From CBR’s write-up of Saturday’s DC: A Guide to Your Universe panel at Fan Expo, here’s some more commentary on the future of the Flash.

[Dan] Didio said, “I don’t think I ever said Bart Allen was dead. I am serious.”

“We all wish it,” added Giffen to a chorus laughs.

“There were changes that were going to be made,” continued Didio. “There were stories that were going to be told and there were definite crossovers taking place at the moment of the death of Bart Allen. So there is a good chance there is going to be more resolutions to that character and what happened to him in the very near future or the very far future.”

Well, we already knew that Bart’s death was one of the major kick-offs for Salvation Run and all the threads in Countdown, Justice League, Checkmate, etc. that tied into it. But I’m not convinced that Dan Didio never said Bart was dead.

Ethan Van Sciver went into more detail on the future of the Flash franchise:

Following a discussion regarding the possibility of DCU proper being big enough for not one but four Flashes, Van Sciver revealed that one of the subjects he and Geoff Johns must address in “The Flash: Rebirth” is going to be to organize and answer that very question. “We are going to show you how unique and individual each of those Flashes are and what they’re purpose is and what they can all do,” he explained. “And to reinstate Barry Allen as the King of the Flashes. That’s what we are out to do.”

I’m of mixed feelings on this. On one hand, it does make it sound like they intend to keep Wally around as the Flash — something I’m not willing to take for granted, given DC’s history of yanking Flash readers around. On the other hand, it’s becoming clear that EVS and Geoff Johns have definite ideas of who the “real” Flash is, and it’s not the guy Johns wrote for five years.

Van Sciver also teased that he had pages of “The Flash: Rebirth” #1 with him in the room and had shared them with [LSH penciller Francis] Manapul. “But no one else can see them. It’s a company perk,” quipped Van Sciver, to which Manapul deadpanned, “They’re not bad.”

Van Sciver, the self proclaimed (next to Geoff Johns) second biggest Flash fan working for DC Comics, said he has been asking for the return of Barry Allen since he started with the publisher back to his days on “Impulse.” “I used to ask if we could weave the ghost of Barry Allen, or at least the essence, into a story. I think he is so important to DCU. To me, he is just as important as Superman because he was the very first Silver Age hero, he ushered in the Silver Age and we need him back. Now’s the time for Barry to be back and I think as a result of Barry Allen’s return, all the other pieces will fall into line.

“I want to see Barry, I want to see Wally, I want to see Jay, I hope to see Bart someday. I’d like to see Jesse Quick and Johnny Quick and Max Mercury, I want to see them all working together and functioning as a group. By the way, one of those I let slip.”

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