next three issues. I really enjoyed the characterization of the Rogues - some of them are deplorable and irredeemable (aside from Glider and Tiger), but there is something quite human about them all. You can't help but root for them as they attempt to pull off a ridiculous heist amidst the denizens of Gorilla City. But what I liked most was that Williamson was not interested in white-washing a bunch of villains - most of them are terrible people and the book does not shy away from that.
Leomacs' artwork is wonderfully vibrant and explosive. There is ample violence fitting for a Black Label title, and it's very stylishly rendered. Given the amount of humor in Williamson's script, Leomacs' lush art style is a great fit for this type of book.
Leomacs' artwork is wonderfully vibrant and explosive. There is ample violence fitting for a Black Label title, and it's very stylishly rendered. Given the amount of humor in Williamson's script, Leomacs' lush art style is a great fit for this type of book.
February 2, 2023
The Rogues are living the good life. Then we flash forward ten years . All of the Rogues are washed up and out of the life with dead-end jobs, most of them on parole. Captain Cold decides to get everyone back together for one last job, steal a bunch of gold from Gorilla City. Some of the characters definitely have different personalities since this is a Black Label book (for one Trickster is now gay) and some members who weren't really Rogues are now Rogues like Bronze Tiger. Since it's Black Label none of that bothered me.
I'm not a fan of the art or coloring though. Leomac's art has an old-timey look to it. It's often detailed but sometimes goofy. It's like reading Classics Illustrated. The coloring is very drab and uninteresting too. It's a good thing the story was good enough to get past both.
I'm not a fan of the art or coloring though. Leomac's art has an old-timey look to it. It's often detailed but sometimes goofy. It's like reading Classics Illustrated. The coloring is very drab and uninteresting too. It's a good thing the story was good enough to get past both.
May 2, 2024
Eventually the villains become more interesting than the hero. This was a really fun read. A much more faithful future storyline of some classic villains than some other Black Label books have put out. The first page with the pics on the wall at the bar was gold. Williamson is one of the few DC writers left that I can still read and enjoy.
I liked the art but one honest critique is that the male characters looked appropriately older. The female characters, not so much. Golden Glider looked older in the flashback scene than in the future.
This series sums up a complex relationship between all of the Flash's best adversaries. For someone who started reading Flash starting with Showcase 4 I thought this was a worthy finale for all the Rogues.
I liked the art but one honest critique is that the male characters looked appropriately older. The female characters, not so much. Golden Glider looked older in the flashback scene than in the future.
This series sums up a complex relationship between all of the Flash's best adversaries. For someone who started reading Flash starting with Showcase 4 I thought this was a worthy finale for all the Rogues.
June 16, 2024
A great setup leads to an entertaining, if drawn-out conclusion in Rogues, a Black Label book that gets to play around with some lesser villains. For the most part, these are reformed villains, until an overheard slight sends Captain Cold back to his old ways. Fortunately, he also has a plan for one big score (who doesn't)?
Interestingly, the score takes us to central Africa and the kingdom of Gorilla Grodd, who has a pretty sweet underground city. The "getting the gang back together" part is the most fun - tackling the heist itself is fairly perfunctory, as are the few twists. Ultimately, Rogues is a surprisingly tragic affair - maybe that's why it gets the Black Label? I still had a grand time, even if it all feels a little familiar.
Interestingly, the score takes us to central Africa and the kingdom of Gorilla Grodd, who has a pretty sweet underground city. The "getting the gang back together" part is the most fun - tackling the heist itself is fairly perfunctory, as are the few twists. Ultimately, Rogues is a surprisingly tragic affair - maybe that's why it gets the Black Label? I still had a grand time, even if it all feels a little familiar.
August 29, 2025
You son of a *****, I’m in!
The Rogues were all loser even in their hey day. The time is a lot further out than that
Captain Cold is an old man now, living a mundane life as a factory worker to make ends meet. One day he decides he’s had enough, and he risks everything to get the gang back together for one last job
What follows is a captivating tale filled with comedy and tragedy. What else would happen when a group of washed up and elderly villains try to pull a heist on one of the world’s most powerful figures, after all?
The story is fantastically paced and the art is incredible.
DC Black Label has a lot of stinkers, but this book is a great example of what they could do with the imprint.
The Rogues were all loser even in their hey day. The time is a lot further out than that
Captain Cold is an old man now, living a mundane life as a factory worker to make ends meet. One day he decides he’s had enough, and he risks everything to get the gang back together for one last job
What follows is a captivating tale filled with comedy and tragedy. What else would happen when a group of washed up and elderly villains try to pull a heist on one of the world’s most powerful figures, after all?
The story is fantastically paced and the art is incredible.
DC Black Label has a lot of stinkers, but this book is a great example of what they could do with the imprint.
May 23, 2023
Leonard Snart has gotten old. Working at a job where they mock him behind his back, life has been hard since he got out of prison. Finally deciding he's had enough, Captain Cold gathers the Rogues together again (Captain Boomerang and Weather Wizard had passed on by now) for one last heist to set them up: robbing Grodd's gold from Gorilla City.
Read to find out what happens... but the story is good.
Overall, I appreciate what DC Black Label is doing. Allowing new ideas to be expressed outside of canon, but not holding back on content. Rogues isn't among the best of DCBL, but it is a great look at a future What If? for our lovable Flash villains.
Recommend.
Read to find out what happens... but the story is good.
Overall, I appreciate what DC Black Label is doing. Allowing new ideas to be expressed outside of canon, but not holding back on content. Rogues isn't among the best of DCBL, but it is a great look at a future What If? for our lovable Flash villains.
Recommend.
July 19, 2023
DC's Black Label does it again...
This is the ULTIMATE Rogues story by a writer who knew how to write them well. As with all good Rogue stories, it's all centered around a heist. Thankfully, it's without any Flash cameos. We get a pure villain...pure Rogues story. Loved it!
Ten years pass and the Rogues have retired and moved on in their lives...or have they. Even past retirement age, Snart won't settle for being average. He has a plan. He just has to reassemble the Rogues (with a few replacements too). What could go wrong? (Cue heist theme music)
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Bonus: This version of Grodd is, arguably, the most accessible version. Lots to be mined
Bonus Bonus: What, no 'Top'?
This is the ULTIMATE Rogues story by a writer who knew how to write them well. As with all good Rogue stories, it's all centered around a heist. Thankfully, it's without any Flash cameos. We get a pure villain...pure Rogues story. Loved it!
Ten years pass and the Rogues have retired and moved on in their lives...or have they. Even past retirement age, Snart won't settle for being average. He has a plan. He just has to reassemble the Rogues (with a few replacements too). What could go wrong? (Cue heist theme music)
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Bonus: This version of Grodd is, arguably, the most accessible version. Lots to be mined
Bonus Bonus: What, no 'Top'?
October 2, 2024
Kind of a perfunctory, by-the-numbers heist comic about how the old Rogues--all washed up, on parole, working in loser jobs--get back together for one last job: stealing the gold stockpiled under Gorilla Grodd's jungle city. This should be pretty much a no-brainer, but it isn't all that fun, as things start to go wrong almost immediately. There's a downbeat, Suicide Squad vibe to this. And I don't really think Leomacs was the best artist for Williamson's rather depressing story. His work is too cartoony for the noir vibe this was going for. All that said, it's still worth reading. But a long way from the classic it could or should have been.
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