He comments:

Here are The Rogues as they appear in DC Universe Online. I have only two issues. Why is Piper a villain again and why does Professor Zoom have Zoom’s costume? No answers from the developers on these decisions at this time. But I can tell you that it is so much fun to run around Central City, Metropolis, and Gotham looking for The Rogues.

I haven’t played the game myself, but it looks great — and like great fun!

The Rogues in DC Universe Online (Pictures) is a post from Speed Force.

Hello, Flash fans! I go by the alias Frank Lee Delano, was voted second most likely to run entirely too many blogs (after Rob Kelly,) and I will be your substitute teacher for the day. For the second year in a row, I’m running a complex and lengthy inter-blog crossover between Thanksgiving and Christmas, in part because I’m a sadistic misanthrope who takes his hatred of the holidays out on my unsuspecting fellow bloggers. The theme this year is Mayfairstivus, a make believe holiday where we celebrate the Mayfair Games Incorporated DC Heroes role-playing system and its many releases. A large part of the blame for this type of event falls on the shoulders of The Irredeemable Shag, who brought me into his own crossover, Crisis on Earth-Blog, almost two years ago, and continues to conspire with me on these dirty dealings. Shag was your guest blogger forMayfairstivus – Celebrating Flash in the DC Heroes RPG, and when I volunteered to write a second post while your regularly scheduled Kelson was tending to his newborn son, Shag offered the advice, “I believe his blog is typically on the positive/up-beat side, so I wouldn’t trash Captain Boomerang too much (but that’s just me).” As I believe I already established that I am diabolical and make all my promises through crossed fingers, I now present to you Captains Cold and Boomerang, whom I will surely criticize venomously.

I assume I first became aware of Captain Cold through the Super Friends cartoon show, because that’s just what people of my generation did (see also: mustachioed men wearing mirrored aviators and Lacoste polos with skimpy tennis shorts defending original Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.) As you may or may not be aware, Ape Law* dictates that every super-hero must have an ice-themed villain, so to me Captain Cold was just Mr. Freeze on a budget. It wasn’t until John Ostrander wrote Cold into his first Manhunter script as a loser who loved betting baseball that Leonard Snart felt like he had something unique to contribute to the field, as more of a blue collar snow blower. Of course, now Snart is a fan favorite, after taking on a Golden Age attitude toward casual homicide. If you’re going to flash freeze some dope in the equivalent of liquid nitrogen, you might as well indulge the bloodlust of Rome by punching the schmuck’s head into a pink-tinged flurry, right? So cool, Captain Cold is now the baddest gangsta to wear a fur-lined hoodie.

For all this, Captain Cold still didn’t get a character card of his own out of the 1989 Mayfair box set. The only member of the Flash’s Rogues Gallery so honored was Captain Boomerang, not that the set was exactly flush with villains. Boomerang only made the cut because the cards focused heavily on protagonists from solo and team books being published in ’89, one of which featured our own George “Digger” Harkness. Captain Boomerang was so clearly out of step with the times in his festive blue tunic with the little white boomerangs all over it, billowy scarf, and dainty little garrison cap on top. DC had already killed off the Barry Allen Flash, so you could expect to wring some tension out of positioning one of his villains as a member of their new Suicide Squad, infamous for its high cast member mortality rate. A funny thing happened on the way to the stunt death, though. Digger turned out to be Australian, which was very hip in the ’80s, and he was a lovable scumbag, which endeared him to readers. Once again, it was writer John Ostrander who deftly put forth the case that Captain Boomerang suffered from what I like to call Batroc Syndrome.

