If the first rule of Flashpoint is “Don’t talk about what happens after Flashpoint,” the second rule must be “Don’t talk about Wally West.”
At least, that’s the impression I get from the way they deflect any questions about him at conventions. At C2E2 DC Nation, they even started referring to other questions they weren’t going to answer as being “Wally West territory.” If they aren’t going to do anything with the character, why can’t they just say so? And if they are, why go to such effort to hide it?
Not that much Flashpoint news came out of WonderCon in the first place. Between DC Icons, DC Nation, and DC Universe, pretty much all they revealed is that Rocket Red is not in the event. But for the most part, Didio and co. seem to be a lot less snotty when not answering questions about other characters. The “Who was that again?” treatment seems to be reserved for Wally West and Cassandra Cain.
It’s pretty obviously a joke. Johns notoriously hates his stuff being spoiled, and any Wally news would give a lot away. Just chill and enjoy it as it unfolds, don’t hyperfocus on OH NOES WHEREZ MAH WALLY
Yes, obviously a joke…at the expense of the character’s fans. Have you *read* the panel write-ups? They’re not saying “We don’t want to spoil Flashpoint,” or “We’re keeping plans for Wally under wraps.” They’re saying things like, “Wally, he’s the new Nightwing, right?” “Wally…who was that again?”
Yeah, which is the joke. They clearly have huge plans for Wally, so they’re just feigning ignorance to avoid spoiling. I don’t see how people can honestly think they’re just gonna dump Wally off to the side and forget about him forever, especially not with a huge event right around the corner.
Way to miss the point.
The annoying part isn’t just that they aren’t telling us about Wally.
It’s that they’re being jerks about it.
Well, DiDio’s like that. Ask fans of Stephanie Brown, or Cassandra Cain. You’d think he’d have learnt better by now, given the reaction those little “jokes” got, but apparently not.
No, I completely get the point: they’re joking and teasing. Cynical fans are just getting super pissed about it.
Yeah…they really aren’t being jerks. In this instance DC was playing coy to a fan at a convention, and avoiding the answer. For several logical reasons.
Now, if we’re hanging on the vine waiting for *any* crumb of information about Wally West developments – especially after a couple of years of no developments – then some serious frustration may have set in. And maybe a bit of oversensitivity too.
Which is understandable; DC hasn’t put out anything fresh with Wally, really since v2 was cancelled.
(And frankly, I suspect whatever they do come up with for Wally will be met with a resounding, “That’s it? I waited 2 years for THIS?”)
Honestly though, shouldn’t fans just lighten up a bit. I mean, you’re at a comic convention, you’re there to meet creators and have fun, can’t said creators do the same. If they joke about killing a character and fans go ape sh!t, it’s pretty obvious that they arn’t going to do anything.
I think the 2 most likely motivations for these types of flippant answers are:
1. They plan to do something drastic with the character – new identity, killed off or eliminated from continuity. (I bet new codename/identity is the most likely)
Or,
2. They don’t want to spoil anything, and are tweaking Wally fans the same way they did Barry fans in the 2000s to create buzz.
I’ve never been terribly impressed with the overall performance of any company’s convention panels. Geoff Johns usually acts professional, but so many others are just complete ass-hats….whether it’s the flippancy you noted, foul language (someone needs to remind them that there are often young kids in the audience), or just general cluelessness/poor communicating. I realize these things are supposed to be off-the-cuff and casual, but at the same time, I think these guys can put a bit more effort into acting more professional and on-the-ball.
Marvel just announced that Steve Rogers will be back as Captain America soon, so I think Wally and Bucky – the better Flash and the better Cap, both with cooler shinier costumes and non-bland-blond personalities – should team up in an ongoing comic. That would be my #1 comic any month.
“Manapul said it would be confusing for readers to have two Flash characters right now”
That’s not a glib rebuttal, but still an odd statement especially for Flash fans. (What, Jay doesn’t count anymore??)
I’m not angry over this kind of behaviour. If they have upcoming big plans for Wally, good. I just wish they’d do SOMETHING with Wally instead of leaving him hanging in limbo.