Where Ralph could fit in James Gunn's DCU (and Plastic Man too!)

 So, hi! I haven't forgotten about this blog, it's just time gets away from me, there's other stuff I want to handle. If I could make blogging and such pay, then maybe I could make sure we had at least weekly updates here.

So, anyway, as I write this, we're waiting for the first release in James Gunn's DCU. The director of Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and DC's The Suicide Squad is serving as the architect of a new movie/TV universe based on DC's superhero properties. Coming up first will be the animated series Creature Commandos and the new Superman film coming next year, currently filming.

Basically, it seems there's a lot to get excited about if these films and series pay off if they prove successful. And relevant to this blog, there's no reason to think we wouldn't see a character like the Elongated Man appear in this new franchise. While the first live action version of Ralph ended his run messily (I understand why they had to let Hartley Sawyer go, I just feel like how they handled it was flawed), the character was popular enough with audiences for there to be buzz about a potential spinoff.

It's already been announced we'll be seeing characters like Mr. Terrific, Metamorpho, Guy Gardner and Hawkgirl in Superman. I'm presuming they're part of the Justice League or Justice Society, or even the group the Terrifics. With characters like these, why not Elongated Man eventually?

Elongated Man was a featured Justice League of America member from the 70s to the 90s before going to Justice League International and Justice League Europe. Eventually, around the late 90s, Plastic Man got featured and why have two members with similar powers featured on the team?

There's definitely room for both in storytelling purposes. Either could be an on call Justice League member or a member seen in group shots, or for one-off stories. They could also appear on other teams.

But what about solo endeavors?

Elongated Man has never carried a comic book outside of being a long-running Detective Comics backup feature and a 4-issue miniseries. Plastic Man has led his own comic book at various times, but lately, not long-running regular titles.

If you wanted to do a solo project around Ralph, the Detective Comics stories provide a good basis for a TV series. Ralph and Sue travel the country, Ralph could be lured by a case or he could find them along the way.  These cases could build into a season-long plot or you could have a big case that takes up the season and go on to another one the next season. The fact that he works with Sue as a husband and wife duo could be a throw back to The Thin Man movie series, also featuring a husband and wife detective team. Plus, the show could introduce new characters to the DCU or have cameos because it can take Ralph and Sue anywhere. This could also be live action as while Ralph does make good use of his powers, he's content looking perfectly ordinary often, so you wouldn't be using CG every minute or so on him.

I couldn't really see Ralph leading a film series unless you did a major case as a movie. I feel like a show, making him a firm piece of the DCU, would be a better use outside of popping up in Justice League films.

 A question would be if they would want the original version of Ralph's powers in which he regularly drinks gingold to trigger his elastic powers, or if they'd want a version akin to The Flash TV series in which Ralph's powers are permanent. I get the idea of shying away from depicting a hero relying on a substance to use their powers as it can get messy and seem a little weird in our addiction-aware society. Still, having Ralph's powers "time out" could have some plot uses.

That said, what about Plastic Man?

I think if you have Plastic Man appear in the DCU, it'd be best if he's in a Justice League project first or a team up. If he takes off with audience, there's potential for a solo film. (It's rumored one's in the works... directed by Darren Aronofsky?) However, I don't see there being more than one solo film.

For a Plastic Man film, I'd open with his origin, set in the 1940s, in which he gets his powers during a heist gone wrong, and then decides to turn over a new leaf. Then jump ahead 80-ish years to present day, and he's jaded at being alive for so long, seeing heroes come and go, getting treated like a joke. He then discovers his son Luke is being led down a life of crime and in trying to save Luke, he has to re-evaluate why he's a hero himself.

If you wanted to do a Plastic Man series, it'd need to be animated. Plastic Man seems to always be experimenting with his powers, seeing what he can make himself into. This would be way too much CG for a TV budget for live action, but in animation, have at it! Probably the series would be low stakes stories, but there's potential for some good stories.

Overall, I feel hopeful that if the DCU takes off with audiences, we could see Elongated Man or Plastic Man appear in some form or another. Just have to support what does come out and hope James Gunn and co-producer Peter Safran don't let us down.

I haven't watched The Snyder Cut. I'm not going to.