You see, Batroc the Leaper is the master of savate, a form of kickboxing. Batroc has employed his French foot boxing across the faces of such luminaries as the Punisher, Hawkeye and the Tarantula, but his toes of fury are typically directed as Captain America, which the Star-Spangled Avenger dismisses like day old Freedom Fries. Captain Boomerang used an 18th century Aboriginal flying tool to rob banks and to fling at a man who could run at supersonic speeds. That couldn’t possibly end well. Yet, for performing as well as he did against the Flash, you just know Digger could have killed the heck out of Green Arrow if he’d set up shop in Star City instead of Central. That takes moxie. Captain Boomerang even has it all over Batroc, because instead of speaking in a farcical Français, he’s got a guttural Aussie accent, which makes everything sound dirty. Just to spike the ball, instead of paraphrasing cheesy Crocodile Dundee lines, Captain Boomerang would use his weapon of choice to do jacked-up stuff like chop people’s fingers off. I guess what I’m trying to say is I can’t suck down the Captain Cold Kool-Aid Fruit Pop because Captain Boomerang already beat him to the punch as the original and authentic stone cold rogue.

If you’d like to role-play them in a fight to determine who’s best, their stats are illustrated above. Captain Boomerang’s remained the same through to the final 1993 Mayfair releases, but Cold saw a bit of volatility before the end of the game’s life. Snart gained a point each of Mind and Thief, but lost a point of Weaponry and two in Initiative. Captain Cold lost Lightning Reflexes as a skill, and his change in occupation from criminal to bounty hunter cost him a point of wealth. His Cold Gun developed an additional point of Body and the power of Suspension to the tune of 13.

If you enjoyed this post, I try to be just as snarky on my other blogs. If you didn’t enjoy this post, there are a bunch of other bloggers involved in the Mayfairstivus crossover with hearts that are not at least two sizes too small. To make it easy for you, I’ve divided up the festival table to help you pick at your specific buffet items of interest…

The Anti-Didio League of America:

• 1989 Jericho Mayfair Games Card

The Aquaman Shrine:

• Mayfairstivus: Aquaman – 1989

Being Carter Hall:

• Mayfairstivus 2010: Hawkman!

BOO$TERRIFIC:

• Booster Gold Character Card
• A Mayfairstivus for the Rest of Us! Day 2
• Mayfairstivus Day 3 – Booster Gold Gaming Modules
• A Mayfairstivus for the Rest of Us! Day 6 – Skeets
• A Mayfairstivus for the Rest of Us! Day 7
• Mayfairstivus Day 8 & Out: The Time Sphere

Comics Make Me Happy!

• The Question 1989 Mayfair RPG Game Card
• Batman 1989 Mayfair RPG Game Card

The Continuity Blog:

• 1989 Plastic Man Mayfair Games Card

DC Bloodlines 1989 Character Cards:

• Blackhawk
• Bronze Tiger
• Captain Marvel
• John Constantine- Hellblazer
• Jonah Hex
• The Huntress
• Power Girl
• Sergeant Rock

Diana Prince as The New Wonder Woman 1989 Character Cards:

• The Cheetah
• Troia
• Wonder Woman

Doom Patrol: My Greatest Adventure #80:

• Mayfairstivus Changeling

Firestorm Fan:

• Remembering the Game
• Mayfairstivus Day 2 – Firestorm
• Mayfairstivus Day 3 – Elemental Firestorm
• Mayfairstivus Day 6 – An Element of Danger Module
• Mayfairstivus Day 7 – The New Thinker and Brimstone
• Mayfairstivus Day 8 – Weasel, Mindboggler, Stalnoivolk and Zastrow

Girls Gone Geek:

• Get Your Mayfairstivus On with Black Canary, Big Barda & Starfire
• Our Mayfairstivus Finale with Catwoman, Raven & Black Adam

The Idol-Head of Diabolu:

• Darkseid the Destroyer Character Card
• Despero’s 1990 The Justice League Sourcebook Entry
• Despero in the Who’s Who in the DC Universe Role-Playing Supplement 1
• 1989 Manhunter (Mark Shaw) Character Card
• 1989 Martian Manhunter Character Card
• 1989 The Sandman Character Card

The Indigo Tribe:

