The Flash needs a Brand New Lead

[Masterff]

Tim always said he never wanted to be Batman, Cassie wasn’t being groomed to take over for Diana, and Conner was eternally 16. I’m not seeing how the Young Justicer’s were supposed to be anything more than the sidekicks they were created as.

Sins of Youth was a good example that the Young Justice could take over one day...

That didn’t work with Dick and Donna, so you know the rest wouldn’t leap frog over the original Titans.

You CANT compare them with Conner,Cassie,Tim etc.

I always thought that Diana and Donna are very similar with Donna being the one with the better attitude, so it wouldnt make a great difference.
Dick works better as Nightwing and he is always the friendly guy..

Tim is a VERY DIFFERENT character and his Batman is very dark...
Tims Batman is more interesting than Dicks Batman, because Tim has a very different personality and is for example more like Bruce, but even being darker..

We saw Conner as Superman in Sins of Youth, Titans of Tomorrow and as Black Zero.
All 3 versions worked perfectly and the ToT Superman was actually very cool, his fight against Shazam (Freddy) was interesting because he showed that he can shield himself from magic..


Conner,Tim,Cassie...work better in the role of Superman,Batman,Wonder Woman than Donna,Dick....

Legacy is probably one of the worst thing to happen to DC and it's the reason why its universe is such a mess nowdays.

I would say NO to a replacement. If a new/legacy character can't find a success these days without latching on another character's mantle, they simply don't deserve to be around.

No!!!!!!

The ONLY real problem is only the TIMELINE.....

Legacy always worked perfectly (FLASH,GREEN LANTERN,ROBIN,...)

And to have success the character also needs development, storylines, feats etc.

Dicks Generation was LUCKY because they got cool new names and development (Nightwing,Tempest,Arsenal,...) while Tims Generation uses still the old Codenames and would need to be aged up and get new codenames...

[Vampire Savior]

Legacy always worked perfectly (FLASH,GREEN LANTERN,ROBIN,...)

I think that is highly, highly debatable.

Anyway, I always really liked Wally West. I confess I've never cared much for Barry Allen. It's not that I dislike that character, but I never got into him. During my formative years as a follower of DC, Barry was long dead. Barry's Rebirth was pretty much a dud, and his New 52 series was pretty tepid to me, though I remember liking Manapul's art. I don't know what I'd think if I saw it now, because I've found I've gotten several degrees more critical of professional comics creators since then, for better or worse (and of myself, before anything thinks I'm just pompous [I take the craft very seriously]). I doubt I'd think it is bad, but I can see myself thinking it's "okay". I didn't follow Williamson's run. And as far as the old comics, I can only go so far back before comics get kind of difficult for me to enjoy, because I often don't care for the writing style and the stories are frequently too unsophisticated for my tastes. Anything before 1980 and I might have a tough time with it. That eliminates a huge chunk of Barry Allen comics for me.

Considering all that, if the narrative switched from Barry Allen to some other character...well, I don't know if I think that is a good idea for reasons of consistency and not confusing people further or fracturing fanbases again, but I wouldn't care if it happened.

[Lee]

The character also wasn't the answer, either. It was at best a wash and at worst a sunk ship.

They had an artist who wasn't exciting people and didn't mesh with the style of stories being told, and a writer who'd been on the series for 14 years. It's very hasty to cancel a series that's been running for 30 years without trying a new creative team. It wasn't a case of "We've tried X, Y and Z and nothing worked", it was a case of "We've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas".

[PennyDreadful]

Johns claimed that he wanted to do a Flash family title back in 2010, before the new 52. Just a shame that never materialized. The Green Lantern approach worked fine for the GLs. Mark Waid hinted in a recent Q&A that there could be changes for Wally: "I’m confident that DC’s current management is just as eager as I am to see Wally in his rightful place of prominence. Trust me." Those were his exact words.

