The Flash Season 4 Blu-Ray Review

Before the new season of The Flash debuts October 9, featuring more adventures with Ralph Dibny (Hartley Sawyer) as part of the team, you can relive the season where we met him on DVD and Blu-Ray.

I purchased a Blu-Ray copy, so the following comments are based on that. There is a DVD edition that uses five discs instead of the Blu-Ray's four. The discs' content should be the same, just presented in standard definition. The Blu-Ray contains a code to redeem for the Ultraviolet digital copy of the twenty-three episodes of Season 4. The DVD edition does not. (Note that certain retailers may have arranged to sell a digital copy with the DVD, and that used copies might not contain valid codes. My comments are on the general release versions.)

Season 4 of The Flash consists of twenty-three episodes pitting Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and his team against Clifford DeVoe, aka the Thinker (Neil Sandilands). A busload of metahumans was created when the team released Barry from the Speed Force, and it seems DeVoe was manipulating the events. As Team Flash learns more about DeVoe's machinations, they realize everything seems to be going according to his plans. Can they get a step ahead before his ultimate goals are achieved?

Bringing additional humor and even heart to the season is Ralph Dibny, one of the newly created metahumans with the power to reshape his body by stretching or altering his appearance. Beginning as a down on his luck and morally questionable private eye, Team Flash helps Ralph become the heroic Elongated Man over the season.

A bonus to this season is Crisis on Earth-X, a crossover event between The Flash and its sister shows Arrow, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow. The four episodes form one narrative as the heroes of the four shows (with a saddening lack of Ralph) gather to attend Barry and Iris' (Candice Patton) wedding, which is crashed by Nazis from Earth-X, an alternate world in which they won World War II and moved forward to world domination. What do they want with Earth-1? All of the episodes of the crossover are included on Disc 2 of the Blu-Ray set. (The digital copy only contains the third episode, which was The Flash's episode. Episode 1 was an episode of Supergirl, Episode 2 was Arrow, and the finale was part of Legends of Tomorrow.)

To achieve 26 episodes on four discs, the first and third discs have seven episodes, the others have six. The bonus features are a little lighter than the previous seasons. Regardless of the extra episodes, the video and audio quality doesn't take a noticeable hit. For clarification, if I refer to an episode, it is the number given to it in the set's packaging, which after episode 7 is different from proper episode listings of the season due to the inclusion of the Crisis on Earth-X episodes.

Onto the bonus features! Eight episodes across the discs contain deleted scenes, which can be accessed via a scissors icon next to the episodes in the episode lists, or via the special features menu. There aren't many that are very notable. Some are fun, though. The best one is likely from episode 17 in which Barry and Iris share a loving moment over burnt toast.

The downside to the deleted scenes is that some "Stretched" scenes featuring Ralph were shown along with episodes 6, 7 and 12. These doubled as advertisements for the Microsoft Surface, showing Team Flash using the device, but they did play into the narrative of the episode. In addition, a humorous deleted scene for episode 12 that also featured Ralph (which Hartley Sawyer said was his favorite scene to film) was released online. None of these scenes are on the discs.

Disc 1 also features the gag reel, which is always fun as the main cast of The Flash are hilarious goofballs when left to their own devices, and Hartley is seen fitting in quite well.

Disc 2 has a roundtable with the executive producers of The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow discussing the crossover, running for about 41 minutes.

Disc 3 features a spotlight on the Elongated Man, using some animated comic book artwork and clips from the show around interviews from the creative team on the show (no cast members, not even Hartley, are included), discussing their approach to adapting the character for the show and even hinting at some of their future plans, mentioning clearly that they do intend to bring Sue onto the show (and also mentioning that some elements from Identity Crisis do figure into the long-term plans). Also included is a spotlight on Amunet Black with actress Katee Sackhoff and two writers, discussing how they brought the character of Blacksmith to the show.

