Flash War: Wally Classic vs. Barry

[Lightning Rider]

Okay, I talked to Joshua today at NYCC, partly because I wanted to get a trade signed and partially because I was curious about Flash War. First off, let me say he seems like a really friendly guy and he was lovely and easy to talk too. I really felt this is a guy I could have talked Flash with a few hours. He's also pretty accessible and was absolutely willing to talk about the upcoming arc and address any concerns I might have. As soon as I mentioned Flash War, he asked if I was concerned and he asked me who my favorite Flash was. I answered Wally and he went on to mention the following (keep in mind I am paraphrasing):

-He is a big fan of Wally and a huge reason behind this storyline is that he wants Wally in the book more.

-This story arc reflects his desire to bring back a Flash family, which he said wouldn't be possible to do without Wally.

-This story arc is not Civil War, nor is it a competition, it is a different way of examining the Barry/Wally relationship (he compared it to brothers or a father and son).

-He said there would be a disagreement between the two at the center of the story (which really is unexplored territory in my personal opinion).

-He said he thinks Flash fans will be happy with how it ends.

-For the record, I did not ask about other members of the Flash Family other than Barry, Wally, and NuWally.

Personally, I think this arc could be promising. Barry and Wally haven't really been in conflict at all since...well, must have been before the Crisis, so exploring their relationship when they aren't seeing eye-to-eye has great potential and it sounds like the plan is for Wally to have a bigger role in the main Flash title overall.

Frankly, anyone who is worried about what this story means for Barry or Wally and happens to be at NYCC tomorrow should try seeking Joshua out at Artist Alley. Those of you who might be more interested in Jay, Max, or Bart, it probably couldn't hurt to ask him about them either, though I'm not sure how much he'd be able to tell you. He really seems like a very accessible guy who does have an awareness of the fandom and he was very open to talk about concerns, although I would suggest sharing concerns in a polite and respectful manner. Either way, I think Flash War could be very good.

Encouraging news. Thanks for sharing.

[HAN9000]

I assure you if history played out differently The rest of the Flash family would've flourished the same way The Green Lanterns did. I say that since Rebirth.....Er The mini-series Rebirth gave a lot of story forshadowing like Jai becoming jelous over Iris becoming a full speedster or Eobard & Hunter teaming up through whatever machination Kadabra was causing. Whatever the hell was happening to Gorilla City. I blame the Reboot more than I do Barry's return as to what happened to all the speedsters.

I knew that. Geoff Johns wanted to replicate Green Lantern's success. He planned there would be two books about the Flash Family, one focusing on Barry, the other one shared by other speedsters. He actually announced there would be a book named Flash: Speed Force featuring other speedsters including Bart and Wally coming. But the reboot wasn't the the basic reason of what happened to the other speedsters. Before that, Dan Didio's already said to fans "your Flash fix will be Barry Allen, pure and simple", and all the other speedsters were "on hold" in 2010. After Flashpoint, they can still build up the Flash family. However, there were still 4 robins and 5 Green Lanterns but only one Flash. They just don't want Wally to outshine Barry so they snuffed out the possibility.
To say the least, I don't appreciate Flash Rebirth even I'm a big fan of Johns. Even if the Flash family flourished like you said, I doubt they could do all the speedsters correctly. Don't forget "Barry Allen made me the Flash". Besides, it's not like Green Lantern. The concept of GL Corps was born with Hal Jordan in 1959. And it died with him in 1994, reborn with him in 2004, rose with him after then. But the Flash family, the speed force, and many other things were born in Wally's run. Barry just came back and reaped what he didn't sow. The Flash is still using almost everything Mark Waid created 20 years ago. Barry don't have anything classic truly belong to him except that costume. Even his relationship with the Rogues was largely copied from Wally. They just made Barry a bloodsucker of the whole Flash Franchise.

[The Darknight Detective]

Yes but that doesn't seem to suit some people's narrative. It's always lame when a publisher tries to portray certain characters as being better than others, but that also happened with both Kyle and Wally as you said and these people don't seem to mind. They only have a problem if it's "the silver age guys".

Yep. It would have been much better to have made them just as good, but in a different way than their previous suit wearers.

[Grim Ghost]

I imagine they will have some sort of conflict but will end up working together to overcome the real bad guy at the end. Just like most comics. I never bought into this "DC hates Wally" stuff that some people around here push.

[SiegePerilous02]

So you interpret that as Barry came back and revenged himself on the family? lol. Interesting.
The Flash family was thriving no thanks to Barry or his death. But the Flash family shrunk because of his return. So I'll answer your question as yes, it was fair.

The Flash family shrinking isn't really the fault of Barry, as he is of course a fictional character with no agency in how this all plays out.

But if the Flash Family is about to be re-instated, the period we had without them is still much shorter than the time Barry was dead and his fans didn't get to read about him aside from the occasional story set in the past or an elseworld.

[Jekyll]

Okay, I talked to Joshua today at NYCC, partly because I wanted to get a trade signed and partially because I was curious about Flash War. First off, let me say he seems like a really friendly guy and he was lovely and easy to talk too. I really felt this is a guy I could have talked Flash with a few hours. He's also pretty accessible and was absolutely willing to talk about the upcoming arc and address any concerns I might have. As soon as I mentioned Flash War, he asked if I was concerned and he asked me who my favorite Flash was. I answered Wally and he went on to mention the following (keep in mind I am paraphrasing):

-He is a big fan of Wally and a huge reason behind this storyline is that he wants Wally in the book more.

-This story arc reflects his desire to bring back a Flash family, which he said wouldn't be possible to do without Wally.

-This story arc is not Civil War, nor is it a competition, it is a different way of examining the Barry/Wally relationship (he compared it to brothers or a father and son).