As for Barry? The new 52 would have included a CSI story, but editorial spiked it. Aside from making Barry the only Flash, editorial had no interest in the Flash universe. Well, they were interested in putting Wally in a retread of Identity Crisis. They were interested in making Barry Allen Bruce Wayne. But beyond that...

It wasn't that there weren't good stories for those characters. It seems editorial didn't want them (at least not at the time). Instead you had umpteen dead mom/evil speedster/Speedforce storylines, with none of the sunny, goofy charm of the Silver Age.

Williamson claims that he will not be done with the Flash fam after his current Flash arc. With management change, maybe there is hope?

[Digifiend]

It sounds like Williamson will be leaving the Flash title... but still writing at least one speedster elsewhere. Possibilities - Justice League (including Barry), Titans (with Wally), Teen Titans (Wallace), JSA (Jesse Quick), Young Justice (which includes Impulse), Justice League China (involving Avery Ho, who he created), or a new solo for either Wally or Bart. Teen Titans and Young Justice are the only ones that already have established writers - JL is on filler arcs until Death Metal and the others aren't currently being published.

It also sounds like whatever plans there are for Wally, Waid knows about it.

[The_Sneezing_Stormtrooper]

Reading the Paradox storyline, I've become sure that we've reached the maximum Barry Allen and Wally West can offer to readers.

Unlike Batman and Superman, The Flash is built on the idea of passing the torch, so no one can tell me that we would be weirded out by a new Scarlet Speedster. All Barry stories became a repeat of the same thing and they don't add anything to franchise anymore.

Does it mean it's time to bring back Wally? No. Wally is beyond saving. He's as obsolole as Kyle and Tim, only exists to bring as a gimmick to fans. No but seriously! Wally is nothing but a walking event gimmick for sales. There is absolutely nothing interesting about him in regards to his personality.

It's time to move on to new Flash. New blood and new adventures will give it what it needs.

I completely agree. Everything since Barry's return has felt like a massive step backwards to me. I think letting each Flash has his run and then moving onto the next was one of the most interesting parts of the character.

I was really looking forward to 5g specifically to get some new blood into the Flash family. Maybe even our first leading lady Flash.

Naw, instead we're going to get another decade of Barry being sad about his dead mom and fighting the same 10 villains over and over with little change in their dynamic. Sounds great.

[Triniking1234]

Reading the Paradox storyline, I've become sure that we've reached the maximum Barry Allen and Wally West can offer to readers.

Unlike Batman and Superman, The Flash is built on the idea of passing the torch, so no one can tell me that we would be weirded out by a new Scarlet Speedster. All Barry stories became a repeat of the same thing and they don't add anything to franchise anymore.

Does it mean it's time to bring back Wally? No. Wally is beyond saving. He's as obsolole as Kyle and Tim, only exists to bring as a gimmick to fans. No but seriously! Wally is nothing but a walking event gimmick for sales. There is absolutely nothing interesting about him in regards to his personality.

It's time to move on to new Flash. New blood and new adventures will give it what it needs.

Can't disagree with the Barry and Wally stories nowadays being crap but the Flash legacy wasn't built on legacy.

Barry succeeding Jay was just a coincidence due to publishing nonsense.
Wally succeeding Barry was due to Barry's story in his own book reaching a point of closure and his death in Crisis.

[Lee]

It sounds like Williamson will be leaving the Flash title... but still writing at least one speedster elsewhere. Possibilities - Justice League (including Barry), Titans (with Wally), Teen Titans (Wallace), JSA (Jesse Quick), Young Justice (which includes Impulse), Justice League China (involving Avery Ho, who he created), or a new solo for either Wally or Bart. Teen Titans and Young Justice are the only ones that already have established writers - JL is on filler arcs until Death Metal and the others aren't currently being published.

It also sounds like whatever plans there are for Wally, Waid knows about it.

My guess is a Flash Family ("Flash: Speed Force"?) title with Wally at the centre.

[Vordan]

My guess is a Flash Family ("Flash: Speed Force"?) title with Wally at the centre.

We’re getting a “Speed Metal” title with Jay, Barry, and Wally according to Snyder.

