Captain Cold

Small-time criminal Len Snart sought a way to even the odds against the Flash so that he could begin a criminal career in Central City. Stealing an unpublished scientific article on the Flash’s speed, he came across the theory that a cyclotron might interfere with the hero’s speed. He designed a weapon and exposed it to radiation in a cyclotron laboratory. However, rather than counteracting the Flash’s speed, the gun could instantly freeze anything. Len Snart became the costumed criminal Captain Cold.

As he repeatedly clashed with the Flash, he learned to create ice slicks, to freeze people in suspended animation (Snart was a criminal, not a killer), to make walls (and safe doors) so brittle with cold that he could simply knock his way through. After Barry’s death, however, the thrill was gone. Snart’s career was not just one of crime, but one of battling the Flash.

Bored with a Flashless life, Snart and his sister Lisa (the Golden Glider) went legit and opened “Golden Snowball Recoveries.” Using the same costumes and weapons they had employed as criminals, they became bounty hunters for hire (Flash #27, 1989), and even worked with the new Flash on occasion.

Still, Len Snart could not resist when Abra Kadabra brought him and four other Rogues an offer that would bring them respect. An offer that would “guarantee that they would be remembered forever not as has-beens... but as the most infamous villains of their age.” What Kadabra did not tell them was that it would cost them their lives. The five died, and unleashed the demon Neron upon Earth (Underworld Unleashed #1, 1995).

Neron was not finished with them, however. As part of a convoluted plot to force the Flash into a deal, he sent the Rogues’ bodies to Earth without their souls. The bank robbers who had so enjoyed matching wits with the Flash were now soulless killers, in command of vastly enhanced powers, with even more powerful avatars that caused enormous damage and killed thousands before the Flash was able to turn the deal around and force Neron to halt the destruction and return the Rogues’ souls to their bodies (Flash #127–129, 1997).

Captain Cold, like his fellow Rogues, returned to his life of crime, though for a time he was concerned with protecting himself from Neron. He has since taken on a leadership role among the villains of the Twin Cities.

Captain Cold was one of the three Rogues who delivered the killing blow to Flash 4: Bart Allen (Flash: TFMA #10–13: Full Throttle & All-Flash #1, 2007). He was captured and sent with the rest to the alien prison planet, Salvation (Salvation Run, 2007–2008).

• Primary Sources
• Art Credits
• Origin Tales
• Profiles in Print
• Silver-Age Appearances
• Legacy-Era Appearances
• One Year Later Appearances
• Related Commentary

Primary Sources

• “The Coldest Man on Earth” - Showcase #8 (June 1957), John Broome*

Art

• Main: Who’s Who (loose-leaf edition) #13 (October 1991) - Michael Golden
• Profile: The Flash #182 (March 2002) - Brian Bolland

Origin Tales

Rogue Profile: Flash #182

• Showcase #8 (June 1957): “The Coldest Man on Earth,” John Broome*
• Flash #182 (March 2002): “Absolute Zero,” Geoff Johns

Profiles

• Who’s Who in the DC Universe #4 (June 1985)
• Who’s Who (loose-leaf edition) #13 (October 1991)
• Flash Secret Files #3 (November 2001)
• The DC Comics Encyclopedia (2004)
• The Flash Companion (2008)
• Flash Secret Files and Origins 2010 (May 2010)
• DC Comics Super-Heroes and Villains Fandex under The Rogues (2010)

Significant Silver-Age Flash Appearances

• Showcase #8 (June 1957): “The Coldest Man on Earth,” John Broome
• Flash #114 (August 1960): “The Big Freeze!” John Broome
• Flash #129 (June 1962): “Double Danger on Earth!” Gardner Fox
• (Impersonated) Flash #130 (August 1962): “Who Doomed the Flash?” John Broome
• Flash #134 (February 1963): “The Man Who Mastered Absolute Zero,” John Broome
• Flash #140 (November 1963): “The Heat Is On... For Captain Cold,” John Broome
• Flash #150 (February 1965): “Captain Cold’s Polar Perils,” Gardner Fox
• Flash #155 (September 1965): “The Gauntlet of Super-Villains,” John Broome
• Flash #166 (December 1966): “Tempting Target for the Temperature Twins,” John Broome
• Flash #174 (November 1967): “Stupendous Triumph of the Six Super-Villains,” John Broome
• Flash #193 (December 1969): “Captain Cold Blows His Cool!” John Broome
• Flash #226 (April 1974): “The Hot-Cold War in Central City!” Cary Bates
• Flash #242 (June 1976): “The Charge of the Electric Gang!” Cary Bates (cameo)
• Flash #243–244 (August–September 1976): “If I Can’t Rob Central City, Nobody Can!” and “The Last Day of June is the Last Day of Central City!” Cary Bates
• Flash #250–251 (June–July 1977): “One Freeze-Dried Flash—Coming Right Up!” and “Vengeance on Ice!” Cary Bates
• Flash #254 (October 1977): “To Believe or Not to Believe!” Cary Bates
• Flash #297 (May 1981): “Captain Cold’s Cold, Cold Flame!” Cary Bates
• Flash #300 (August 1981): “1981—A Flash Odyssey,” Cary Bates (cameo)
• Flash #314 (October 1982): “Look Upon the Eradicator!” Cary Bates
• Flash #325 (September 1983): “Dead Reckoning,” Cary Bates
• Flash #338–342 (October 1984–February 1985): “The Revenge of the Rogues!” “Warday!” “Reach Out and Waste Someone!” “Trial and Tribulation,” and “Smash-Up,” Cary Bates
• Flash #347 (July 1985): “Back from the Dead!” Cary Bates
• Flash #349–350 (September–October 1985): “...And the Truth Shall Set Him Free!” and “Flash Flees,” Cary Bates

