The Flash Vol. 2 # 165 - Wonderland, Chapter Two: The Lightning Rod

is a comic book published by DC Comics & released on 10 / / 2000

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Plot Summary

Wally West struggles to puzzle out a world with no Flashes in Part 2 of the 6-part "Wonderland." Captain Cold tries to break Wally out of a Central City jail, but the former Fastest Man Alive finds life on the outside even harder to take than the beatings he endured in custody: Barry Allen alive, Wally's allies dead, a world in many ways the reverse of his own...what gives?

(Contains Spoilers. Read at your own risk)

Cold seems to be the only one who remembers the Flash. Together, the two succeed in busting out of the Keystone PD but not before Wally fails to prevent Cold from killing another police officer.

The Flash realizes this must be an alternate universe and to get his powers back, he has to find the man who started it all: Jay Garrick. The pair flee, their escape covered by a mysterious silver clad sniper named Plunder who is apparently working for the Thinker.

West and Cold arrive at Joan Garrick's home to find that she is married to another man, an abusive drunk at that. They handle the punk and leave, taking with them the a book entiled "The Death of the Hero" and the knowledge of Jay Garrick's location.

They find Jay, or rather his grave. According to Joan, he died a hero, joining the army after recovering from his jab accident, the accident that was supposed to give him super speed. In this world, the Flash never existed. The book they retrieved tells the whole story. The Justice Society fought in World War II but without the original Flash to save him, Mr. Terrific was KIA, sparking the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Berlin. Germany was completely annihilated and the JSA retired in shame.

Later, the JLA arrived but because Barry Allen wasn't with them, Aquaman was killed by Starro, causing rampant prejustice against aliens, depriving the earth of many heroes. Aqualad refused to give up but the Teen Titans were also slaughtered on an early mission (by Mister Twister) because of their missing speedster, Kid Flash.

Cold takes the Flash up on a hill that overlooks Central City. Years ago, Shade, Fiddler and Thinker had a war over the city but without the Flash to stop them, it was all but demolished. Wally realizes that those villains had actually fought over Keystone, not Central. Also, Cold, usually right handed, has been holding his gun with his left hand. The two realize that they are trapped in a mirror world but before they can do anything about it, they find themselves under attack by more cops including West's mentor, Barry Allen.