Liking Barry, Wally/Wallace and Bart?

[CTTT]

Personally I like all of the characters. Barry I thought was interesting with the fact that he was a police criminal scientist and then with the flash of lighting got his powers, and it was kind of neat seeing him develop. The beginning part of his Pre-Crisis run was a little slow but it got better once longer arcs started happening. And DC did a great job with Wally starting him as a sidekick with Barry as Kid Flash and later moving on with the TT and becoming a Flash. I'm excited about the new mini coming up. I personally don't think introducing Wally made Barry less interesting. I think they complimented each other. And Bart was a nice introduction as it extended Barry's family as well as New 52 Wallace. always good to have a Kid Flash. So basically, I like all the characters and don't have one preference over the other and they all add something to the Flash mythos. Also I think Barry and Wally's origin was better than Jay's berthing gas fumes.

[Kyer]

I came in for Wally, but was ready to embrace Barry with open arms and did grow to like him though not as much as Wally or Jay. I live for humor and Bart was immense fun as Impulse with Max as the straight man (still miffed about lack of Impulse Omnibus or a series of trades of that run.)
Wallace... Eh. I think if they hadn't made Wallace's origin an outright -changeling child- for Wally West I'd have just shrugged him off as yet another part of the speedster family and if I didn't grow to like him it would still have been fine. As it is, DC Editorial soured the character for me to such an extent that I totally ignore him when I see a scan.

[Tzigone]

First Flash as Flash I read in-depth was Barry, I think. I mean, I'd seen Wally guest in some of the post-crisis works I'd read, but I hadn't read that much of him as the Flash. I had read him in Teen Titans, where he was Kid Flash. I liked Wally fine. Did read all Wally's Kid Flash stories before I read Barry stories in SA issues. I enjoyed SA Flash more than the other silver age stories I read. I did get attached. But I already knew, of course, that Wally became Flash later. Quit reading old Flash right before Iris was going to die because I didn't want to read him without Iris.

I read Impulse, and I really liked him, though quality on the book was uneven. Did not read his Teen Titan days, just his title and YJ. Hated the way his ended and that they never used Helen, Preston, or Carol again.

I tried the post-Crisis Flash. Started at the beginning. Except Wally was kind of a jerk (to women he dated) and I don't like reading jerks, and I was very unhappy with the vilification of his previously nice parents (I don't like good characters being made bad, even if they were minor ones), so I didn't continue with that title. And so still haven't read all that much with him. I do like him fine later, though.

Not entirely happy with the new, angsty-past, unconfident-in-early-yrears Barry.

I never read Wallace until after Wally was back, but I liked him fine. Still only read very little with him. His backstory/timeline is, of course, a mess because of retcons, and I wish they'd clean it up (or if they already have, let me know in what issue). I also wish we could learn basically anything about his mother. It is frustrating how little mothers matter in DC comics. If there's a father, he's almost always more important than the mother to the hero characters, and it's very annoying. Has the woman even gotten a name?

[Restingvoice]

I came in with Barry and especially love his dynamic with Hal, became interested in Wally especially his relationship with Dick, and find Bart to be delightful, especially with 90s Young Justice dynamic.

Kinda skip New 52 Wally, but only because I don't like the art. Nothing against the character. Damian doesn't like him but Damian doesn't like anyone.

Yeah, just in case you didn't notice my entry/attraction point for these characters was from other characters I already read.

[Jekyll]

I need to give the original Flash, Jay Garrick some love. I grew up with Wally and while I do love the character, what made his run special was the Flash Family. Jay's costume was flat out cool to me as a kid and I remember the moment that Jay became my favorite flash. It was during The Return of Barry Allen arc. Wally was having a pity party and Jay took Max & Johnny Thunder to confront Thawne. Max & Johnny get injured and Jay goes blow to blow with Thawne until he pulled some dirty tactic to take Jay out of the fight. That moment gave me chills when he was taking him on all alone.
Fast forward to the, JSA & Justice Society of America books even though I grew to love many of those characters, the reason I picked those books up was Jay. One of the best moments in that run took place in Volume 3, The Return of Hawkman. I believe the Injustice Society is attacking the JSA and Jay discovers that his Reverse Flash is going after his wife. Jay travels so fast he not only throws his enemy into the speed force, he travels back into ancient Egyptian times. Since I am a teacher, I love to see how Jay is a mentor to the younger heroes and how they look up to him.

flash-v2-77-page-7.jpg

[Ilan Preskovsky]

