nope, wallace works just fine. if bart and Barry and coexist, wally and wallace can coexist; and do coexist. they're cousins, he's wally and he's wallace, changing the character further at this point is would be convoluted and unnecessary. pretending otherwise would be intellectually dishonest given the general suspension of disbelief you're conceding to with all the absurdity of comic lore.
THE SIGNAL (Duke Thomas) is DC's secret shonen protagonist so I made him a fandom wiki
also, check out "The Signal Tape" a Duke Thomas fan project.
currently following:
- DC: Red Hood: The Hill
- Marvel: TBD
- Manga (Shonen/Seinen): One Piece, My Hero, Dandadan, Jujutsu Kaisen, Kaiju No. 8, Reincarnation of The Veteran Soldier, Oblivion Rouge, ORDEAL, The Breaker: Eternal Force
"power does not corrupt, power always reveals."
You think he works. I don't. As long as he has the same name I'll forever look at him as the character that DC tried to replace the actual real Wally with just because they wanted the comics to match the TV show. It would be like the Batman franchise deciding to introduce a new character called Richard Grayson to be the new Robin and excuse it because the original Richard just goes by Dick. It's so stupid. Even beyond how insulting that was to fans of the real Wally it makes no sense marketing wise to have two characters have the same name in the same franchise that have both held the same role. It is a nightmare to actually adapt into other media. It's basic writing practice to not have characters with the same name or names that sounds alike. You put a ceiling on his character by giving him the same name. I mean comics are already convoluted. Him changing his name from Wally/Wallace to something unique to just him is a minor thing compared to the other massive convoluted continuity issues DC is dealing with.
But honestly, they could change his name and nothing will be lost. It isn't like he is this major character with a deep lore and an interesting personality where he has carved out an identity for himself. I mean if he wasn't black would you even care about him? Probably not as he has yet to develop into anything. He's just "the current kid flash" character. I've read Priest's Deathstroke run where fans claims he gave the character a personality, but I didn't see it. He was like an even more dull Tim Drake in being a generic nice teenager. Just change his name and start giving him something that is his and his alone to try and develop him that way.
I meant a solo book for Future State. Though, her own series shows people who she is so it's not completely needed.
You might be right lol.
Seemed like the focus was more to Jackson, but Andy could have good parts in there. Like a sidekick of some kind.
Cases like this are the only time when I side with the anti-legacy crowd. I think that killing, maiming, and otherwise ruining characters for someone new is a TERRIBLE strategy. You could very easily have Barry and Wally settle with their respective wives and temporarily retire. Obviously there are exceptions, like when a character death is the natural product of a good story and someone later rises to take up the mantle.
I think we will generally see next year dc playing around with concepts of how to sell their books, and frankly I think it’s pretty smart. It’s what I appreciated about the Walmart/giant books, I got a lot of content for only $5 which I appreciated even if some of the stories were just repurposed older issues. I think it could serve to lift up some lesser known characters to the general public, a good example being whatever this new black racer character is doing in the Superman books.
Another avenue I would expect is the potential to see take off series get a digital series, dc has been big on digital and a lot of the series are out of continuity or elseworld series. Foster the old audience with print books in stores while getting the new audience on digital series with new characters.
"It's fun and it's cool, so that's all that matters. It's what comics are for, Duh."
Words to live by.
I think the Walmart books were a good idea as they make comics visible/available to the mainstream audience who never would have even thought about the existence of comic books (even thought they watch shows and movies) before. I also think getting kids into comics again would be a great move. Not just a kids-line, but for the main-line (whether that's floppies or OGNs or new characters in stand-alone worlds or whatnot since I'm uncertain on the floppy model itself for longevity, though I'd miss it being the main thing) to be kid friendly. Not stories adults couldn't enjoy. But for the kid-appeal stories to be the primary, with the older target secondary. Of course, that only really works if they can get the kids first. I don't think that's happening with digital or subscription model unless it gets bundled in with Amazon or some such (because kids don't have credit cards and don't know comics exist to seek them out v. them being in Walmart where they see them).It’s what I appreciated about the Walmart/giant books, I got a lot of content for only $5 which I appreciated even if some of the stories were just repurposed older issues.
Sad part is, I wouldn't be nearly as interested in the new comics paradigm. But I think it'd probably make DC more money - if they could pull it off. Which I don't know that they can. Otherwise, just keep trying to make money in the niche market.
Last edited by Tzigone; 10-19-2020 at 08:07 AM.
I highlight that statement because I think it's an interesting topic of discussion. There's nothing "natural" about what happens in a story - it's all contrived. I think what you might be explaining is either: A) the death/replacement story is just well-written and makes sense as a story so it doesn't seem as contrived or B)it happens over time, over various stories, and maybe with different writers which implies that the replacement character wasn't intended or introduced to be a replacement. Then it feels more "natural" - there's a sense of an evolution. I think it's become more difficult for that to happen over time though as stories have become less serialized and there's less time for that kind of development. While the sidekick archetype has that "potential successor" built in to the concept, otherwise it can be a hard sell. Just a thought...
Last edited by j9ac9k; 10-19-2020 at 08:11 AM.
TrueI highlight that statement because I think it's an interesting topic of discussion. There's nothing "natural" about what happens in a story - it's all contrived.
There is that. But I think the key is that rather than not feeling like the new character was created as a replacement, fans need to not feel their character was discarded for a replacement. Maybe that's the same thing to you? But for me, I like to use Barry, Hal, etc. as an example. Jay, Alan, etc. were not written out so these newbies could show up and take their identities and use their names/fame as a boost to popularity. They were gone for years and (at that time) never intended to be returned. So Hal, Barry, etc. didn't "take" anything from them. Did not diminish their roles in any sense. Because they were already gone. Same for Betty Kane. So they didn't engender the same resentment.I think what you might be explaining is either: A) the death/replacement story is just well-written or B)it happens over time, over various stories, and maybe with different writers which implies that the replacement character wasn't intended or introduced to be a replacement. Then it feels more "natural" - there's a sense of an evolution. I think it's become more difficult for that to happen over time though as stories have become less serial and there's less time for that kind of development.
And yes, the changing nature of comics and the comic book reader (no longer revolving audiences) makes that much less possible now.
Then, of course, there's Wally to disprove me. I didn't read then, but I know he eventually ended up a big success (with some personality rewrites and a drastic change to backstory for the reboot). I started with the Silver Age Flash (ironically looking for first Wally stories) when I started reading, and fell in love with Barry as Flash, and don't really care about Wally in the role (though he's fine as a character, I hated the rewriting of his parents, and particularly of recasting his relationship with Barry and Iris as something it absolutely was not in those old stories), which just goes to show how hidebound fans like me can be and how quickly we can get there.
Last edited by Tzigone; 10-19-2020 at 08:21 AM.