Wally West Costume Comparison

Here’s your chance to do a side-by-side (well, vertical-by-vertical) comparison of Barry Allen’s and Wally West’s Flash costumes — including several variations. Spoilers for Flash: Rebirth #5.

Okay, let’s start with the current costume, which Ethan Van Sciver designed for Flash: Rebirth. Here we have Barry Allen’s unchanged costume and Wally West’s latest.

Flash: Rebirth #5 - Barry Allen and Wally West

Barry Allen Wally West
Colors Bright red & yellow, matte Darker crimson & gold
Trim Flat, as if dyed into fabric 3-D, attached pieces
Symbol Three segments, no border Two segments, gold border
Boots Yellow, with wings Yellow/Gold, no wings
Eyes Open Covered
Mask Clears nose, points drop down to cover tops of cheeks. Straight across, no points.
Belt Single loop of lightning, straight across Two symmetrical lightning bolts on sides, not meeting in the center.

Now let’s go back and look at an earlier version of Wally West’s costume, which he got in Flash vol.2 #50:

Flash: Wally West - Shiny Costume

Flash v.2 #50 Flash: Rebirth
Colors Glossy red & yellow Darker crimson & gold
Trim Flat, as if dyed into fabric 3-D, attached pieces
Symbol Three segments, no border Two segments, gold border
Boots Yellow, no wings Yellow/Gold, no wings
Eyes Covered Covered
Mask Clears nose, points drop down to cover tops of cheeks. Straight across, no points.
Belt Two symmetrical lightning bolts meeting in the center to form a V. Two symmetrical lightning bolts on sides, not meeting in the center.

Next, let’s take a look at the Dark Flash costume from Flash vol.2 #150-159.

Walter West, the Dark Flash

Note the belt and mask line (minus the chin strap) on this one.

Dark Flash New Wally West
Colors Very dark red (almost black) & silver Darker crimson & gold
Trim Some parts flat, others attached pieces 3-D, attached pieces
Symbol Large lightning bolt coming down from shoulder, no circle Two segments in lightning bolt on chest, gold border around circle
Boots Dark red, no wings, with silver bolts at top Yellow/Gold, no wings
Eyes Covered Covered
Mask Straight across, no points, with chin strap. Straight across, no points, no chin strap.
Belt Two symmetrical bolts on sides, not meeting in the center. Two symmetrical lightning bolts on sides, not meeting in the center.
Forearms Silver gauntlets Yellow/gold lightning-bolt arm bands

And finally, let’s look at the costume from the 1990 Flash TV show. Unfortunately you can’t see the boots in this picture, but they’re red, without wings.

Flash TV Costume

TV Show New Wally West
Colors Darker crimson & gold Darker crimson & gold
Trim 3-D, attached pieces 3-D, attached pieces
Symbol Three segments, no border Two segments, gold border
Boots Red, no wings Yellow/Gold, no wings
Eyes Open Covered
Mask Straight across, points at corners of cheeks. Straight across, no points.
Belt Two symmetrical lightning bolts running straight across, meeting in the center. Two symmetrical lightning bolts on sides, not meeting in the center.

Update (Nov. 28): One more! Thanks to Bill Walko for sending some style guides from the Justice League animated series!

Justice League Animated Flash

Justice League Cartoon Flash: Rebirth
Colors Bright red & yellow Darker crimson & gold
Trim Flat, as if dyed into fabric 3-D, attached pieces
Symbol Two segments, yellow border Two segments, gold border
Boots Yellow, no wings Yellow/Gold, no wings
Eyes Covered Covered
Mask Clears nose, points drop down to cover tops of cheeks. Straight across, no points.
Belt Two symmetrical lightning bolts running straight across, meeting in the center. Two symmetrical lightning bolts on sides, not meeting in the center.

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25 thoughts on “Wally West Costume Comparison

    1. Kelson Post author

      The head wings are pretty much the same on all of them. While there have been variations (Mercury-style wings, simplified wings, lightning bolts), they haven’t been applied consistently to either Barry’s or Wally’s costume.

      Reply
  1. Brandan

    You know what sucks? That Wally and every changed their costumes just to be left alone for the rest of the issue. It was like “Here fans, now shut up and let me focus on Barry again.” Which would have been fine had we been convinced he wasn’t going to be shafted upon Barry’s return.

    Yes, I’m still harping on Wally. lol

    As for the comparisons, I still think the 90s show costume will eventually be what we get. Sooner or later, the covered eyes will go away(just as Wally’s green eyes tend to do in other comics), the gap between the two bolts will eventually be connected, and the dark tint will become shinier…that’s just comics. (and bad editing)
    .-= Brandan’s latest blog post: SpeedsterSite: Has any character mentioned Bart’s short time as Flash yet? I feel like that has been ignored. =-.