Earlier this year, HBO Max released Zack Snyder's Justice League, the long-demanded original director's cut of 2017's Justice League. Snyder had been removed from the project, partly due to a family tragedy, partly due to Warner Brothers losing faith in him after he'd directed 2013's Superman cinematic reboot Man of Steel and 2016's controversial (and under performing) Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The 2017 version was a result of retooling by director Joss Whedon into a studio-mandated 2-hour version, including credits. (Whedon was later revealed to have acted unacceptably with the cast, but that's a different matter.)

The 2017 version is an uneven mix of two directors' styles, but still tells a generally complete story, though lacking character depth, but then as it featured Ben Affleck's Batman and Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman (who had featured in her first solo film earlier that year) recruiting Jason Momoa's Aquaman, Ezra Miller's Flash, and Ray Fisher's Cyborg, and also squeezes in a resurrection of Henry Cavill's Superman, two hours was hardly enough time to tell a meaningful story much less have a lot of character development.

Former director Zack Snyder shortly began teasing how his version differed and also showed off behind the scenes photos on social media, adding fervor to a social media campaign demanding for the release of "the Snyder Cut." And in 2020, Warner Brothers, now owned by AT&T, announced they were allowing Snyder to complete his cut in a 4 hour version to be released on HBO Max, their big company-wide streaming service.

However, the release has come and gone. I haven't watched the Snyder Cut, despite being a subscriber of HBO Max since Day 1. Recently, the release of the Snyder Cut was announced for 4K UHD and standard Blu-Ray in North America. I do not intend to purchase a copy. I own many other DC Comics-based film and television properties on DVD, Blu-Ray and UHD, but I don't own Man of Steel or Batman v Superman. I do own the 2017 version of Justice League, though I haven't watched it since seeing it in the theater. Here's why I'm not checking out Zack Snyder's Justice League.

It's basically the same story as the 2017 version. At twice the length.

I've listened to reviews of the Snyder Cut that break down the story and appreciate that the new version fleshes out many of the then-newcomers to the DC Cinematic Universe: we see more of the lives of Barry Allen and Arthur Curry, and Victor Stone gets a welcome fleshing out of his story and character. That said, while we get more, and it's not unimportant, ultimately the story is an extended and alternate version of the 2017 version. Steppenwolf arrives on Earth to collect the Mother Boxes on a mission for Darkseid, the Justice League forms to prevent him from succeeding, staving off an invasion of Earth from Apokolips. During the course of events, the League uses one of the Mother Boxes to revive Superman after his death in Batman v Superman, who is initially confused about who he is until he remembers, thanks to Lois Lane, and ultimately joins the League in their final battle, giving them a winning edge. Snyder's version offers twice the runtime for the same story.

I'm not saying I wanted the Snyder Cut to be two hours, but Snyder's DC offerings haven't been known for the best pacing. Batman v Superman was two and a half hours, but still had incomplete plot points that were better fleshed out in a home video "Ultimate Edition" that added an extra half hour. Basically, Snyder seems like he could use input from someone who gets that less is more.

It rewards a toxic fanbase.

The "Release the Snyder Cut" social media push at first glance seems to be a remarkable push to get a director's creative version released. That'd generally be fine. However, supporters used the hashtag on just about every DC or Warner Brothers social media post, even people who'd have no say in the matter found themselves with #releasethesnydercut comments. New DC movies seemed to be ignored by these supporters.

With the COVID-19 pandemic and HBO Max needing new content, AT&T decided to make the much-demanded Snyder Cut happen: most of it was already shot, what would need to be shot could be done with skeleton crews, and visual effects and editing could be completed safely.

But were the fans satisfied? No.

A major victim recently has been the upcoming The Batman, yet another reboot of DC's Dark Knight. First were major rumors that director Matt Reeves and star Robert Pattinson were at odds and either were ready to quit. Another rumor was that Pattinson was caught having sex with Catwoman actress Zoe Kravitz in costume. Both of these have been debunked, especially with Pattinson being offered development deals with Warner Brothers. Now there's fan demand to cancel The Batman and instead make a Batman movie starring Ben Affleck. As Affleck only featured as Batman in Snyder's films (and made cameos in 2016's Suicide Squad and 2017's Wonder Woman), it's pretty clear where these fans would've been coming from. Especially with the social media hashtag that replaced #releasethesnydercut: #restorethesnyderverse.

To his credit, Zack Snyder has openly supported DC Comics-based movies continuing without him and is ready to move on to other projects. He even surprised a certain YouTube account with less than inclusive views by speaking out against hatred against Asian-American people while making a guest appearance on their live stream. He seems to be a pretty good guy. Unfortunately, his fans don't seem to be following in his footsteps.

