Wally West: The Flash Appreciation 2020

[WallyWestFlash]

I didn't think Wally Fans would want Messner-Loebs… Wasn't his run all about how Wally was slower than Barry... Still in the shadow of his hero... Trying to live up to is legacy? All the things that people on this board rail against? Dredging up that version would have been problematic at best I would think... Personally I love my characters with flaws and him being slower was awesome to me... but I'm surprised to hear that others look fondly on that era now.

That is one of the things I loved about Loebs run. Wally was not the best. He actually had to struggle with being a lot slower, both physically and emotionally.

But he did make Wally fight through and overcome this. One of the biggest leaps were the Vandal Savage story where Wally actually got shot but came out a lot faster and a better hero. This culminated in one of the biggest milestones for Wally with issue 50 and his first very own, unique suit.

One of my favorite issues.

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[Stingo]

Hope this is not true...It seems so far afield from what and who Wally West is.

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2020/03...iah-dc-comics/

[Ascended]

Ha I hear that. Which ones do you actually like though?

As far as Wally's history goes on main writers, that doesn't leave a lot of options. With DC not getting Loebs and refusing to go near Waid that just leaves John's, whom they got and Baron. He might have been interesting but not really a Wally writer favorite.

As far as contemporary writers, they got Lobdell for the Flash Forward epilogue which is fine. Williamson would have been.cool since he writes a good Wally. Maybe Moreci is writing one since he wrote that awesome Wally/Nightwing team up one shot.

Morrison and Miller did some fantastic Wally issues around the Waid era too (shortly after? As fill-in writers? I forget) and DC could have gotten either of them. Morrison also wrote Wally in JLA for several years.

I'm actually just happily surprised Wally is apparently getting more than one story. I wasn't even sure he'd get a single story of his own.

[Waterfall]

It’s very possible that Baron is blacklisted from DC.

[Spider-Ham]

Hope this is not true...It seems so far afield from what and who Wally West is.

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2020/03...iah-dc-comics/

The article says it might not happen after Didio's departure.

I hope so, because that is the dumbest idea in the Wally West Crisis Trilogy.

From Flash to Dr Manhattan to Pariah ... And they get paid for this.

[BohemiaDrinker]

(shortly after? As fill-in writers?

Waid took a sabbatical from Flash, and Morrison and (his then pupil) Millar filled in that year.

[Ilan Preskovsky]

Hope this is not true...It seems so far afield from what and who Wally West is.

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2020/03...iah-dc-comics/

Yoiks, that's awful. I'm actually AOK with Wally as Dr Manhattan as I know it will presumably be brief and there's some real story potential in DC's ultimate everyman being given the powers of a god and being tasked with fixing the multiverse. This, though, just sounds moronic.

[Ascended]

Waid took a sabbatical from Flash, and Morrison and (his then pupil) Millar filled in that year.

Oh yeah, that's right!

Man, I really enjoyed their stint on the book. That whole era is still my favorite for Flash.

[phantom1592]

Those things were a huge part of Wally's story and why it was so engaging. A lot of us don't want to see Wally's character regress, especially if it's only because Barry is around, but that has nothing to do with how we view the Messner-Loebs era as his run was about progression.

Well, that's kind of my point though. If this book is supposed to celebrate all the flash history..... do people really want another chapter of him writing what he wrote best? Do they really want another story spotlighting how far he has to go to be Barry's equal?

I mean... I like wally, but I've always been a Barry fan... so I'm okay with it :P But from the last decade of Wally appreciation I would have thought that was the last thing people wanted.

That is one of the things I loved about Loebs run. Wally was not the best. He actually had to struggle with being a lot slower, both physically and emotionally.
k8dv7qO.jpg

Yep, I loved when Wally had things to overcome. My all time favorite Wally story was Return of Barry Allen.... which I picked up because I was a Barry fan. But the whole story spoke of Wally and him overcoming his fears and weaknesses and how he became Barry's equal and it was amazing. It completely pulled the rug out from under me as opposed to what I WANTED... but what I got was just as good.

Once the Speed Force was introduced I think Wally became too unbelievable and too powerful and just... meh.... and once his kids were introduced he became unreadable.... but yeah, I love me some Loeb/early Waid era Wally... I just thought I was the only one

[Rend20]

Well, that's kind of my point though. If this book is supposed to celebrate all the flash history..... do people really want another chapter of him writing what he wrote best? Do they really want another story spotlighting how far he has to go to be Barry's equal?

It was one of the themes of his run, but it was hardly the only thing he did.

Two of his fantastic one-off stories involving Wally crashing Captain Cold's birthday party and Wally jumping out of a plane which had nothing to do with Barry. His short story in the 80 page giant in 1999 centered on Wally, Captain Cold, and Glider working together. His work hardly revolved around Wally being inferior to Barry.

