Identity Crisis #5 - comments and spoilers (cover revealed)

[scaffrey]

no you crazy Modern Age guru.....it's Barry Allen...DUH!

[plitch]

I think you need to re-read "Sex for Dummy's".

Dummy.

[Kieranel]

And, BTW, I think the bad guy is the Mirror Master.

 

I don't. He gets the [!@#%^&^] kicked out of him by Wildcat on the 6th page.

 

I'm leaning more towards the Calculator as the catalyst. The first two attacks were on the spouse of the heroes who humbled him back in 'Tec 468 (Elongated Man and the Atom). That leaves GA, Black Canary, Hawkman and Batman as possible targets.

 

Any increase in interest in Detective 463-468 because of Identity Crisis?

 

I think though that he is being backed/hired by someone with resources and access to information who wants to take it to another level altogether... by hitting Batman and Superman through their loved ones... Lois and Robin (obviously Robin's dad is the prime target in this issue). Wonder Woman may be targetted shortly...

 

I still think Amanda Waller is a strong candidate, but I have more doubts.

 

And I think Digger is going to die in a blaze of glory and that's his funeral taking place in Flash 218.

 

 

I think it's a group of people doing this. With all the high tech gadgetry involved in the security of the two previous victims homes, I would imagine a few experts need to be involved to be able to get through the system.

 

My 2 cents...pence even...

[Kevin Boyd]

There's some speculation that perhaps this is Barry Allen's kid. Barry had a terrible secret that Wally is just learning about. Maybe he had an affair with another hero's wife or girlfriend?

 

We did see that scene where Ralph talked about Sue ignoring Barry and having eyes for him... maybe that didn't last? The Dibnys and the Allens were quite close, perhaps one day, after Iris was "dead" he got a visit from Sue... and, well... she sensed something magnetic about him underneath his sad exterior. Maybe Sue separated from Ralph shortly afterwards and went to "France" for a few months and had a baby in a couple of months - the kid does have super-metabolism! Oh wait as second, that's the plot of ASM 512!

 

Did Golden Glider and Captain Boomerang learn about this and decide to kidnap the kid to use against Barry only to decide not to? Hmmm.....

[Kevin Boyd]

NOTES

 

Also... what about the notes? What if the note to Lois wasn't a threat but a warning?

 

The note to Jack Drake (with the gun) was meant to help him, not hurt him. (Oh yeah, that gun he has is the gun that Tim Drake/Batman was carrying in the future in this week's Teen Titans. Guess he decided to keep it.).

 

CHRONOS?

 

Chronos says he's come back from the future in an earlier issue, even though he's already dead in the past. That seems very "DC", but also rather convenient. Perhaps he's helping the heroes for some reason... or that's not Chronos?

 

Food for thought.

[Bonds25]

I haven't read many new DCs, but am loving this series (just read #5 today). Who is the Calculator, and what are his powers?

[plitch]

2 x 2 = 4

2 x 3 = 6

etc...

[stynxno]

2 x 2 = 4

2 x 3 = 6

etc...

 

[chrisco37]

Just read #5. Another great issue! The note seemed to be of help to Tim's Dad, but maybe it was given to him to kill himself.

 

The teaser for Issue #6 looks like a Batman focused issue. Mybe we find out the murderer's identity in that issue?

 

So many questions. Don't forget about Luthor's costume in the fisrt issue. Was that just a diversion for the readers? Could it be Luthor? Couldn't be the Joker?

What about Brainiac? He would know how to plan something like this. He could figure out the heroes identities. And, being a machine, would the mind wipe work on him as it does the other villains?

 

I really have no clue. Hands down, the series of the year!

[Illiterati-migration]

NOTES

 

Also... what about the notes? What if the note to Lois wasn't a threat but a warning?

 

The note to Jack Drake (with the gun) was meant to help him, not hurt him. (Oh yeah, that gun he has is the gun that Tim Drake/Batman was carrying in the future in this week's Teen Titans. Guess he decided to keep it.).

 

 

Ah, but wasn't the implication from Captain Boomerang's message to HIS son that he (Cap'n) was TRYING to get himself killed after/during the hit on Tim's dad?

 

Why wouldn't he have been the one to leave the note and the gun, considering he was right outside the window all along?

 

And who was Boomerang's kid's mom, anyway? Or better still, who was his DAD?

[Illiterati-migration]

There's some speculation that perhaps this is Barry Allen's kid. Barry had a terrible secret that Wally is just learning about. Maybe he had an affair with another hero's wife or girlfriend?

 

We did see that scene where Ralph talked about Sue ignoring Barry and having eyes for him... maybe that didn't last? The Dibnys and the Allens were quite close, perhaps one day, after Iris was "dead" he got a visit from Sue... and, well... she sensed something magnetic about him underneath his sad exterior. Maybe Sue separated from Ralph shortly afterwards and went to "France" for a few months and had a baby in a couple of months - the kid does have super-metabolism! Oh wait as second, that's the plot of ASM 512!