It teases a future for DC movies that isn't going to happen.

The Snyder Cut adds in Martian Manhunter as a surprise additional hero and teases a future inspired by DC's Injustice universe, but the most recent goings on don't seem to be going there now. The currently filming The Flash movie seems to be inspired by the Flashpoint comics event and will be used as a way to offer a reboot to the DC movie universe, likely even establishing a multiverse. If the multiverse pans out, it'll offer a way to make both versions of Justice League canon, while probably not really acknowledging either.

Warner Brothers has had a lot of leadership changes, and with word that they're being merged with Discovery, Inc., looks like there's more to come. The people who put Snyder in charge of the DC movies are gone and they're now trying to pick up the pieces and find ways to keep going. Aquaman and Joker both grossed over a billion dollars each, outperforming any of Snyder's films. They don't see a need for Snyder or his vision.

I will give the Snyder era credit for finally moving Warner Brothers past having DC Comics based films that center on just Superman and Batman. We've gotten Shazam and Birds of Prey, two of my favorite DC films. Maybe someday we'll even get a big screen live action Elongated Man.

While I can give Snyder respect, I don't feel the need to personally engage with his DC films more than I already have. If you enjoy them, that's great. I'd encourage you to go ahead and keep enjoying them. But I'd rather move on, I hope the best days of DC Comics characters in film are still ahead.

How The Flash wrote off Ralph Dibny

Last night, The Flash aired the third episode of Season 7: "Mother," which was supposed to be the finale of Season 6, but was delayed into the new season by production delays thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As Sue Dearbon (Natalie Dreyfuss) was introduced and had a storyline in Season 6's second half, she reappeared in the "faux-nale." The question for Elongated Man fans was, would Ralph? We'd heard they'd have another actor play him to write the character off. Was this going to be in this episode or later? Turns out, it was this episode.

The episode saw the culmination of Eva's (Efrat Dor) plans to take over the world with her "mirror minions," as well as the return of the original Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh) who'd been killed by the Reverse Flash back in Season 1, years before Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) became the Flash. After the death of the other incarnations of himself from the multiverse in creating the Artificial Speed Force (just don't ask if you're not watching the show), he was resurrected as a "balancing act" of the universe, and returns to help Team Flash revive the actual Speed Force, with a little help from Iris West-Allen (Candice Patton), who was finally extracted from the "Mirrorverse" last episode. Team Flash's combined efforts see Eva defeated and the restoration of everyone who was pulled into the Mirroverse.

Sue arrived fairly early into the episode, revealing to Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) that her parents had been replaced with Eva's minions, and mentions that Ralph is "tracking a lead." (In the first Season 6 episode, it was said Ralph and Sue were staying off the grid.) Later in the episode, Sue arrives with a severely disfigured Ralph, who managed to extract evidence proving Sue's innocence as she'd been framed with killing Carver, Eva's now late husband. He was caught in an explosion, and apparently the CW's Elongated Man can contain a bomb going off in himself, but can't stand over 500 degree heat. Cisco (Carlos Valdes) sees Ralph to a chamber to help him recover.

In the final moments of the episode, Ralph reappeared, now wearing a mask that also distorts his voice (pictured above) as his face still hadn't fully healed. Sue rejects an offer to join Team Flash and says she and Ralph intend to go take down more organizations like Black Hole. Ralph promises he'll be back "when you least expect," and Barry offers to help him and Sue whenever need be.

This is almost where I wanted to see the show leave Ralph and Sue: they're on the road together, working as a team, but seeing Ralph depicted without even a face or an actual voice felt disappointing.

Frankly, I feel this would've been a lot better that if instead of firing Hartley Sawyer, they had demoted him back to guest star and wrote his character off with this episode. The show, even in this episode, often had plots about second chances and forgiveness.

I agree with the cast and crew of The Flash that Hartley Sawyer's old tweets were unacceptable. However, they were in his past. He hadn't physically hurt anyone, and his owning up to what he'd done and acknowledging the need to be held accountable speaks that he'd grown as a person. While it seems his firing greatly crippled his career (he's completely shut down his social media since his tweets were dug up, deleting Twitter and locking his Instagram account, and there has been absolutely no news about him since his firing), in the end, not allowing him to play Ralph one last time hurts the fans more than anything.

