WARNING! LOTS OF SPOILERS AHEAD!
Release Date: December 1987
Title: Red Trinity
Writer: Mike Baron
Penciller: Jackson Guice
Inker: Larry Mahlstedt
Guest Stars: Tina McGee, Red Trinity
Bad Guys: Commies!
The Cover: Jackson Guice
"Red Trinity!" Through a barren snowy landscape trudge Flash, with a polar-suited grey-haired man on his back, and two men and a woman in white spandex suits with red stars over their right breasts, the larger man leaning on the woman for support. Their footprints trail off behind them, and the man on Flash's back is shielding his eyes as he looks around. They look pretty worn out and lost, but things are even worse than that – we are looking at this scene through a gap in the rocks, and on either side of the gap (on our side, hidden from Flash's view) there is a muscular arm with a clenched fist. Overall, it gives a nice sense of tension, so it's a pity, really, that nothing remotely resembling the scene appears in the comic.
The Comic
In Finland, near the border with Russia, Flash is preparing for his incursion into the U.S.S.R. to bring back Dr Orloff, the only man with the expertise to save Jerry McGee. Flash checks that his earpiece is receiving the guiding signal being beamed from the Titans satellite, says a farewell to Tina and heads off.
After three hours of running he finds the base, then has to sleep for a while to wait for night to fall. Once it's dark he jumps the fence, finds the lab and Dr Orloff. Orloff at first thinks this is Anatole, surprising him by wearing a red costume and speaking perfect English, but Flash explains who he is and why he is there. Orloff says that, while he is being held there by the authorities and wants to do whatever he can to held Jerry McGee, he will not leave "his children". These are not the children of his marriage, he says, but the children of his genius (very modest, this Dr Orloff). he summons them, and into the room burst the three white-suited speedsters we saw in the last page of last issue. They are Anatole, Bebeck and Cassiopeia, known as Red Trinity.
Red Trinity are suspicious of Flash at first, and say they will hold him until the authorities arrive. Flash scoffs at this, and Cassiopeia challenges him to try and leave. He tries, but is blocked by Red Trinity everywhere he turns. However, once they find out why he is there, they reveal that they want to go to America as well (at least, Anatole and Bebeck do, but Cassiopeia will go along with the group decision). Orloff agrees, so they're all going.
Just as they're discussing when to leave, however, the door bursts open and the General enters with some guards. Apparently Wally was seen heading this way, and the General wants to know what's going on. Flash and Red Trinity make short work of the guards, but the lab is now surrounded. They make a break for it (with Flash carrying Dr Orloff piggy-back) and run into the Siberian snows, a hail of bullets following them.
As they run through the snow, Bebeck worries about the possibility that Blue Trinity might be sent after them. Orloff and Red Trinity explain to Wally (between evading bursts from concussion bombs dropped by Russian fighter planes) that Blue Trinity were the first product of Soviet research into super speed, made violent and unstable by the process of steroids and electronic implants (kind of like Jerry McGee). They are not as fast as Red Trinity, but are stronger, and are controlled by the Soviet army.
Back on the Finnish side of the border, Tina and Dr Bortz wait for Flash's return. They see soviet jets, and know that this means Flash is safe, as they must be chasing him but will be unable to do anything in Finland. Flash and the others arrive, and Flash tells Tina to hurry and get the truck, because "they're almost here". Tina tries to reassure him, telling him that the jets turned back, but he says "not the jets – Blue Trinity", but by then it's too late, and Blue Trinity (two men and a woman, wearing similar costumes to Red Trinity, but in blue, of course, and carrying big guns) have arrived!
Good Stuff
Wally thinks about some cool stuff while he's running:
"I settle into a rhythm. I can hear the Marsalis brothers riffing – Wynton on trumpet, Branford on sax."
Dr Orloff seems a bit slow on the uptake for a brilliant scientist:
Flash: "I am from America. I am the Flash."
Dr Orloff: "Not the American Flash..."
Flash: Yes, the American Flash."
There's a nice two-page spread of Red Trinity stopping Flash from leaving, with Flash zipping all over the place and one Russian or another blocking him everywhere, with Dr Orloff standing in the middle of the room with his coat blowing all over the place from the resultant wind.
Possibly confusing stuff
Due to the weirdly shifting nature of time in the DC Universe, we are expected to belive that this all took place about six years ago, long after the Soviet Union ceased to exist. So there's something to think about, anyway.
Flashometer
Flash's current top speed is just under the speed of sound.
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