 

Did Golden Glider and Captain Boomerang learn about this and decide to kidnap the kid to use against Barry only to decide not to? Hmmm.....

 

Barry was the first one on the scene when Sue was attacked the first time... Could he have already been on the way to a secret rendezvous with Sue in space?

[Bonds25]

And better still, who is the Calculator, and what are his powers??

[Kevin Boyd]

He has no powers per se.

 

He used to wear a suit that sort or resembled a calculator. He would punch data into his chest computer and calculate the best way to beat his enemies. He had a thing on his foreheard (sort of resembled Cyclops' visor but was meant to resemble the output line on a calculator) and energy constructs would come out (sort of like Green Lantern's ring).

 

In IC he's given up the stupid outfit and is trying to establish himself as an Oracle-like figure for supervillains.

[Ares]

The note to Jack Drake (with the gun) was meant to help him, not hurt him. (Oh yeah, that gun he has is the gun that Tim Drake/Batman was carrying in the future in this week's Teen Titans. Guess he decided to keep it.).

 

I read the gun he carries is the gun used to kill Thomas and Martha Wayne

[helionaut]

I'm going to have to reread each issue with a close eye for detail. Seems like a lot of hints were dropped in #5 that were intended to ring bells. The detailed rendering of the unique sole of Boomerang's boot looked familiar. And he was drawn pretty bulky, so he may have been the guy waiting behind the door for the Atom's wife. But the guy who killed Sue Dibny used something like Terminator's staff. The guy outside the Drake's apartment I don't think was Boomerang, so who was it? He got a phone call, which seems like Calculator since we always see him when he's on the phone. The Flash wouldn't answer Oracle's call, which is probably the biggest hint.

 

Also, how far away were Batman and Robin? It's like the father said goodbye to Robin, turned around and found the box with the gun, and he called Oracle. Could B&R have gotten seemingly miles away in that time?

 

Oh, and BTW, Firestorm apparently got killed by the Shadowthief. Yeah, stuff happened in this issue.

[Illiterati-migration]

I'm going to have to reread each issue with a close eye for detail. Seems like a lot of hints were dropped in #5 that were intended to ring bells. The detailed rendering of the unique sole of Boomerang's boot looked familiar. And he was drawn pretty bulky, so he may have been the guy waiting behind the door for the Atom's wife. But the guy who killed Sue Dibny used something like Terminator's staff. The guy outside the Drake's apartment I don't think was Boomerang, so who was it? He got a phone call, which seems like Calculator since we always see him when he's on the phone. The Flash wouldn't answer Oracle's call, which is probably the biggest hint.

 

Also, how far away were Batman and Robin? It's like the father said goodbye to Robin, turned around and found the box with the gun, and he called Oracle. Could B&R have gotten seemingly miles away in that time?

 

Oh, and BTW, Firestorm apparently got killed by the Shadowthief. Yeah, stuff happened in this issue.

 

I think "the guy in the tree" was on the phone simply to help establish a link to Boomerang who had left a message for his son on the answering machine before he set out to kill Tim Drake's dad. (That is, he called his son from the tree or something.)

[SpideySense-migration]

Great read. Firestorm went out like Marvel's Jack of Hearts. Robin's father story was also a good read.

[Kevin Boyd]

I really felt as if Firestorm's death was tacked on to Identity Crisis justify the existance of the "new" Firestorm.

 

Based on what we saw in IC5, and what I read in Firestorm #6 - the new Firestorm is really the old Firestorm inhabiting the new guy's body. How long do you think it will be until Ronnie Raymond starts to appear in the new guy's thoughts? I give them 3-6 months TOPS.

 

It gives a future writer a sufficient enough out - simply extract the original Firestorm's "essence" and Ronnie is reborn. Probably will happen when the new Firestorm is cancelled next year.

[SpideySense-migration]

I really felt as if Firestorm's death was tacked on to Identity Crisis justify the existance of the "new" Firestorm.

 

I don't follow the DC Universe and I only picked up this series due to the recommendations of the forum. I just enjoy watching the carnage. Kind of reminds me of Punisher kills the Marvel Universe. My guess is that it is that type of character killing off everyone.

[deathlok]

I really felt as if Firestorm's death was tacked on to Identity Crisis justify the existance of the "new" Firestorm.

 

I don't follow the DC Universe and I only picked up this series due to the recommendations of the forum. I just enjoy watching the carnage. Kind of reminds me of Punisher kills the Marvel Universe. My guess is that it is that type of character killing off everyone.

 

Ronnie's "death" was lame. At least Jack of Heart's death was told in the context of the story. Firestorm died in a flashback sequence told by Superman. It was even more stupid because the Firestorm title has been out for awhile. If Ronnie's death caused the new Firestorm, then the continuity is out of whack.