Wally West: The Flash Appreciation 2020

[Stingo]

So, here we go for some Flash Forward #6 spoilers. Be ready for some tears dear friends.

spoilers:

Wally is described as hope itself. And the staff is like a gun which can literally shoot Wally’s hope on dark matter, destroying it in the process. So at the end of the issue, Wally sacrifices his soul, his heart and gives all his hope to the Multiverse in order to save it. Before losing his humanity, he has one last gift for Linda : he gives her children back.

end of spoilers

And that’s it guys, I hope you enjoyed the ride.

I've got VERY mixed emotions about all of this.

[deadman322]

*eye roll*

yawn.


edit:
on longer thought about it, i dont like it at all and spoilers:

wally giving up his humanity just seems like they're setting him up to be a threat to the universe

end of spoilers

[Spider-Ham]

on longer thought about it, i dont like it at all and spoilers:

wally giving up his humanity just seems like they're setting him up to be a threat to the universe

end of spoilers

Well, it's not exactly like that.

spoilers:

Now he has a family to protect.

end of spoilers

I still think it's a story about hope and about finally becoming that hope, even if it means losing everything else. It's about what a father is ready to do to protect the people he loves.

Maybe it'll sound better when you will read it yourself. I'm not very good at summarizing things and my really poor english doesn't help at all :/

[deadman322]

Well, it's not exactly like that.

spoilers:

Now he has a family to protect.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

but he gives up his humanity so why would he care anymore?

end of spoilers

[Spider-Ham]

spoilers:

but he gives up his humanity so why would he care anymore?

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Well, it's still Wally inside. Sure, he is overwhelmed by the knowledge of every person who sat on the chair (Metron, The Batman, Owlman, we even see Manhattan) but the simple fact that he decided to use that knowledge makes me think he still cares about his family and his world. Maybe his family will be a Lightning Rod 2.0 that will protect his humanity ? I don't know. I guess we will learn more about it in Flash #750 ... Or we will have to wait the FCBD and Generation Zero :/

end of spoilers

[deadman322]

spoilers:

Well, it's still Wally inside. Sure, he is overwhelmed by the knowledge of every person who sat on the chair (Metron, The Batman, Owlman, we even see Manhattan) but the simple fact that he decided to use that knowledge makes me think he still cares about his family and his world. Maybe his family will be a Lightning Rod 2.0 that will protect his humanity ? I don't know. I guess we will learn more about it in Flash #750 ... Or we will have to wait the FCBD and Generation Zero :/

end of spoilers

given this ending im not expecting wally to appear in flash #750.

[Spider-Ham]

Wally does appear in The Flash #750 !

[deadman322]

Wally does appear in The Flash #750 !

flashbacks don't count.

[scottylobdell]

deadman332

You are quite stubborn. lol!

He does appear in 750... not a flashback.

And he appears in FCBD. Not only not a flashback, but a lynchpin at the heart of the Multiverse in a way only Wally West could. (This is not Parralax Redux as I've seen a lot of people speculating. That epic story was already told and told well.)

While I am not involved with the character after FCBD... I can assure you he is in excellent hands for his upcoming mind-boggling, heart-rending, hope-neverending adventures.

Just keep in mind: up until now, the Mobius Chair has subsumed the minds of many many people who have sat upon it.

But it has never squared off against a mind that can think faster than thought itself. Faster than the chair?

If I were a betting man... I would never bet against Wally West.

[Ascended]

Haven't read the story yet. Figured I'd wait on word of mouth and see how it ended, then get the trade if I heard good things.

This ending.....sounds like when he first tapped into the speed force. Overwhelmed by a new, incredible power, his humanity on the edge of oblivion.....Wally's come through this kind of crucible in the past, and always returns stronger. I hope that's the end game here and DC actually follows through.

I think I'll be getting that trade. But even if Lobdell has put Wally on the right trajectory DC has burned my trust here. The promises of Wally's triumphant return to relevancy that were made in 2016 never came, so I have little reason to expect the promises of Wally's triumphant return to relevancy in 2020 will fare any better. But it does sound like Flash Forward is a fun ride, and that's better than Wally's gotten in a while. I'll take it.

[BohemiaDrinker]

They're not going to have two different TV shows about a super-hero named The Flash who wears a red suit and runs fast being produced simultaneously.

They have 2 different shows with members of the JSA right now (or soon). They have 2 Doom Patrols that are the same but different. They have3 Alfreds and 3 Bruce Waynes in different continuities. 3 Justice Leagues "exist" on TV right now. Last month, Supermen were punching each other (one of the is also the Atom) while the TV Flash was spared from death by a different, older TV Flash, who is also another older tv Flash and the first TV Flash's father, right before he met movie Flash.

And that's what I'm saying. To you it doesn't matter. You're a fan and you want what you want.

To DC Comics and DC Entertainment, it absolutely does matter. They're custodians of the brand.

"A comic for each Flash", "a comic for each Green Lantern", "a comic for each Batgirl" - these aren't things DC is going to do arbitrarily. If Cassandra Cain as Batgirl doesn't mesh with what they're doing with the Batgirl brand, then they're not going to suddenly start publishing new Cassandra Cain Batgirl comics for the hell of it.

