Are people okay with Wallace West now?

[Tzigone]

Actually, before Flashpoint OG Wally was short for Walter not Wallace. They should go back to that.

Who's Who #2 (from 1990)
Wallace West.jpg

Though I would not be shocked to find out he'd been called Walter somewhere along the way (I mean before the alternate universe thing) like Ted being called Theodore and Edward (he's Theodore to me).

[Icefan]

Yeah, originally Barry was short for "Barrence", but was later changed to Bartholomew.

[9th.]

Actually, before Flashpoint OG Wally was short for Walter not Wallace. They should go back to that.

Well thats an idea, I like that one.

[9th.]

I didn't even know Barrance was a name.

[married guy]

He can exist, but I honestly think the character is superfluous.

He was created as a replacement for the OG Wally. No question.
Problem was, there were a number of people who were VERY upset by this. (Me included)
Once DC realised just how much of a cock up they'd made they changed his origin instead of simply removing him altogether.
Doing this put the character behind the eight ball in terms of character building and it's taken literally years to get him to a point where he's now readable.

[Ascended]

I think if you have non-speed powers you really shouldn't count for the Flash Family. A fellow hero, maybe, but speed is the name of the game for the franchise. And there are a lot of ways to play around with speed/motion powers.

I think there's value in trying to make something out of the other forces. The idea of Jai becoming the next Turtle and using the Still force, but as a hero, has some appeal, yknow?

But such a thing would end up like the Lantern mythos. You can have people using power rings creating hard light constructs, but unless the ring is green you'll end up being adjunct to the "real" Lanterns. I think DC could put some work into the other forces, but the characters using them won't be Flash family, they'll be "close family friends" at best. And that's fine, we can use characters in that kind of role, but I dunno if I want to see Wallace put there. That feels too much like shoving him aside and I don't like the optics of that. We've lost enough Flashes and are still missing a bunch of them (Max, Jesse, XS, John Fox, Johnny, Jay is still AWOL outside of #750, etc), I don't want to lose Wallace too, even if it is just to another family of force users.

As for Wallace being on the slower end, I'm not concerned. He's the youngest Flash and the most inexperienced, so of course he's going to be slower. But I don't think that really matters. He's not supposed to be at the top of the game, that's the whole point of him learning and studying under Barry. Make him good at a particular speed force trick, or give him a trick or two that no one else can do, and that's more than enough. He should be able to stand out on the merits of character, not his abilities. This isn't an RPG where you build your party based on their stats, Wallace doesn't have to be the best at everything (or anything) to be a good character worth reading about. If he must have his unique tricks, let them be a product of his character development, not the other way around.

[Tzigone]

I guess I'm the opposite. I don't like the other forces at all (don't even like speed force, to be honest). And I don't want Wallace slower - it's just a way to make him less, IMO. That's the thing with families and legacies these days - everyone's (including writers) is jockeying to make sure their own is top dog and diminishing the others to do it. Back when Wally got the powers, it was clearly shown immediately that he and Barry were same-speed. In early days we had Batman complimenting Robin and saying he had finesse. Now it's much more about making dang sure everyone knows there's just one person who is best, and they better get used to it. Then someone who favors another comes along and says how much more special they are than the others and how thye exceed them and putting the previous "best" one down. Has been happening at least since COIE. Probably before, but I can recall it in prior to 1990 in some fams.

[Lightning Rider]

Well thats an idea, I like that one.

But Walter West was this guy.

[Güicho]

Wally
Walt
Wallace
Walter
Waldemar...

Now WhereTF is our Waldo West?
Why can nobody frikin find this guy?



The universe has spoken ....Make it happen DC!

[Ascended]

I guess I'm the opposite. I don't like the other forces at all (don't even like speed force, to be honest). And I don't want Wallace slower - it's just a way to make him less, IMO. That's the thing with families and legacies these days - everyone's (including writers) is jockeying to make sure their own is top dog and diminishing the others to do it. Back when Wally got the powers, it was clearly shown immediately that he and Barry were same-speed. In early days we had Batman complimenting Robin and saying he had finesse. Now it's much more about making dang sure everyone knows there's just one person who is best, and they better get used to it. Then someone who favors another comes along and says how much more special they are than the others and how thye exceed them and putting the previous "best" one down. Has been happening at least since COIE. Probably before, but I can recall it in prior to 1990 in some fams.

