How are Barry Allen and Turtle connected in The Flash No. 73?
By Monita Mohan
Turtle in The Flash No. 73 (Credit: DC Comics)
Turtle’s Origin Story
Turtle, the character, has been around for decades, but he has often been little more than a gimmick – a villain with powers that are the opposite of the Flash. After being easily captured in the previous installment, one would have expected the storyline to move away from Turtle, but he’s back. And he reveals his not-so-surprising origin story to Barry Allen.
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Turtle is seemingly immortal, having been born in an era where status was everything. He clawed his way to becoming a renowned scientist all on his own merit, reaching his goals faster than even he expected. And then, he met a woman. As in most pop culture properties, love is always considered a weakness by characters – be they heroes or villains. For Turtle, his focus on his family meant being superseded by his peers at work. And this led to a poor judgement call on his part with one of his experiments.
After an explosion in his lab, Turtle became withered and slow, unable to keep pace with anyone or anything. In a surprising move by The Flash storytellers, Turtle’s family stuck by him and supported him through to their twilight years. Realizing he was immortal, but they weren’t, Turtle killed them, and realized what his powers were – the ability to drain the life force of people. Thus, a villain was born.