Ok, I'm not fond of doing this, but please. I majored in advertising and worked in more than one agency. I have paid my bills doing graphic design, brand positioning and strategy for over 25 years now. And there goes my outlook, not as a fan but as a professional: DC fucked up. They doubled down in their **** up. It bit them in the ass. The non redundancy policy that started circa 2006 was a wrongheaded move that was born from from misjudging and underestimating their audience and a mix of personal biases, and the result they got was their consumer base splitting up, turning on DC and on each other.

Twice in five years they're having (out of stubbornness) to go "ok guys, sorry", and people have ceased to believe them.

[married guy]

They have 2 different shows with members of the JSA right now (or soon). They have 2 Doom Patrols that are the same but different. They have3 Alfreds and 3 Bruce Waynes in different continuities. 3 Justice Leagues "exist" on TV right now. Last month, Supermen were punching each other (one of the is also the Atom) while the TV Flash was spared from death by a different, older TV Flash, who is also another older tv Flash and the first TV Flash's father, right before he met movie Flash.



Ok, I'm not fond of doing this, but please. I majored in advertising and worked in more than one agency. I have paid my bills doing graphic design, brand positioning and strategy for over 25 years now. And there goes my outlook, not as a fan but as a professional: DC fucked up. They doubled down in their **** up. It bit them in the ass. The non redundancy policy that started circa 2006 was a wrongheaded move that was born from from misjudging and underestimating their audience and a mix of personal biases, and the result they got was their consumer base splitting up, turning on DC and on each other.

Twice in five years they're having (out of stubbornness) to go "ok guys, sorry", and people have ceased to believe them.

Exactly!!

It wouldn't dilute the brand if it offers a perspective the other title doesn't.
Having Wally & Co fill that slot would meet every criteria. Hell, you may very well expand readership with new readers giving the book a try.

[manwhohaseverything]

deadman332

You are quite stubborn. lol!

He does appear in 750... not a flashback.

And he appears in FCBD. Not only not a flashback, but a lynchpin at the heart of the Multiverse in a way only Wally West could. (This is not Parralax Redux as I've seen a lot of people speculating. That epic story was already told and told well.)

While I am not involved with the character after FCBD... I can assure you he is in excellent hands for his upcoming mind-boggling, heart-rending, hope-neverending adventures.

Just keep in mind: up until now, the Mobius Chair has subsumed the minds of many many people who have sat upon it.

But it has never squared off against a mind that can think faster than thought itself. Faster than the chair?

If I were a betting man... I would never bet against Wally West.

Has this been foreshadowed in heroes in crisis event with wally piecing together the information about all the patients from the sanctuary servers that was being deleted on the spot?Not to mention that had batman's security failsafes. Yet, wally was able access all the informations. I never expected it to tie back into that.

[Dr. Ellingham]

DC fucked up.

I agree, and more than once - ending Johns first run, Infinite Crisis, Bart's run, Barry's return in Final Crisis, stupidly followed by an anti-climactic book called 'Rebirth', the ever-changing strategy leading up to Flashpoint, etc.

It was a 5-year fit of stops, starts, and oops.

this whole "diluting the brand" thing does not apply here.

Setting aside the crap I recapped above, there should be one main Flash; whether that's Barry, Wally or some new thing? Well, that's not my call to make. But I think taking the current status quo as it is today, I think it's demonstrably a bad idea to have two (highly similar) principal Flashes:

If I would have dropped out of the sky in 2004, when Johns' run was stilling running strong (or in 1995 with Waid, whatever) and told you - "Let's bring back Barry, have him and Wally basically split the role of "The Flash", would you have seen that as a good thing?

For *any* reason you would have been hesitant, or against it - it'd just as bad an idea now to current readers.

(On the other hand - it's not a horrible idea. I mean, DC does currently have two Flash characters named Wally West running around, sharing one continuity. So on the sliding scale of bad, 2 lead Flashes edges closer to non-offensive than some of the moves I mentioned above.)

[Spider-Ham]

And he appears in FCBD. Not only not a flashback, but a lynchpin at the heart of the Multiverse in a way only Wally West could. (This is not Parralax Redux as I've seen a lot of people speculating. That epic story was already told and told well.)

While I am not involved with the character after FCBD... I can assure you he is in excellent hands for his upcoming mind-boggling, heart-rending, hope-neverending adventures

It saddens me to see you won't write on Wally anymore. The way you handled Wally's relationship with his kids and the way he sees them ? Pure gold. But if you say he's in good hands with the next writer, then be it. I'll see you with Red Hood and the Outlaws !

Anyway, I really wanted to thank you for this mini series : It's a great story with a lot of respect and a lot of love for our favorite character. After Heroes in Crisis, it was far from easy to stick with DC, so thank you for restoring our love and faith in DC. It means a lot.

P.S. : Seriously, we need a Wally West v Red Hood v Artemis v Arsenal v Bizarro v Arsenal (When he comes back) v Pup Pup v the rest of the Outlaws crossover. That would be the best thing on Earth. Everything is great when Pup Pup is involved.

P.P.S. : Any chance you can convince DC to let you write a Roy Haper and Lian book ? That would be the next greatest thing on Earth after the Ultimate Pup Pup crossover.