Disc 4 features a spotlight on the character of Clifford DeVoe, and a highlights reel of DC TV panels at San Diego Comic Con 2017.

The set is packaged in a 15mm wide (when it comes to the spine) Viva Elite Blu-Ray case. The discs are placed on two dual-sided swinging platters inside. Also inside is the code for the digital copy and a fold out leaflet detailing the episodes, their original airdates and which discs the bonus episodes are on. The case comes in a slipbox with the same artwork on the case artwork on it. The package looks quite handsome and is in uniform with previous Blu-Ray releases of the series' seasons.

The Flash continues the issue of not including online video extensions of the show on its home media releases, something it has shared with its fellow DC TV shows. Still, that content is currently still out there and easy to find with a little searching. The actual episodes of the season are present, accounted for, looking and sounding great, along with subtitles for the deaf or hard of hearing (or if you just want to be sure what they said). Plus, the rest of Crisis on Earth-X is included so you can see Barry and Iris' wedding along with the rest of the series. And while the deleted scenes don't amount to much, the other bonuses are no slouches, especially the gag reel.

If you're a fan of the show who enjoys rewatching it, getting Season 4 is a no brainer. For Elongated Man fans, this is the debut of Ralph Dibny in live action, so even though he's only in half of the episodes on this set, that should make adding it to your collection worth considering.

Case of the 20 Grand Payoff

 Another week, another blog!

"Case of the 20 Grand Pay-Off" first appeared in Detective Comics #337 with a cover date of March 1965. It was written by Gardner Fox with pencils by Carmine Infantino, inking by Sid Greene and Julius Schwartz credited as editor. (Given the last couple stories, I'm beginning to think Julius didn't edit much.)  Comixology has this issue, and it's on DC Universe. Otherwise, this story has only been reprinted in Showcase Presents The Elongated Man.

Over in the Batman story, Batman and Robin were dealing with a dethawed prehistoric man. The letters page is actually abuzz with love for Ralph's adventures. "The Infantino-Greene combo is performing wonders in this strip," wrote Doug Potter. "The Elongated Man is the most promising 'new' character that DC has," said Guy H. Lillian III. Mike Fredreich enthuses "Elongated Man seems to get better and better with each story" while offering the criticism that the art of "The Robbery That Never Happened!" was better than the story.

The splash page looks pretty fun, with Ralph doing "calisthenics" and stretching his knees to knock out some mobsters. The text teases him ditching Sue for another woman, so a little odd that the art doesn't feature Sue at all. Looking at the splash page again after reading the story, it's rather underwhelming.

Sue's trying to find Ralph as they board a plane, and seemingly, boys and girls, this is how you could actually board a plane in the 1960s. How times have changed.

Sue finally spots Ralph boarding with another woman who looks a lot like her. When she confronts Ralph on the plane, he denies knowing her. The woman Ralph is with claims to be the real Sue. The actual Sue is understandably quite upset.

Okay, some notes on the art. Sue still has her Shirley MacLaine-inspired hairdo and her fashion sense is clearly very contemporary. For 1965, of course.

Here, I can see where the claim that Infantino used Dick Van Dyke as reference for Ralph came from. However, despite the claim appearing in Rags Morales' comments on his work for Identity Crisis, it doesn't seem to be true. I actually wondered about this claim and wrote to Brian Cronin of Comic Book Legends Revealed at CBR.com. He responded swiftly with a good debunk.

Both Ralph and Sue debuted before the Dick Van Dyke Show did, so I'm going to go with a solid "no" on that one. It's a good one, though, for a legend! Thanks!

Sue is very suspicious and even her nose twitches a little as she thinks about how something's up. I think it's adorable that non-powered Sue has picked up her husband's nose-twitching.

As Ralph's plane descends, he instructs the Sue with him to get ready. She replies that she has the gun in her handbag. Oh, the things you could say and bring on a plane in the 60s...

