Wally West: The Flash Appreciation 2019

[Rend20]

The villains at Iron Heights all consider him a formidable enemy, as do Grodd, Zoom and Kadabra.

Grodd referred to Wally as the "False Flash" in the Perfect Storm arc. The same arc also had him called a pretender, a rookie, and had Barry being the real Flash thrown in his face.

Wally is actively looked down as being incredibly inferior to Barry by the villains and the "other heroes" grounded his team like they were kids which shows how little respect they have for them. Wally has been treated in-universe as if he's still Kid Flash and Barry's sidekick by other characters.

[Dred]

For instance, when Barry came back, Johns had a montage scene of all the Villains GETTING SERIOUS FOR REAL now that the "Real" Flash is back.

[Frontier]

Grodd referred to Wally as the "False Flash" in the Perfect Storm arc. The same arc also had him called a pretender, a rookie, and had Barry being the real Flash thrown in his face.

Wally is actively looked down as being incredibly inferior to Barry by the villains and the "other heroes" grounded his team like they were kids which shows how little respect they have for them. Wally has been treated in-universe as if he's still Kid Flash and Barry's sidekick by other characters.

Just in the instance of "Perfect Storm," I don't think Grodd doing that is meant to be taken at face-value. There I think the intention was a villain talking trash because he didn't get it.

I'm still not even sure if half the hero community is even all that aware of who or what Wally is beyond Barry telling them the situation. Which is a crime in and of itself.

For instance, when Barry came back, Johns had a montage scene of all the Villains GETTING SERIOUS FOR REAL now that the "Real" Flash is back.

At least the villains who started out fighting Barry.

[deadman322]

I'm still not even sure if half the hero community is even all that aware of who or what Wally is beyond Barry telling them the situation. Which is a crime in and of itself.

well he'll be known as the guy who murdered everyone at sanctuary and leaked their private information.

[married guy]

well he'll be known as the guy who murdered everyone at sanctuary and leaked their private information.

Which is an absolute f*****g disgrace.
Anyone involved with or approving that **** should hang their heads in shame.
It smacked of vindictiveness - which when we're talking about fictional characters is insane.
But I think it also highlighted just how petty TPTB at DC can be.

[Mr.B]

well he'll be known as the guy who murdered everyone at sanctuary and leaked their private information.

Depends on if they throw that out.

[Lee]

Yes, it is. The other heroes are looking down on him, and the costume he "created" in universe is a Kid Flash costume, after being told to do so by Barry.

Wally created the costume after Barry said that he wasn’t Kid Flash anymore.

If the other DC heroes are looking down on Wally in part because his costume has silver accents and exposed hair, then none of them have expressed it. But if the other heroes feel that way, then they’re the ones being assholes.

As it currently stands, since none of the heroes have expressed this in-comic, then it remains a fan theory. DC cannot be blamed for a fan theory.

[manwhohaseverything]

You guys are giving hic too much credit. It is just a stupid story like the injustice storyline. It doesn't really mean anything.

[BohemiaDrinker]

Wally created the costume

Yes. The fact that Wally would create a Kid Flash costume for himself is problem number one;

after Barry said that he wasn’t Kid Flash anymore.

Yes. The fact that her needs to be told so by Barry is problem number 2.

If the other DC heroes are looking down on Wally in part because his costume has silver accents and exposed hair, then none of them have expressed it.

Absolutely NO ONE said that.

But if the other heroes feel that way, then they’re the ones being assholes.

They are being assholes, the costume is not the cause of it. Both are symptoms of the same problem.

As it currently stands, since none of the heroes have expressed this in-comic, then it remains a fan theory. DC cannot be blamed for a fan theory.

What are you talking about? The assohleness of everyone else towards the fab5 generation is not a theory, it's on the page. Neither is the KF costume Wally is wearing. The reason the costume is what it is is also not a theory: this has been confirmed, ages ago, by te very guy who designed it.

[WallyWestFlash]

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1char.

[docmidnite]

Umm… Except for Hal, ALL of the other heroes and villains used to look down at Wally in comparison to Barry after he died… EVEN SUPERMAN! And Wally just beat him in a race to bring the mantle of fastest man alive back home to the Flash family, FFS.
This has been going on since 1985//86, so why is everyone acting like all of this is anything new? I can’t be the only one who has been reading about Wally as The Flash since Baron, right?

[Rend20]

This has been going on since 1985//86, so why is everyone acting like all of this is anything new? I can’t be the only one who has been reading about Wally as The Flash since Baron, right?

Because the character has moved far away from the early years of his Flash run.

Wally was one of the most respected/competent heroes around for the bulk of his run and as a member of the Justice League.

[Dred]

I could buy Wally's new costume being a legit Flash costume if he was ever treated like The Flash since he put it on.

But when you give the character the new costume right as you go about shitting on them for three years straight you can kind of see it go hand in hand. The intent was to give him a costume that would make sure people wouldn't confuse him with the real Flash. Simple as that. It's actually a better design than all of Booth's original ideas he posted, but those original ideas still look like The Flash, unlike the costume Jim Lee designed that we have now (Jim Lee is also a noted Barry over Wally supporter).

[docmidnite]

Because the character has moved far away from the early years of his Flash run.

Wally was one of the most respected/competent heroes around for the bulk of his run and as a member of the Justice League.

Baron, Messener-Loebs, Giffen & DeMatteis early Waid until sometime AFTER The Return of Barry Allen arc? That IS the bulk of Wally’s run/existence to me. Yeah, I never cared much for the tales of 1001 speedsters Waid would later tell or “The Rogues guest starring Wally West and friends” that Johns would later tell. I also preferred the metagene over the speed force (but that’s a different discussion) but none of this is new to me. Even in Morrison’s league he wasn’t on par with the big 3 because no one is. So again, nothing new to me.

[Rend20]

That IS the bulk of Wally’s run/existence to me. Yeah, I never cared much for the tales of 1001 speedsters Waid would later tell or “The Rogues guest starring Wally West and friends” that Johns would later tell.

Just because you dismiss everything from The Return of Barry Allen on doesn't mean everyone else does.

And not wanting to see the character regressed to the "Flash-wannabe" stage (including his characterization during that time) is perfectly logical, especially given the primary reasons he was seen as such don't exist in the new timeline. Having Wally being treated as an incredibly poor imitation of Barry to only build up how great Barry is doesn't seem to be something Wally fans in general would be interested in.