I think the name "Flash" is stronger than Whizzer. Quicksilver is a good name, but he always had a real attitude. Both Golden Age and Silver Age Flash were likable.
Because Wally West rules despite the fact that DC has practically destroyed him and Arsenal, oh wait DC killed Roy Harper off!
Be yourself everyone is taken !! I'm an X-Man trapped in the DC omniverse
I think that's the key right there. Quicksilver was a jerk and marvel reveled in showing how often he could be the jerk. Not my particularly favorite type of character. Though granted Wolverine and Guy Gardner have their fans.
Also I think it's because he's a 'team' guy. Just about everyone gets nerfed when they're on a team and Quicksilver never gets the chance to shine solo. He can't run back in time and break dimensional barriers when he's on a team... so he never gets the 'big' feats. Flash on the other hand ALSO gets nerfed a lot on teams... but he has his solo stories to shine.
But mostly the personality thing. 'Jerk' was his only defining trait for years.
Last edited by phantom1592; 05-07-2020 at 07:43 PM.
I assume the answer to the OP is why DC's "street-level" characters have never been as interesting as Marvel's (e.g. Spider-Man).
Doctor Strange: "You are the right person to replace Logan."
X-23: "I know there are people who disapprove... Guys on the Internet mainly."
(All-New Wolverine #4)
Yes, I agree. The team thing was important to both of the first two Flash characters. I never found myself wanting to read more about Quicksilver. But, positive team characters I wanted to read more about. I read Justice League before I read Flash and Green Lantern (in the 60's). I also ended up reading Atom and Hawkman as their series were winding down.
I think it primarily has to do with DC already having an established speedster in comics when Marvel was just starting to get off the ground in the early 60's with Stan Lee. So perhaps Marvel didn't want to push Quicksilver for those reasons?
DC's long history has allowed them to run with their silver age heroes, (Barry/Wally) tap the golden age heroes like Jay Garrick and Johnny Quick, and bring in new speedsters (Wallace, Bart, Jesse) to create a large speedster family in the DC universe.
As for Marvel, I can't comment on Quicksilver because I hardly know anything about him, I liked Northstar because he was Canadian, but none of the Alpha Flight characters ever became popular enough to hold their individual titles.