But from the last decade of Wally appreciation I would have thought that was the last thing people wanted.

Because that era is over and done with. A short story from the era is fine, but making it the status quo takes on a whole different meaning since the landscape has changed.

[Dred]

I didn't think Wally Fans would want Messner-Loebs… Wasn't his run all about how Wally was slower than Barry... Still in the shadow of his hero... Trying to live up to is legacy? All the things that people on this board rail against? Dredging up that version would have been problematic at best I would think... Personally I love my characters with flaws and him being slower was awesome to me... but I'm surprised to hear that others look fondly on that era now.

Wally being faster wouldn't matter if he wasn't slower first. A character arc is very important and it is something the Wally has better than any Flash and, really, nearly any other superhero. WML's part of Wally's story is the rising action the the climax that is ROBA.

, I loved when Wally had things to overcome. My all time favorite Wally story was Return of Barry Allen.... which I picked up because I was a Barry fan. But the whole story spoke of Wally and him overcoming his fears and weaknesses and how he became Barry's equal and it was amazing. It completely pulled the rug out from under me as opposed to what I WANTED... but what I got was just as good.

Once the Speed Force was introduced I think Wally became too unbelievable and too powerful and just... meh.... and once his kids were introduced he became unreadable.... but yeah, I love me some Loeb/early Waid era Wally... I just thought I was the only one

The Speed Force is an explanation, it hardly made anyone more powerful. No Flash is more powerful than Silver Age Barry was just because that was the nature of the Silver Age.

[Kyer]

Morrison and Miller did some fantastic Wally issues around the Waid era too (shortly after? As fill-in writers? I forget) and DC could have gotten either of them. Morrison also wrote Wally in JLA for several years.

I'm actually just happily surprised Wally is apparently getting more than one story. I wasn't even sure he'd get a single story of his own.

I would have loved a Morrison and Miller story! Anything but Baron and...well, Geoff Johns. While I loved the story arc of Crossfire thru Ignition, Johns seemed more enamored of The Rogues than Wally. I'm a little concerned that this upcoming story by him will be more about Captain Cold than about Wally.... and I just don't really care for villains besides that Wally should be defeating them by story's end.

[Ascended]

The Speed Force is an explanation, it hardly made anyone more powerful. No Flash is more powerful than Silver Age Barry was just because that was the nature of the Silver Age.

I haven't read enough Silver Age Barry to really say, but Wally took down the COIE Anti-Monitor single handed, and did it so fast three different flavors of Kryptonian never even saw him. Wally was basically a plot device by the time Waid was through with him.

I would have loved a Morrison and Miller story! Anything but Baron and...well, Geoff Johns. While I loved the story arc of Crossfire thru Ignition, Johns seemed more enamored of The Rogues than Wally. I'm a little concerned that this upcoming story by him will be more about Captain Cold than about Wally.... and I just don't really care for villains besides that Wally should be defeating them by story's end.

You know what? This is about Johns writing for 750 right? I'd be fine if he wrote a story that spotlighted the Rogues. Those guys are a big part of the history too, so why the hell not? I still want more than one Wally story but I'd rather Johns write the Rogues than Wally. I liked Johns' run well enough, don't get me wrong, the they were the real stars.

[BohemiaDrinker]

I haven't read enough Silver Age Barry to really say, but Wally took down the COIE Anti-Monitor single handed, and did it so fast three different flavors of Kryptonian never even saw him. Wally was basically a plot device by the time Waid was through with him.

Well, to be fair, Wally actually took down the "post-Coie Anti-Monitor", which could not be as badass as the "COIE" Monitor, since the latter destroyed Inifnite Universes minus one, and the former destroyed none. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[phantom1592]

The Speed Force is an explanation, it hardly made anyone more powerful. No Flash is more powerful than Silver Age Barry was just because that was the nature of the Silver Age.

That's how it started... it but it ballooned into absurdity. Silver Age Barry did crazy amazing things that defied science for sure... but at least they tried to keep it 'speed based' His body moved fast and he did weird things with that. Vibrations, breaking time barriers intangibility...

Speed Force started doing things like stealing other peoples speed and giving them speed... creating costumes out of 'pure speed'.... that just happened to look like his regular costume... And other stuff. I stopped reading after a while and just cherry picked cool issues. I know that by post-infinite Crisis... the Speed Force was shut down and inside Bart... but Jay still had his speed. He just couldn't go AS fast or do as many cool power stunts... so at least by that point Speed Force was literally a 'power up' to make a basic Speedster more powerful.

I always prefer my speedsters to have powers from chemicals and high metabolism. All their power based solely on their personal physiology and not outside forces. that may or may not be sentient....