I like them all but it's very dependant on who writes them and, in the case of Bart, what identity he uses. Mark Waid writes all of them brilliantly, including Barry, whereas I haven't liked the way anyone has written Barry Allen since Flash: Rebirth. Wally was great from Messner-Loebs on (though Johns did dilute him a bit) but Mike Baron's run is not fondly remembered for a reason. Bart is fantastic when written as Impulse by Waid, Peter David and now Brian Bendis but he was much less interesting when he took on the Kid Flash mantle. Wallace has such a rotten origin (race switching and angry black male stereotyping: bleuch) that it's always been an uphill battle for him. I hear that he has been better written of late but the whole Flash mythos is such a dumpster fire right now that I couldn't be bothered to check. As for Jay Garrick, I can't think of anyone who has written him badly but tons of great modern comics have been written about or around him since the Justice Society of America comic in the early '90s all the way until the New 52. The less said about what happened afterwards the better (though Earth 2 Jay Garrick was fine too from what I read of it).

[BohemiaDrinker]

I love all of them (but I hated Wallace for a while, and I was right back then).

But we all have favorites.

[Buried Alien]

I like them all but it's very dependant on who writes them and, in the case of Bart, what identity he uses. Mark Waid writes all of them brilliantly, including Barry, whereas I haven't liked the way anyone has written Barry Allen since Flash: Rebirth. Wally was great from Messner-Loebs on (though Johns did dilute him a bit) but Mike Baron's run is not fondly remembered for a reason. Bart is fantastic when written as Impulse by Waid, Peter David and now Brian Bendis but he was much less interesting when he took on the Kid Flash mantle. Wallace has such a rotten origin (race switching and angry black male stereotyping: bleuch) that it's always been an uphill battle for him. I hear that he has been better written of late but the whole Flash mythos is such a dumpster fire right now that I couldn't be bothered to check. As for Jay Garrick, I can't think of anyone who has written him badly but tons of great modern comics have been written about or around him since the Justice Society of America comic in the early '90s all the way until the New 52. The less said about what happened afterwards the better (though Earth 2 Jay Garrick was fine too from what I read of it).

Ironically, I found the short-lived Mike Baron era of Wally's FLASH title to be its most intriguing period. The conceptual setup: former sidekick to a fallen, much-admired mentor struggling to live up to the late mentor's reputation was a goldmine for storytelling potential. As Wally drew closer to and then began to surpass Barry in some aspects, he became less interesting to me. For me, Wally hit his peak at the end of RETURN OF BARRY ALLEN, and after that, his story became a very long denouement.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[The Darknight Detective]

I like all of them myself and have no problem with any of them being at the forefront over one of the others.

[Rakzo]

Wally will always remain my favorite. I have history with him and so much about the character resonates with me.

Barry and Jay will always be classics.

Bart was incredibly annoying when he initially appeared (and when he was written by Waid as a whole) but writers like Peter David made me like him.

Wallace also grew on me, particularly thanks to the recent Teen Titans run by Adam Glass. He actually gained his own personality as the voice of reason and heart of the team, is a great work.

[Dred]

Ironically, I found the short-lived Mike Baron era of Wally's FLASH title to be its most intriguing period. The conceptual setup: former sidekick to a fallen, much-admired mentor struggling to live up to the late mentor's reputation was a goldmine for storytelling potential. As Wally drew closer to and then began to surpass Barry in some aspects, he became less interesting to me. For me, Wally hit his peak at the end of RETURN OF BARRY ALLEN, and after that, his story became a very long denouement.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

So everything with Linda was just circling the drain for you? Bart as well?

[Ascended]

I don't dislike any member of the Flash family, including the extended family like Max, Jesse, Johnny, XS, John Fox, etc.

Wallace did not impress me at all originally, and I still don't have strong feelings about the character, but I dont dislike him.

I have my favorites of course, but I'm happy to see any Flash (or Flash family member) show up.

[9th.]

I kinda like them all actually Bart, Barry, Wally, Jay, Wallace, and even Max

[Buried Alien]

So everything with Linda was just circling the drain for you? Bart as well?

Kind of, sort of. They were OK, but not the main reasons that drew my interest. The more limited Flash/Wally of the Baron period was more interesting to me because his struggle to cope with his new circumstances was what made his story compelling.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[married guy]

Kind of, sort of. They were OK, but not the main reasons that drew my interest. The more limited Flash/Wally of the Baron period was more interesting to me because his struggle to cope with his new circumstances was what made his story compelling.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

The Return of Barry Allen saw Wally accept the fact he WAS the Flash and was time to fully embrace the role. Once he's done that, where's the growth going to come from?
I can see your point. And I'm guessing, so did Mark Waid - which may explain why he conjured up the Speed Force and Wally connecting to it. It again had Wally trying to cope with a new set of circumstances.