Cover: Greg LaRocque & Larry Mahlstedt

Flash #31

Oct 1989 · DC · 1.00 USD; 1.25 CAD; 0.50 GBP

📊 ~34,240 copies sold its debut month

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“The Comfort of a Stranger”

About this Issue

Flash vol. 2 #31 is a compact but telling chapter in William Messner-Loebs's socially conscious run on the title — one of the few superhero books of its era to center an entire story around the murder of homeless people and the indifference of law enforcement toward those deaths. The issue crystallizes the Pied Piper's ongoing transformation from Silver Age Rogues Gallery villain into a street-level advocate for the dispossessed, a character arc that would culminate, two years later, in one of DC's earliest explicit portrayals of a gay costumed character. It also serves as the narrative hinge just before Wally West's permanent relocation to Keystone City in the very next issue, making it the last chapter of his New York period and a quiet pivot point for the Wally West mythology.

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writer William Messner-Loebs · artist Greg LaRocque · inker Larry Mahlstedt · colorist Glenn Whitmore · letterer Tim Harkins · cover Greg LaRocque, Larry Mahlstedt

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NM $1.99 VF/NM $1.99 VF $3 NM · 2nd print $3.75 2nd print $3.79 2nd print $3.99 VF/NM $3.99 MINT $4

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History

Messner-Loebs took over The Flash with issue #15 in 1988, inheriting a Wally West who had been drawn as flawed and difficult to root for under the book's founding writer. By issue #31 his run had hit a confident stride, using done-in-one stories to ground a superhero title in urban poverty and social friction at a time when most mainstream comics avoided such material. Editor Brian Augustyn shepherded the run throughout this period. The issue falls squarely within Messner-Loebs's long-form project of rebuilding Wally's supporting cast — redeeming old villains, introducing new civilian allies, and sharpening Linda Park's role — work that ultimately earned the run the first GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book in 1992.

Trivia · 8 facts

Cover date: October 1989 (The Flash vol. 2 #31); story title: 'The Comfort of a Stranger.'
Full credits: Writer William Messner-Loebs; Pencils Greg LaRocque; Inks Larry Mahlstedt; Colors Glenn Whitmore; Letters Tim Harkins; Editor Brian Augustyn.
The plot follows Wally West and the Pied Piper investigating a series of murders targeting homeless people, working alongside Linda Park as a media resource; the villain (the Comforter) dies when his own power backfires.
Linda Park had debuted just three issues earlier in Flash vol. 2 #28 (July 1989), also by Messner-Loebs and LaRocque — issue #31 is one of her earliest appearances and depicts her still-adversarial relationship with the Flash.
The Pied Piper (Hartley Rathaway) appears here in his reformed, homeless-advocate persona first established by Messner-Loebs — years before his landmark coming-out scene in Flash vol. 2 #53 (1991), which would help earn the series a GLAAD Media Award.
Marion Rhodes West (Wally's mother, Mary West) is present in the domestic scenes at the apartment, continuing her supporting role in the Messner-Loebs run.
Issue #31 is the final chapter before Wally, Mason Trollbridge, and Pied Piper relocate to Keystone City — a move that occurs in the very next issue (#32, 'Welcome to Keystone City') and defines Wally West's geography for decades.
Deacon Blackfire is indexed in the catalog for this issue; however, his established first appearance is Batman: The Cult #1 (1988, created by Jim Starlin and Bernie Wrightson), and the DC Database wiki's character index for Flash vol. 2 #31 does not list him — see Flagged.