Wally West Flash costume

[Hol]

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!

I can't recall...what comic is this from? Looks like Phil Jimenez art. Or Perez?

[kcekada]

Perez. Probably from the Wonder Woman event Perez wrote -- but dont' recall the name of the series. Maybe Gods at War or something like that.

I think some people associate the cowl with a more mature character, and the open cowl with a less mature character -- is because that's how the Flash characters have been portrayed since the Silver Age. See no reason it has to continue. Had Barry Allen always had an open cowl -- and Wally had the chrome dome -- some people would associate it with a less mature character. It really means nothing either way. It's more about the design. You either like or you don't. It signifies very little about the characters -- though my opinion is that open cowl is cooler. Loved when Ray Palmer, the Atom went with open cowl in the 80s.

[Riv86672]

Loved when Ray Palmer, the Atom went with open cowl in the 80s.

^^^Totally.
One of my favorite Post Crisis reboots.

[Garlador]

Call me old-school, but I just think of Wally as “The Flash” and see him as just “The Flash” at this point that I don’t need anything radical to differentiate him from Barry beyond maybe the white lenses and darker crimson for the suit.

[Batgrayson]

Call me old-school, but I just think of Wally as “The Flash” and see him as just “The Flash” at this point that I don’t need anything radical to differentiate him from Barry beyond maybe the white lenses and darker crimson for the suit.

Agree. Wally is not longer wearing the suit that was from his uncle to honor his memory, he is wearing the Flash suit, and he is The Flash.

[Stanlos]

I was looking at Pre-Crisis comics and noted that in those days most of the majors had an iconic dress. It got me to thinking about THE FLASH after Waid took over. Am I nuts or did that stint spawn most of the major Flash dressing we see? "My name is blah and Im the blah"; Flash Facts? Did Barry or Jay have those? The Speed Force (of course).

[Tomkatie]

I was looking at Pre-Crisis comics and noted that in those days most of the majors had an iconic dress. It got me to thinking about THE FLASH after Waid took over. Am I nuts or did that stint spawn most of the major Flash dressing we see? "My name is blah and Im the blah"; Flash Facts? Did Barry or Jay have those? The Speed Force (of course).

Flash Facts were a pre-Crisis thing. Julie Schwartz liked to sprinkle those into Flash issues as a note explaining some fun motion-related scientific fact or concept (which Barry would then use to pseudoscience his way out of a pickle). They date as far back as Jay's time, though.

https://www.cbr.com/flash-facts-history/ Fun article on the subject!

[Stanlos]

Flash Facts were a pre-Crisis thing. Julie Schwartz liked to sprinkle those into Flash issues as a note explaining some fun motion-related scientific fact or concept (which Barry would then use to pseudoscience his way out of a pickle). They date as far back as Jay's time, though.

https://www.cbr.com/flash-facts-history/ Fun article on the subject!

Yaaaaaaayyyyyyy!!! Thank goodness! I am so glad to read that Flash Facts was a pre-existing part of the legend!!

[Refrax5]

Agree. Wally is not longer wearing the suit that was from his uncle to honor his memory, he is wearing the Flash suit, and he is The Flash.

Well, he only wore that suit to keep Barry's memory alive. Wally's "a" Flash and it seems weird that he's the only one without his own distinct look. Jay Garrick is also a Flash and doesn't need to wear another guy's costume to be so.

Also, having two nearly identical characters with the same name and powers is just stupid and confusing.

I promise you Wally fans that having him grow out of his uncle's hand-me-downs doesn't make him any less of a Flash, anymore than John Stewart is less of a Green Lantern because he doesn't dress like Hal.

[kcekada]

Yeah, I think it's more of nostalgia thing -- from his 90s series when he was the only Flash. Hopefully in the future, cooler heads will prevail. These days, uniforms have a short shelf-life, so I'd be prepared for another change in a year or two.

[All Star Superman]

Just put Wally back in this exact suit and let Barry wear his old suit. There are plenty of differences, especially when the uniforms are drawn and colored correctly.

The Flash (1987-2009) 050-031.jpg

flashes.jpg

[Hol]

Just put Wally back in this exact suit and let Barry wear his old suit. There are plenty of differences, especially when the uniforms are drawn and colored correctly.

The Flash (1987-2009) 050-031.jpg

flashes.jpg

Exactly this. 1000%.

[Dred]

Well, he only wore that suit to keep Barry's memory alive. Wally's "a" Flash and it seems weird that he's the only one without his own distinct look. Jay Garrick is also a Flash and doesn't need to wear another guy's costume to be so.

Also, having two nearly identical characters with the same name and powers is just stupid and confusing.

I promise you Wally fans that having him grow out of his uncle's hand-me-downs doesn't make him any less of a Flash, anymore than John Stewart is less of a Green Lantern because he doesn't dress like Hal.

It literally 100% makes him less The Flash. That outfit, of which Wally contributed many years and many stories and adaptations to promoting, is synonymous with the idea of The Flash and taking him out of it when it's what he's known to wear is explicitly saying he's not the main Flash and Barry is. That's the entire point, and the layman will see it that way. More specifically, the layman will look at Barry and think "That's The Flash" and look at Wally and think "I don't know who that is" because The Flash isn't big enough to represent multiple looks.

If you want to change some colors or something to make them more recognizable at a glance for the sake of Comics' readers then fine, but the entire idea he needs something completely distinct that makes him look totally different is literally Dan Didio mindset. It's what he did with the express intent of making sure Wally would stay stuck under Barry for relevance. It's the entire reason why Speed Metal is a good story.

I can't imagine comparing Hal Jordan and Jon Stewart as some kind of gotcha either. Hal Jordan gets about a thousand times the focus and screen time of Stewart, so why is that an example you want to draw?

[StarSpangledMan]

[Riv86672]

^^^Very shway!