Just a quick note: Today’s DC Holiday Special ’09 does feature a Flash story, “The Flash Before Christmas” by Amy Wolfram and Daniel Leister. Surprisingly, it’s a Wally West story, in which the speedster tries to do what the rest of us do just before Christmas: Take care of a zillion last-minute tasks.
Tag Archives: Wally West
Wally West Costume Comparison
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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.
Review: Flash: Rebirth #5 — “Mother, May I”
Flash: Rebirth is closing in on its conclusion. Mysteries are revealed, heroes battle villains — well, a villain anyway — and change is in the wind for more than one speedster. The sense of urgency that started building in issue #4 is present in full force here, as Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver build the story to one last cliffhanger before the end.
Let’s get one thing out of the way first: Wally West’s new costume debuts in this issue. If you’ve read it already, or don’t mind being spoiled — or want to be spoiled — you can read my comments and see a scan in my previous post. The change itself is a little forced, but works well enough — and, interestingly enough, isn’t played up at all by the characters themselves.
So: Barry Allen solves his cold case, Jay Garrick demonstrates that super-speed is more than just running, the West Twins reach a turning point, Liberty Belle makes an impression, and Professor Zoom proves himself petty and vindictive as well as vicious.
Purpose
A lot happens in this issue, but I can’t help but feel that it ultimately doesn’t matter. The plot of Flash: Rebirth is secondary to the book’s real purpose:
- Rearranging characters to put them in the roles that DC wants for 2010.
- Restructuring the Flash mythology.
Along the way, it does a lot of what one of my friends in Star Wars fandom calls “spackling:” patching over rough spots or outright holes in continuity. Last issue we got an explanation of why Barry never learned about the Speed Force in the form of a completely new interpretation of how it works. This issue we get an explanation for why Barry’s flashback has his parents in Central City instead of Fallville. We get yet another layer on why Jay and Joan Garrick look 50 instead of 90, and a new explanation for why Jai and Iris/Irey West don’t have super-speed. We even get an explanation for “hot Iris.”
In that way, Flash: Rebirth is a lot like World War III, which existed solely to explain what had changed between Infinite Crisis and the “One Year Later” books. That this miniseries is the best Flash story since 2005 has less to do with it being a good story than it does with the fact that the comics from 2006 through 2008 were incredibly haphazard.
Well, I’ve reached the point where I can’t say anything more without giving anything away, so if you don’t want any spoilers, stop reading now! Continue reading
Wally West’s New Costume Revealed! (SPOILERS!)
Yes, Wally West’s new costume, which we’ve known was coming since Ethan Van Sciver said he was designing it last summer, has finally been revealed in Flash: Rebirth #5!
If you don’t want to be spoiled, stop now! Continue reading
Speed Reading: B&B, JLA Monopoly, and More
Some linkblogging for the weekend…
Fortress of Baileytude starts JSA Week by declaring that Jay Garrick is the Man.
Once Upon a Geek looks back at a Justice League Monopoly board game from 1999.
For the ladies: A Comic Blog starts off their Top 10 Sexiest Comic Guys list with Wally West.
Joey Cavalieri talks about the Battle of the Bulge and Brave and the Bold #28, this week’s J. Michael Straczynski/Jesus Saiz team-up between the Flash and the Blackhawks. IGN reviews the issue.
Billy Tucci talks about his Flash/Superman race in this week’s DC Universe Halloween Special.
Dan Didio talks about legacies and characters growing up in his latest 10 Answers column.
Answering Questions from Searchers
Every once in a while I see something in the search terms that people have used to reach this site that makes me wish I could contact them and answer their questions. So I figured I’d try something new: The following are questions (or implied questions) pulled from this week’s site statistics.
Interestingly enough, they settled into three broad categories.
Costumes
What does Wally West’s new costume look like? (There are lots of variations on this one!)
Short answer: We haven’t seen it yet. But according to Geoff Johns, Ethan Van Sciver’s design is “Very clean, very familiar, yet unique!”
What is the difference in the Flash costumes?
- Barry Allen: belt is straight across, boots always have wings, eyes are always visible (well, except in this week’s Brave and the Bold issue).
- Wally West: 1986-1991: same. 1991-2009: belt is V-shaped, boots sometimes have wings, eyes sometimes covered, costume is sometimes shiny.
Jay Garrick, of course, has a completely different costume with blue pants, red boots, no mask and a silver helmet.
How to make a Golden Age Flash costume. (Several variations on this, also.)
Here’s a two-part series describing exactly how to do it:
Future of the Flash
Will Flash Rebirth ever finish? (Yes, that’s exactly how it was phrased.)
Yes. The next issue is scheduled for November 11, and the whole thing should wrap up on December 23, 2009. The schedule could still slip, of course.
Why is Flash Rebirth being delayed?
Artist Ethan Van Sciver has accepted at least some of the blame for being a slow artist. He intended Flash: Rebirth as a project that would help him learn to draw faster.
Will Wally West be back in 2010?
Yes. Wally West will star in a second feature in the new Flash comic book, written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Scott Kolins.
More immediately, he will appear in both Blackest Night: Flash and Blackest Night itself, alongside Barry Allen.
Powers
Who is the fastest Flash?
Whoever’s currently starring in the main book.
How Flash got super speed.
Lab accidents, mainly. Jay Garrick inhaled chemical fumes (originally identified as “hard water,” but later sometimes identified as “heavy water,” which still doesn’t make sense, but radioactivity makes a little more sense than high mineral content). Barry Allen was struck by lightning and simultaneously splashed with chemicals. Wally West was struck by a repetition of Barry’s accident.
What force is involved in lightning flashes?
Electromagnetism.
Is it possible to run as fast as a speed force?
I’m not entirely sure what this question is asking.