While walking across the tarmac (once again, you'd never get away with this today), "Sue" fires a gun, drawing fire on them from three concealed gunmen.

The next page sees Ralph switching into his costume and "Sue" taking cover. He uses his powers to sneak around and finds one of the gun men and knocks him out cold. He draws the attention of a second, who of course stops to say "Here's where you go blam!"

The thing I am most impressed by in the art on the page I'm showing is the fake Sue firing her gun through her purse. It just makes it a little sad that it's not the actual Sue doing it.

The only thing we see Ralph elongating on the next page is his neck. Presumably he elongates his arm as well. It's pretty fun, but Ralph's face is very intent. He might have fun, but he takes his job as a superhero very seriously, and Infantino conveys that very well.

Ralph doesn't dodge a bullet, but instead wrecks the gunman's aim by stretching his finger, then walloping him with two crates.

Ralph finally takes out a third gunman by grabbing his feet and knocking him out on the pavement.

You know, while I guess if these guys really didn't want to get seriously injured, maybe don't do crime, I really gotta think that getting knocked unconscious by Ralph really can't be good. That might actually be concussion.

This page really just shows off more Infantino's fun drawing Ralph and all this action.

On the next page, Ralph has "Sue" (making her final appearance) take the last two gunmen away, leaving the first behind. He says he needs to get evidence against the syndicate leader.

The first gunman gets up and figures the cops got his partners and hopes they got Ralph first. As he drives away, he realizes Ralph might have stowed away in his car, so he checks but can't find the hero "under the car or under the hood, not in the trunk or under the seat cushion!" So he figures he can call the boss, "Big" Jackson. His thoughts confirm that he and his friends were hired to ambush and kill Ralph. He calls "Big" from a phone booth. "Big" says that he heard Ralph was killed on the radio. They agree to meet at Dawson Woods for a payoff of twenty thousand dollars.

So, if you haven't figured out the story yet, Ralph is assisting the police in breaking up a crime syndicate. Gotta admit, that's pretty cool. But where is he?

Ralph hid inside the tire! And he hid a miniature camera under the hubcap so he could photograph "Big" meeting with the gunman.

It's been claimed that Ralph can't stretch himself too thin or else his blood can't flow and he'll pass out. Right now, that hasn't been established. And in any case, what Ralph's powers can do is usually flexible depending on the writer and artist.

As good as Infantino draws it, in the first panel of Ralph coming out of the tire, Ralph's head looks really tiny. Not sure how that would've happened.

Ralph trails the gunman and witnesses the meet up and photographs it. The he moves to capture them with a sock to the jaw for the first two, then extending his knees to knock out the other two. On the next page, he again punches the first two as they begin to get up and draw their weapons.

I can totally buy the extended arms in Infantino's work here. The extended knees, however, just make me think the only explanation is that Ralph is showing off.

Ralph also cracks a few lines here, paraphrasing Mark Twain in "The report of my death was greatly exaggerated." When he shows off with his knees, he calls it a "kneesy capture." And when the first two guys he clobbers go down with a "THONK!" and a "THWAKK!", he comments "What beautiful sound effects!" Is that Ralph trying to break the fourth wall?

Not the most exciting or visually stunning capture we've seen Ralph make, but it's well done regardless.

The next day, Ralph meets Sue with a gift to apologize for the business with the false Sue. She informs him that she already knows, having figured it out and gotten some information from the police. In fact, the false Sue was a policewoman named Susan Johnson.

Sue says, "You didn't let me in on your plan because you knew I'd never let anyone go into danger in my place!" This doesn't sit well with me. Ralph should have told his wife. He should have let her choose, possibly travel with him disguised as someone else. While it's admirable that Ralph wanted to keep her safe, denying her a choice in the matter is the issue. While it's a good intention, it's also sexist. They really aren't doing well by Sue.

