After the jump we will have a major SPOILER to discuss regarding Wally West in FLASH #30 – do not go forward unless you’ve read the latest issue (or unless you don’t mind being spoiled)…
SPOILER AHEAD – YOU’VE BEEN WARNED
Wally West is the unidentified kid “five years from now” who doesn’t make it out of that wreck. That’s why the Future Flash of twenty years from now comes back to the present day…to stop the events of five years from now and to save Wally West. Thanks to golddragon71 at The Fastest Forum Alive for the following post (CLICK HERE) that includes some important pics.
Wally obviously is not meant to stay “dead” – he has already been noted to have a significant role in the Flash moving forward, and as we all know “dead” NEVER means “dead” in comics. We should see more of a very-much-alive Wally soon. The character design is a departure from the past, with dark hair instead of red, and with a look that at least creates the implication that Wally’s parents may have a different heritage than in past iterations of the character. Still, this IS Wally – and without even taking a breath he has already had major implications for THE FLASH. Overall, I’m glad to see his return and am ready to give the new team a chance to tell this New 52 Wally’s story. What are your thoughts? Happy, not-so-happy, reserving judgment…what do you think?
The backstory for Wally has me intrigued. If the writers are interested in making him a fixture of DC comics again and the superhero everyone wants him to be, I’ll keep my mind open for a new take.
His Orange/Red Hair is now very short and Black. his complexion is darker indicating a caucasian mixed with ???? decent.
Given that he’s a teen (last time!) “five Years from now” It would seem logical to deduce that he’s either a pre-teen or tween at present.
ok………
The present day Barry Story was prettystraight forward enough. so we’re going to leave that discussion for the Barry boards.
Ever since the rumors started flying around that Wally would be different I’ve been on the “let’s wait and see” side of the fence.
well, now I’ve seen and I’m not ready to storm the castle with pitchforks and torches. (Not yet anyway)
I’m not saying I like the new look. I prefer certain things to not be so drastically changed as others.
Barry’s accident being more life threatening. (More realistic than the old Silver Age version so ….OK
Barry and Iris not together? Didio’s anti-commitment issues aside, this was a huge ARRGGHH for me but I’m willing to tolerate it
FLASHPOINT rewriting all of Iris West’s Family history and Tree? That’s jumping the proverbial Shark.
The only rational explanaition that I can come up with is that Iris West is still a time-lost baby as she was in the Pre-Flashpoint universe but instead of being left with Ira West the Absent minded but generally decent Scientist,
she was instead left on the doorstep of William West the drunk and abusive father who terrorized her and her “brother” Daniel.
Now whether William and Ira were related is anybody’s guess (I’d like to believe that Ira, as he was, does at least exist with the remainder of his family intact meaning that there is in fact “our” Wally still out there somewhere)
In the meantime, we’ll wait and see….
Honestly, I think “Iris is from the future” is one of the weakest ideas introduced in the Flash series. Between the super-heroes, super-villains and talking gorillas there needs to be some NORMAL people as well. It didn’t add any extra dimension to Iris’s character, it just became convoluted.
Damn. Exceedingly tired, need to sleep, more of a long day ahead tomorrow…and I can’t rest. Mind keeps on wandering on if I should go ahead and sell the two Flash trades I purchased last year now….or wait until closer to Christmas where I might get back more than ten cents on the dollar for pristine books.
When I do fall asleep, someone wake me when DC returns a close semblance of Wallace Rudolph West to the comic world. I really miss Wally something terrible, but no sign of him anywhere to be found.
Maybe he’ll show up one day? (That was sarcasm, btw.)
I do have to wonder. If Bruce Wayne had been revamped as a blonde woman wearing a cat costume and Barry as a brunette Asian wearing a paisley chest icon uniform if we would have been told to not complain and start accepting *change* because this is modern times, baby…go with the flow.
I like the art work. It gives Barry a more serious look. The story of lost time is intriguing. I am one of the more forgiving fans and I kinda threw up in my mouth at a black haired wally. BUT…. as I have said before I was so wrong about Jay Garrick. I didnt like the reimagining of him but once I gave it a chance, I think they dont wanna do this story in one issue and know how long everyone has been waiting, If he changes time so wally doesnt die then couldnt his hair change color? Im not sure how I feel about it but Ill take the acknowledge Wally is alive (well u know what i mean).