I intend to continue watching The Flash as I watch all the other CW shows based on DC Comics, but I do not expect to be writing about the show here unless Ralph comes back.

You probably know the drill about how to get this episode: it'll be on the CW website and app for US viewers for a limited time, or you can buy the digital copy, or wait for Netflix or home video releases.

The Puzzling Prophecies of the Tea Leaves!

So, it's been a second. One thing that's happened is I got a new job that drastically changed my day to day schedule, so that's one thing I've had to adjust to. Plus, there's a pandemic going on and there was an election and a lot to think over. Shout out to my friend Sean who's currently quarantining after a positive test. Admittedly, the Hartley Sawyer news was also a buzzkill. (They've announced that Ralph will be leaving the show, his farewell episode will see him replaced with another actor, so there won't be many more TV reviews when the show comes back in February. Hopefully his reception on the show gets them to adapt the character in other ways. It's just a shame that once we get the start of Ralph and Sue, it's over.)

Anyway, on to Detective Comics #353 which is available on Comixology and DC Universe.

In the letters page, only a couple readers wrote in to weigh in on Ralph. Alan Trahern of Covington, Louisiana wrote that "The 13 O'Clock Robbery" was "excellent, as usual. I always enjoy reading (Ralph's) yarns and love his tricky tactics that he uses in winding up his capers." Ingrid Nurenberg of Woodland Hills, California says that Ralph is "groovy! I luv the way he stretches—but how does he do it? I can almost understand getting his cells (muscle-wise) to stretch, but what about his bones?"

"The Puzzling Prophecies of the Tea Leaves!" was written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Carmine Infantino with lettering by Gaspar Saladino with Julius Schwartz as editor.

The Splash page sees Ralph creeping through a keyhole and wrapping up a couple crooks with his stretchy arms, thinking how he was informed about the crime and his involvement by a fortune teller. An interesting note is that there's a clear artist credit, unusual, but Infantino deserved it.

The text says this takes place in Quaker City, which is the name of a village in Ohio and a community in Pennsylvania. Most likely, as usual, this is supposed to be "Any Metropolitan City, USA," but it's always fun to see if it matches up to any actual places.

So, we kick off with Sue having her fortune told. Sue doesn't believe in it, but thinks it's fun as the teller warns her that she is "destined to take a fall," and that "an ominous voice will greet you when you return home!"

While walking an hour later, a heel on one of Sue's shoes breaks, making her fall, but Ralph is nearby and grabs her before she hits the ground, his jacket ripping in the process. She explains the fortune teller's prophecy, but Ralph dismisses it.

However, when they arrive at their hotel room, they hear the promised ominous voice saying "They say nothing ever happens in Quaker City—but beware!" Ralph slips out of his jacket, which Sue collects and notes the rip in it. She says she'll mend it.

Okay, we're supposed to believe that Sue mends Ralph's clothes? I'm not saying she wouldn't know how, but given they're a rich couple, couldn't they drop it off at a tailor's instead? But then, it's nice to know Sue's helping Ralph out somehow.

Infantino is in his usual pencil and inking style and doing all right. He's able to detail action well, even if it's not looking as good as when Sid Greene handled inking.

Ralph laughs when he discovers that the ominous voice is coming from a mynah bird that was delivered to their room, however, when questioned, the manager says that he was told Sue ordered the bird. Ralph decides to question the fortune teller himself and finds her telling a widow that she'll receive $100,000 in the mail tomorrow.

Ralph asks the teller about the mynah bird, and she protests that she can indeed read the tea leaves, and she tells him that he'll stop three men attempting a robbery at 10 o'clock that night at the Loftus Jewel Salon.

Ralph decides not to go so as not to give the fortune teller the satisfaction, especially as he and Sue have theater tickets. However, Sue can tell that Ralph is thinking of the prediction as his nose keeping twitching and growing longer. When it reaches into the piled up hairdo of the woman sitting ahead of him, Sue finally tells Ralph to go look into the robbery.

Ralph goes to the jewelry store and indeed finds two (not three) robbers inside. He surprises them by wrapping them up with his arms, then socking them in the jaw, then knocking their heads together. Turning them over to the police, Ralph decides to go see the fortune teller again, thinking that she might actually be the ringleader of the robbers, but he finds two more trying to rob her.

Ralph knocks these two out with a safe. Which would probably really hurt someone. Then he smacks them together as Ayda the fortune teller comes downstairs.