There could have been a really interesting story by having Ralph not in league with the police, he and Sue get fired at after debarking their plane, both of them getting out of harm's way. Ralph knocks out the three gunmen, then the police arrive on the scene and inform Ralph that they're hired guns by "Big" to take Ralph out. Ralph then works with the police, and the story could go as written, ending with Ralph and Sue having a conversation about what it means to be a superhero with no secret identity and what it means for the spouse of that hero. It wouldn't be so fun, but it would've avoided stripping Sue of her choice and would likely add a serious note to a comical character.

Anyway, the story ends with Sue revealing that as a pre-emptive apology gift from Ralph, she treated herself to a new chinchilla coat worth $20,000. Ralph sheepishly tosses his little, inexpensive gift in the back seat without Sue seeing it at all.

Ralph busting a crime syndicate makes a great story, and I was thinking I'd be hailing this as the best in a while, but reflecting on the treatment of Sue, I think I have to reel my praise in. It doesn't completely ruin the story, and the art is fantastic, but there was certainly potential to do much more.

Next time, they're on a boat.

Who is Joe Letterese?

Joe Letterese seems to be one of the less documented people who have worked in comics. Surprising as some of his work is exceptionally iconic.

Joe was born on June 14, 1917 and raised in the Bronx, New York. A profile that DC ran about him claims he got his start in the comics industry in the late 1930s. According to census records, he worked in the "milk industry." It's not unbelievable that a comics letterer would have another job. He would also serve as a stock clerk in the US army during World War II. DC's profile claims the was an aircraft identification expert and was injured during the bombings of London.

The Comic Vine website credits Letterese with 96 issues, eight of them being reprint books. Sometimes the talent on comics weren't credited, and if they were, it was usually the writer and artist only. It wasn't until later that inkers and letterers would get credit. Yet it's unquestionable that his work was far more expansive. The Grand Comics Database credits him (with some question marks) with over 1200 issues. The DC profile mentions that he worked for Atlas Comics, who would later be rebranded as Marvel. John Romita Sr. mentions that he knew Joe from his time at Atlas and that Joe created logos that Marvel was still using decades later.

While Joe's work in comics is expansive enough that anyone giving a good look at Silver Age titles will have definitely seen his work, it's more likely that people know his work from a different medium. The 1966 Batman TV series had a trademark of showing comic book sound effects onscreen during a fight. But who designed these panels? It was none other than Joe Letterese!

Joe retired from comics in 1981, living his final years in Wycoff, New Jersey with his wife Katherine and his son, Joseph Jr. He died on June 3, 1991.

The House of "Flashy" Traps!

There's a few notes about Detective Comics #336 before we get into the story featuring Ralph. During this time, there was a multi-book crossover story that introduced Zatanna. The first installment was in Hawkman #4, a few months before this issue. The Batman story in this issue of Detective was not originally part of this event, but was later retconned to be part of it. I mention this because one of Ralph's upcoming stories in Detective will be part of the story, and the conclusion saw his first appearance in The Justice League of America. However, while this is coming, Ralph's part came in late 1966, and the finale came in early 1967. We just started 1965, so we got a ways to go.

 "The House of 'Flashy' Traps" debuted in Detective Comics #336 with a cover date of February 1965, and is available on Comixology and DC Universe. It is written by Gardner Fox, drawn by Carmine Infantino, inked by Sid Greene, lettered by Joe Letterese, and edited by Julius Schwartz.

The splash page is interesting here, so I gotta say... that is not a particularly good face on Ralph. So of course, this proved the basis of the cover of Showcase Presents The Elongated Man. Still, seeing Ralph handle this trap by twisting his body around is particularly interesting to the eye, so it's a little mixed. The text to the right is particularly generic for Ralph's stories, and the thought bubble for Ralph proves the real teaser.

Ralph and Sue are back in Central City when they spot none other than the Flash standing by a vacant lot that Mirror Master told him a crime would take place at.

