Wally West: The Flash Appreciation 2021

[Hol]

And when did this happen?

All Wally has done since Heroes in Crisis is the exact same thing he's been doing since he was ten. If doing the hero thing counts as redemption, then Wally has never needed to be redeemed because he's saved the world dozens of time before that. Any scenario where Wally avoids proper punishment for his actions isn't redemption in my opinion.

But between the Thawne retcon and where the surge arc is headed, it appears DC is just going to absolve Wally of all wrong doing. The Speed Force being infected caused the explosion while the cover up was Wally essentially being mind controlled. So while HiC will stay, Wally's role in it has been greatly changed.

This right here.

[Hol]

Off the top of my head, there was one instance where Eel was making light of a bad situation and Wally shut him down for no real reason; I think Wally even lunged at him. Meanwhile, Wally has a history of doing the same thing. I also believe I recall Wally trying to shame Eel because he had a criminal past before he joined JLA. That combined with his behavior toward Kyle has long been one unappealing side of Wally; going after what he sees as low-hanging fruit.

That's one of the great things about Wally. He can be a jerk sometimes but he's also a great dad, husband, hero and friend. He is a complex character.

[Drako]

Even Tom King regrets making Wally the murderer in HiC and said he would changed that if he had the chance.

[Standish]

That's one of the great things about Wally. He can be a jerk sometimes but he's also a great dad, husband, hero and friend. He is a complex character.

That isn't what was in question. The point was to help explain what contributed to his actions in Heroes in Crisis.

Even Tom King regrets making Wally the murderer in HiC and said he would changed that if he had the chance.

It was an accident though.

[Drako]

I'm not going to argue for the thousandth time why this book is bad.
If they can retcon this story arc to the point it doesn't even exist anymore, i could care less.

[Hol]

That isn't what was in question. The point was to help explain what contributed to his actions in Heroes in Crisis.


It was an accident though.

I was replying to your post about Wallys past behavior. Not his actions in HIC.

Also, the accident in HIC isn't as much the issue...it is how he behaved after. I believe it was completely out of character.

[Rend20]

The point was to help explain what contributed to his actions in Heroes in Crisis.

Except it doesn't do that.

Being a jerk at times doesn't equate to mutilating the corpses of your friends/colleagues you just killed so you can temporarily frame two innocent people for their deaths.

It was an accident though.

Well, it was murder that was changed to an accident halfway through.

I mean, La'gaan getting impaled after stumbling onto the other dead bodies was no accident. The story really doesn't make any sense unless Wally lied about it being an accident during his confession.

[Hol]

Except it doesn't do that.

Being a jerk at times doesn't equate to mutilating the corpses of your friends/colleagues you just killed so you can temporarily frame two innocent people for their deaths for insane reasons.



Well, it was murder that was changed to an accident halfway through.

I mean, La'gaan getting impaled after stumbling onto the other dead bodies was no accident. The story really doesn't make any sense unless Wally lied about it being an accident during his confession.

Oh I don't remember that part. You happen to remember which issue that was?

[Rend20]

Oh I don't remember that part. You happen to remember which issue that was?

It was in issue three. Issue six also has the death scene of Gnarrk and Protector (?) that doesn't really match the accident explanation.

The series itself never explains these scenes, and King offered up some lame Speed Force hallucination explanation on twitter after the fact. But it's clear the story changed halfway through for some reason.

[transformers03]

Unfortunate, the sale proves otherwise/\.

Just check into comicon chart, I was deeply scare how poor the performance look like:

The Flash #768 - #80
The Flash #769 - #60
The Flash #770 - #66

Word to wise, it's best not to stress over the sales totals or rankings on Comichron. With both DC and Marvel now using different distributors other than Diamond, Comichron is not really that accurate. Not only that, but it doesn't really take much for a comic book to be profitable. There is a reason why comics have lasted this long, and it's because there are relatively cheap to make. Their profits, while peanuts compared to the other industries, have always been enough to justify their continued existence.

However, to satisfy my own curiosity, I decided to compare Adams' Flash sales with other titles from last year or so. In December 2019, Joshua Williamson's Flash #84 was ranked 61, not much higher than Adam's 66 ranks in May 2021, with estimated sales of 30,000 copies. Though Joshua's Flash #88 ranked higher in February 2020, at 55, it actually sold less, on 29,000. No doubt the pandemic had a hand in that, especially since it was right before the United States went onto lockdown in March. On that note, the last issue of Flash Forward, starring Wally West, outsold Flash #88, ranking 53 and selling over 30,000 copies.

