Royal Flush Gang
The Royal Flush Gang or RFG are fictional characters in DC Comics. They first appeared in Justice League of America #43 in March 1966 under the leadership of Professor Amos Fortune.
History
They are a group of playing card-themed supervillains who are usually thwarted by the superheroes they encounter. They have code names based on a royal flush in poker i.e. Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten.
First Gang: Clubs
The original Royal Flush Gang was Professor Amos Fortune's childhood gang. With Fortune himself as Ace, they fought the Justice League on two occasions, using Fortune's luck-altering "stellaration" technology to realize the fortune-telling significance of playing cards. After Fortune abandoned the Gang, they attempted to steal paintings containing clues to a hidden treasure but were thwarted by the Joker's manipulations (Joker #6). Most of them then abandoned their criminal careers, although Jack briefly joined the Secret Society of Super Villains as "Hi-Jack". Fortune's gang wore costumes based on the suit of clubs. In the pages of JLA Classified, it was revealed the original Royal Flush Gang (sans Amos Fortune) reunited to fight the "Detroit Era" Justice League and their successors in the second gang. In this battle, the original King, Queen, and Ten were all killed.
Second Gang: Spades
The second Royal Flush Gang was set up by Green Lantern villain Hector Hammond in Justice League of America #203. Hammond led the group as "Wildcard". This version wore costumes based on the suit of spades. The gang split up and went on to have separate criminal careers before re-establishing themselves, without Hammond. They were twice hired by Maxwell Lord as part of his manipulation of Justice League International. Later, they were reorganized and reoutfitted by a successor to the Golden Age Green Lantern villain the Gambler, who was masquerading as the Joker.
- King (Joe Carny) -- The so-called "King of the Hoboes," Carny also suffered from lung cancer. As Hammond's agent, he wore a costume that technologically enhanced his natural charisma to the point of mind control. Following the metagene bomb in Invasion! King became immortal. Although King is the highest ranking member of the gang, in poker the Ace ranks as the highest card in a royal flush.
- Queen (Mona Taylor) - Taylor was originally a Broadway star whose career was destroyed by her ongoing alcoholism. As Hammond's agent, she wielded a sceptre that cast realistic illusions. After the Gambler reoutiftted the team, she began employing a wrist shooter that fires razor sharp spades.
- Jack (name unknown) - Originally a gigolo, he became a fugitive after inadvertently killing a client while attempting to steal her jewelry. As Hammond's agent, he wielded an energy-charged sword. The Gambler replaced his left eye with a cybernetically-activated laser weapon, making him a literal "one-eyed Jack." The removal of his eye to implant the laser initially impacted his sanity.
- Ten (Wanda Wayland) - Wayland was a test pilot fired for refusing her employer's sexual advances. As Hammond's agent, she wore a costume with energy blasters in its gloves. She has enhanced reflexes, and carries explosive playing cards.
- Ace ("Derek Reston") - The Ace was a superstrong android in the form of an African-American man. A later Ace, Ernie Clay, was recruited by King and used a strength-enhancing exoskeleton provided by the Gambler. In more recent appearances in Starman and Infinite Crisis, however, the team was once again employing the robot Ace.
King, Queen, and Ten also have blaster-pistols. The Gang fly on hovering playing cards. In the Gang's appearances in Teen Titans, Ten had organized runaways as "Ten's Little Indians," a gang of thieves dressed as the two through nine of spades and armed with bows and trick arrows.
Third Gang: All Suits
Superman: The Man of Steel #121 revealed that the Royal Flush Gang had expanded. The Royal Flush Gang is now an organization that reaches across America, with cells in every major city. Instead of five members, each "cell" has fifty-two, split into four suits run by the "court cards". Each member has a playing card value, and those who rise or fall in the Gang's esteem gain or lose a "pip". Notably, Stargirl's father was a "Two"; upon defeating him, she transitioned from the Star-Spangled Kid identity to Stargirl in JSA: All-Stars.
