In tonight’s episode of The Flash we meet two titular characters—“The New Rogues”! Sam Scudder (a.k.a. Mirror Master), along with his girlfriend Rosalind Dillon (a.k.a. Top), are the latest metahumans on the block and they have more evil-leaning ulterior motives than any of the S.T.A.R. Labs gang. Sam Scudder is the first of three men to take up the mantle of Mirror Master (fun fact: the third one was Scottish!) and—in the context of the comic books—the Top is a man! He’s called Roscoe Neyle Dillon and often partners up with Sam Scudder and several other Rogues in order to take on the Flash.

Viewers can see this mirrored (haha), in “The New Rogues” by having Sam and Rosalind be romantically involved. This makes them instant allies who, of course, would work together against the Flash.

Let’s take a little look at the comic characters who inspired Sam and Rosalind on screen.

Roscoe Dillon was a small time crook who was obsessed with tops as a child and Sam Scudder was your run-of-the-mill convict obsessed with the idea of getting to the other side of a mirror. Both characters were created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino (big time Flash creators who, if you haven’t read, you should absolutely think about picking up). Sam Scudder first appeared in 1959 and Roscoe Dillon first appeared in 1961, which puts their creation right at the beginning of the Silver Age. You can tell from their relatively simplistic character descriptions that villains of the time were usually conceived of as one-shot characters who were not likely to appear again, and that is why they share the same basic constructs. The good thing about building characters this way is that when the idea to team them up comes around they will all inherently relate to each other because they already share so much.

Roscoe Dillon went on to teach himself how to spin fast enough to deflect bullets and create really basic constructs (no Green Lantern level building going on here), named himself the Top and donned a yellow and green-striped costume.

#DCTV Secret: During “The New Rogues,” we see Rosalind Dillon wearing a green coat and skirt with yellow details when she and Sam rob a bank and face off against the Flash and Jesse Quick for the first time. It’s a really nice throwback to her comic counterpart’s classic togs.

In the comics, Roscoe Dillon does also go on to date Golden Glider a.k.a. Lisa Snart (Captain Cold’s sister, if you need refreshing), who has appeared on The Flash television show. Just to speculate apropos of nothing: I think it would be really cool if Rosalind Dillon teamed up with Golden Glider on the show and maybe even got romantically involved—why not?

Back to Sam Scudder, shall we? He acquired his powers in a carnival hall of mirrors (what says “I’m a comic book baddie!” more than that?), but is probably most famous for being killed during CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS around the same time as Barry Allen (CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #8 for those playing along at home), which could lead to some interesting parallels between Sam Scudder and Barry Allen throughout this season of The Flash.

Sam Scudder would then be resurrected during the massive crossover event BLACKEST NIGHT as a black lantern in one of his creepiest appearances of all time. Along with some other deceased Flash villains he is set to attack the currently-living Rogues.

Another fun fact: During the New 52 continuity, it was implied that Sam Scudder was romantically involved with the Golden Glider (remember her from earlier?).

Rosalind and Sam are a shippers dream! Not only are they introduced to “The New Rogues” audience as a couple, but when you take some of their comic book history into consideration, it seems that they are destined to become involved with Leonard Snart (he’s already appeared in promotional footage, so that’s not a spoiler), often meaning that Lisa is not that far behind. Think of the soap opera-esque mayhem that could ensue at first uniting the Rogues together with the new Rogues in order to take down Team Flash before, ultimately, destroying them because feelings get hurt.

There was also a very famous storyline involving Roscoe Dillon where he dug up Iris Allen’s body (she was dead at the time, it was super weird, just go with it), and was captured by Barry, dragged back to the Justice League Watchtower before he was finally brainwashed by Zatanna into being a hero rather than a rogue. However, Roscoe Dillon was driven so mad with guilt that he wound up going even crazier than he had been before.

Bet you didn’t know going into “The New Rogues” that Sam Scudder and Rosalind Dillon brought with them a whole subplot of possibilities! Their appearance also suggests that any time Barry teams up with a speedster sidekick (Jesse Quick … Wally West???), they are likely to face down at least a pair—if not a team—of rogues in order to keep the threat of danger at its height.
 

Ashley V. Robinson covers The Flash as a part of the #DCTV Couch Club. You can find her on Twitter at @AshleyVRobinson and on the Jawiin YouTube channel. The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. (7 p.m. CST) on The CW.