• Mayfairstivus Green Lantern Corps

Justice League Detroit:

• 1989 Elongated Man Character Card
• Dale Gunn in the 1990 Justice League Sourcebook
• Vibe – Deceased in the 1990 Mayfair Games DC Heroes The Justice League Sourcebook
• 1989 Vixen Character Card

Once Upon a Geek:

• DC Heroes RPG
• Mayfairstivus Day 2 – 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Edition
• Mayfairstivus Day 3 – Doctor Fate
• Mayfairstivus Day 6 – Animal Man
• Mayfairstivus Day 7 – Starman (Will Payton)

Power of the Atom:

• 1989 The Atom Character Card
• 1989 Captain Atom Character Card
• 1989 Doctor Light Character Card
• 1990 The Atlas of the DC Universe: Ivy Town, Connecticut

Siskoid’s Blog of Geekery:

• Reign of the Supermen #49: DC Heroes’ Supermen

Speed Force:

• Celebrating The Flash in the DC Heroes RPG

Supergirl Comic Box Commentary:

• Celebrating The Mayfair DC Heroes Role Playing Game
• Mayfairstivus Post 2: Supergirl In The DC Heroes Game (featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes)
• Mayfairstivus Post 3: Brainy And More Supergirl Stuff

Also, you might want to try Subject: Suicide Squad [Task Force X], which offers regular Captain Boomerang coverage!

*Okay, maybe that was a bit random and overly long, but it’s apes in the old west and you’re Flash fans. It seemed appropriate.

Mayfairstivus – Captains Cold & Boomerang in the 1989 DC Heroes RPG is a post from Speed Force.

Dear Speed Force readers,

Welcome to Mayfairstivus! That’s right, it’s time once again for the beloved annual celebration of Mayfair Games’ DC Heroes Role-Playing Game! This time honored tradition dates back to 1985 when the first edition of this role-playing game was released … or maybe this is a fake holiday some comic book bloggers just cooked up as an excuse to post related content from Mayfair’s long-running DC Heroes line.

Today we’ll look at a few different Flash entries from the role-playing game (RPG) and learn how the first box set shattered my fragile little comic reader world.

I’m not sure if you’ve ever played Mayfair’s DC Heroes Role-Playing Game, but I loved it! I purchased all three editions as they came out; 1985, 1989, and 1993. If you’ve ever role-played superhero games, then I’m sure you feel there was a “magical” system for you. One that sticks out in your memory as a fantastic game system. Mayfair is that system for me! It wasn’t the game mechanics that I loved, it was more about the products and accessories.

DC HEROES ROLE-PLAYING GAME – FIRST EDITION – 1985

One of the coolest items included in the DC Heroes box sets were the character cards. Below you’ll find the Flash character card (front and back) included in the 1985 edition of the DC Heroes RPG. Look at that gorgeous Barry Allen drawing! I’m fairly certain this art is by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez.

Also included in the first edition were small character tokens to be used on maps and such. Below is the token for the Flash. How cool is this?!?!

HOW THE DC HEROES RPG SHATTERED MY COMIC BOOK BELIEFS

In 1985, I was 13 years old and considered myself to be a pretty big DC fan. I’d seen all the Super Friends cartoons and was collecting a few titles including JLA and Firestorm. When you’re 13, that level of involvement represents real dedication! Meanwhile, DC Comics was publishing the ground-breaking mini-series Crisis on Infinite Earths. I wasn’t collecting Crisis just yet, but had a pretty good idea I should be.

Sometime in September, I picked up Flash #350 from a local convenience store. The cover date said October 1985, but titles were always released far before their cover date. I’d had my eye on it for a while, so when I’d finally saved up $1.25 I grabbed the shelf-worn copy. I loved it! I didn’t really understand the entire back story, but that made it all the more interesting to me. I dug it so much, I was planning to get more Flash comics when I had the chance.