Recently, in Infinite Crisis #2, the Joker tortures and kills the leadership of a local cell of the Royal Flush Gang from an unspecified city, after being rejected by the Society for his "instability". The King is the last one left alive and he mocks the Joker for being rejected. He kills the King with an electrical blast to the face. The dead gang is left in the ruins of a casino. However, given the fact that King is immortal, to the point that he has recovered from death almost instantly on numerous occasions, it seems improbable that he actually permanently died.
Another cell of the expanded version, this one stylized as a street gang, appear as members of the Society in Villains United and several of its tie-ins in other comics. It is unclear what ties the third gang has or had—if any—to its predecessors and successors.
Post-Crisis Gang
A new version of the Royal Flush Gang appears in Justice League of America (volume 2) #35. This version is working under the authority of Amos Fortune, who is addressed by other members as "Wild Card". In the following issue, Fortune gives a history of the gang. It seems to combine the first and third gangs' histories/characteristics, with Fortune indicating that he was always running the group in some capacity.
Currently, there are multiple active, costumed members, some of whom deriving their outfits and codenames from cards with pip values lower than ten. Members can raise in the numerical ranks as reward for their successes, or be "dealt out" at the discretion of Wild Card.
It is unclear if there are still 52 cells throughout the country, or 52 members in total. A lower ranked member mentions that there are four Queens, but Fortune states that the group is constantly growing.
A branch of the Royal Flush Gang based in Las Vegas, Nevada recently appeared in Zatanna # 4. Rather than using a playing card motif, each member of the Vegas branch is modeled after a member of the Rat Pack (such as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin).
Other versions
Elseworlds
In the miniseries Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross, King is a member of Lex Luthor's Mankind Liberation Front. He apparently has gone separate from the Gang, but carries a cigarette pack with playing card markings and speaks in metaphors drawn from card games. There is also a man in the Justice League's prison who appears to be a new version of the Ace of Spades. According to the Elliot S! Maggin novelization, King is also newly immortal, and Vandal Savage's protege.
JLA/Avengers
In the crossover series JLA/Avengers, the group appears as lackeys of Krona who attack Green Arrow and Hawkeye.
In other media
Television
- In The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians, the Royal Flush Gang is seen in the episode "The Wild Cards". They are a quartet of thieves recruited by the mysterious Ace (here not an android). Ace is revealed to not only be in league with Darkseid, but also to be the Joker in disguise, as deduced by Batman upon realizing that the Joker's house of cards was missing his namesake card. By the end of the episode, Ten (who feels in over her head) switches sides and the rest of the gang and Joker are captured.
- The Royal Flush gang is prominent in the DC Animated Universe. They appear as recurring foes in the Batman Beyond series, where the new Batman repeatedly faces a future version of the gang. They use various high-tech weapons with a playing card theme, per their name. The Walker parents are King (voiced by George Lazenby) and Queen (voiced by Amanda Donohoe and later by Sarah Douglas). Their two children are their son Jack (voiced by Scott Cleverdon and later by Nicholas Guest) and daughter Melanie (voiced by Olivia d'Abo), who takes the role of Ten. Ace is an android. This version of the gang resembles the group created by Hector Hammond, down to their riding hovering playing cards and Ace being an android. It is suggested that crime runs in the family: in the episode "King's Ransom", it is revealed that the former King was the father of the current Queen, with each new generation forming a new version or branch of the gang. In their first appearance, King wanted to come back to Gotham to get revenge on Batman for humiliating and breaking up the previous gang. This causes the downfall of this gang. He doesn't know that the Batman isn't the same Batman, but a new Batman. Melanie Walker/Ten was also a romantic interest for Terry McGinnis, creating much the same conflict as existed between the original Batman and Catwoman, so much so that Bruce Wayne mentions the relationship. Melanie leaves the gang after their first appearance. This gang's activities are ended in their third appearance when Ace is destroyed and King is revealed to have been having an affair with Paxton Powers' secretary Sable Thorpe (he claimed he was fed up with living in his predecessor's shadow). The family is arrested, but Jack is bailed out by his sister and takes an honest job at the same restaurant where she works.
