Wally West: Flash Appreciation 2018

[WallyWestFlash]

The Companion is worth every cent. It has interviews with damn near every creator involved with the character from the get-go.

And damn, I loved that café scene. "NINJAS!!"

Nice. I gotta get it then.

I love the banter between Wally and Linda.

"I ordered a bbq burger the size of my head"

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"sigh" All right Wally we'''ll talk about something else...

Great stuff.

[Dred]

In the absolutely BRILLIANT Flash Companion (Which posters on this page contributed to and the very talented Keith Dallas was gracious enough to sign for me)http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main...roducts_id=660 the interview with Mark Waid has him mention that he essentially created the Super Family for the Flash with out realising it.

Yes, it was a love story between Wally & Linda, but he also expanded the Flash universe in a way no other writer had - certainly not since Gardner Fox's gamechanger #123. (Which is pretty damn impressive considering the great writers who have written the character before and since)

I mean that's also what I said so I don't know what's up with this.

[Lee]

But heck Linda is part of the Flash family so that the story revolved around her and Wally's love most of the time isn't contrary to the family concept. It's additive.

In something like Fantastic Four, or The Incredibles, the romantic relationship is part of a story about family dynamics. In Waid's first Flash run, the romance was the romance. Not every story about romance is inherently a story about a broader exploration of family. Most aren't.

I'd say that anything before Waid wasn't really created with any significant family/cast/lore building ideas in mind. Heck Wally became less of a Flash character during Barry's time as the years went on. He essentially disappeared from the second half of Barry's run to become primarily a Teen Titans/NTT character before Barry died. And we all know what happened to Iris. When Wally became The Flash there was no family. It says a lot, to me, that Iris as a character was developed infinitely more after Barry's time had passed than she had before, despite like 1/50th the screen time.

As Waid himself said, previous writers (mainly William Messner-Loebs), put more time into building a supporting cast and dealing with Wally's family than he ever did.

I think sometimes super-hero fans conflate "story where super-heroes with the same powers team-up" with "story about family".

[Dred]

In something like Fantastic Four, or The Incredibles, the romantic relationship is part of a story about family dynamics. In Waid's first Flash run, the romance was the romance. Not every story about romance is inherently a story about a broader exploration of family. Most aren't.



As Waid himself said, previous writers (mainly William Messner-Loebs), put more time into building a supporting cast and dealing with Wally's family than he ever did.

I think sometimes super-hero fans conflate "story where super-heroes with the same powers team-up" with "story about family".

Maybe's Wally's blood family. Family is more than who you're related to. In Born to Run alone Waid did more expansion and development with Wally and his familial ties than WML ever did. WML bringing in Wally's mother as an annoying obstacle isn't building a family structure. If anything he took it apart over time.

When anyone in the world says The Flash Family they are not talking about Rudolph and Mary West. Heck most of WML's own supporting cast disappeared in time as his run went on. Only Linda and Piper really stuck (not to downplay this, Linda and Piper are GREAT and WML deserves a lot of credit for his forward thinking and great run). Whereas Waid brought back Iris, created Bart, brought back Jay, brought in Jesse and Max, created Jenni, and simplified the Tornado Twins. And also, you know, brought Linda into the family rather than her just being an ancillary supporting character of the city. He can characterize it however he wants but stories like Dead Heat and Terminal Velocity speak for themselves. Waid introduced so many characters he needed a second book (Impulse!) to give them all the screen time they needed.

[married guy]

I mean that's also what I said so I don't know what's up with this.

A long winded agreement I guess...

[Lee]

Maybe's Wally's blood family. Family is more than who you're related to. In Born to Run alone Waid did more expansion and development with Wally and his familial ties than WML ever did. WML bringing in Wally's mother as an annoying obstacle isn't building a family structure. If anything he took it apart over time.

When anyone in the world says The Flash Family they are not talking about Rudolph and Mary West. Heck most of WML's own supporting cast disappeared in time as his run went on. Only Linda and Piper really stuck (not to downplay this, Linda and Piper are GREAT and WML deserves a lot of credit for his forward thinking and great run). Whereas Waid brought back Iris, created Bart, brought back Jay, brought in Jesse and Max, created Jenni, and simplified the Tornado Twins. And also, you know, brought Linda into the family rather than her just being an ancillary supporting character of the city. He can characterize it however he wants but stories like Dead Heat and Terminal Velocity speak for themselves.

How many issues of Waid's Flash did the Tornado Twins and XS actually appear in? Or even Jesse Quick.

This is how Waid described Terminal Velocity:

So while the fanzines ballyhooed “Terminal Velocity” as an earth-shattering, hundredth-issue, everything-changes-forever super-hero epic, we were gleefully telling a love story. More accurately, a love story disguised as a western cloaked in a super-hero epic. (That’s right, a western. The evil earthquake rustlers move into town, and it’s up to the quick-draw sheriff and his posse to run ’em out.