Then in October, my mother took me to a local comic book store. I had some birthday money saved up, so I splurged and bought the first edition of Mayfair’s DC Heroes Role-Playing Game. I’m not sure the exact release date of the RPG, but I believe it was during the late summer of 1985.

The first edition box set came with a few different books. The Gamemaster’s Manual included about 15 pages of statistics on different characters. I devoured this stuff! I couldn’t read the entries fast enough. I was on a knowledge quest to learn everything I could about each hero and villain in the DC universe.

Then I came across the entry for the Flash. Hooray! The fastest man alive was one of my new favorite characters. I dove right in learning all his powers and skills. Then I read his biography. And like an unexpected sucker punch, the last line of his biography left me reeling…

WHAT?!?! “Barry Allen died as a result of the Crisis on Infinite Earths.” Again, WHAT?!?! It was staring at me from the page, tacked on to Flash’s origin like an afterthought. How is this possible? How could one of my new favorite heroes have died? Superheroes can’t die… can they?

And with that, my fragile little comic book world was shattered. Comic book heroes could die. Wow. That changed everything. Not surprisingly I ran right out and bought whatever issues of Crisis on Infinite Earths I could find. When I read Crisis #8, it was heart-breaking.

Now it’s possible I’ve got my months mixed up. At the time I was pretty sure the DC Heroes RPG was released prior to Crisis on Infinite Earths #8, thus spoiling a major plot point for DC. Nowadays as I recall the sequence and timing of events, I’m pretty confident that Crisis #8 came out first. Regardless, it was a brutal way to find out about the last race for the fastest man alive.

DC HEROES ROLE-PLAYING GAME – SECOND EDITION – 1989

The year 1989 brought a second edition for the DC Heroes RPG. Along with this new edition came new character cards! This time out we were treated to the stats for Wally West as the Flash. Below you’ll find the Flash character card (front and back) included in the 1989 edition of the DC Heroes RPG.

While Flash was included in the 1993 edition of the DC Heroes RPG, there were no character cards. Instead of a box set, Mayfair opted to only produce a softcover book for the third edition.

Some eagle-eyed readers may notice that Barry Allen’s Superspeed listed above is ranked at 28, whereas Wally West’s Superspeed was only ranked at 10. Keep in mind, this was not too long after Crisis on Infinite Earths. Wally was yet to discover his connection to the Speed Force. By the time the third edition of the RPG was published in 1993, Barry had been reassessed to Superspeed of 25 and Wally had been upgraded to Superspeed 14. If the game had continued, I’m sure we’d have seen Wally’s Superspeed surpass Barry’s as time went by.

MAYFAIRSTIVUS

There are a few different blogs participating in Mayfairstivus over the next week, so check the links below for more festive activities (with apologies to the Costanza family). Many thanks go out to mastermind Frank Lee Delano (of the blogs: Martian Manhunter: Idol-Head of Diabolu, Justice League Detroit, Atom: Power of the Atom, Wonder Woman: Diana Prince, DC Bloodlines, and …nurgh…) for suggesting this celebration! Thanks, Frank!

• The Anti-Didio League of America
• The Aquaman Shrine
• Booster Gold: BOO$TERRIFIC
• Comics Make Me Happy!
• The Continuity Blog
• DC Bloodlines
• Diana Prince as The New Wonder Woman
• Doom Patrol: My Greatest Adventure #80
• Firestorm Fan
• Flash: Speed Force
• Girls Gone Geek
• Green Lantern: The Indigo Tribe
• Hawkman: Being Carter Hall
• Justice League Detroit
• Martian Manhunter: The Idol-Head of Diabolu
• Once Upon a Geek
• Power of the Atom
• Subject: The Suicide Squad (Task Force X)
• Supergirl Comic Box Commentary

Finally, here are a few previously published Mayfair-related posts by fellow bloggers worth checking out too!