- The Royal Flush Gang's DCAU origin is depicted in Justice League and it appears once in the follow-up series Justice League Unlimited. The first incarnation of the gang, which appears in the two-part episode Wild Cards, is a group of government-trained teenagers found and given their theme by the Joker (playing on the fact that the Joker is also a card in a deck). Ace (voiced by Hynden Walch) can create illusions, and drive people insane just by looking at them, even through video broadcasts. King (voiced by Scott Menville) is able to create fire blasts. Queen (voiced by Tara Strong) can manipulate metal. Jack (voiced by Greg Cipes) has a complete body elasticity. Ten (voiced by Khary Payton) has invulnerability and super strength (he feels no pain and appears to have strength comparable to that of Superman). The Joker uses them to stage a reality show in Las Vegas, serving as his muscle while the Justice League searches the city for explosives. This is revealed to be a ruse to draw viewership so Ace could drive every viewer insane. The plan fails when Batman pulls a collar from the Joker's jacket which was used to control her as a child and which Joker had kept as an insurance against her. In retaliation, Ace turns her powers on the Joker, driving him into catatonia for a time, and disappears. King, Ten, and Jack are captured, but as for Queen, she was knocked out during a fight with the Green Lantern and Hawkgirl, and apparently perished when the bomb inside the building they were in detonated. It is interesting to note that this Royal Flush Gang shares all of its voice actors with the title characters of the Teen Titans animated series.
- Another incarnation of the gang, created by Ace, appears in a flashback in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Epilogue", which is itself set 65 years into the future. Ace's powers evolved to the point where she could warp reality, so she granted powers to random people in an attempt to make friends, only to have them ditch her and use their powers for crime. Amanda Waller stated that this was the second or third generation of the gang; she can't remember which (this is a reference to this being the third Royal Flush Gang in production terms, but the second in chronological order of the DCAU). All of the new members of the gang were various puns, based partially on their names; King appeared to be a massive head with small limbs that flew on a throne and fired beams from his eyes (an homage to the Marvel Comics villain MODOK, created by Jack Kirby (often referred to as the "King of Comics"). Queen is a large transvestite (in reference to the phrase "drag queen") with enhanced strength, whose design was based on a cross between the famous drag queen Divine and the Queen of Hearts from Disney's Alice in Wonderland. Jack is an African American Samurai-styled warrior (based on animated hero Samurai Jack, who was voiced by African American comedian Phil LaMarr). Ten is a beautiful woman with long, extensible cornrows she could use like a whip (modelled on Bo Derek's appearance in the movie 10). As the League battled the empowered criminals, Waller revealed that Ace was dying, and a possible psychic backlash caused by her death could kill millions. Batman volunteered to use a device to kill her before that could happen, but instead comforted Ace in her last moments, allowing her to die peacefully without harming anyone. Ace's warped reality, and the criminals empowered by it, returned to normal upon her death. It is implied that Bruce named the Batman Beyond version of Ace the Bat-Hound after this Ace.
- The Royal Flush Gang appear in the teaser of Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Return of the Fearsome Fangs" with Ace voiced by Diedrich Bader and Jack voiced by Edoardo Ballerini. King and Queen are also present but there is no evidence of Ten. Jack speaks Spanish, and Ace is the leader. This version of the gang is reimagined as a gang of bandits in the Old West and fight Jonah Hex and had the diamond insignia on their outfits. The opening scene has Jonah Hex caught and the Royal Flush Gang planning to tear him apart with scattering horses. Batman frees him and the two apprehend the Royal Flush Gang. In "The Siege of Starro, Part One", the Royal Flush Gang are featured in the opening narration, attempting to rob a bank. However, they are stopped by Jonah Hex and Cinnamon.
Film
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References
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