Ralph questions Ayda, who reveals her real name is Alice Avery, the daughter of the late Andrew Avery, a ruthless businessman who legally took advantage of people, including Ralph. Alice has been using the guise of Ayda to make restitution to people he wronged. She was actually mailing the $100,000 to the widow she was talking to earlier.

As for Ralph, she knew he didn't need financial compensation, so she offered him a mystery to investigate. She arranged the mynah bird and noting Sue's shoes, predicted the fall. She overheard the crooks talking about their plans to rob the jewelry store, so sent Ralph on their trail.

Ralph declares that he's been repaid with interest.

Ralph meets up with Sue in their hotel room, and they say that Quaker City is a "fun town" now. Sue can be seen mending Ralph's jacket in the final panel.

Overall, not a bad story. It's just not very memorable. Gardner Fox wrote an okay story without many logic leaps, and Infantino is doing good but not great work here.

Next time, jewel thieves.

The Flash fires Hartley Sawyer

It has been announced that Hartley Sawyer will not be returning to The Flash in Season 7.

It was revealed that as late as 2014, Hartley had made horrible jokes on Twitter aimed at women and people of color as well as other derogatory jokes.

Hartley had addressed the tweets a week ago when they were first brought to the public on Instagram.

I'm not here to make excuses—regardless of the intention, my words matter and they carry profound consequences. And mine can have caused pain and embarrassment, along with feelings I can only imagine to supports and fans, my cast mates, the crew, my colleagues and friends. I owe them all an apology. And I owe each of you an apology. Thank you for holding me accountable.

My words, irrelevant of being meant with an intent of humor, were hurtful, and unacceptable. I am ashamed I was capable of these really horrible attempts to get attention at that time. I regret them deeply.

This was not acceptable behavior. These were words I threw out at the time with no thought or recognition of the harm my words could do, and now have done today.

I am incredibly sorry, ashamed and disappointed in myself for my ignorance back then. I want to be very clear: this is not reflective of what I think or who I am now.

Years ago, thanks to friends and experiences who helped me to open my eyes, I began my journey into becoming a more responsible adult - in terms of what I say, what I do, and beyond. I've largely kept that journey private, and this is another way that I have let so many down. I still have more work to do.

But how I define myself now does not take away the impact of my words, or my responsibility for them. I am very sorry.

Personally, I hope Hartley is sincere here. However, especially during this current cultural climate, the showrunner of the Flash and the executive producers had to take action. Showrunner Eric Wallace had this to say:

This morning, many of you learned that Hartley Sawyer will not be returning for Season Seven of The Flash. Concerning his social media tweets, they broke my heart and made me mad as hell. And they're indicative of the larger problem in our country. Because at present, our country still accepts and protects the continual harassment—unconscious or otherwise— terrorizing and brutalizing of Black and Brown people, which is far too often fatal. That's why our country is standing up once again and shouting, "ENOUGH!" and taking to the streets to bring about active change.

I, too, am committed to bringing permanent change to the work environment here on The Flash. Yes, this is a family show. But it's for all families. That includes Black and Brown ones. In order to facilitate this, I will continue to find Black and Brown writers, directors, actors and producers of all genders to help tell Flash stories. Their stories are part of the American narrative, too, and must be heard. And the more you hear and see us, the more you will begin to recognize one simple fact: We're human beings, too.

To those who still aren't sure why so many Americans have taken to the streets to make their voices known, I ask you to consider this: Every time a Black or Brown life is harassed, harmed or murdered, as in the case of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and too many others, our entire country fractures and moves further and further away from any moral authority we often claim to have in the world. Murder is not democracy. Systemic and institutional white privilege is not equality. Suppressing the free press with violence is not liberty. The only way for you to be free is for all of us to be free.

#BlackLivesMatter 

It is not yet announced how Hartley's firing will affect the show. Ralph (and likely Sue) could be written off the show or Ralph could be recast. Natalie Dreyfuss wasn't upgraded to series regular when other new recurring characters were, so an early exit from the show for her is entirely possible.

Hartley Sawyer has not commented on social media after his apology, but before he issued his apology, he had determined to use his platform to support Black Lives Matter. I think he's likely taking a long break from social media entirely. If you want to support him, support Black Lives Matter and other socially progressive causes in your area. 

So, we'll see how things go. We'll still be doing comic reviews when time allows.

The Counter of Monte Cristo!

