The Flash: The Trickster Just Became Central City's Hottest Entrepreneur - CBR - Comic Book Resources

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Flash #763 by Kevin Shinick, Clayton Henry, Marcelo Maiolo and Steve Wands, on sale now.

Central City is home to the Scarlet Speedster and some of the superhero's biggest villains: the Rogues. The Rogues are comprised of such characters as Captain Cold, Heatwave and Mirror Master and although they are the city's top criminals, they have somewhat of a mutual understanding with The Flash, an uneasy peace that keeps them in their usual, non-life-threatening game of cat and mouse. Now, this understanding is put to the test when one member of the Rogues, Trickster, opens up a new, legit business.

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Indeed, in The Flash #763, Trickster opens up Central City's newest arcade and, much to the surprise of Barry Allen, it turns out to be a total hit. And now, one of his enemies is now the owner of the city's newest hotspot -- but the Trickster is still the Trickster, which means there is, of course, a catch.

Barry Allen first becomes aware of the Trickster's arcade while out on a date with Iris West. It turns out the couple previously visited the new establishment, without the superhero realizing that he was visiting his enemy's new business. However, when Barry realizes that his Flash ring is missing, he quickly traces his steps back and realizes that he lost it back at the arcade. This time, he visits not as Barry Allen but as The Flash, and it's there that he finds the Trickster, overseeing operations.

Barry of course assumes the worst and attacks the villain, but a few police officers stationed outside the arcade insist Trickster has done nothing wrong. The only reason they are here is to manage a huge crowd of the Central City citizens eager to visit the arcade to play some immersive new games.

These games include such highlights as a claw machine that allows you to win The Flash's ring, the opportunity to bet on the superhero's antics and a virtual reality-like experience that allows you to control hard light constructs of DC supervillains for the Scarlet Speedster to chase around Central City.

The Trickster's biggest games are all based on The Flash, and his most dangerous one allows gamers to control copies of Riddler, Toyman, Cluemaster and others -- and those are just the villains we know of. Since the arcade is such a hit, the popularity of this game may hint at a darker nature that dwells inside some of the residents of Central City.

Indeed, this is actually similar to a recent storyline that unfolded in the pages of Marvel's The Amazing Spider-Man. In 2019's "Hunted" storyline, Spider-Man and multiple other animal-based costumed characters were trapped in a dome in Central Park and hunted down by robots. These robotic hunters were controlled by simple, wealthy people who were given the chance to play the ultimate hunting game -- and it was all orchestrated by notorious X-Men villain, Arcade.

In both cases, a VR-inspired game gives regular people the chance to become something else -- something darker. For now, the Trickster's game is perhaps a bit lighter and less dangerous than Arcade's, but that could all change if the villain so chooses. Right now, his business is legitimate and a huge hit. But if it gets any bigger, he just might move onto the next game -- and this one might not be so passive.

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Ian Cardona (2944 Articles Published)

Ian Cardona has written for CBR since 2017. He is a Feature, Comic Breakouts and News writer. He's been in love with comics for a very long time, and believes there is some good to be found even in the industry's more difficult times. His favorite Avenger is Captain America, and that was long before the character starred in a very successful film franchise. He is an avid statue and Funko Pop! figures collector, and he's rapidly running out of shelf space. With CBR, he has been able to write about his favorite subjects, from the MCU to Doctor Who. You can follow him on Twitter at @ian_c1701 (yes, that is a Star Trek reference) for discussions, debates or pictures of really cool collectibles he probably doesn't have room for.