    Reply
    1. CHR

      +1 I still cannot accept Wally is “gone”. xD I hope someone in the future invents some lame deus ex machina to say that everything post flashpoint is a fake parallel universe and wally has been trying to return things to normal. xD

      Reply
  2. Andrew

    Great side by side comparison and record of past changes. Thanks for putting this together. While I love Barry’s classic uniform the most, I am really digging Wally’s new duds. Hopefully other artists are able to keep his new look consistent in other titles going forward. It’s a pet peeve of mine when then doesn’t happen.

    Reply
    1. Kelson Post author

      Um… oops?

      After I saw your comment last night, I went to pull the image from my JLU profile, and realized that not only did I not have one suitable for this size or background color…but what I had was from the Superman cartoon! Same universe, but slightly different design (mainly the border around the chest symbol). Then I spent an increasingly sleepy half an hour looking for something close online that showed the whole costume at an appropriate size, but everything was either too small, waist-up, blocked, or an action figure. (Which might work, actually.) I’ve got a few issues of the JLU comic book somewhere. If I can dig one of those up, I should be able to scan it.

      Reply
      1. Ionic One

        I just remembered a Justice League arc where the team formed Justice Leage Elite. (kinda special forces for the league and all had different costumes) Might include that one as well.

        Reply
  3. Lee H

    Technically Dark Flash’s costume is black with red highlights, rather than just very dark red. It’s one of those things that wouldn’t work in real life, but hey, can’t argue with the artist.

    Reply
    1. Kelson Post author

      In other books, it was often colored very dark red. I always took the black-with-red highlights as representing that, kind of like how Superman’s hair isn’t really blue, it’s just colored that way so that you can see some detail it.

      Reply
      1. Lee H

        Didn’t the characters refer to the costume as black within the story?

        I could’ve sworn there was an interview out there somewhere about how the costume was supposed to be black, but Google’s not coming up with anything. =/

        Reply
  4. Brandon

    anybody remember the costume wally wore during JLA days? he modified it because “he doesn’t need to remain in barry’s shadow anymore”. i can’t seem to find any pictures of it online.

    Reply
    1. Kelson Post author

      Can you describe it? I only remember Wally wearing variations on the 1990s suit in that comic, though admittedly I bailed after Mark Waid’s first arc as regular writer.

      Reply
    2. Rob

      It was the story which began in JLA #50.
      The heroes were split from their alter egos and Wally came up with a new look. (It wasn’t THAT bad, he wore goggles, and the symbol was high up on the left hand side of his chest.

      Reply
  5. Pingback: DC Universe Action League Review: The Flash & Captain Boomerang | JesterGoblin

  6. Mike W.

    Yah know I remember when the Dark Flash arc came out and thinking. Is is red or is it black with red highlights or is it just really really really dark red? Never-the-less, the costume as cool as it is need to be made into an action figure. We just need to have and evolution of Wally box set. Ten figures dating back to when he was kid flash.

    1. Mini Barry Costume
    2. Yellow/Red Kid Flash Costume
    3. Barry Costume
    4. Updated Shiny suit what took lots of elements from the live action television show.
    5. Dark Flash Costume
    6. Reverse-Flash Wally(Not Zoom but Wally in the Reverse-Flash Costume at the end of the Dark Flash Arc)
    7. That all yellow thing he created from the Speed Force
    8. The New Crimson and Gold we have barely seen.
    9. Kingdom Come Costume with the Jay Garrick Hat
    10. Justice League Elite (yes I want that costume so I can recreate the seen of Wally meeting himself in the middle)

    Reply
  7. Eyz

    I dunno guys…
    (old post, I know but I wanted to say..) I like the fact that Wally’s costume is pretty much almost his DCAU look put into the mainstream comics universe.
    It could do away with the Bat-nose, sure.
    But since most of us who grew up with Wally in the cartoon, having him with the same symbol+ white eyes is neat!

    I still hope a second on-going Flash will be released, as with GL+GLCorps (and Emerald Warriors…and Red Lanterns soon). Maybe after Flashpoint? *crosses fingers*

    Reply
  8. Alfred

    Has everyone forgotten the BRIGHT YELLOW speed force costume that Wally wore?? That thing ROCKED!! He broke his leg or some such and the suit held him together!!

    Cant forget that one!

    Reply
    1. Kelson Post author

      It’s not forgotten so much as it’s not relevant to the post, since it didn’t contribute any design elements to the Flash: Rebirth costume.

      Reply

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