Newsarama’s latest 20 Questions with Dan Didio is in video form, broken into 4 video clips with 5 questions each. The first clip includes the following:
OddballUK wrote: Flash: Rebirth begins in April. While I’m looking forward to the mini and reading about Barry, my question is how happy you think fans of Wally will be over his involvement in the mini and status in the DCU when it concludes?
I think we’re going to treat Wally with the same level of respect Kyle was treated in with the Hal Jordan Rebirth. So I’m hoping Wally fans are going to be excited. We’re going to be bringing Wally back to some of his roots, and more importantly, there’s going to be plenty of Wally in the DCU in 2009 with Rebirth and following Rebirth as well.
On one hand this is good news for Wally fans: Wally won’t be simply racing off into the sunset. On the other hand: What exactly does he mean by returning Wally to his roots?
His roots as a hero in the public eye, loved by the people he protects for being one of them and not hiding his identity? (I could go with that.)
His roots as the speedster who has to eat 50,000 calories a day to maintain his speed? (I could deal with it, but it would be annoying.)
His roots as a single guy who “moves fast?” (Throw Linda and the kids under a bus so that he won’t seem “too old.” No, thanks.)
His roots as the Titans’ resident conservative caricature? (Do we really need this?)
His roots as a teenage sidekick?
It really depends how far they want to go back, doesn’t it?
And of course Kyle Rayner fans are divided as to how well he’s been treated since Hal Jordan’s return.
Well, since Kyle has been shoved off and made a not even secondary character (really, how often does he pop up these days? John Stewart gets more page time than Kyle), this doesn’t bode well for Wally at all.
John Stewart gets more page time than Kyle ?
Hey buddy… when was the last time you read Green Lantern or Green Lantern Corps. John Stewart is the most underrepresented Lantern. Read your comics properly and Don’t talk such nonsense.
To be fair, Kyle does get a fair amount page time in Green Lantern Corps and had a pretty big role in the Sinestro Corps War. But, that’s only because there’s a second book where Kyle and Guy are main characters. Are Barry and Wally going to become partners? I could deal with that as long as they were equals (that would be unique for a DC book wouldn’t it?) Except, I suppose, that might be tough in a book called, “The Flash.”
But, yeah, Wally’s roots are as a hero. It’s what he’s always been. I think Didio is trying to make Wally fans feel better. I don’t think it’s working.
I’d be interested in seeing sales numbers for Green Lantern before and after Green Lantern Corps was launched and see what kind of comparison can be made to The Flash’s numbers (although not The Flash’s current numbers but maybe leading up to Infinite Crisis).
I’m not too concerned about Wally in the short run – I’m a bit more nervous for him over the long haul. Unless the Speedster community is redefined as requiring the repitition of powers and traits – or Wally, Barry, Jay and any other heroic speeedster are so distinctively and individually carved into the continuum… some writer that “runs out of ideas” is bound to be tempted to kill one of them eventually.
Okay, let’s say we use the model for the Green Lantern Corps book to describe what will happen to Wally after Rebirth, by seeing what happened to Kyle.
First Kyle had Ion, a 12 issue maxi series. Then he wasn’t in GLC for a while, because he wasn’t part of the Corps, he was Ion. Geoff saw that, and changed him to a corps member in The Sinestro Corps War. Since then, he has been one of the regular stars of Green Lantern Corps. Sure, he’s not featured every issue, but he does play a big role that he has to share with anywhere from 7 to 7200 other Green Lanterns.
Now look at Wally. If they are going to give Wally the “Kyle” treatment, that means he’s going to get his own 12 issue maxi series, followed by a spot in a second Flash title. The good news: There aren’t 7200 other Flashes. At the most, the book could star 4 Flashes, and Wally would be one of them. So he would get significantly more face time.
The problem is that Didio doesn’t think we realize that TITANS isn’t on the same level as GLC. Kyle has GLC, and the upcoming Blackest Night…Wally has TITANS and….Rebirth. The only thing we can look forward to is the change of costume for Wally. Back to roots simply means, back with the Titans.
I hate to say I told you so, but…
Most of the Wally West fans that you hear from online agree that they have no intention of following Wally over to Titans, because they don’t want to see how badly Judd Winick will damage the character. If Dwayne McDuffie keeps him in the Justice League and tries to do something with him there I might follow it, but this in no way entices me to buy Titans.
If it makes anyone feel better, Sean McKeever is the new writer on Titans starting with issue 12.
What I’ve heard is that Sean McKeever is only writing the issue(s) of the “Death Trap” crossover.
i don’t see why Wally can’t be Barry’s “parter” the same way John Stewart is Hal Jordan’s “partner”. appear in every other issue, have a decently significant role, be ACTIVE in Barry’s life.
i would be intrigued by an “All-Flash” or “The Fastest Man Alive” or somesuch title starring the Wests…(i don’t know if i’d read it though…)
.-= Jason West’s latest blog post: The Final Crisis! =-.
Better be more than twice the respect that Kyle got. Wally’s been The Flash for almost a quarter century. I keep thinking what it’d be like if my dad came back to life after all this time, and on one level it’d be hugs and tears and smiles, and then a week later, I’d be all “stop stepping on my toes, old man.” Bu then, Mark Waid’s already covered this…