quick Flash question

[ratcreature]

I've just read Flash #106, and I'm wondering, this James guy who's with Piper, when they and Linda meet for lunch, is he Piper's boyfriend? And who is he anyway? (When Piper says to Linda that he's no expert on relationships James interjects "Oh, I don't know..." and in this conversation it seems he and Piper share a house.) And who is he anyway? I couldn't find a James on the main site I use to look up Flash info, besides James Jesse, the first Trickster, and that guy looks very different, e.g. Trickster I has long blond hair.

Comments

[derryderrydown.livejournal.com]

From the Pulp Heroes Flash annual, it does seem very much as though he's Piper's boyfriend.

Piper's old crime partner, Fury, has escaped from prison and Piper and James are in their kitchen, discussing it.

James: So?
Piper: So... what?
J: So are you going to go after this fellow Fury?
P: I guess I ought to, eh? Wally's got his hands full in Keystone - and I feel some personal responsibility for the guy. After all, we were partners.
J: You sure there's not a little attraction going on here?
P: Attraction...? Oh, you mean the life I used to lead. The glamour and everything. [For a moment, I thought he might've been talking about Fury. But he wasn't... Was he?]

Piper's description of Fury also implies a certain amount of attraction: "His real name was Earl Povich, son of a steelworker in Pittsburgh. But to me, he was a titan. A handsome, swashbuckling Prometheus, stealing the fire from heaven and daring the gods to make him give it back. He was everything I wanted to be, everything I hoped I could be. Which is why I was so heartbroken when he went solo. Just one job, he promised me. Just one. Then we'd get back together."

Once Piper has confronted Fury and beaten him, he and James walk off with their arms round each other. Piper: [There's more to life than fun. There's the feeling that comes with someone believing in you. The way James believed in me.]

From comments in the storyline, he's an architect of sorts. No superpowers - just a normal person.

[ratcreature]

Thanks for the additional info. I knew that Piper was gay, because Flash #190 mentioned that, also his bio here, but nothing specific on boyfriends.

[derryderrydown.livejournal.com]

Ah, the Pulp Heroes annual was my first introduction to Piper. I was pleasantly surprised to find a gay character.

[kerithwyn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's Piper's (now ex-, I think) boyfriend James, not James Jesse. I don't recall when he vanished or even if he ever got a last name... greenygal could probably tell you more. :)

[ratcreature]

They are cute together. It'd be cool if James had a last name. I like that Piper got to have a boyfriend. I mean, when I read the Piper issue #190 his coming out to his parents was mentioned, but it all seemed kind of unhappy, it's nice to know that him being gay isn't all doom and gloom.

[greenygal.livejournal.com]

No last name, all of four appearances, and the current writer says he and Piper broke up. (Which irritates me, partly in itself but mostly that he couldn't take one line to tell us that in the book...) But he was cute while he lasted.

it's nice to know that him being gay isn't all doom and gloom.

Well, there were certainly moments of great amusement (http://img40.photobucket.com/albums/v124/Greenygal/PiperOut.jpg)... ;) Yeah, his sexuality doesn't get focus too often (and is sometimes irritatingly danced around, like never actually saying James was his boyfriend), but he has his moments, and they don't all consist of people being prejudiced at him.

[ratcreature]

Yeah, that's annoying that the breakup isn't mentioned in the book itself. I mean, Piper is a regular supporting character after all, his relationships deserve mention (and okay from what I've seen of Piper so far I just like him, so I want life to get screentime too). And in that scan Wally's look is priceless. Which issue is it from?

[greenygal.livejournal.com]

In fairness to Geoff Johns, as near as I can tell James hadn't been seen or mentioned for three years prior to his taking the book on, and I suppose he may have assumed it was a dead issue. But having been made aware that, yes, there were readers who wanted to know, he could have, gee, I don't know, dropped in a reference in Piper's spotlight issue...? (Now, admittedly, it does seem evident from observation that Piper and James had broken up, otherwise James wouldn't have been totally absent from the Piper Is Framed For Killing His Parents saga. But positive evidence would be nice.)

and okay from what I've seen of Piper so far I just like him, so I want life to get screentime too

*cackles maniacally* Piper convert, yes! (Um...don't mind me. I have a Thing about this character...)

And in that scan Wally's look is priceless. Which issue is it from?

FLASH #53, forever known as The One Where Piper Comes Out.