[Jcady59]

I completely agree. Everything since Barry's return has felt like a massive step backwards to me. I think letting each Flash has his run and then moving onto the next was one of the most interesting parts of the character.

I was really looking forward to 5g specifically to get some new blood into the Flash family. Maybe even our first leading lady Flash.

Naw, instead we're going to get another decade of Barry being sad about his dead mom and fighting the same 10 villains over and over with little change in their dynamic. Sounds great.

That’s not on Barry that’s on Wally, backpedaling on Bart was what damaged legacy in the Flash. Most don’t acknowledge it because most people going on about legacy in the flash are Wally fans.

If the rumors where to be believed then captain boomerangs kid was going to be the new flash,so we really didn’t miss out on anything.

[Rend20]

That’s not on Barry that’s on Wally, backpedaling on Bart was what damaged legacy in the Flash.

Which was the result of editorial wanting to bring Barry back.

Wally never gets kicked out if that desire didn't exist. But instead of swapping Wally out for Barry like they initially wanted, they felt the timing was wrong and switched in Bart later on. Bart was never supposed to be anything more than a bridge to Barry. Except editorial's incompetence made Bart's book a sales disaster and they desperately brought Wally back in an (failed) attempt to stabilize sales.

Editorial was just making one dumb decision after another as far as the Flash title was concerned despite creators telling them how dumb they were being. It would have been best if they just brought Barry back in Infinite Crisis if that's what they wanted to do rather than the horribly mismanaged mess they ended up with.

[The_Sneezing_Stormtrooper]

That’s not on Barry that’s on Wally, backpedaling on Bart was what damaged legacy in the Flash. Most don’t acknowledge it because most people going on about legacy in the flash are Wally fans.

If the rumors where to be believed then captain boomerangs kid was going to be the new flash,so we really didn’t miss out on anything.

It's not on either of them because neither character is real. However, you're right and I think the last decade or so should have been Bart's time. This isn't about Barry vs Wally. Wally is my favourite DC character but just like Barry, he had his run.

Captain Boomerang Flash sounds awful but it might have surprised us all. At least it would be something different.

[Will Evans]

Sins of Youth was a good example that the Young Justice could take over one day...

But like the examples you gave, Titans oF tomorrow show that the Young Justice Generation shouldn’t take over.

[phantom1592]

Which was the result of editorial wanting to bring Barry back.

Wally never gets kicked out if that desire didn't exist. But instead of swapping Wally out for Barry like they initially wanted, they felt the timing was wrong and switched in Bart later on. Bart was never supposed to be anything more than a bridge to Barry. Except editorial's incompetence made Bart's book a sales disaster and they desperately brought Wally back in an (failed) attempt to stabilize sales.

Editorial was just making one dumb decision after another as far as the Flash title was concerned despite creators telling them how dumb they were being. It would have been best if they just brought Barry back in Infinite Crisis if that's what they wanted to do rather than the horribly mismanaged mess they ended up with.

I don't see it that way. If anything i saw Wally getting REALLY stale and taking a backseat in his own book once the kids showed up. The whole infinite crisis/Bart/Wally and family trapped etc... was a way to age the kids up to being viable characters instead of babies.... and it sucked. Even bringing back Johns who had a great run on Wally couldn't reinvigorate 'dad-wally.' Whether Barry, Bart, Junior Boomerang or whoever got the book next... i feel they got it because Wally's stories were done. If they weren't focusing directly on the rogues... it wasn't interesting.

Its an unpopular opinion... but i actually did like Bart in the Flash role. I always preferred Barry the best, but when he's on his game Wally was a ton of fun to read too... but Bart just had that 'fresh start' kind of feel and he was the unquantified 'Star' of the book. Wally had been running out of steam for years.

[Lee]

They aged Bart into adulthood off-panel and completely changed his personality when they made him the Flash. It was a complete disservice to the character.

Impulse was a unique and full realised character. It was a mistake to ever change that.