Wally West: The Flash Appreciation 2023

[Frontier]

That's really my actual point. That's the only character I can really assign to her -- she gets wrapped up in a couple of love triangles but has no personal motivation or notable personality quirks. She is just kind of there. It'd be like XS becoming The Flash -- I don't mind XS but she's got nothing going I can claim is very interesting to dive into yet.

She started off as getting her powers purely by accident and could barely hold it together before she got mentorship and was inspired to be a hero by Barry, and on her own she went independent to try to be a hero and live up to the ideals of The Flash and her own heroic inclinations while being a spunky, down-to-Earth, and fun female Speedster.

So I think there's plenty to like about her .

[Refrax5]

Considering we love Barry and Wally respectively, I don't think derivative is an insult. I think the derivation is important in how it branches of and changes the dynamic of The Flash. Derivation is often better than stagnancy and copy cat stories.

And yeah, Wally did just come back and the franchise has been great since he took up the reins again. But I'm not gonna sit here and pretend that Wally hasn't had tons of great comics across many years and a very fully fleshed out character arc and exploration as a concept. All these great things we never get if we applied that logic now to back when Barry was The Flash.

It's not really going to matter because eventually we'll just get rebooted back to Barry one day, so I'd like to at some point explore different things before we go back to the 60s again.



That's really my actual point. That's the only character I can really assign to her -- she gets wrapped up in a couple of love triangles but has no personal motivation or notable personality quirks. She is just kind of there. It'd be like XS becoming The Flash -- I don't mind XS but she's got nothing going I can claim is very interesting to dive into yet.

I do think you can do derivations to a degree, but after a while it becomes ridiculous and Flash is already pushing it. I don't consider Barry too derivative of Jay for a variety of reasons, but Barry and Wally already can't seem to coexist.

I also don't think just throwing somebody else in the costume IS new. It's the stalest, most overdone cliche in comics at this point.

Like I said, I care about the characters themselves more than the mask. I have no real interest in yet another Flash and I leave when Barry and Wally do.

Again, it's weird to think Wally should retire when he hasn't even been back very long. There are ways to avoid stagnation that don't lead to every superhero being a relative or former sidekick of the better version. It's just lame. All the superheroes are basically nepo babies after a while.

[Dred]

She started off as getting her powers purely by accident and could barely hold it together before she got mentorship and was inspired to be a hero by Barry, and on her own she went independent to try to be a hero and live up to the ideals of The Flash and her own heroic inclinations while being a spunky, down-to-Earth, and fun female Speedster.

So I think there's plenty to like about her .

Right but that's just her origin. She hasn't had issues with her powers since that first appearance so it's not like an active part of her character. If she did we'd have something to talk about. That's actually a part of Jai that's interesting -- how his powers are so fucked up compared to everyone else's. That's a character hook. And, I mean, "spunky, down to earth, inspired by Barry" is literally the entire Flash family, right? She does have female going for her to separate, but there's a couple of others who have that too with a lot more stuff going on.

Like I said, there's nothing wrong with her. There's just nothing particular about her I find interesting despite her being around for awhile.

[Frontier]

Right but that's just her origin. She hasn't had issues with her powers since that first appearance so it's not like an active part of her character. If she did we'd have something to talk about. That's actually a part of Jai that's interesting -- how his powers are so fucked up compared to everyone else's. That's a character hook. And, I mean, "spunky, down to earth, inspired by Barry" is literally the entire Flash family, right? She does have female going for her to separate, but there's a couple of others who have that too with a lot more stuff going on.

Like I said, there's nothing wrong with her. There's just nothing particular about her I find interesting despite her being around for awhile.

But her getting over her issues with her power is kind of foundational to her character and relationship with Barry and why she became a hero in the first place, and I think her personality is conveyed differently from the other Flashes or Jai.

[Dred]

But her getting over her issues with her power is kind of foundational to her character and relationship with Barry and why she became a hero in the first place, and I think her personality is conveyed differently from the other Flashes or Jai.

Is it? It's never brought up. It's just not a thing. Heck she's barely talked with Barry since Perfect Storm, and in that he was just kind of lying to everyone the whole time.

[Tomkatie]

Barry did list her as his alternate for the Justice League Incarnate when he got kidnapped, so presumably they're still close

[Frontier]

Is it? It's never brought up. It's just not a thing. Heck she's barely talked with Barry since Perfect Storm, and in that he was just kind of lying to everyone the whole time.

I'm pretty sure they were together maybe 2-3 more times after that...like I think a post-Forces arc, the Year of the Villain arc, the final arc. That's also where they built up her partnership with Wallace.

[Digifiend]

Yeah, she was basically operating as a second sidekick alongside Kid Flash after New Super-Man was cancelled and she rejoined the Flash book. That arrangement lasted until the end of that run.

[Frontier]

Merry Christmas Wally/Flash fans .

[Drako]

Today's Flash was great too. This is by far the most intriguing book i'm been reading. I never have any idea what will happen next in this book.

[Frontier]

It was nice to see Jesse even if I wish they could stamp down exactly how old Irey is supposed to look.

[SanityOrMadness]

It was nice to see Jesse even if I wish they could stamp down exactly how old Irey is supposed to look.

Well, the narration on the first page explicitly calls her "thirteen and a half", so...

[Frontier]

Well, the narration on the first page explicitly calls her "thirteen and a half", so...

She looks way more 15-16.

Also I don't like Jesse going by Liberty Belle or having short hair.

[Digifiend]

Does this artist just hate drawing long hair? Linda and Irey both have shorter hair than they used to too. Only Maxine has kept hers long.

Odd that Jesse is called Liberty Belle when not wearing that costume. She was in the same Jesse Quick costume as in the previous run here, the only change was the hairstyle. It's an odd choice, since the Liberty Belle identity is supposed to look like it belongs in the 1940s... which a pixie cut doesn't. She'd therefore need a wig if she actually used the LB costume.

Why is Flash already set after Beast World is over?

[SanityOrMadness]

She looks way more 15-16.

Eh, teenagers are usually drawn way too short/young, and girls can start puberty as early as eight in some cases. There's a meaningful chance a young teenage girl will already be their final height, and will probably have *some* degree of breasts. She looks a bit old for how Adams was writing her, perhaps, but her depiction is fine for a near-14 year old per the narration.

[And, re: her presumed age in Adams run - it's a bit "wut" to let teenagers run around as superheroes, let alone pre-teens. Aging her - and presumably Jai - up a bit might be for the best...]

Why is Flash already set after Beast World is over?

Because the tie-in issue starring Barry, Thunderheart & the rest takes place in publication order relative to BW, and since Wally's in the main book, Spurrier would have to put his plots on hold to tie in much closer to the main book than the tie-in he (co-)wrote did?