Wally West Flash costume

[Tomkatie]

What should really happen is Wally goes back to his Rebirth costume and Barry wears the short-sleeved Williamson costume. The red cowled costume then gets worn by Jay Garrick.

[Dred]

please no heroes in crisis suit ever again

[StarSpangledMan]

The red cowled costume then gets worn by Jay Garrick.

Oh god this is the most cursed thing I have ever read

[9th.]

Rebirth is my pick as well, I prefer the open cowl look.

[Refrax5]

Oh you're freaking red racer aren't you? Man that finally makes so much more sense.

If we want to talk being rational then don't say I'm defending Didio when I keep saying Didio's vision was awful, lol.

I never said you were defending Didio. I said that his idea that the open-cowled costume made him seem like a sidekick was ridiculous and it was funny that you were accusing me of having Didio's mindset.

I said you agreed with him on his nonsensical view of the uniform, nothing more.

[Dred]

I never said you were defending Didio. I said that his idea that the open-cowled costume made him seem like a sidekick was ridiculous and it was funny that you were accusing me of having Didio's mindset.

I said you agreed with him on his nonsensical view of the uniform, nothing more.

Are you sure about that? He is the world's foremost expert at fucking up Wally West. No one's done it better -- multiple times even. I'd say if he thinks kicking Wally out of his costume so that he's less recognizable as The Flash would do that then I will defer to him, the absolute master of destroying Wally West as a character both narratively and in recognizability to the audience at large.

Like, if I said Didio knew Heroes in Crisis was going to be an enormous hit to Wally as a character that would require years of work to fix, would you say I'm "defending Didio's ludicrous reasoning" purely because it was Didio's idea? Where's the logic there? It's obviously true. Just like how Wally in the Rebirth costume had a stated goal and expressly fits that goal. You show that version of Wally to anyone who isn't a big DC comics reader then they don't think he's The Flash.

But if Wally is wearing the costume he wore for decades, guess what? People think he's The Flash. It's a costume he refused to give up in his most critical story ever when the exact topic was brought up in universe and in character. We are rehashing an argument that was answered back in 1993. Just like Wally shouldn't have to give up his name, he shouldn't have to give up his costume. And back then he wasn't even as clearly connected and attached to it as he became in the 15 years that followed ROBA.

Speed Metal isn't a good story if this isn't true. And it is. It has a lot of emotional and narrative weight, both in and outside the comic, specifically because of what it means to Wally as a character. Looking at that and going "Yeah but actually it's Barry's suit since he wore it first so Wally should change" is literally, exactly the same thing as saying Wally should have to change his name because The Flash is Barry's name. Or Barry should have to change his name because The Flash is Jay's name. Or everyone should change their powers because Jay did super speed first.

I've already ceded making some more quickly recognizable distinctions is fine -- he's already made tons of minor alterations that, if artists could be a bit more consistent on, would make it obvious who is who at basically all times. But that's not what the Rebirth suit is and any argument further about that is not about making them more distinct. It's about making one of them The Flash and one of them a Flash.

Either that or some folks might not care about any of this or any Flash story stuff and just like how the Rebirth suit looks which, I dunno, more power to them but they probably also like how the main Flash suit looks so it's kind of a lateral move there. But I know that's not you and me.

[Jim Kelly]

Ever since I first saw it, way back in the good ol' 1960s, Wally's yellow and red Kid Flash costume was my favourite Flash costume. Better than Barry's, better than Jay's. Wally wore it best and it had to be that combo of yellow on top, red on bottom, with Wally's red hair (or brown hair) and the red lightning bolt. Other attempts to put him in a similar costume design, just not with the yellow/red, don't work. It's how those colours offset each other and with his hair and the chest emblem. I'm partial to this costume design and yet not every costume of this type works--Carmine Infantino got it just right for Wally.

And when I see other characters put into that costume, it doesn't work either. Some might think it's a "Kid Flash" costume, like a "Robin" costume, made for a kid partner, but I don't agree. It's the Wally West Flash costume. That's the one he should wear. Not Barry's, not Jay's--his own.

[Dred]

That really flies in the face of all of Wally's history and character development. It's literally the costume he threw away.