Significant Legacy-Era Flash Appearances

• Flash #19 (December 1988): “A Meeting of Rogues,” William Messner-Loebs
• Secret Origins #41 (June 1989): “A Rogue By Any Other Name,” Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn
• Flash #27–28 (June–July 1989): The Porcupine Man Saga (conclusion), William Messner-Loebs
• Flash #35 (February 1990): “Behold the Turtle!” William Messner-Loebs (cameo)
• Flash Annual 4 (1991): “Family Business” (Armageddon 2001), Mark Waid
• Flash Annual 7 (1994): “The Barry Allen Story” (Elseworlds), Mark Wheatley & Allan Gross
• Underworld Unleashed #1 (November 1995), Mark Waid
• Flash #125–126 (May–June 1997): “Cause and Effect” and “Trial Run” (Lead-in to Hell To Pay), Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn
• Flash #127–129 (July–September 1997): “Hell To Pay,” Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn
• Flash #134 (February 1998): “Still Life In The Fast Lane,” Grant Morrison and Mark Millar
• New Year’s Evil: The Rogues (February 1998): “Men & Gods,” Brian Augustyn
• Flash 80-Page Giant #2 (April 1999): “You Just Never Know,” William Messner-Loebs
• Legends of the DC Universe #15–17 (April–June 1999): “Dark Matters,” Michael Jan Friedman
• Flash Secret Files #2 (November 1999): “Twenty-First Century Rogue,” Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn
• Flash/Green Lantern: The Brave and the Bold #4 (January 2000): “How Many Times Can A Man Turn His Head?” Mark Waid and Tom Peyer
• Flash #164–169 (September 2000–February 2001): “Wonderland,” Geoff Johns
• Flash #174 (July 2001): “Moving Right Along,” Geoff Johns
• Flash #177 (October 2001): “Event Horizon,” Geoff Johns
• Flash #182 (March 2002): “Absolute Zero,” Geoff Johns
• Flash #185–186, 188 (June–September 2002): “Crossfire” Parts 2–3 & 5, Geoff Johns
• Flash #195 (April 2003): “Off Balance,” Geoff Johns (cameo)
• Flash #201–206 (October 2003–March 2004): “Ignition,” Geoff Johns
• DC: The New Frontier #2 (April 2004): “Fun City,” Darwyn Cooke
• Flash #207 (April 2004): “Rush Hour,” Geoff Johns
• Flash #210 (July 2004): “Reconnected,” Geoff Johns
• Flash #213 (October 2004): “Slow Motion,” Geoff Johns (cameo)
• Flash #214,216 (November 2004–January 2005): “The Secret of Barry Allen” Parts 1 & 3, Geoff Johns
• Flash #217 (February 2005): “Post-Crisis,” Geoff Johns
• Flash #218 (March 2005): “Rogue Profile: Heat Wave,” Geoff Johns
• Flash #219 (April 2005): “Truth or Dare, Part 1” Geoff Johns (cameo)
• Flash #½ (2005): “Rogue Wars Prologue: Tricksters,” Geoff Johns (cameo)
• Flash #220–225 (May–October 2005): “Rogue War,” Geoff Johns

Significant One-Year-Later Flash Appearances

• Countdown #46 (June 2007) Paul Dini (head writer) with Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray
• The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #10–13 (May–August 2007): “Full Throttle,” Marc Guggenheim
• All-Flash #1 (September 2007): “Justice, Like Lightning,” Mark Waid
• Salvation Run (7-issue miniseries, January–July 2008), Bill Willingham & Matthew Sturges
• Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge (3-issue miniseries, September-November 2008), Geoff Johns

Notes

*The Showcase stories are available in The Flash Archives Volume 1 and Showcase Presents: The Flash Volume 1.

Related Commentary

• What’s your childhood trauma?

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