Wally needs a cool hairstyle. Maybe even some dye.
http://thirstyroots.com/red-hair-dye-for-dark-hair.html
Or maybe something less extravagant.
http://bestpopularhairstyles.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Short-black-Men-Hairstyles-2013.jpg
Now fully awake, but rushing for work:
I went around reading what others were saying and found this guy spoke my heart best:
http://www.comicvine.com/forums/the-flash-7552/the-flash-30-1556606/ Comment #33. I firmly believe all those arguments given as to why they did this to an established character.
Kyer your right!
He nailed it!
http://www.comicvine.com/forums/the-flash-7552/the-flash-30-1556606/
Here is a link to a comment on IGN that sums up exactly how I feel about Wally: http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/04/24/the-flash-30-review?abthid=5358c59f8927b47264000003#comment-1353093568
By Ghost
I’m excited about it. I enjoyed old Wally, even though I’m more of a Barry fan. This new direction makes me more interested in Wally than I’ve ever been, and it serves to make him visually distinct. My take – if they’re going to reboot the universe, why not make some significant changes? I don’t want to see the same thing done over and over. Give me a new take on Wally. There’s hundreds of back issues for the previous version.
‘My take – if they’re going to reboot the universe, why not make some significant changes? I don’t want to see the same thing done over and over. Give me a new take on Wally. There’s hundreds of back issues for the previous version’
–The reboot was supposed to be about having the characters de-aged and made younger again. Not a whole sale change to their physical appearance, temperments etc. That being said, I knew that any introduction of Wally would be different. They can’t have two Flash’s with the same personality. I am not a big Wally fan. But as a long time reader I sympathise with people have a big issue with his sudden change in appearance, I too would be steamed if the personality or looks of long loved character was arbitrarily changed. Although it is plausible under the circumstances, given Iris’ sketchy background pre-Nu52.
This is DC. It’s clear that a lot of their stated reasons for the reboot are basically bogus.
That said, I will see what they actually do with his personality. I just hope they don’t make him into a stereotypical street thug. That would be lazy and offensive.
Seriously guys? I get the frustration I do, but you have seen two panels with Wally (none alive and one is a newspaper). I LOVE Barry but I grew up in the 90s. I love Wally too. It shouldnt be WALLY VS. BARRY. We as fans should be able to love the mantle of the Flash. Sure we all have our favorite but we all are Flash fans at heart. Its the super speed we all connect with. Before we grab our pictch forks lets let them introduce the guy. DC isnt going to sit on Wally for this long and half a$$ . DC doesnt hate Wally they hate redundancy. In a DCU with now atleast three earths and a bright long future ahead. All I am saying is give it a chance please. The rants about Barry winning are divisive. Barry was dead for over twenty years, and Wally has been gone since what 2010. Lastly LEE H… hilarious take on the situation lol. When did I become the DC apologists of the group?
Well, DC doesn’t have a problem with all redundancy, given the four Robins. I just think the management has bizarre, nonsensical ideas. But the change to Wally? I can live with it. The point is to make the character a cool character.
I’m still steamed that they’ve barely done a thing with the Piper/Singh storyline, but then again, DC’s current hardline stance is that heroes can’t be happy. Which means Barry and Patty won’t be together much longer and Barry/Iris ain’t happening. Sigh.
To be fair, I think they’ve said it’s only Batman characters who officially aren’t allowed to be happy.
But yeah, definite missed opportunity with Piper/Singh.
Pied Piper is a rich enough character to support a solo series. It’d be a bit of a risk, being a lesser known character, but with the right creative team and marketing it could work.
I just don’t think the Rogues in general are favorites of DC brass (Cold notwithstanding). Too bad, because a Rogues ongoing could be great.
It’s a new take on Wally. Absolutely no time was spent giving him a personality or character beyond angst fuel for Barry, so I don’t think the “it IS Wally” warrants any capitalization just yet. It’s a guy named Wally West; hopefully he’ll be an entertaining guy named Wally West, but so far he still hasn’t been introduced in any meaningful way. He’s just a face. The face is not familiar, but I’m hoping the character is.
I think it’s also worth noting that he really hasn’t been introduced yet. In this comic, he’s just a face, nothing more. It probably would have been a more promising sign if the writers had given the character more significance beyond that in the first issue he appeared in.