[Refrax5]

Are you sure about that? He is the world's foremost expert at fucking up Wally West. No one's done it better -- multiple times even. I'd say if he thinks kicking Wally out of his costume so that he's less recognizable as The Flash would do that then I will defer to him, the absolute master of destroying Wally West as a character both narratively and in recognizability to the audience at large.

Like, if I said Didio knew Heroes in Crisis was going to be an enormous hit to Wally as a character that would require years of work to fix, would you say I'm "defending Didio's ludicrous reasoning" purely because it was Didio's idea? Where's the logic there? It's obviously true. Just like how Wally in the Rebirth costume had a stated goal and expressly fits that goal. You show that version of Wally to anyone who isn't a big DC comics reader then they don't think he's The Flash.

But if Wally is wearing the costume he wore for decades, guess what? People think he's The Flash. It's a costume he refused to give up in his most critical story ever when the exact topic was brought up in universe and in character. We are rehashing an argument that was answered back in 1993. Just like Wally shouldn't have to give up his name, he shouldn't have to give up his costume. And back then he wasn't even as clearly connected and attached to it as he became in the 15 years that followed ROBA.

Speed Metal isn't a good story if this isn't true. And it is. It has a lot of emotional and narrative weight, both in and outside the comic, specifically because of what it means to Wally as a character. Looking at that and going "Yeah but actually it's Barry's suit since he wore it first so Wally should change" is literally, exactly the same thing as saying Wally should have to change his name because The Flash is Barry's name. Or Barry should have to change his name because The Flash is Jay's name. Or everyone should change their powers because Jay did super speed first.

I've already ceded making some more quickly recognizable distinctions is fine -- he's already made tons of minor alterations that, if artists could be a bit more consistent on, would make it obvious who is who at basically all times. But that's not what the Rebirth suit is and any argument further about that is not about making them more distinct. It's about making one of them The Flash and one of them a Flash.

Either that or some folks might not care about any of this or any Flash story stuff and just like how the Rebirth suit looks which, I dunno, more power to them but they probably also like how the main Flash suit looks so it's kind of a lateral move there. But I know that's not you and me.

Yeah, again, not really interested in continuing with you. Maybe you can go back to ranting about Barry Allen in his appreciation thread again if you're that starved for conversation.

[Dred]

Yeah, again, not really interested in continuing with you. Maybe you can go back to ranting about Barry Allen in his appreciation thread again if you're that starved for conversation.

Uh huh. You've done far worse to me and you know it, but sure, take the off topic shot that has nothing to do with anything I said.

[Refrax5]

Uh huh. You've done far worse to me and you know it, but sure, take the off topic shot that has nothing to do with anything I said.

I never did anything to you, besides disagree with your opinion and the manner in which you express it. I also don't feel as if you've done anything to me personally, either.

I say this with genuine concern: if engaging with me is that emotionally distressing to you, I'd prefer you didn't for your own sake, if nothing else. I find you overzealous, but I'm not looking to cause you actual harm or pain. I hope you realize that.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The open cowl design was great. It made him seem a bit younger, which was esp. good in differentiating him fro Barry, and was obv. a shout out to his Kid Flash look which I loved.

The design was just SOLID really, and looked good as drawn by different artists which all outfits should.

I also found the design solid, especially the open cowl which set Wally apart from Barry. However, my lone criticism was the glaring lack of contrast between the costume and his hair. I always found that irksome.

[BohemiaDrinker]

What should really happen is Wally goes back to his Rebirth costume and Barry wears the short-sleeved Williamson costume. The red cowled costume then gets worn by Jay Garrick.

I stand by this.

Also, Irey should go back to being Impulse, Bart to Kid Flash, Ace to that silver costume, and so on.

[StarSpangledMan]

I stand by this.

Also, Irey should go back to being Impulse, Bart to Kid Flash, Ace to that silver costume, and so on.

I loooooove Ace's silver costume

[Stanlos]

This…



…goes towards what I said earlier about Wally (and Kyle) taking a lot of **** and surviving the Bwahaha League. While Wally’s solo series treated him respectfully for the most part, when Wally set foot in Justice League HQ he often got portrayed as as an inexperienced noob running around (no pun intended) in his uncle’s hand me downs.

Credit to jmc247 for the above scan!

That is pretty early days Wally. If memory serves, he was still in tom cat mode.