FLASH Facts: Plunder
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One of the most common things in long running comics, which also happens to be one of the most annoying things that can happen to long time readers, is the dropped story arc. Usually an arc that gets dropped is a B or C story (though there is that time Marvel killed Captain America, then never explained how he came back to life) and the dropping of the arc is due to a change in writers. Sometimes the arc gets dropped because the writer who introduced it changed their plans for the book, or were told by editorial to take the book in a new direction.
What the case is with Plunder, or to be more accurate, Detective Jared Morillo, I can’t say for sure, but he sure as hell feels like a dropped story arc to me.
Plunder was introduced in Geoff Johns’ first Flash story. In the story, Flash finds himself trapped in a mirror universe where there was no Speed Force. Flash teams up with Captain Cold and Mirror Master (who screwed up and trapped himself in the mirror world along with Flash) to get back to their reality. When Flash and the two Rogues broke free of the mirror universe, Plunder, a hitman with a secret identity, followed them.
Not long after, Flash gets some help taking down a cult that worshiped the Speed Force. One of the peeps who helped, Detective Jared Morillo, was injured in the battle with Cicada, the head of the cult. Cicada slashed Morillo’s arm with a magic dagger that had absorbed the life essence of people the cult had sacrificed. With that cut, Morillo found that he had gained the ability to heal at a shockingly quick pace.
Morillo was assigned, along with an old cop named Fred Chyre (who you may recall died in the pilot of The Flash), to Keystone’s new Department of Metahuman Hostility. In one of the first cases for the department, Morillo and Chyre went after Weather Wizard, who appeared to kidnap a kid. Flash got involved and everyone soon learned that Weather Wizard was the baby’s father; the mother had been killed by the cult and he wanted to keep his son from growing up without either of his parents. Still, kidnapping is a crime, so Weather Wizard went off to jail. The baby, who appeared to have powers, was given to Iris West to raise. In the kind of thing that made me quit reading comics for a time, the evil speedster Inertia ended up killing the baby.
For a good while, Plunder kept a low profile as he learned the ropes of the reality he now found himself in. He started showing up at the Keystone black market to make connections with other baddies like himself, never revealing himself to them. When Blacksmith, the head of Keystone’s black market, decided to put together his own team of Rogues to take out the classic Rogues, Plunder offered his service and revealed his true identity - he was the mirror universe’s version of Morillo.
Blacksmith’s team quickly set to work, starting with taking the real Morillo captive and having Plunder replace him. This part if the plan fell apart real quick when Morillo’s partner, Fred Chyre, notice that his buddy wasn’t acting like himself. Oh, and the scar on his face moved to the other side of his head. Plunder being a total goof-up, forced Blacksmith to up the timeline of his plan, and the battle between the two teams of Rogues started.
By the end of the battle, Plunder was either dead or sent back to the mirror universe - we don’t know which. He never showed up again, so I guess maybe dead? Morillo and his healing powers would continue to show up for a while; he quietly quit appearing some time before Flashpoint and New 52.
We poor readers never learned more about Morillo’s powers. As far as we know, he never revealed them to anyone, not even his wife (who was never named or actually shown - she was always off-panel, like Vera on Cheers). Like I said, Morillo isn’t the only dropped story arc in comics, hell he isn’t the only dropped arc in Flash comics, but he is one that stands out to me because I was interested to see where his story was going. Maybe one day some writer will bring him back to the comics and give us an answer.