I’m in wait-and-see mode. As Steve points out, we haven’t really seen anything about him yet.
And no one has really seen anything of him yet as a matter of fact.
What I meant is that since the announcement in January anything regarding Wally West was as tightly guarded as the gold in the Fort Knox. For him to be spoiled just before the main event is a little unreal.
I actually think the New 52 was a missed opportunity to build a DCU with a new, more varied lineup. The Silver Age succeeded so wildly for DC not just because it introduced Barry, Hal, Ray etc., but because it broke free of the 1940s versions of the characters and created new ones that spoke to the modern audience.
The big advantage DC had in the Silver Age was that Flash, Green Lantern, Atom, Hawkman etc hadn’t seen print in years, so the kids reading the new versions had never seen or heard of the old versions before.
It would have been interesting to see though. The New 52 was so cobbled together at the last minute and generally mismanaged that it lacked any real mission statement or direction.
My theory is that the new 52 had nothing to do with a new history or a varied lineup. That was all lip service on DC’s part.
I don’t care about Barry versus Wally infighting. That group never made sense to me. I’m with the Wally fans versus DC bunch who have seen more than enough of this new Wally already and gave it a thumbs down like it’s a changeling child left in the crib. With Nu-Barry and Nu-Jay, the vast majority of my ire was the loss of marriage and certain parts of Jay’s costume. Nu-Bart? Personality was just so wrong. With Nu-Wally it is that he doesn’t look at all like Wally…meaning I wouldn’t have recognized him no matter what he is made to wear. Same personality? Lots of people share the same personality, but look totally dif. I don’t call them all by the same name based on their similar personalities.
Has anyone from DC actually confirmed that is Wally? I mean the solicitation does say Wally makes his debut in Flash Annual #3 which comes out next week, Also, Brett Booth said Wally is on the cover, and since we now know Barry is the Future Flash doesn’t that leave the only possibilities as the spray painter at the bottom and the guy in the explosion at the top? If Wally is the spray painter, he has very white hands compared to the dark complexion the dead male has. Is there any possibility that maybe Wally was the one who caused the accident that killed the male?
Never mind. They just released an article on Newsarama.
Yep. Kept trying to hold onto some hope since 2010, but…
Throwing in the towel. Just read Newsrama and now I’m also turned off by Barry. I mean, mopey, messing with time….what recent two events starring Barry does this remind you of? I mean…Flashpoint did what I never thought would happen…it knocked Act Of God off the perch I’d previously labelled “Worst DC Story Ever. Only now there is the added detriment of a fake Wally.
I’ve changed my mind. Not even going to give this a few months or even to the Annual. The honeymoon was fun but ever since then this has been an abusive relationship for me. Done and gone to Marvel where I can still find a fun, self-deprecating red-headed adult in a cool scarlet costume.
I’ll miss Superman, but my second fave isn’t enough to want to have anything more to do with ‘modern’ DC that is pulling stunts like this on their legacy characters. At least I know now it was another bone-headed plan of DC Ed’s and not so much Mr. Booth’s. I had some respect for Mr. Brett Booth.
Peace and be well, all.
I’m still waiting to see if Wally’s PERSONALITY is intact. I get the diversity issues that DC is dealing with, but if Wally is “in there,” that would be reason to read him. My concern, voiced by Kyer, is didn’t Barry learn ANYTHING from Flashpoint? Mucking around in the past is what caused the Flashpoint universe. What sort of “side effects” will be created by changing the past this time? Or will they decide to be inconsistent and have nothing happen? If those sorts of “ripple effects” that aren’t actually a result of the chain of events from the incident changed can happen in Flashpoint, they should be said to happen any time the past is changed. Does anyone agree?
@SpeedForceOrg @Demonpuppy Hopefully we’ll see some of the old personality in this new version.
Ok. Lets not forget that comics is a visual medium so … yes I hope the personality of Wally may be close if not intact, but if the look of a character fundamentally changes than the character itself changes.
This makes no sense to me, like so much of the New52.
If you want more diverse characters, which is laudable, create new characters, even if they share/replace the superhero name. Miles Morales is a great example. Peter Parker didn’t wake up one day as a different ethnicity; rather, a new character took over the spider-man role.
If Wally West has a different look, a different race, a different age, and a different backstory, give him a different name, because guess what? He’s a different character.