Rogue Spotlight: Abra Kadabra

Things have been running a bit slow of late here at Crimson Lightning, and that simply won't do. How shall we liven things up? I've decided to take my cue from The Idol Head of Diabolu, Frank Lee Delano's wonderful tribute to the Martian Manhunter, which often dedicates itself to examining the "Vile Menagerie" that has threatened J'onn J'onzz over the years. For the month of May, then, we're going to embrace insanity and give the blog over to a member of the Flash's own celebrated Rogues Gallery, and I know precisely where to start...


Abra Kadabra is my favorite Rogue. That may prove a surprising or controversial admission, particularly among the cult of Captain Cold or those who revere the Reverse Flash, but no one entertains me like that sadistic sorcerer from the sixty-fourth century. (Fortunately for us, the Flash indisputably has some of the greatest villains in comicdom, and it's terribly difficult to choose a favorite!) Created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino for The Flash #128 (May 1962), Abra Kadabra serves as an embodiment of Arthur C. Clarke's law that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."


An exile from the sterile world of the sixty-fourth century, utterly obsessed with the showmanship of the old time stage magician, Kadabra's banishment to the twentieth century allowed him to wield mind-bogglingly advanced technology disguised as sorcery, and Central City's crimson comet soon became his foremost target. As a result, The Flash blatantly engaged in an exploration of the sort of intellectual transmutation that takes place in the pages of every single superhero comic, where the lines between scientific achievement and pure, inexplicable magic are bent, twisted, and made all-but indistinguishable. Truly, Abra Kadabra is a sort of rebellious poster child for the rules that made the great Silver Age and dictated the shape of all that would follow. He is the "magic" to counter the Flash's "science," though the two share far more in common than meets the eye.


Though Abra Kadabra stands as perhaps my favorite supervillain in the Flash's distinctive line-up of arch-nemeses, this wasn't always the case. It was writer Mark Waid who made it so beginning in The Flash (v.2) #67 (August 1992), slowly twisting the character into one of Wally West's most obsessive, dangerous, and cruelly entertaining foes. In Waid's hands, the charismatic Kadabra became both physically and mentally deformed, his ever-more spectacular defeats scarring his body and warping his mind. When confronting his mortal enemy, Kadabra delighted in performing as conjurer, illusionist, puppeteer, and prestidigitator, repeatedly forcing the scarlet speedster to serve as escape artist. The mad magician, a calculating Moriarty to Wally's Holmes, possessed that precise combination of qualities that makes for superb supervillainy: dangerous power and sinister intent fueled by a flare for the dramatic, a sick, sadistic, and sometimes downright silly sense of manic playfulness. Ever since the sort of memorable battles witnessed in the likes of "The Dark Flash Saga," the appearance of Abra Kadabra on the comic book page has always left me giddy. His recent rivalry with fellow time traveler Professor Zoom, tantalizingly hinted at in Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver's The Flash: Rebirth, has me hooked.

For the month of May, Crimson Lightning will be dedicated to the one and only Abra Kadabra. Presto chango! Our regular features will continue on their regular schedule, but you'll find that the likes of Onomatopoeia, Ad Run, Sight and Sound, and Classic Covers will be dominated by Kadabra's twisted magic tricks. Might we spotlight other Rogues in the months to come? Time will tell. For now, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, prepare to be astonished, amazed, and a little bit sickened! The show is about to begin...