Every city needs its heroes and sometimes it gets an unusual one.
What They Say:
FLASH FACT! He loves someone he should not!
The Review:
One of the best parts of alternate timelines is the way you can rework a character while still keeping them somewhat true to who they originally were. In Citizen Cold, a world where we have no Flash, what hero would step up to the pate to help protect Central City? As it turns out, it’s a surprising one in Citizen Cold, better known in the main timeline as Captain Cold, one of the Flashes long running rogues. In this reality, he’s a bit of a harsh and, we’ll say it, cold hero who does right by the citizens of Central City but mostly out of his own self interest and for the accolades. In his defense of the city, he’s killed other criminals and is in a way more protective of his secret identity than your usual heroes because there’s a sense of shame and guilt over it as well, with the truth of who he is being revealed at the very end. It’s an interesting take on the protector of the city using familiar characters and ideas.
Cold shows just how far he’ll go from the start here as he deals with Mr. Freeze causing trouble in the city, and it in turn gives us a glimpse of other familiar characters. The fight is fairly basic, almost comical in a way with how he handles Freeze, but it’s the arrival of the famous reporter in Iris on the scene that gets him excited, since rescuing her will only help his reputation and increase his endorsements. He’s got little concern for her driver though, one very innocent looking Wally West and in a way little concern for the average citizen either with the way he snaps at them. And I love his corn dog ways with Iris as he tries to get her to go out to dinner with him for an interview, but settles happily for a lunch date instead. Her surprise is amusing as well, though it’s hard to imagine that he’s the first one to try and get that with her.
While Cold is living the high life, there’s plenty that’s about to cause him trouble. The personal side of it is interesting as we get some small revelations about his family, which plays into his hiding his true identity. But we also see that the rogues are out there and getting ready to cause him trouble as well in a much more significant way. Mirror Master has been a favorite of the rogues gallery for years, and seeing him in a real pinch here but still conniving is fun as he’s organizing a group to go after him, even though several of them are in various states of incarceration. It’s a good group that even includes Fallout, though thankfully it looks like for the moment that they aren’t going to include Trixter, though he gets some panel time in this issue. It’s a fun book in how it sets this up, even if some of it isn’t exactly making sense with how some of the villains are being incarcerated. What it does deliver is a fun and almost lighthearted approach but with enough seriousness to ground it.
Digital Notes:
This digital edition of Citizen Cold from Comixology contains the only cover available for it as of this writing with no additional extras.
In Summary:
When it comes to re-imagining villains as heroes, there’s a lot of things you can do with it in how much of their personalities you change and their approach to justice. Some end up just being viewed as heroes while still doing the killing and that’s where Citizen Cold generally lands. He’s admired and lauded by the people who love it when he kills off another villain that’s been threatening them. It earns him endorsements and attention, but there’s only so much that he really wants to get in that area since he has his secrets. With the way he’s taken down villains, it’s not a surprise that some of the rogues are going to work together to end the threat and having that spearheaded by Mirror Master is expected, but the way he has to do it gives it a little extra flavor. This isn’t a standout book, but it has a good feeling to it that left me smiling and enjoying it, even if the real identity reveal didn’t mean anything to me.
Grade: B-
