The issue opens with reporters covering a robbery by the Flash and his attempted capture by the Mirror Master. It appears that this is only one of the recent crimes that the Flash has committed with a series of failed tries by the Mirror Master to bring him in. Iris, naturally, can’t seem to figure out what’s gotten into Barry and she pays a visit to the Flash Museum to have a talk with the curator Dexter Miles who informs her that, because the Flash appears to be batting for the other team now, they plan to close down the Museum.
In a visit with the Mirror Master, he spills a backstory about how he lured the Flash to a trap where he used his mesmerizing mirrors to cause the Flash to think he was a criminal. Later as the Flash shows up the rob the Emerald Expo so does the Mirror Master and an unexpected guest, Heat Wave. Heat wave isn’t buying any of the Flash bad, Mirror Master good stuff and his actions and reactions help snap the Flash out of his mirror mesmerized spell and he captures the Mirror Master and turns him over to the police. Later we see the Flash taking Heat wave to the Flash Museum where it’s revealed that it was Deter Miles pretending to be Heat Wave in an attempt to help the Flash (and keep the Flash Museum open). He’d borrowed Heat Wave’s outfit and heat gun from the museum exhibits to impersonate the baddie.
All in all, Cary Bates spins a tight and logical little tale, and his use of the Flash cast is a thoughtful and reverential extension of the growing Flash canon. I found it to be one of the more enjoyable of the recent stories, and it continues to show the growth in Cary Bate’s oeuvre. Again, I’d missed it on it’s first go around because in May of 1976 my bride and I were about a month away from moving into the house that we’d just built. A task that tends to suck up a lot of one’s attention, Flashcinado or not.