I'm not huge on the forces either, but they're here and before we throw them into limbo we might as well see if anything decent can come of it. If it doesn't work and the forces are forgotten, it won't hurt my feelings at all but screw it, maybe there's a diamond in the rough. Full disclosure; I trade wait Flash and the Force Saga crap is next up, I've read about it plenty online and seen some scans but haven't read the story yet, so for all I know it's worse than I imagine (and I'm not fond already).

As for Wallace being slower, I mean, nobody is going to buy him as being a serious part of the conversation anyway. He's 14, has had his powers for what, a year in-universe? Two at most? He's barely more than a rookie. He doesn't have the feats or the history. Give him time, he'll get there, but right now no one is expecting him to keep pace with Wally and Barry. Give him a trick or two no one else does that can be his signature, and that'll be enough to start building from. I like the idea of him imbuing vehicles with speed, or being able to fly (say his flight speed is higher than his running speed, but he can't corner or stop easily while flying to balance it out). Give him a useful skill no one else has; Wally was already a mechanic, Barry and Jay are scientists (and Jay has the "wise mentor" stuff), so what's Wallace into? Maybe he gets into medicine; no other Flash has any "field medic" skill or training. And a scene of Wallace giving emergency medical aid to a dozen innocent bystanders caught in the chaos (all at once, because speedster) would do more for him than being able to compete in a race with Barry.

I get where you're coming from though.

Now WhereTF is our Waldo West?

Make it happen DC!

Shut up and take my money.

Can his special speed gimmick be that he vibrates so fast he becomes nearly invisible?

[BohemiaDrinker]

Well wallace is not the slowest speedster if you go by this list.



He is faster then bart,toni ho, Negative flash/fast track and the rest of the shazam family for example going by this list.
https://omnigeekempire.com/2018/08/0...cters-ranking/

https://www.reddit.com/r/theflash/co...cters_from_dc/

Bart was not around when that list was released, and if he was, he'd probably be up there in the top 4. The kid is the golden-child of the Flash family and has been shown to be almost on par with Wally a number of times. (And I'm excluding the period in which he was Flash). Power-wise, he's in a completelly different league than Wallace or Avery and runs with the top dogs. Not a slight against Wallace, btw, who's a relatively new character at the very start of his career.

Actually, before Flashpoint OG Wally was short for Walter not Wallace.

Actually, it was not. There was one silver age where a teacher calls him Walter in the classroom, yes, but even pre-Crisis his name was already pretty established. Raven referred to him exclusively as "Wallace" already on the beginning of Wolfman and Perez Titans, and there are probably older mentions that I don't recall at the moment. During his run as Flash (the post-Crisis/Pre-Flashpoint period) his name was spelled out several times and even became a plot-point in Mark Waid's last arc, as the Wally from an alternate Earth was revealed to be called "Walter".

They should go back to that.

No, they ABSOLUTELY should NOT.

It's quite tiresome in these discussions that a segment of fans suggestions to "fix" Wally is to take something off him. "Let's take his suit away", "let's call him something other than the Flash", "let's remove his history", "Let's change his actual civilian name", so he doesn't stand in the way of Barry/Wallace/whoever else.

If all these characters are so fragile that they can exist alongside a Wally West who is actually Wally West, then maybe what "they" should do is just give Wally the keys to the Kingdom again.

That said, the new kid going by Wallace is fine.

Yes, we all know why he has that name, and yes, it sucked back then, but it's not like there isn't a precedent. The Flash family is full of repeated names: we have Iris West 1 (Barry's wife) and Iris West 2 (Wally's daughter), we have Bartholomew Henry Allen 1 (Barry) and Bartholomew Henry Allen 2 (Bart), we have Jay (Og Flash) and Jai (Wally's son), there's no reason at this point on why we can't roll with "Wally" and "Wallace".

