The kid from Dayton who grew up to write the book he loved, Cary Bates, and the editor who at the Tony Isabella driveway con said that The Flash was the book that influenced him the most as a youth, Mike Barr, both look fondly back to the Flash’s Silver era for their inspiration. As we’ve seen way back at the beginning of this blog thread, the Flash strapped to a boomerang and being launched into space was about as an iconic an image from that era as there was, and here it is again two decades down the road on the cover of issue #311. This time, however, he’s being launched through time by Colonel Computron to be marooned in the past.
After the attack on toy magnet (he’s called a toy magnet because he’s attracted to toys) W.W.Wiggins in the previous issue by Colonel Computron, the Flash appoints himself as a bodyguard to ol’ W.W., or at least a bodyguard who will check in on him periodically. However, during the Flash’s absence, Captain Boomerang checks in on Willard instead and tells him of the plan he and Colonel Computron have cooked up, mainly that CC will help Boomerang get rid of the Flash and the good bad Captain will help Computron get rid of Wiggins.
As this point there’s the briefest of sidesteps and Barry welcomes Fiona home from a vacation only to find her in a jealous snit after seeing a photo of Barry and Daphne Dean in a movie magazine. That’s all we get for the moment, but I’m sure there’s more to come on that front. But as Fiona huffs off, Barry hears a radio report that there’s a giant boomerang in Fordam Square. When he arrives there as the Flash he’s stunned to find a giant techno looking boomerang, and, in his moment of hesitation, he’s zapped by Computron, who then ko’s Captain Boomerang as well and launches both of them through time.
The boomerang shoots back through time with ride ending a couple of centuries in the past over the Pacific Ocean. Rather outrageously, the boomerang lands on a pirate ship allowing us to have several pages of the Scarlet Speedster and Captain Boomerang declaring a truce to battle and defeat the pirates. Then the Flash creates the proper vibrations to send the pair back to the present. Along the way, to pass the time I guess, Boomerang confesses that before Computron double crossed him he was planning to double cross the Colonel to save W.W. Wiggins.
We then cut to the Nurblin family, Basil, Francine and Lena heading out of their apartment for the evening with still no clue as to which one of them is Colonel Computron. One more cut to W.W.Wiggins who in a nice ironic touch for a toy magnet is strapped into an electric chair that’s connected to a video game. If Wiggins loses the game, he’ll get fried. But he doesn’t because, just after Computron delivers a speech about how Wiggins was worse than Scrooge in the way he treated his employees, the Flash and Captain Boomerang break up the party saving Wiggins. Colonel Computron escapes and, the truce at an end, the Flash turns boomerang over to the police. Everything closes with the Nurblin family sitting seen to dinner and asking each other how their day went, leaving us still wondering which one of them might be Colonel Computron.
