Top (character)

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Top (comics)
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The Top
The Rogues
Black Lantern Corps
Legion of Zoom
Notable aliasesThomas O'Neill
AbilitiesIncreased intelligence
Mental powers
Use of gimmicked tops
Ability to spin at incredible speeds and induce vertigo in others

The Top (Roscoe Dillon) is a

comic books published by DC Comics
.

The character has made limited appearances across DC-related media while a female version appeared in the live-action television series The Flash, portrayed by Ashley Rickards.

Publication history

Top first appeared in The Flash #122 (August 1961) and was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino.[1]

Fictional character biography

Roscoe Dillon is a small-time crook who turns his childhood obsession with

Rogues Gallery. He dates Golden Glider, Captain Cold
's sister, while coaching her on ice skating. Eventually, Top develops immense psionic powers, as years of spinning moves dormant brain cells to the outer areas of his brain, endowing him with mental powers.

However, the newly activated brain cells are destroyed by close proximity to the Flash's superspeed vibrations. Top dies within days from the injuries sustained by his brain, but not before he plants a series of powerful bombs to destroy Central City as a final revenge. In addition, he prepared a recording explaining his terminal condition and scheme to spitefully challenge his comrades to attempt to find and defuse the explosives which must be done by gathering them all and stacking them on top of each other, knowing that the Flash would surely stop at least one of the attempts and doom the city. Certain that neither the superhero nor the police would believe them if they tried to warn either of the crisis, the Rogues desperately attempt to find the bombs despite the Flash's unwitting opposition. Fortunately, the Flash eventually realizes the situation and aids in stopping the scheme in time.

When Barry Allen's parents were in a car accident, Dillon's spirit is somehow able to take possession of the vacant body of his father, Henry. Realizing who Barry Allen is, he, along with Golden Glider, plot to kill the Flash and take over his body. He fails when he tries to take over the Flash's body while Flash is alive, leaving Henry's spirit to repossess his body.[2]

Brainwashing

About a week after, Roscoe Dillon takes possession of another comatose body and begins wreaking havoc on anyone Barry Allen knew. The final straw comes when he digs up the grave of Iris Allen (who was dead at the time). After knocking him out, Barry takes Dillon to the

the original Trickster
, either seem to remain under the programming or truly reform, at least until Dillon reveals his reprogramming.

Dillon apparently returns to his villainous ways after inhabiting a new body, one of

Senator Thomas O'Neill, a vice-presidential nominee. He plans to become president by setting Piper up to assassinate his running mate after they win, but is stopped by the new Flash, Wally West. Dillon is imprisoned after this, causing him to become more disoriented and insane than before. His "mind-over-matter" powers evolve to being able to induce vertigo
in others.

During the events of Identity Crisis, Wally receives a note from Barry about what he did to Top's mind and asks Wally to restore Top's mind back to its original state. With Zatanna, he manages to find Top behind an old toy factory and repair his mind. Now sane, Top tells them about his "fixing" of the Rogues and swears to remove their mental programming and return them back to their villainous ways.

While Captain Cold and his Rogues are warring against Trickster and the reformed Rogues, Top appears with his set of Rogues consisting of

Murmur, Tar Pit, Girder
, and Double Down, having altered their brains. He removes his programming from Piper and Trickster (although Wally is apparently able to return Piper to his better nature by reminding his friend of his secret identity). After removing Heat Wave's programming, he declares himself the new leader of the Rogues and has his group of reprogrammed Rogues attack Flash. Captain Cold flash-freezes Top and shatters his body in retaliation for manipulating the Rogues' minds and setting them against one another, grimly informing Top that his superior cultural and culinary knowledge did not make him better than the rest of the Rogues.