[The no face guy]

Well wallace is not the slowest speedster if you go by this list.



He is faster then bart,toni ho, Negative flash/fast track and the rest of the shazam family for example going by this list.
https://omnigeekempire.com/2018/08/0...cters-ranking/

https://www.reddit.com/r/theflash/co...cters_from_dc/


Note-black racer is black pre-flashpoint but i am not sure if he is still black post flashpoint or not.

This poster had me thinking about Johnny and Jesse Quick, and where they would fit in. Jesse Quick would tap into a mathematical formula that would give him speed, but apparently he was still a lot slower than Jay garrick's moderate speed.
Jesse Quick was brought in, to teach Impulse how to use the speed force. It would be cool if the poster had these four missing heroes in it.

https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Jonathan_...rs_(New_Earth)
https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Jesse_Chambers_(New_Earth)

[Masterff]

He can exist, but I honestly think the character is superfluous.

He was created as a replacement for the OG Wally. No question.
Problem was, there were a number of people who were VERY upset by this. (Me included)
Once DC realised just how much of a cock up they'd made they changed his origin instead of simply removing him altogether.
Doing this put the character behind the eight ball in terms of character building and it's taken literally years to get him to a point where he's now readable.

They should probably start giving him more unique Speedster abilities because I don't see him surpassing any major established Speedster as things currently stand, just like Barry's still not as fast as Wally (last I checked).

As it is I think he and Avery are even speed-wise. Jesse hasn't come back yet so can't really fit her in. Jay is an issue of endurance more then anything else.

I also think he is superfluous:

I mean its still possible that Iris and Jai are around AND Iris has shown that she will have powers which no one else will have: the speed cocoons!!!
So if any speedster follows Bart it should be Iris West II who I would rather put in the Teen Titans Team of Damian.

There is also Jesse who has other powers...

AND!!!!! dont forget the TORNADO TWINS!!

[Robanker]

I also think he is superfluous:

I mean its still possible that Iris and Jai are around AND Iris has shown that she will have powers which no one else will have: the speed cocoons!!!
So if any speedster follows Bart it should be Iris West II who I would rather put in the Teen Titans Team of Damian.

There is also Jesse who has other powers...

AND!!!!! dont forget the TORNADO TWINS!!

And among those you listed, all but Wally's kids are white (and even then, half) in a lineage of white people. Let's not call him superfluous when the Flash family was already crowded beforehand. Wallace isn't the straw breaking any backs.

You forgot Avery, by the way. She's another new Speedster. XS as well since you're bringing future people like the Tornado Twins in.

[Masterff]

And among those you listed, all but Wally's kids are white (and even then, half) in a lineage of white people. Let's not call him superfluous when the Flash family was already crowded beforehand. Wallace isn't the straw breaking any backs.

You forgot Avery, by the way. She's another new Speedster. XS as well since you're bringing future people like the Tornado Twins in.

Not really...Before Wallace every member of the Flash Family had his generation:

BEFORE JSA: Max Mercury
JSA: Jay Garrick
JLA: Barry
TITANS: Wally West
JASONS GENERATION: Jesse Quick (she is older than Bart, but younger than Wally)
TEEN TITANS: Bart Allen
AFTER TEEN TITANS: Jai and Iris West II
AFTER AFTER TEEN TITANS: Tornado Twins

Avery is part of JL of CHINA, so she doesnt really matter...

So, in theory Wallace would be in Jais and Iris West II generation...in "reality" he seems to be now (in Rebirth) as old as Bart Allen is..

Another problem is that Wallace have "only" the "standart" powers of a speedster and Iris West II and Bart Allen have more than the standart powers AND BOTH have a longer history.



XS is part of the LoSH and this means she is a FUTURE character, the Tornado Twins might be born this year, next year...
If you watch the YJ Anime Series, you see Bart Allen helping Iris with the 2...The Tornado Twins are a NEAR FUTURE...