Thematically, it wasn't about family.

Waid introduced so many characters he needed a second book (Impulse!) to give them all the screen time they needed.

That isn't at all how the Impulse comic came into being.

Impulse got his own series because the powers-that-were at DC decided that he should have his own series. Waid was as surprised as anyone. DC had a surprise success with Robin, and then Superboy, so it only made sense to give Flash's new "sidekick" the same treatment.

Since you brought up Impulse though, that was a series that was largely about parent-child relationships.

[Dred]

How many issues of Waid's Flash did the Tornado Twins and XS actually appear in? Or even Jesse Quick.

This is how Waid described Terminal Velocity:



Thematically, it wasn't about family.



That isn't at all how the Impulse comic came into being.

Impulse got his own series because the powers-that-were at DC decided that he should have his own series. Waid was as surprised as anyone. DC had a surprise success with Robin, and then Superboy, so it only made sense to give Flash's new "sidekick" the same treatment.

Since you brought up Impulse though, that was a series that was largely about parent-child relationships.

I know that's not WHY Impulse was given a book, but it is the case that an entire extra comic a month is what greatly allowed Waid (and WML!) to develop the character base Waid created more than the solo Flash title could. The entire point is he did create the Flash Family (in a way comparable to the Bat and Super families, if not more ambitious) and stuff like Impulse shows it off even moreso. There was no equivalent to that before Waid. There'd be no Impulse comic if Waid wasn't, you know, creating a Flash family -- a large part of that being Bart and Max, the cornerstones of that comic.

Jenni shows up a couple times (Chain Lightning, Dead Heat, Flash Giant) but she's more prevalent in Impulse, which I count. She's also a staple of modern LOSH which, you know, part of building a family is the future and Jenni's in the future being the Flash Fam rep for the LOSH.

and yes, I know about that Waid interview. I've even referenced it a couple of times already. I know TV is first and foremost a love story, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have big family and cast building aspects, too. The Terminal Velocity arc kicks off with Bart's introduction and Iris' return and reimagining (I know it wasn't called "Terminal Velocity" on the page yet but Bart's arrival was the beginning of that plot thread). Stories can be more than one thing. And you just straight up ignored me when I brought up Dead Heat. Should I bring up Chain Lightning, too? Literally the story about the Flash Family through history, past and present?

[Jekyll]

How many issues of Waid's Flash did the Tornado Twins and XS actually appear in? Or even Jesse Quick.

This is how Waid described Terminal Velocity:



Thematically, it wasn't about family.



That isn't at all how the Impulse comic came into being.

Impulse got his own series because the powers-that-were at DC decided that he should have his own series. Waid was as surprised as anyone. DC had a surprise success with Robin, and then Superboy, so it only made sense to give Flash's new "sidekick" the same treatment.

Since you brought up Impulse though, that was a series that was largely about parent-child relationships.

Why does it matter? If one interprets the story and comes to the conclusion that it is about family, then that is their interpretation. You clearly have another interpretation and that’s fine, but that doesn’t mean that other interpretations are wrong.

[married guy]

Thematically, it wasn't about family.

How was Terminal Velocity NOT about family??
Sure, there was the story about how Linda grounded Wally and he'd always return to her.
But there was also the undercurrent of legacy and undeniable family dynamics going on between Wally, Jay, Max, Bart, Johnny and Jesse.
I'm surprised you think otherwise.

[married guy]

Why does it matter? If one interprets the story and comes to the conclusion that it is about family, then that is their interpretation. You clearly have another interpretation and that’s fine, but that doesn’t mean that other interpretations are wrong.

Exactly right!

[Dred]

A long winded agreement I guess...

My bad, I read your post argumentatively.

[WallyWestFlash]

Reading through the Green Lantern seriea and up to Kyle's era. Kyle and Wally meet for the first time. This should be fun.
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[TheSupernaut]

Reading through the Green Lantern seriea and up to Kyle's era. Kyle and Wally meet for the first time. This should be fun.
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Its sad Wally is in dire straits right now, a team up between them today could be pretty cool.

[Frontier]

Reading through the Green Lantern seriea and up to Kyle's era. Kyle and Wally meet for the first time. This should be fun.
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I honestly thought that was in Morrison's JLA run. Cool .

[JackDaw]

How was Terminal Velocity NOT about family??
Sure, there was the story about how Linda grounded Wally and he'd always return to her.
But there was also the undercurrent of legacy and undeniable family dynamics going on between Wally, Jay, Max, Bart, Johnny and Jesse.
I'm surprised you think otherwise.

I agree with you.

But one small “extra point”: I must admit that I saw Linda and Wally as family...though they weren’t married at that point, patently they were going to be. They were more than a few clues it was heading that way!