Wally West: Flash Appreciation 2018

[TheMaker1610]

Of course. Because that was real Wally written by people who actually tried to write good stories with the heroes in character.

Versus now where this garbage is written by a guy who doesn't give a crap about characters personalities the way that they have been written and established through decades and just wants to write every hero as broken and traumatized while talking in cutesey talk being directed by a hack who hates Wally with a passion.

So yeah, you''ll get very different results.

I wish Williamson could have gotten to write Wally for longer than he did
It was clear he loved the character, and treated him with Love and Respect
I really loved his Flash Annual 1, such a great story

King on the other hand..

[married guy]

Williamson did do a decent job with Wally, but he didn't really get much centre stage action - which is understandable as it's Barry's book.
I would like to see him take a swing at writing him for a good length of time and see what he comes up with.

Tom King - I loved his Omega Men, and have been reading his Batman through trades and found it....OK. His take on Booster for me, is unforgivable.
And in regards to his take on Wally West? My mum always said if you have nothing nice to say, make sure they aren't within earshot to hear you bitch about them.

Such a wise woman....

[Sam]

Williamson did do a decent job with Wally, but he didn't really get much centre stage action - which is understandable as it's Barry's book.
I would like to see him take a swing at writing him for a good length of time and see what he comes up with.

I don't know. Flash War really felt more about Wally than about Barry. That arc really felt like center stage action for Wally.

[WallyWestFlash]

I wish Williamson could have gotten to write Wally for longer than he did
It was clear he loved the character, and treated him with Love and Respect
I really loved his Flash Annual 1, such a great story

King on the other hand..

Agreed. Williamson wrote an excellent Wally. You can tell he really got Wally and liked writing him. Despite that it ran into the terrible Heroes in Crap, Flash War was pretty good and one of the best stories of the year.

Ditto to Flash annual #1. Great story, great art and actually gave hope that Wally would progress.

Was nice seeing Frankie as well.

[TheSupernaut]

So I've lost track, how many times has Wally died since Rebirth? 3-4 times? Has he died enough for it to be considered a trope?

[Rend20]

Flash War was pretty good and one of the best stories of the year.

I actually thought Flash War was one of the worst Wally stories I have read. A lot of bad and very little good. I did really enjoy the annual, though.

[Jekyll]

Agreed. Williamson wrote an excellent Wally. You can tell he really got Wally and liked writing him. Despite that it ran into the terrible Heroes in Crap, Flash War was pretty good and one of the best stories of the year.

Ditto to Flash annual #1. Great story, great art and actually gave hope that Wally would progress.

Was nice seeing Frankie as well.

I really enjoy Williamson on the Flash and he did do a great job writing Wally. However, Flash War was the beginning of the end for me. It was an extremely over hyped and anti climatic book. In the end what really happened and was accomplished? We got a rip off of the green lantern corp spectrum and Wally got sent to the shit show of Dead Heroes in Tom King’s Horror Palace.

[Denirac]

So I've lost track, how many times has Wally died since Rebirth? 3-4 times? Has he died enough for it to be considered a trope?

4

The Return of Wally West
The Lazarus Contract
The “Traitor” Arc of Titans
Heroes in Crisis

[TheSupernaut]

4

The Return of Wally West
The Lazarus Contract
The “Traitor” Arc of Titans
Heroes in Crisis

For better or worse I hope his latest death is the last one.

[Dred]

I actually thought Flash War was one of the worst Wally stories I have read. A lot of bad and very little good. I did really enjoy the annual, though.

Agreed. The entire point of the comic was Wally was a stupid idiot who forced Barry into doing something stupid at the behest of his archvillain. And his ending goal is he loses, fails, and falls into depression over how much he's lost and how ineffective he is. He isn't even a hero anymore, while Barry is just out there being The Flash.

Wally lost Flash War, badly, no matter how often Williamson repeats the phrase that signifies him as the "fastest." What's that even matter to a character so pointless in the comics and in his own life? Williamson wrote him having no plans for him and only wanting to grab Zolomon and put him in play to be Barry's antagonist. That's why he changed all of Zolomon's motivations -- to make him a Barry centric character instead of a Wally one. It's Pied Piper all over again only this time with them spitting on Wally's metaphorical grave in person.

[Rend20]

Agreed. The entire point of the comic was Wally was a stupid idiot who forced Barry into doing something stupid at the behest of his archvillain. And his ending goal is he loses, fails, and falls into depression over how much he's lost and how ineffective he is. He isn't even a hero anymore, while Barry is just out there being The Flash.

Yeah, I thought Flash War was essentially Williamson throwing Wally under the bus to give Barry some new toys. And two of those new toys (Hunter and the "surpassing" story) are things that originally belonged to Wally. It was a bad story that is only going to get worse in the future in my opinion. I'm waiting for Hunter's eventual "I lied about Wally's kids" to make him look like an even bigger idiot down the road.

I also don't care that Williamson acknowledged Wally's history when it was only used against him and/or that he (temporarily) named Wally the fastest to serve as a prop for Barry. He was merely a device written wildly out-of-character to drive the plot and to give Barry some new things. The disappointing thing is I thought Williamson had done a good job with Wally prior to Flash War.

[WallyWestFlash]

Yeah, I thought Flash War was essentially Williamson throwing Wally under the bus to give Barry some new toys. And two of those new toys (Hunter and the "surpassing" story) are things that originally belonged to Wally. It was a bad story that is only going to get worse in the future in my opinion. I'm waiting for Hunter's eventual "I lied about Wally's kids" to make him look like an even bigger idiot down the road.

I also don't care that Williamson acknowledged Wally's history when it was only used against him and/or that he (temporarily) named Wally the fastest to serve as a prop for Barry. He was merely a device written wildly out-of-character to drive the plot and to give Barry some new things. The disappointing thing is I thought Williamson had done a good job with Wally prior to Flash War.

Yeah I guess with all those points I see what you'r saying. I was just very invested in the story when it was coming out and remember liking it. Maybe it was because I was surprised and relieved that Wally wasnt portrayed as a total loser.

Guess I gotta re read it again and see how I feel,

[Spider-Ham]

Like WallyWestFlash, I understand why readers can be pretty upset with Wally's portrayal in Flash War. But being able to see him running one last time for his children was damn cool.

I have to admit, I really like HiC #3 mostly because of the twins ... ^^'

[Rend20]

Yeah I guess with all those points I see what you'r saying. I was just very invested in the story when it was coming out and remember liking it.

I mean, I was looking forward to the event and was invested in it as it was going on. And while I wasn't thrilled with how it ended up, I didn't initially think it was terrible.

It was only after realizing all the damage it did to his character (with little payoff) and some of Williamson's interviews that really soured me on it. There were also things like him claiming to be better than Barry, him threatening Barry, and him not caring if Hal got hurt that seemed completely unnecessary beyond driving home who readers should be rooting against.

But it should be noted I don't think Barry came off particularly well in the story, either.

[Dred]

Flash War was just the Batman Wedding of The Flash. Lots of promise, teasing all these things, and delivering on absolutely none of it to push some other, boring and generic new plot instead of any of the things the entire arc built on for hype. We might eventually get what was alluded to and used against us to play on our feelings but they've gone out of their way to blindside and undermine everything.