The rise of Darkseid’s Absolute re-imagining of the DC Universe continues to grow darker and darker. After the villain managed to corrupt a founding Justice Leaguer into a nightmare weapon, he now looks poised to do the same with one of DC’s oldest heroes, the first Flash family speedster.

The First DC Speedster, Max Mercury, Has Officially Turned Evil

The Flash #27 by Mark Waid & Christopher Cantwell, Vasco Georgiev, Matt Herms

The impossible twist was initially revealed on the final page of The Flash #26, after Bart Allen attempted (foolishly) to travel back in time to prevent Darkseid’s entire plan. With Wally West in hot pursuit, both heroes were caught by Darkseid and thrust even farther back through the timestream than they intended, specifically to the year 1908. This period in history is so early in the rise of metahumans that only Max Mercury, a.k.a. ‘Whip Whirlwind,’ was publicly active.

After witnessing Max kneel before the acolytes of Darkseid’s Omega Legion, proclaiming to have “devoted my allegiance” to these forces of evil, the following issue confirms things are just as bad as they seem. Not only is ‘Whip’ doing Darkseid’s bidding to unlock the mystery of “Omega Speed,” but it appears that either explicit corruption or mental influence means he will do whatever is necessary, even kill.

The personal element at work in the corruption of Max Mercury makes this twist even darker than those which have come before. As one of the friendliest heroes in existence and the tutor and mentor of Jay Garrick, Wally West, and Bart Allen, Darkseid has struck at the heart of the Flash family.

The Absolute Universe Turns Another Beloved Hero Into Darkseid’s Pawn

The Flashes & Max Mercury Bring Time Travel Into Darkseid’s ‘K.O.’ Attack

For those unfamiliar, Max made his debut all the way back in 1940 (just a few short months after Jay Garrick’s debut as DC’s Flash), going by the name “Quicksilver” in issues published by Quality Comics. His modern origin explains that Max was born in 1830 before being gifted a connection to the Speed Force by a friendly native shaman to become “Windrunner.” A leap through time turned him into ‘Whip Whirlwind,’ before he leapt further ahead to become ‘Quicksilver’ (explaining that multiple different speedsters were one man with different names).

Dubbing him ‘the zen master of speed’ by his students and friends, there is no speedster more at peace or in tune with the mysticism of the Speed Force than Mercury. This fact is clearly not lost on Darkseid, who has turned him into a faithful follower of his own corrupted speed force. One thing is clear: whether or not Max succeeds in killing the Flashes, this is a cheap shot from Darkseid amidst his larger DC K.O. tournament.

The Flash #27 is available now from DC Comics.