• Firestorm’s stats from Mayfair’s Who’s Who supplement – FIRESTORM FAN
• Firehawk’s stats from Mayfair’s Who’s Who supplement – FIRESTORM FAN
• Killer Frost’s stats from the 1989 edition of DC Heroes – FIRESTORM FAN
• Blue Devil’s stats from Mayfair’s Who’s Who supplement – ONCE UPON A GEEK
• Watchmen’s stats from the Mayfair module Who Watches the Watchmen? – ONCE UPON A GEEK
• Superman characters from the 1985 & 1989 DC Heroes editions – FORTRESS OF BAILEYTUDE
• Aquaman’s stats from the 1985 DC Heroes edition – THE AQUAMAN SHRINE
• Aquaman’s stats from the 1993 DC Heroes edition – THE AQUAMAN SHRINE
• Deathstroke the Terminator’s stats from the 1993 DC Heroes edition – POWER OF THE ATOM
• Steel’s stats from the 1993 DC Heroes edition – DC BLOODLINES
• Wonder Woman’s stats from the 1993 DC Heroes edition – WONDER WOMAN: DIANA PRINCE
• Martian Manhunter’s stats from the 1993 DC Heroes edition – IDOL-HEAD OF DIABOLU
• Batman’s stats from the 1993 DC Heroes edition – JUSTICE LEAGUE DETROIT
• Atlas of the DC Universe – IDOL-HEAD OF DIABOLU
• 1985 Grenadier Models JLA & Adversaries Miniatures – … NURGH …
• Martian Manhunter 1985 Grenadier JLA & Adversaries Miniature – IDOL-HEAD OF DIABOLU
• Commentary on a DC Comics house ad for the Mayfair RPG – NURGH …
• Another DC Comics house ad for the Mayfair game featuring the Teen Titans – … NURGH …
• Siskoid’s collection of home made stats – DC HEROES – SISKOID’S COLLECTION

If you were a fan of Mayfair’s DC Heroes RPG, be sure to speak up in the comments!

Mayfairstivus – Celebrating Flash in the DC Heroes RPG is a post from Speed Force.

CBR has some additional screenshots. Update: Newsarama has a liveblog of the panel.

New DCU Online Trailer from NYCC is a post from Speed Force.

Once Upon a Geek can’t wait for the upcoming DC Adventures RPG.

Multiversity Comics casts the Teen Titans

The Beat finds that Comic-Con brings money into San Diego after all. Who knew? Oh, right, we did: the ones spending it!

4thletter! looks at Flash and Batman in Final Crisis: “Everything about the Flash, any of them, in Final Crisis is dead on…”

Comics Worth Reading reviews Wednesday Comics.

Speed Reading is a post from Speed Force.

In related news, IGN has posted some new screenshots from the upcoming Batman: TBATB video game…including one featuring Captain Cold, Weather Wizard, and Heat Wave! (via The Rogues Kick Ass)

Batman Bits: Rogues in the Game & New Episodes in July is a post from Speed Force.

The video highlights not just running fast, but running up buildings, running upside-down on the ceiling, and special combat moves like whirlwinds.

If it doesn’t work here, or you want to watch it at a different size, you can watch it at YouTube. (Found via ComicBook Movie, though I couldn’t get the video to play there.)

Judging by the comments on yesterday’s Flash #3 variant cover, I should probably mention that this game has been in the works for quite a while. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Flash shown above was designed at a time when Wally West was still the main version of the character.

DCUO Super-Speed Video – Featuring the Flash! is a post from Speed Force.

Remember that Flash video game that was cancelled a few months ago? The Flash video game that was was covered by Kelson back in September and October of last year? Well I mentioned I was randomly interested in Kid Flash costume variations and I stumbled upon a nifty one in google images that rocked my socks off:

Taking a closer look around the site I found a few more:

And a nice Pied Piper:

Turns out these were modeled by Helen Rusinoff for the cancelled Flash video game. The costumes were designed by Roger Robinson who was featured in the previous Flash video game article Kelson posted. There were a few pictures that I didn’t have room to show but you can find those at her website.