Detective Comics #352 has a cover date of June 1966 and is available on Comixology and DC Universe.

Over in the letters page, two readers write in that Ralph should get a chance to grace the cover of the comic sometime. (If you're wondering, it doesn't happen. Ralph would appear on the cover, but only alongside other characters with Batman up front.)

Mickey Gaither of Ellicott City, Maryland suggested that Ralph could be featured on the cover or split the cover with Batman. But before that, he comments on "My Wife, The Witch!" saying it was an entertaining story, "not 'The best story I've ever read' as some of your readers might try to tell you. I'd like to congratulate you on the job you've done with the Elongated Man strip; at first I thought it held no promise because of Ralph's power, probably the most common in all comicdom. Sue does add much to this success, along with the idea of a married, secret-identityless superhero."

He goes on with "Lastly, why not feature the Elongated Man on a cover? Or perhaps a cover divided into two, with him AND Batman?"

Irene Vartanoff of Bethesda, Maryland hits the same note with a more impassioned plea: "Dear Editor: How about featuring Elongated Man on the cover of Detective? I feel that, since the title of the mag is Detective, NOT Batman, the Elongated Man has just as much right to the cover as Batman has. The Martian Manhunter never had a chance when he appeared in Detective, to my sorrow, and he was always considered 'inferior' because of it. (This is an unconscious reasoning; the reader feels that the unfeatured story is a 'filler'). Please give Elongated Man a chance. I'm sure you'll never regret it."

Well, as above stated in a parenthesis, Ralph didn't get a starring cover in Detective Comics. The reason is simple: Batman was the iconic character for DC, and was soon appearing on TV screens. With so much media presence, they wanted to sell the most copies. However, despite not featuring on Detective Comics' cover, Ralph was amassing fans who loved the character.

Julius Schwartz asks readers to sound off on the idea of featuring Ralph on the cover. We'll see if this resumes in a few issues' time.

"The Counter of Monte Cristo!" was written by Gardner Fox with Carmine Infantino on pencils and inks while Gaspar Saladino lettered and Julius Schwartz served as editor.

Splash page time! The text teases that Ralph is lured into yet another adventure as he and Sue visit Monte Carlo. The panel shows Ralph rapidly swinging back and forth to draw the fire of three gunmen, trying to use up their ammunition. It's a pretty eye-popping splash page.

The way this story opens strikes me that it would have made a nice honeymoon story for Ralph and Sue, but it's set far after that as Ralph has his new costume.

It opens with Ralph and Sue enjoying the view of Monte Carlo from their resort's balcony. Sue mentions "If only Aunt Deborah could see me now!"

So, Sue has an Aunt Deborah and an Uncle Jim (as revealed in "The Elongated Man's Other World Wife"). Are they brother and sister, husband and wife, or are they on opposite sides of the family? We may never know.

When she says she's so glad she married Ralph, he replies, "Sure! Marry me and see the world!" Which makes me say this would have made a good honeymoon story.

Checking their guidebook, the Dibnys decide to visit a casino, a very classy one. Sue wins a round at a table and when she collects her markers, she accidentally knocks some over to the gentleman sitting next to her. She apologizes and explains it's her first time winning anything and she's so excited. He's cordial, perhaps too cordial as Ralph asks her about him as he steps away.

Sue says the gentleman was very polite, but then the man holds everyone at gunpoint and asks for their counters. Everyone does so and he leaves. Ralph switches to his costume (which he was wearing under his clothes) and gives chase, but after grabbing the man's jacket, the man slips out and gets away.

Talking to management, they tell Ralph not to pursue the case as they don't want any publicity. They'd rather lose the counters, but if the man returns, they will have him arrested.

Ralph and Sue head out to the Riveria to relax, but of course, Ralph can't get the case off his mind. The crowd is rather heavy and Sue even gets nudged by someone. As they find a seat, Sue reveals she had a counter in her pocket to give to Aunt Deborah. However, when she tries to get it out of her pocket, she can't find it.

Ralph realizes the man who ran into her earlier must have been a pickpocket and quickly trails him to a grand house.

Peeking inside, Ralph is able to hear confirmation that they were indeed after the counter stolen from Sue. He reveals himself to the men inside, who begin firing, prompting the scene of Ralph swinging himself like a pendulum to draw their fire and empty their pistols.