On that note, March 2020, the last month before comic publishing went on hiatus and total sales were counted in Comichron, was actually pretty good for the old Flash. The landmark Flash #750 was ranked 4th with over 82,000 copies sold. Meanwhile, Flash #751 and #752 were ranked 52 and 54, with copies sold being 30,000 and 29,000 respectfully.

Anyway, my point is if you're concerned about an early cancellation, I wouldn't be too worried about that. As long as Flash sells just as well as it was under Williamson, I think it's fine. In May 2021, Flash actually outsold Wonder Woman and Action Comics... in terms of units sold. Dollar share is whole another thing, but still, my point still stands, Flash sold better than those two comics, and DC is not going to stop publishing those comics. I doubt they will with the Flash anytime soon as well.

On another note, positive fan response and good critic reception do go a long way. As long as Flash's sales aren't horrendous, I think DC will keep it on its roster.

I won't lie and say that DC did the best job marketing the title, and I agree a relaunched would have worked much better. Especially if they relaunched it as something like Wally West - The Flash to help inform potential readers that Wally is definitely the main Flash again. But the fact that a second issue and third issue had that big of a jump in rankings, from rank 80 to rank 60, seems to suggest to me that it is growing an audience.

[Standish]

Except it doesn't do that.

Being a jerk at times doesn't equate to mutilating the corpses of your friends/colleagues you just killed so you can temporarily frame two innocent people for their deaths.

I don't agree. It's protecting one's self-image, but at different degrees. Furthermore, there other reasons which were expressly stated shortly ago that explain why his actions in HiC were in character. Namely: how vitally important it was to Wally's sense of self-worth to be a hero or at least be seen as one.

Even before losing almost everything else, being the Flash was everything to Wally. Unlike many of the reluctant heroes (Batman, Animal Man, Swamp Thing) or the heroes who simply stumbled into their powers in adulthood (Kyle, Plastic Man, Jessica Cruz) Wally THRIVED on being the Flash. Getting his powers was the best thing that ever happened to him. And he lived for the fanfare: the Flash Museum, the legacy, the recognition. He's been written that way for 25 years. To someone like Wally, NOT being the Flash would be almost worse than death. I can't imagine anyone against that characterization of him. When you put it all together, and realize what was on the line for him during HiC, it's easy to imagine him reaching that level of desperation. Especially almost everything else (his family, most of his friends) was already lost.

[Dataweaver]

It's a moot point, given that we now apparently know that the actions in question weren't of his own volition.

Which makes sense to me, as I don't see it within his character to try to hide or to shift the blame. It's just not the way he thinks.

[Rend20]

It's protecting one's self-image, but at different degrees. Furthermore, there other reasons which were expressly stated shortly ago that explain why his actions in HiC were in character. Namely: how vitally important it was to Wally's sense of self-worth to be a hero or at least be seen as one.

But Wally's image and self-worth as a hero had nothing to do with his actions in Heroes in Crisis. That's simply something you're projecting in there that the story itself contradicts.

Wally's whole plan behind the cover-up wasn't about getting away with things. He needed five days to send the tapes to Lois. Once that was done, he offered up his confession to Lois. That was always the plan. So his image as a hero was never an issue because what he did being made public was always his plan.

[PennyDreadful]

And when did this happen?

All Wally has done since Heroes in Crisis is the exact same thing he's been doing since he was ten. If doing the hero thing counts as redemption, then Wally has never needed to be redeemed because he's saved the world dozens of time before that. Any scenario where Wally avoids proper punishment for his actions isn't redemption in my opinion.

But between the Thawne retcon and where the surge arc is headed, it appears DC is just going to absolve Wally of all wrong doing. The Speed Force being infected caused the explosion while the cover up was Wally essentially being mind controlled. So while HiC will stay, Wally's role in it has been greatly changed.

This would be the best possible outcome. If that is done, then perhaps we can finally drop HiC and pretend it never happened.

DC tried to do another Identity Crisis--a poorly executed murder mystery with no real point except to shock people--and it didn't work. Hopefully, after the annual, we can stop rehashing the series. Let it go.

[Dataweaver]

To the extent that you can, yes. It's been pointed out that it has had some other laying consequences, such as Roy's death and what happened to Poison Ivy; so it can't be completely dismissed. But as the importance of such things fade into the past, the last traces of HiC can fade away with them.