The Flash 2021 Annual #1 Preview

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Quick question:

I’ve blotted a lot of HiC from my memory, but was Nemesis originally among the dead? I know he was a patient, but I don’t recall him being among the dead.

I’m probably misremembering, though.

I was absolutely convinced that Nemesis was the real culprit behind HiC. That was back when I thought HiC was going to end strong, rather than simply be an editorial hit list wrapped up in some half-baked ideas about PTSD and Wikileaks that all went nowhere.

[BohemiaDrinker]

I was absolutely convinced that Nemesis was the real culprit behind HiC. That was back when I thought HiC was going to end strong, rather than simply be an editorial hit list wrapped up in some half-baked ideas about PTSD and Wikileaks that all went nowhere.

Well, you can't say you weren't earned back then.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Well, you can't say you weren't earned back then.

Oh, yeah. I was so hopeful that HiC was about to deliver a perfectly set-up swerve with Nemesis that would reveal Wally as the red herring. I completely underestimated Didio's capacity for pointlessly tormenting Wally fans.

Well, it's all water under the bridge now. Not only was Wally mentally manipulated by Thawne via the Negative Speed Force, but he didn't even accidentally kill anyone. Not quite as elegant a solution as "Parallax was the Yellow Impurity all along!", but if it gets Wally back to being Wally again, rather than the sad sack he's been for too many years, I'm all for it.

[PennyDreadful]

At this point, nobody really cares what happened behind the scenes to make HiC the book it was. Just fix it and let it go.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Their solution to the Wally costume debate was perfect. The DCU currently has two Flashes running around in Infantino's classic design, but now at least one of them doesn't have all that extraneous **** pointlessly muddling up. And the pupil-less lenses make each Flash visually distinct from one another so that you can have both of them standing next to each other without any confusion about who's who.

[BohemiaDrinker]

Their solution to the Wally costume debate was perfect. The DCU currently has two Flashes running around in Infantino's classic design, but now at least one of them doesn't have all that extraneous **** pointlessly muddling up. And the pupil-less lenses make each Flash visually distinct from one another so that you can have both of them standing next to each other without any confusion about who's who.

So... are you saying again that I've been right all along? You're kind of making an habit out of it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Bored at 3:00AM]

So... are you saying again that I've been right all along? You're kind of making an habit out of it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I still dig the Rebirth suit, but I think the JLU suit is distinctive enough that it works. I'd prefer Wally to have a suit that isn't simply Barry's, but without eyes. However, like I said, if they're going to keep putting a bunch of dumb lines all over Infantino's already perfect design, I'll take Wally using a less busy version of that, but with his own tweaks like the V-shaped lightning belt (which was so good Barry has since incorporated it along with all the aforementioned glowy lines)

[Ilan Preskovsky]

I mean, Wally's costume is actually pretty distinct from Barry's classic look. No wings on his boots, white eyes, v-shaped belt, and also a darker, more metallic colour, but you look at it and you still think "Flash". Whether they put Barry back in his proper suit (hopefully) or continue with the New 52 abomination, I don't think the two are that easy to confuse.

Not that confusion won't happen anyway with the editors, writers and artists as Barry has been portrayed visually as Wally often enough that it has become something of a running gag. What is really confusing, though, is why only some of the covers going forward show Wally's 90s suit and others show his Rebirth or, well, Rebirth (Flash and DC, respectively) suits and why Barry went from his classic suit at the beginning of this arc to his New 52 costume in this issue. This is happening so often I'm starting to wonder if it's intentional.

[Buried Alien]

I still dig the Rebirth suit, but I think the JLU suit is distinctive enough that it works. I'd prefer Wally to have a suit that isn't simply Barry's, but without eyes. However, like I said, if they're going to keep putting a bunch of dumb lines all over Infantino's already perfect design, I'll take Wally using a less busy version of that, but with his own tweaks like the V-shaped lightning belt (which was so good Barry has since incorporated it along with all the aforementioned glowy lines)

I mean, Wally's costume is actually pretty distinct from Barry's classic look. No wings on his boots, white eyes, v-shaped belt, and also a darker, more metallic colour, but you look at it and you still think "Flash". Whether they put Barry back in his proper suit (hopefully) or continue with the New 52 abomination, I don't think the two are that easy to confuse.

Not that confusion won't happen anyway with the editors, writers and artists as Barry has been portrayed visually as Wally often enough that it has become something of a running gag. What is really confusing, though, is why only some of the covers going forward show Wally's 90s suit and others show his Rebirth or, well, Rebirth (Flash and DC, respectively) suits and why Barry went from his classic suit at the beginning of this arc to his New 52 costume in this issue. This is happening so often I'm starting to wonder if it's intentional.

Quick! Which one is Rider Ichigo and which one is Rider Nigo?



Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Frontier]

Quick! Which one is Rider Ichigo and which one is Rider Nigo?



Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Y'know, usually I see fanart differentiate them by putting Ichigo in his old colors, but...this is different.

[9th.]

This was a good issue but i hate he lost his Rebirth look.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

This was a good issue but i hate he lost his Rebirth look.

Me, too, but it makes sense given how tainted that era is for Wally now. I feel similarly about Darryl Banks's kickass Parallax design, which was originally meant to be Hal's new costume as The Protector, a Silver Surfer-esque cosmic hero for the DCU--before editorial stepped in and decided that wasn't EXTREME enough for the 90s.

Perhaps it's best to set aside that Rebirth suit for a little while and let Wally enjoy the JLU outfit, which is easily his most recognizable and iconic suit, even if it is simpy a riff on Barry's design

[D.Z]

Its his 90's costume but the Howard Porter way.

[Thor-Ul]

Its his 90's costume but the Howard Porter way.

And sans those excesive yellow lines from the new52.

[Captain Nostalgia]

This was a good issue but i hate he lost his Rebirth look.

I do to, I hear what people are saying about sanctuary, but it's a good look and helps differentiate Wally from Barry.

So now I know why Ollie was included in the story arch, the question I have now is.....

has it been properly explained yet as to why Roy is back....or are they leading up to something bigger?