Blackest Night

In

Iron Heights prison.[3]

The New 52

In

Speed Force dimension and trapped there for about seventy years. Driven insane due to isolation, he tried desperately to escape using his newfound ability to control the wind, but this only served to create massive wormholes that pulled people and objects (including an entire ship) into the Speed Force.[4] The Flash, trying to save the ship's passengers, enters the Force. Turbine confronts him, and their battle ends with both being sent back to Earth[5] An amnesic Hynes later reappears in Central City; he recovers his memories upon hearing The Flash being mentioned and promises to tell Patty Spivot (who believes Barry Allen is dead) where Barry is.[6]

A separate character named Roscoe Dillon appears later in The New 52 as one of the "Acolytes of Zoom".[7] This character does not use the codename of his Pre-New 52 counterpart. This version also has the ability to control centrifugal force, having created a tornado in his hometown prior to being found by Zoom.[8]

In the Watchmen sequel Doomsday Clock, Top and his fellow Rogues are among the villains that attend the underground meeting held by Riddler that talks about the Superman Theory.[9]

Powers and abilities

Top is able to spin at incredible speeds. The spinning also gave him increased intelligence, as his brain was also moving at incredible speeds. The Top's spinning eventually gives him powerful telekinetic and telepathic powers due to the stimulation of his brain cells. Since his soul returned from Hell, he has developed a new mental ability that allows him to induce severe disorientation and vertigo in his victims. Top also uses spinning tops with gimmicks to them such as glue, explosives, oil and gases. He once built a massive "atomic grenade top" that could have destroyed half of the world.

Other versions

25th Century Top

A heroic version of Top is part of the 25th Century cops known as

Professor Zoom's future. When the Renegades attempt to arrest Barry for a crime he will commit in the future, Top abandons his team to help Barry, attempting to prevent the events that lead to Barry's accusation.[10] Once he convinces Barry to let him help, it appears as though he is actually framing Barry for a crime he committed.[11] It is subsequently revealed that Top is actually attempting to prevent Barry from investigating previous 'cold cases' to leave an innocent man in jail, as the man who actually committed the crime is an ancestor of the future Top; the future Top spent his whole life training to join the Renegades, but the organisation will not allow members in if anyone in their families (no matter how far back) has a criminal record, prompting Top to set up events to ensure that his ancestor stays out of prison so that he can achieve his 'dream'. Informing Top that he cannot be a hero under the circumstances he is trying to set up, Barry vibrates inside Top's body and destroys his suit from the inside, subsequently leaving him for the Renegades to take back to their future.[12]

In other media

Television

Film

The Top appears in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. This version is a member of the Rogues.

Video games

The Top appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Robert S. Fisher.

Miscellaneous

The Top appears in The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #3.[16]

External links

  • Alan Kistler's Profile On: THE FLASH - A detailed analysis of the history of the Flash by comic book historian Alan Kistler. Covers information all the way from Jay Garrick to Barry Allen to today, as well as discussions on the various villains and Rogues who fought the Flash. Various art scans.

References

  1. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X
    .
  2. ^ The Flash #303 (November 1981)
  3. ^ Blackest Night: The Flash #1
  4. ^ a b The Flash (vol. 3) #7
  5. ^ The Flash (vol. 3) #8
  6. ^ The Flash (vol. 3) Annual #1
  7. ^ The Flash (vol. 4) Annual #4
  8. ^ The Flash #760
  9. ^ Doomsday Clock #6 (July 2018). DC Comics.
  10. ^ The Flash (vol. 3) #4 (July 2010)
  11. ^ The Flash (vol. 3) #5 (September 2010)
  12. ^ The Flash (vol. 3) #6 (November 2010)
  13. ^ Schedeen, Jesse (October 25, 2016). "The Flash: "The New Rogues" Review". IGN. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
  14. ^ "'The Flash' Recap: Barry Brings a New Hope to the Year 2024". Entertainment Weekly.
  15. ^ Venable, Nick (August 22, 2020). "The Flash: 4 Cool Season 7 Reveals From New Trailer And DC FanDome Panel". Cinema Blend. Archived from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  16. ^ "The Flash Movie to Get an Official Tie-In Comic from DC". MovieWeb. 2022-01-21. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
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