DC Comics’ list of comics for May has been released, including…
THE FLASH #31
Written by ROBERT VENDITTI and VAN JENSEN
Art and cover by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUND
1:25 BATMAN ’66 variant cover by MICHAEL ALLRED
On sale MAY 28 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Continued from THE FLASH ANNUAL #3! Guest starring Future Flash, Future Mirror Master and…Wally West! The future is invading Central City and the fates of Wally West and his Aunt Iris hang in the balance!
Three items of note:
- They list the future Flash separately from Wally West (though it could as easily be future Wally and present Wally as it could be future Barry and present Barry), recalling Brett Booth’s cryptic remarks about the annual. (But honestly, who would expect a straight answer from DC after all this time?)
- They confirm that Wally is Iris’ nephew in this continuity.
- Future Mirror Master.
Just come out with it DC! Wally fans, like me, will buy it under almost every circumstance anyway.
No way! DC is playing this smart! Keep the mystery up, I say! It allows it to be more enticing!
Wally, you are my favorite superhero. Because of that, I’m waiting this out ((and, man, does that icky cover page help.)) If reviews show it’s a nu-Wally I’ll accept and I have to wait for the trade…so be it. DC hemmed and hawed all during 2010 and finally handed me back my tattered loyalty with a sneer on it’s ‘face’ during 2011. I’m not giving it back to them that easily as to rush and and get something sight unseen. *Patiently* awaiting May and maybe well beyond May.
Remember when Barry fans thought they were getting Barry back during The Return of Barry Allen? That was a great Wally story….but a lousy Barry one.
Just like watching people buy an experimental new machine with no reviews as yet…. Color me cautious.
Future Mirror Master, huh? Could it be…McCulloch? That would be cool, as he’s the more interesting Mirror Master anyway.
And where is Piper?
Still? I’d have thought he’d have reappeared by now. Wasn’t he in the first year of the book? Or was that Earth2?
Yeah, that was in this book. Then they sort of forgot about him for the next year. Piper appeared briefly in the latest issue of Rogues’ Rebellion, but it was barely even a cameo.
Manapul and Booch said he’d become a part of the supporting cast, but it was not to be. Maybe editorial put the kibosh on it, as they did so many other things. Who knows?
In fairness, M&B were juggling a lot of characters during their run. While they likely wanted to use Piper more, it would seem tough to add him naturally given the stories they told.
Could the new creators be thinking of doing a Flashpoint Citizen Cold scenario in as such that the nu-Wally will be working with/for Piper? (Possibly as a sort of Artful Dodger too. Ergh if so.)
Actually, I’d go for that, provided it had a happier outcome.
That’s true — now that you mention it, I remember talking to Brian Buccellato at a signing and he mentioned that they wanted to keep some threads going (the Iris lost in the speed force thread was what we were talking about), but they just didn’t have the space.
It would’ve definitely been tough given the Villains Month promo, the Year Zero issue, and other stuff that DC’s higher ups planned. You keep hearing stories of editorial micro-managing the book, and I’m sure they leaned on creative teams to drop storylines and characters.
You forgot to cover the fact that Golden Glider and Mirror Master are appearing in Catwoman.
Sorry – busy week.
Wally West is Joseph Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces. So long as DC values that aspect of his character more than whatever storytelling devices are needed to shoehorn him into Barry Allen’s story, he’ll be OK. He will survive having a new face. He will survive having a bad story or two. The archetype that he is derived from has survived for thousands of years. Wally is an iconic character with roots that are far older than the Silver Age.