Mirror Master I

While working in a prison workshop, Sam Scudder accidentally stumbled upon a mirror that could project holograms. He used it to escape, developed more mirror gadgets, and embarked upon his career of crime in Central City as the Mirror Master. Over the years he developed mirrors with fantastic effects ranging from hypnotism to physical transformations and travel into other dimensions. Mirror Master became the most respected of the Rogues’ Gallery.

Scudder died around the same time that his foe Barry Allen (a.k.a. the Flash) did, alongside the Icicle during the Crisis on Infinite Earths (Crisis #10, January 1986). Captain Boomerang “borrowed” his costume briefly, but then a new Mirror Master surfaced.

• Art Credits
• Profiles in Print
• Silver-Age Appearances
• Legacy-Era Appearances
• Further Notes
• Related Commentary

Art

• Who’s Who (loose-leaf edition) #13 (October 1991) - Alan Weiss

Profiles

• Who’s Who in the DC Universe #15 (May 1986)
• Who’s Who (loose-leaf edition) #13 (October 1991)
• The DC Comics Encyclopedia (2004)
• The Flash Companion (2008)

Significant Silver-Age Flash Appearances

• Flash #105 (March 1959): “The Master of Mirrors!” John Broome
• Flash #109 (October 1959): “Return of the Mirror Master!” John Broome
• Flash #119 (March 1961): “The Mirror Master’s Magic Bullet!” John Broome
• Flash #126 (February 1962): “Doom of the Mirror-Flash,” John Broome
• Flash #130 (August 1962): “Who Doomed the Flash?” John Broome
• Flash #136 (May 1963): “The Mirror Master’s Invincible Bodyguards!” John Broome
• Flash #146 (August 1964): “The Mirror Master’s Master Stroke,” John Broome
• Flash #155 (September 1965): “The Gauntlet of Super-Villains,” John Broome
• Flash #161 (May 1966): “The Mirror With 20–20 Vision!” Gardner Fox
• Flash #174 (November 1967): “Stupendous Triumph of the Six Super-Villains,” John Broome
• Flash #188 (May 1969): “The Most Colorful Villain Of All!” John Broome
• Flash #206 (May 1971): “Showdown in Elongated Town!” Cary Bates
• Flash #219 (January 1973): “The Million Dollar Deathtrap,” Cary Bates
• Flash #231 (February 1975): “The Only Crook Flash Could Never Catch!” Cary Bates
• Flash #241 (May 1976): “Steal, Flash, Steal!” Cary Bates
• Flash #242 (June 1976): “The Charge of the Electric Gang!” Cary Bates
• 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 #254–256 (October–December 1977): “To Believe or Not to Believe!” “Flashback to Danger!” and “Prisoner of the Past,” Cary Bates
• Flash #277 (September 1979): “The Self-Destruct Flash,” Cary Bates
• Flash #292 (December 1980): “Mirror, Mirror, Off the Wall...,” Cary Bates
• Flash #300 (August 1981): “1981—A Flash Odyssey,” Cary Bates (cameo)
• Flash #306 (February 1982): “Through a Glass, Permanently!” Dan Mishkin & Gary Cohn
• Flash #320 (April 1983): “The Final Purge!” 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 Appearances

• Flash #64 (Early June 1992): “Born To Run” Chapter 3: “Reflections of Youth,” Mark Waid
• Flash/Green Lantern: The Brave and the Bold #2 (November 1999): “Lightspeed,” Mark Waid and Tom Peyer

Notes

*Mirror Master was originally introduced as Sam Scudder, but occasionally referred to as Joe Scudder. (Actually, many of the classic Rogues went by several names over the course of a series in which their code names were more important than their “real” names.) One explanation given was that criminals often use multiple aliases. Who’s Who in the DC Universe (1986) explains this particular case away by making Joseph his middle name.

Related Commentary

• Mirror Master and the Flash at the Hembeck Files

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