Was the second also from the Flash?

Oops.

Was the second also from the Flash?

Flash 209.

I think the past event turning out to be Dr. Light raping Sue as a way to attack the menfolk (he wasn't even an Elongated Man villain, was he?) and then chortling and leering about it like a Will Eisner villain from WWII was just too over-the-top for me. I would have much preferred it if something Sue had done personally and proactively—like perhaps figuring out a scheme of Dr. Light's and netting him a prison sentence—had initiated a reason for him to attack her specifically.

That would help offset the "Aha! I have stumbled across [insert hero's name here]'s (a) sidekick (b) love interest (c) pet (d) all of the above and can use it to get at him!" vibe I got from this issue .

I don't know much about Sue Dibny, so I don't know if they short-changed her and removed her agency (which is what bugged me about Fred -- she used to be useful, but they made a scenario in which she had to be damsel) or not. I have been taking for granted that the story basically required a virgin to sacrifice on an altar to engender what's come up so far. I find some of the characters reacting patronisingly, but I don't get that from the author yet.

I don't mind a story in which abuse against women is the worst thing that can happen on a micro-scale -- I mind it when I feel the author's telling me that's true outside the story as well.

Ple, after you talked specifically about Silver Age characters and sexism, I couldn't help but notice that that the men characters involved in the mindwipe are the ones most strongly associated with the Silver Age. Flash and Green Lantern foremost, with Atom and Hawkman right behind. Green Arrow being the exception, since he's really a second tier Golden Age character that got a second life post-Silver Age with the late sixties Arrow/Lantern team-ups. It couldn't be mere happenstance that the big three Golden Age heroes were excluded.

Plei -- would the Flash arc you're talking about start after the issues collected in this tpb?

Yep. It's the arc that starts in the aftermath of Blitz.

Sometimes, I really like Wally. Which is remarkable, because I very often just want to smack him over the head with a cluestick.

I hear "Golden Age" and "Silver Age" all the time, but I don't have a clue what they mean. (Other than they obviously refer to time periods and comics.)

The Golden Age refers pretty much to comics during WWII. The Silver Age starts with the introduction of Barry Allen!Flash, and goes through the sixties, maybe a little beyond.