Flash Facts Foes Not His

The Flash has gotten a lot of attention lately thanks to his TV show on the CW, but not all of the foes he faces on that show were originally Flash comic foes.

Here's a little history on the CW Flash foes that did not start as foes of the Flash in the comics!

Multiplex

Real Name: Danton Black

First Appearance: Firestorm #1 (March, 1978, as Danton Black), Firestorm #2 (April, 1978, as Multiplex)

Created By: Gerry Conway & Al Milgrom

Origin: Danton Black was an assistant to Martin Stein, and gained his powers of nuclear fission (creating duplicates of himself) in the same explosion that created Firestorm!  Danton also worked with Firestorm foe, the Hyena, as well as the 2000 Committee, and faced off against Firestorm and Blue Devil, and later joined the Suicide Squad with other Firestorm villains (as well as Deadshot and Captain Boomerang) to handle a Firestorm gone bad.  Multiplex later returned with the Suicide Squad with a new outfit, being able to lend many hands.

Team Membership: 2000 Committee, Suicide Squad

Some appearances:  Firestorm #1, #2, #5; Flash #297, #298; Fury of Firestorm #14-18, Annual #1; Crisis On Infinite Earths #10; Fury of Firestorm #43, #45, #46, #47, #64; Blue Devil #23; Firestorm the Nuclear Man Annual #5; Firestorm #11-13; Villains United #1, #2; Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files 2005; Birds of Prey #87; Suicide Squad: Raise the Flag #3-#8; Countdown #43, #42, #28; Justice League of America #15, #17, #18; Manhunter #33-36; Suicide Squad #67; Secret Six #17, #18 
 

Mist

Real Name: Kyle Nimbus

First Appearance: Adventure Comics #67 (October, 1941)

Created By: Alfred Bester & Jack Burnley

Origin: Starting off as a foe of the original Starman in Opal City, using his "invisio-solution" to become invisible.  Later, the Mist also used his solution to hypnotize people into doing his bidding, and after decades of use (and a battle with Starman and Black Canary), the Mist returned as a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains under the Ultra-Humanite (to face the JLA's Black Canary, now the Mist had the ability to also become intangible).  The Mist returned again, to face Starman Will Payton and David Knight, and yet again, with a legacy of his own (his son, Kyle, and daughter, Nash, who both took up the mantle of the Mist).

Team Membership: Secret Society of Super-Villains

Some appearances:  JAdventure Comics #67, #77, Brave and the Bold #61; Justice League of America #195-197; All-Star Squadron #26, Annual #2; Crisis on Infinite Earths #5, #9; Starman #26, #27; Starman #0-3, #18, #24, #68, #71, #72

Plastique

Real Name: Bette Sans Souci

First Appearance: Fury of Firestorm #7 (December, 1982)

Created By: Gerry Conway & Pat Broderick

Origin: Starting off as a young woman brought into a terrorist sect, stopped by Firestorm, Bette got powered up to produce her own explosions, then met Captain Atom, joined the Suicide Squad, worked things out with Captain Atom (staying one step ahead of General Eiling), and even worked with Captain Atom in his version of the Justice League in Extreme Justice, before going back to the Suicide Squad with villains like Deadshot, Count Vertigo, Multiplex and the new Mirror Master!

Team Membership: Suicide Squad

Some appearances:  Fury of Firestorm #7, #33-36; Captain Atom #2; Suicide Squad #1-3; Captain Atom #7-8, #21-22, #44, #49-50; Extreme Justice #7-12, #16; Birds of Prey #70, #72, #73; 52 #33, #34; Checkmate #6, #7; Suicide Squad: Raise the Flag #6-8; Justice League of America #15, #17, #18; Manhunter #33-36; Justice League of America #43

Bug-Eyed Bandit

Real Name: Bertram Larvan

First Appearance: Atom #26 (August-September, 1966)

Created By: Gardner Fox & Gil Kane

Origin: Working with small, mechanical insects he created, Bertram Larvan was a major menace to the Atom (Ray Palmer), even learning his secret identity, though he forgot that identity!  Actually, the Bug-Eyed Bandit was only a small Atom foe, having died in the Crisis On Infinite Earths.

But, two others picked up the legacy of the Bug-Eyed Bandit, Sting (Ronald Sweet), who menaced the Atom in Power of the Atom #17 & #18 (October, 1989, by Tom Peyer and Graham Nolan), and as an identity used by the Atom in Suicide Squad #59-61 as part of the Micro Force, and a minor recruit to Luthor's Secret Society in Villains United #5 & #6.  There is even another Bug-Eyed Bandit, who first appeared in Justice League America #43 (October, 1990 by Keith Giffen, J.M. Dematteis and Adam Hughes), but this was more just to have lame villains hanging out in a bar.  He appears mostly in villain crowd scenes, like JSA #28, Adventures of Superman #608 and Formerly Known as the Justice League #4.  These guys don't even make cover appearances!

Team Membership: None

Some non-Flash appearances:  Atom #26, #33; World's Finest Comics #260; Crisis On Infinite Earths #9, #12

Deathbolt

Real Name: Jake Simmons

First Appearance: All-Star Squadron #21 (May-June, 1957)

Created By: Roy Thomas & Jerry Ordway

Origin: Jake Simmons was a prisoner trying to escape the law via airplane, until it was struck by lightning!  The Ultra-Humanite (a foe of the original Superman's) in the early 1940s to help fight the wartime All-Star Squadron with his newly developing electrical powers, and was there to see the early days of Infinity, Inc. due to their time travels.  Deathbolt was also involved briefly in the Crisis on Infinite Earths, and faced off against the Young All-Stars as well.

Team Membership: None (worked with Ultra-Humanite)

Some appearances:  All-Star Squadron #21-26, Annual #2, #53; Infinity Inc. #22; Crisis On Infinite Earths #6, #10; Young All-Stars #12-15; Starman #1,000,000