-He said there would be a disagreement between the two at the center of the story (which really is unexplored territory in my personal opinion).

-He said he thinks Flash fans will be happy with how it ends.

-For the record, I did not ask about other members of the Flash Family other than Barry, Wally, and NuWally.

Personally, I think this arc could be promising. Barry and Wally haven't really been in conflict at all since...well, must have been before the Crisis, so exploring their relationship when they aren't seeing eye-to-eye has great potential and it sounds like the plan is for Wally to have a bigger role in the main Flash title overall.

Frankly, anyone who is worried about what this story means for Barry or Wally and happens to be at NYCC tomorrow should try seeking Joshua out at Artist Alley. Those of you who might be more interested in Jay, Max, or Bart, it probably couldn't hurt to ask him about them either, though I'm not sure how much he'd be able to tell you. He really seems like a very accessible guy who does have an awareness of the fandom and he was very open to talk about concerns, although I would suggest sharing concerns in a polite and respectful manner. Either way, I think Flash War could be very good.

Fantastic! Thanks for asking and sharing this news.

[Frontier]

Okay, I talked to Joshua today at NYCC, partly because I wanted to get a trade signed and partially because I was curious about Flash War. First off, let me say he seems like a really friendly guy and he was lovely and easy to talk too. I really felt this is a guy I could have talked Flash with a few hours. He's also pretty accessible and was absolutely willing to talk about the upcoming arc and address any concerns I might have. As soon as I mentioned Flash War, he asked if I was concerned and he asked me who my favorite Flash was. I answered Wally and he went on to mention the following (keep in mind I am paraphrasing):

-He is a big fan of Wally and a huge reason behind this storyline is that he wants Wally in the book more.

-This story arc reflects his desire to bring back a Flash family, which he said wouldn't be possible to do without Wally.

-This story arc is not Civil War, nor is it a competition, it is a different way of examining the Barry/Wally relationship (he compared it to brothers or a father and son).

-He said there would be a disagreement between the two at the center of the story (which really is unexplored territory in my personal opinion).

-He said he thinks Flash fans will be happy with how it ends.

-For the record, I did not ask about other members of the Flash Family other than Barry, Wally, and NuWally.

Personally, I think this arc could be promising. Barry and Wally haven't really been in conflict at all since...well, must have been before the Crisis, so exploring their relationship when they aren't seeing eye-to-eye has great potential and it sounds like the plan is for Wally to have a bigger role in the main Flash title overall.

Frankly, anyone who is worried about what this story means for Barry or Wally and happens to be at NYCC tomorrow should try seeking Joshua out at Artist Alley. Those of you who might be more interested in Jay, Max, or Bart, it probably couldn't hurt to ask him about them either, though I'm not sure how much he'd be able to tell you. He really seems like a very accessible guy who does have an awareness of the fandom and he was very open to talk about concerns, although I would suggest sharing concerns in a polite and respectful manner. Either way, I think Flash War could be very good.

This is very reassuring. It's cool that you got to talk to Williamson and he was happy to clarify these things .

It does sound like part of this story will be about re-establishing the Flash Family as much as it is re-evaluating Barry and Wally, so some of those characters we guessed might appear could actually show up.

I'm curious to see what the disagreement between Barry and Wally is.

[The Darknight Detective]

I imagine they will have some sort of conflict but will end up working together to overcome the real bad guy at the end. Just like most comics. I never bought into this "DC hates Wally" stuff that some people around here push.

I agree on all counts.

[Lightning Rider]

I imagine they will have some sort of conflict but will end up working together to overcome the real bad guy at the end. Just like most comics. I never bought into this "DC hates Wally" stuff that some people around here push.

Executed well it could be a great story. Wally is his own man now and disagreeing with Barry is an appropriate episode to have come about and explore.

[Buried Alien]

Executed well it could be a great story. Wally is his own man now and disagreeing with Barry is an appropriate episode to have come about and explore.

The only question is why it's taken this long to reach this point. Bruce and Dick were doing this as early as the 1970s.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[TheSupernaut]

The only question is why it's taken this long to reach this point. Bruce and Dick were doing this as early as the 1970s.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

It helps when your mentor "died" for 20+ years and then you go missing for an additional 5. :P

[TheSupernaut]

Really the only thing I can imagine them disagreeing on is the use of time travel, so I'm definitely curious.

[Outside_85]

Really the only thing I can imagine them disagreeing on is the use of time travel, so I'm definitely curious.

I could imagine Wally being quite ticked off if he remembers he had;
A) a high standing among his superhero colleges
B) a wife he loved
C) kids he loved even more

And all of that was wiped out because Barry was selfish.

[Buried Alien]

I could imagine Wally being quite ticked off if he remembers he had;
A) a high standing among his superhero colleges
B) a wife he loved
C) kids he loved even more

And all of that was wiped out because Barry was selfish.

They already settled that in REBIRTH # 1: Wally knows it's not Barry, but some entity (Dr. Manhattan) out there.

I always thought that if Barry and Wally were to have a disagreement about anything, Pre-FLASHPOINT, at least, it would have been Barry's complicity in agreeing to the forced personality makeover given to Dr. Light in IDENTITY CRISIS. Wally was quite shocked at the time that Barry agreed to it, but as Barry was "dead" at the time, Wally didn't have the opportunity to confront Barry on that issue.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Atomic Man]

Best-case scenario is that this story restores Wally's health and sees more missing history "Rebirthed," ending with Wally, Jay, and Barry each bearing the mantle.

I'd love to see the main Flash title rotate between Wally and Barry per arc along with team-up stories. Jay, meanwhile, should also frequently appear, along with Wally II (give him a new name), Max, and a restored Bart.