Who stole the Flash's time gauntlets?

[arbre_rieur]

When you can journey any point in time, you're not limited to making enemies just in your own era. You can have people from all across the eons dislike you.

This 1,000,000 issue details the rivalry between Chronos of the 20th century and the Flash of the 853rd century.

Interestingly, this issue was penciled by J.H. Williams III. "Interestingly" because he was also the regular penciler for the comic CHASE at this time. Was he really so fast at one point that he could not only do a monthly title but also have time to pitch in an occasional fill-in on the side? What happened to him?

The story begins in the year 85,269, two years before the events of DC One Million.



He goes to investigate but it's a trap set by Walker Gabriel, a.k.a. Chronos, who freezes him in time and steals his time gauntlets.



Chronos is at this point in space-time because the chaos of the Chronovore (no relation) ought to prevent the Flash from tracking him down across time. Ought to, but doesn't.





Just as he's returning the gauntlets, a new arrival shows up.



Scourge gets his hands on the gauntlets, and Chronos evacuates himself and the Flash to another era.



At the Flash's insistence, Chronos takes them back to Scourge.





Chronos then bids farewell and transports himself elsewhen.

The Flash's speed was sapped by something Scourge had called a Savitar leech, but it's returning now.



At Chronos' home, a place called Chronopolis, Hourman confronts him. He knows the gauntlets Scourge took were duplicates and that Chronos still has the real pair.

Comments

[thelazyreader]

Whatever happened to Walker Gabriel? And Waverider? And Hourman? I find it incredibly frustrating how they seem to have faded into limbo even as DC editorial promotes 'pet' time traveller characters like Booster Gold and Rip Hunter.

[badficwriter]

Well, you should have read pet time traveler Rip Hunter and Booster's recent series, where the Riders dig up the corpse of Waverider and wear it like Ed Gein.

[thelazyreader]

I recall reading an interview where it was denied that that Skeets was not actually wearing Waverider's skin, if that's what you're referring to.

Also, being composed of tachyons and able to manifest himself in the timestream at will it's BS for Waverider to be able to die at all. He's been blown up before, only to reassemble his molecules in a different time.

And even if there was some way to kill him anyway, he's a time traveler. What's stopping his (relative) past self from appearing in stories?

[badficwriter]

*shrug* He was described as being made of time energy. Apparently, something sucked it out, leaving only his skin.

[comicoz]

If I recall right, he was killed in the "missing seconds" of 52. Barely on camera, I think.

[comicoz]

Walker killed himself to save his mom or similar, but now lives in his out-of-time place called Chronopolis. Hourman shows up once in a while as a plot device. I liked the character too, but the crazy power makes it hard to write. That's why they had the character self-limit his power at one point, but it was still a bit silly.