I emailed Helen about showcasing the pictures on Speedforce.org and she emailed me back promptly. Not only did she give me permission to repost her work, but she also pointed me in the direction of Roger Robinson yet again. I visited his website and didn’t really find anything new to report. Wandering around that site however I came across another blog, where I found these pictures:

You can find a few more at Roger Robinson’s other website.

Seeing that we could have had Kid Flash, and Jesse Quick in this game makes me downright depressed. I wonder if there were any cool multi-player modes that they might have had planned using the various members of The Flash Family? The Flash meets Sonic Adventure 2 Battle? That wouldn’t have been a bad thing. I also wonder if they had any plans to have alternate costumes. That was a very nice touch in Justice League Heroes, which included Jay Garrick and Walter West as alternate uniforms for Wally. Too bad the game was so dang mediocre.

Until they find a way to either bring this back from the dead or create another one I guess I’m stuck playing this:

Actually Justice League Heroes: The Flash isn’t bad. I preordered it when it was first announced and purchased a Gameboy Advance SP just to play it. I now have it on my PSP as well and have beaten it many, many times. A lot of fun to play on the go(although I take Bart’s advice and don’t use my “playtendo” while running).

I hope you all enjoyed a deeper glimpse into the game that could have been. The potential was definitely there for a good, solid, fun game to play. Here is hoping they decide to create another one sometime down the road.

-Devin “The Flash” Johnson

Remember that Flash Video Game that was cancelled about a year ago… is a post from Speed Force.

The name comes from a 12-part miniseries that DC Comics produced in the 1980s, in which each issue had a new creative team that had to pick up from where the previous team left off, round-robin style. This DC Challenge is a set of games, puzzles and trivia questions linked across nearly two dozen super-hero blogs. Speed Force isn’t involved this time, but the Flash is well-represented by Crimson Lightning.

So, step up to the DC Challenge with The Flash at Crimson Lightning, or any of these characters:

• The Aquaman Shrine
• The Atom: Tiny Titan
• Hawkman/Hawkwoman at Being Carter Hall
• Metal Men at Comics Make Me Happy
• Flash at Crimson Lightning
• Green Arrow at Dispatches from the Arrow Cave
• Black Lightning and Unknown Soldier at El Jacone’s Comic Book Bunker
• Firestorm Fan
• Black Canary at Girls Gone Geek and Wonder Woman at Girls Gone Geek
• I Am The Phantom Stranger
• Martian Manhunter at The Idol-Head of Diabolu
• Elongated Man and Zatanna at Justice League Detroit
• Captain Comet at …nurgh…
• Doctor Fate at Once Upon a Geek
• Mister Miracle at random picture day
• Adam Strange at Reilly2040’s Blog
• Supergirl Comic Box Commentary
• Sgt. Rock at when is evil cool?
• Batgirl at The Anti-Didio League of America
• Plastic Man at The Continuity Blog
• General support from Toyriffic

Can you solve it?

Can You Solve the DC Challenge? is a post from Speed Force.

Fortress of Baileytude starts JSA Week by declaring that Jay Garrick is the Man.

Once Upon a Geek looks back at a Justice League Monopoly board game from 1999.

For the ladies: A Comic Blog starts off their Top 10 Sexiest Comic Guys list with Wally West.

Joey Cavalieri talks about the Battle of the Bulge and Brave and the Bold #28, this week’s J. Michael Straczynski/Jesus Saiz team-up between the Flash and the Blackhawks. IGN reviews the issue.

Billy Tucci talks about his Flash/Superman race in this week’s DC Universe Halloween Special.

Dan Didio talks about legacies and characters growing up in his latest 10 Answers column.

Speed Reading: B&B, JLA Monopoly, and More is a post from Speed Force.