Fight scene! Ralph manages to punch out of guy by turning his arms into an arrow and using his body like a bow. Then he manages to stretch his hair (a rare move) to blind the pickpocket before knocking him out. Then he goes after the leader by tripping him up and catching him.

Ralph calls the police and later tells Sue the entire story. The men were part of a spy ring, the leader being the leader, who was the gunman at the casino in a disguise, trying to recover a valuable piece of microfilm hidden in a counter (because that's the only way to smuggle microfilm apparently), which happened to be the one Sue pocketed. Stealing all the ones from the table, it was soon discovered they weren't the one, so the pickpocket was sent after Sue.

On the way out of Monte Carlo the next day, Ralph is recognized and makes a show out of bowing to the people as only he can.

As I said, this would have been better as a honeymoon story for Ralph and Sue. Unfortunately, it was written much later into Ralph's career. Aside from the baffling bit of why the microfilm had to be smuggled in a counter (which the entire plot hangs on), it's a well-done story. Infantino is in good form as well. Really, the only complaint about the art is some missing red coloring from Ralph's costume in one of the panels.

Next time, Sue gets her fortune told.

TV Review: "Liberation," "Pay the Piper," and "Success is Assured"

While Ralph has been appearing in these episodes of The Flash, his roles were smaller in comparison to the main plots.

In "Liberation," Barry (Grant Gustin) realizes that Iris (Candice Patton) isn't really herself as Eva (Efrat Dor) sets her plans in motion using the mirror images of Iris, Kamilla (Victoria Park) and Captain Singh (Patrick Sabongui) to reach a certain metahuman for help.

Meanwhile, Cisco (Carlos Valdes) and Ralph visit Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) only to find her suffering from a strange case of hypothermia. They do what they can to help, but it's clear that they need to reach out to Caitlin's mother.

Ralph and Cisco were also seen trying to help Barry with the artificial Speed Force generator.

The Caitlin plotline stretched into "Pay the Piper," in which Killer Frost is awarded a "Dib-ploma" in a very sweet scene with Ralph as she feels nervous about meeting Caitlin's mother.

It felt like this should've been in the previous episode, and maybe it was originally planned, but with some reshuffling of the season's filmed episodes due to COVID-19, perhaps they had to split that plot over two episodes to fit it in at all. (It was, of course, a way to write out Caitlin/Killer Frost as Danielle Panabaker was taking maternity leave.)

The main plot of "Pay the Piper" saw Godspeed (voiced by BD Wong) return to Central City to take Barry's speed. To help take him out, Barry enlists the help of Hartley Rathaway (Andy Mientus), the Piper, who hates The Flash due to how a past run-in left one of his accomplices. With little of his own speed remaining, Barry has to take down Godspeed and help Hartley.

This brings us to the defacto season finale, "Success is Assured."

As Eva prepares to kill her husband, Joseph Carver (Eric Nenninger), Barry and his team prepare to defend him, convincing him to go into ARGUS custody. However, Eva manages to get Joseph's metahuman assassins on her side, so it's going to be quite the task.

Meanwhile, Ralph meets with Sue's parents (Mark Brandon and Nancy Hillis as Richard and Penelope, respectively), confronting them that he knows Joseph Carver was blackmailing them. Sue arrives and tells them that Carver had a change of heart, but Ralph is suspicious and later discovers that Sue is actually working for him, the true cause of his "change of heart," with her own intent to kill Carver. And yet the finale holds one more twist for Sue...

It is certainly unfortunate that The Flash wasn't able to wrap up the season, yet keeping the cast and crew safe and healthy was more important, and should everything work out, we will eventually get the end of the story.

As it is, the wrap up of the season suffered from having to rework everything into the episodes they were allowed. They told a coherent story, but some plots were cut too short while others felt bloated. It'll be interesting to see if several deleted scenes pop up on the eventual Blu-Ray release.

As it is, follow your local COVID-19 guidelines and hopefully, we can get The Flash Season 7 sooner rather than later.

Viewers in the US may view "Liberation," "Pay the Piper," and "Success is Assured" at no charge during a limited availability window on the CW website and app. With the current licensing agreement, the entire sixth season of The Flash will be available on Netflix by June 2020. Digital versions of the episodes may be purchased on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Vudu, Google Play and other retailers of digital video content. Blu-Ray and DVD copies of the season are expected to be available for sale in or by September, 2020.

Non-US viewers should check their local listings, the websites of the channels that air The Flash, and digital video retailers