DC universe: Keystone City

[seriousfic]

Going back to my idea for a Fourth World-centric DC universe, the Flash. I don't know anyone who doesn't like the Flash's Rogues. The idea of a loose confederation of villains with a sense of honor and rivalry with the hero makes the Flash stand out. My idea is simple, take the Rogues and make them co-protagonists--the clearest parallel would be the Sons of Anarchy, but with the Flash as Unser. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, shame on you.)

The set-up: Barry Allen has just died (and stayed dead!). Wally, still just a sidekick, is suddenly bumped up into the big chair. Young, inexperienced, and a bit of a dick, he makes a devil's deal with the Rogues. They run the organized crime in Keystone City -- "victimless" stuff like prostitution, gambling, and drugs (as long as they don't sell to kids) -- with each of the Rogues running a different crime. Captain Cold can run prostitution, a comic book Al Swearington. In exchange, they keep things on an even keel and help the Flash keep out the real 'bad guys' like the Mafia and LexCorp.

It'd be a little like a supervillain Mob movie, but with fan-favorites like the Trickster and the Pied Piper as the viewpoint characters instead of Ray Liotta and Al Pacino. Note that this is a reconstruction; the Flash's actions aren't treated as smart or pragmatic, but foolish and near-sighted, and it's only be recommitting himself to fighting evil that he can become a true hero.

See, Mirror Master runs drugs, and getting high on his own supply leads to some questionable choices. When Scott Free comes into town, sticking his head in the sand a la Wally by "just" being a costumed performer, he stumbles across some heavy-duty shit and, noir style, sets out to find what's going on. When he gets the full story, the Rogues try to silence him, but the Flash steps in and it's High Noon time. Wally's bringing in the Mirror Master, and anyone who tries to protect him (here, Piper and Trickster pull a quick fade). The Rogues are brought to justice, with a little help from a learned-a-valuable-lesson Scott, and we end on a restored Keystone City and a revitalized Flash.

Comments

[fengi.livejournal.com]

Oh man, yes yes. Are you familiar with the Hamsterdam plot of The Wire? Because this reminds me of this. You have to bring in The Top and Doctor Alchemy, even though they were more Rogue adjacent. One of them could be working for some corporate outside crook like Hearst in Deadwood, playing Wolcott to, say, Lex Luthor.

[seriousfic.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. There'd be an issue of Piper joining the Rogues and seeing how they operate against a takeover attempt, then you could five or so issues of Scott sniffing out the conspiracy.