The Flash family has one of the most interesting collective of supervillains in all of comics. Indeed, their rogues’ gallery is so definitive they are collectively known as The Rogues’ Gallery, or Rogues for short. One of the founding Rogues is making their DC All-In debut in The Flash: Bad Moon Rising Special #1.
Written by Alex Paknadel, with art by Daniel Bayliss, the special marks the fourth chapter of the Bad Moon Rising storyline. The plot finds Wally West waging a one-man war against the dark spirit known as Eclipso.
Fighting with near-infinite variants of himself within the ticks of a second, Wally has managed to hold Eclipso at bay. However, the opening narration of the special suggests Eclipso is about to enlist the aid of another shadowy villain: The Shade.
The first three pages of The Flash: Bad Moon Rising #1 may be viewed below.
The Flash villain Shade explained
First appearing in 1942’s Flash Comics #33, The Shade was original an enemy of Jay Garrick. Surprisingly, he was never given a backstory or a secret identity. Indeed, the source of his powers was inconsistent throughout his earliest appearances.
In his first appearance, The Shade made use of a machine to block out light. Subsequently, he armed himself with a magic cane that summoned shadows. After his premiere, he appeared only as a member of the Injustice Society or working with other enemies of The Flash. Indeed, he was one of the trio of villains to join forces in the classic story “The Flash of Two Worlds.”
The Shade was given a new lease on life in the 1994 Starman series. More, he was finally given a name and a backstory as Victorian thief Richard Swift. He gained immortality and shadow powers at the cost of his memories, following some sort of mystic ritual gone awry.
Afterward, The Shade lived as a thief and killer for hire, albeit one with a strict code of honor. He refused to commit crimes in his adopted hometown of Opal City. The Shade likewise refused to kill costumed crimefighters like The Flash, except in self-defense.
Outside of a solo miniseries in 2011, The Shade has not appeared much since the end of Starman. However, those few appearances confirmed he is still dating Opal City Police Detective Hope O’Dare. Indeed, his last notable appearance in 2017’s The Flash teamed him with Barry Allen to save Iris West and Hope from the Shadowlands. Unfortunately, it seems The Shade may be falling back into his wicked ways again.
The Flash: Bad Moon Rising Special #1 arrives in comic shops everywhere on July 23, 2025.