So why is Barry just waiting there? Why not go at a couple minutes to one? Don't you have places to be, Barry? You're a cop!

Ralph is curious and wants to investigate, and Sue lets him go, mentioning that she'll be visiting with Iris West. Back in Ralph's last appearance in The Flash, Iris and Sue spent the day shopping, so their friendship was already established. When Ralph turns back to the house, Barry is gone and there's suddenly a house in the vacant lot.

There's nothing to really complain about art-wise on this page unless you wanted a clearer view of Barry. Sue's looking pretty cute.

The next page shows Ralph investigating the recently-appeared house by stretching himself over the place without stepping onto it. Everything seems fine, so he opens the door and stretches his neck inside. Not spotting anything suspicious, he pulls himself inside. Suddenly, there's a flash of light and a trap door opens underneath him.

Again, Infantino and Sid Greene are doing fine work. Ralph looks great as he spends most of the page stretched out. There is one flaw in the second panel where there's no neckline on Ralph's costume and it's been filled in with color.

The next page says that Ralph stretches his legs down so he doesn't fall, but it shows him grabbing the sides of the trap door, which makes a good amount of sense. The pit underneath the trap door is filled with a sticky goo that Ralph reflects would surely have trapped the Flash. Ralph just barely pulls his feet out of it.

It says he cleans his feet, and Infantino and Greene show him leaving traces of glue behind him in the next panel as he enters a hall.

Electrically charged metal bars come out of the wall, locking into place, barring the way for any ordinary man. BUT RALPH IS NO ORDINARY MAN! The next page shows how Ralph escapes it by carefully stretching his body around the bars.

He says that the Flash wouldn't have been able to escape that trap, but I could think of a way: vibrate through the floor.

Infantino clearly had some fun drawing Ralph snaking through the metal bars here, drawing his elongated limbs curling around everything. This scene, of course, inspired the splash panel. Ralph looks much better here.

Up on the next page, Ralph faces the next trap, a rolling floor ahead of an opening on the wall that leaks deadly gases. Ralph is able to reach up and block it and then peeking through a grille on the wall, spots the operator and manages to stretch his arm through it and smack the operator against the wall, presumably buying him some time to find the room.

We've crossed onto the next page now, and Ralph goes to find the room, and manages to knock the gun out of the operator's hand before he can fire.

Again, nothing really wrong with the art... except it doesn't match with the text at all. The text indicates only one opening on the wall: the one leaking the deadly gas. Infantino and Greene provide two: the gas outlet and the grille. The text says Ralph reaches through the gas outlet and turns off the machine. Yet the art only shows him blocking it, and when he goes to find the operator's room, it shows the gas leaking out again. Apparently, the room with the gas machine was supposed to be the operator's room, which makes some sense.

The only other issue with these pages is that how does the operator not get that the Elongated Man is here?

Ralph knocks out the operator, then walks him to the police station. Along the way, the operator spills everything he knows. Mirror Master used mirror tricks to make the house invisible, and it was—as Ralph suspected—a trap for the Flash. While the Flash would get caught in the house, Mirror Master would be pulling off a few heists in Central City.

At the police station, Ralph runs into the Flash. Barry suspected that the house was a diversion and when Ralph popped up, he decided to go after Mirror Master instead of waiting at the house.

Maybe clue Ralph in next time, Barry! He could've died! Gosh, Barry is the worst. On the final page, he explains he knew Ralph would prefer to figure it all out for himself, which Ralph agrees, but come on. Ralph dealt with a deadly glue trap, deadly electric traps, and a deadly gas trap!

The final two panels see the double date with Ralph and Sue and Barry and Iris as they go to an underground restaurant.

Aside from Barry again being the worst and major disconnects between text and art, this was a pretty good story, setting up traps for one superhero and having another face them and foil them. Still, it feels like it's been awhile since we got an honest to goodness great story.

Next time, Ralph claims to be married to someone else.