Kid Flash: Wallace West Appreciation Thread

[Raijin]

Shouldn't this thread be renamed Wallace West instead of Nu52 Wally West?

Anyway, just wanted to check in on how are people receiving Wallace nowadays? I know there used to be a lot of complaints about him and the way he was written. I personally really dig how the character has been progressing since his time on Defiance (which is where I started following him).

Honestly, the complaints are still there. They never miss an opportunity to bring up how he was horribly written as a stereotype. It's like they want to purposely ignore his progression, just so the haters can have a punching bag. I think he has come a long way since then.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I felt his time with Deathstroke and Team Defiance was probably his best material and wish it lasted longer. I wouldn't mind if Priest worked on a potential NuWally solo.

He's decently handled in the new TT run but nothing really stand-out yet. I'd prefer if Glass picked on some of his plot threads/connections in Deathstroke.

I havent read his time on Flash Rebirth so i can't judge it.

[lemonpeace]

I felt his time with Deathstroke and Team Defiance was probably his best material and wish it lasted longer. I wouldn't mind if Priest worked on a potential NuWally solo.

He's decently handled in the new TT run but nothing really stand-out yet. I'd prefer if Glass picked on some of his plot threads/connections in Deathstroke.

I havent read his time on Flash Rebirth so i can't judge it.

I wouldn't want Priest on Wallace until it's time for him to graduate out of the Kid Flash role into his own thing because based on how radical of a writer he can be I think we'd get the most from Priest under those conditions.

I actually like his portrayal in TT a lot. He seems more competent than in The Flash where he's almost always angsty or angry at Barry.

[leo619]

Shouldn't this thread be renamed Wallace West instead of Nu52 Wally West?

Anyway, just wanted to check in on how are people receiving Wallace nowadays? I know there used to be a lot of complaints about him and the way he was written. I personally really dig how the character has been progressing since his time on Defiance (which is where I started following him).

Nope, some people may try to call him Wallace just because they want one Wally, but he started off as wally and will be wally, no matter how much classic fans try to deny.

With that said, Wally rebuke has been reduced drastically due to

1, DC trying to give him the nickname "Wallace" to appease classic fans, leaving Wally as Wally.

2, Wally has been brought back to the DC universe (though he has been killed.)


Combine that with Wally's role being pretty minimal in the DC universe, and the "out of site, out of mind" approach has been performed as expected.

[Lee]

I wouldn't want Priest on Wallace until it's time for him to graduate out of the Kid Flash role

What would be gained from that? DC already have more speedsters than they know what to do with.

[lemonpeace]

Nope, some people may try to call him Wallace just because they want one Wally, but he started off as wally and will be wally, no matter how much classic fans try to deny.

With that said, Wally rebuke has been reduced drastically due to

1, DC trying to give him the nickname "Wallace" to appease classic fans, leaving Wally as Wally.

2, Wally has been brought back to the DC universe (though he has been killed.)


Combine that with Wally's role being pretty minimal in the DC universe, and the "out of site, out of mind" approach has been performed as expected.

I don't think I agree with some of these points you raised. I don't think referring to him as Wallace is a slight against the character or diminishes him either. It was a move to differentiate him from red head Wally and personally I think it was a smart move. Makes him more individual and not just "the black Wally West" like they likely would've done if they didn't get backlash from whiny Wally fanboys (no offense to any Wally fanboys). I think NuWally diminishes him more than calling him Wallace. I also don't think they've minimized his role in the DC universe. He's was doing his thing when he was in Deathstroke Definace (he beat the brakes off Deathstroke) and he's been a central player when he's on Teen Titans. Hell, he even pops up in Flash time to time - although Williamson does an absolutely terrible job almost everytime he does. I mean, he's the biggest black teen character at DC right now, I wouldn't consider that minimized.

It's good to know that the hate has died down and I agree that bringing back old Wally and distinguishing him as Wallace probably did help.

What would be gained from that? DC already have more speedsters than they know what to do with.

Character progression? He's not going to be Kid Flash forever. It's just advancing the character, they're not adding a new one. Also, there aren't that many speedsters left, including Wallace, there are like 4? Godspeed, Barry, Wallace and Impulse.

Edit: 6 speedsters if you count Avery (who straight up vanished) and Meena (who's locked up and likely won't pop up again)

[Konja7]

Character progression? He's not going to be Kid Flash forever. It's just advancing the character, they're not adding a new one. Also, there aren't that many speedsters left, including Wallace, there are like 4? Godspeed, Barry, Wallace and Impulse.

Edit: 6 speedsters if you count Avery (who straight up vanished) and Meena (who's locked up and likely won't pop up again)

At this point, it isn't convenient for the character to lose the name Kid Flash. It will be easier that DC forgot the character if he get a new identity don't connected with Flash.

Unfortunately, 4 or more is too many for speedsters.

[lemonpeace]

At this point, it isn't convenient for the character to lose the name Kid Flash. It will be easier that DC forgot the character if he get a new identity don't connected with Flash.

Unfortunately, 4 or more is too many for speedsters.

I think you might have missed or misunderstood my initial point. Just to clarify, I'm not advocating for him to move on from Kid Flash right now. I was just saying that when the character does move on from Kid Flash, that would be when I would want Priest to work on him again. Although, Priest is currently avoiding writing black characters so it's unlikely we'll see him on a Wallace solo anytime soon regardless.

Well there are only 4 active right now, one of whom barely shows up (Godspeed) so I think they're doing fine. Also, again, if Wallace were to graduate up it's not like they would (or need to) add another speedster. It would just be a new name, the number doesn't change.

[James Hunter]

I may well be in the minority but I'm actually someone who likes Wallace/Nu Wally AND Wally West (the original), yes people like us DO exist!

Wallace grew hugely during his time with Defiance and I also think he's growing in TEEN TITANS I don't really see why there can't be both Wally's in the DC universe (I have no issue with the name sharing and don't understand why some people find it so difficult)

[Lee]

Character progression? He's not going to be Kid Flash forever. It's just advancing the character, they're not adding a new one.

Bruce Wayne can be Batman forever, why can't Wallace be Kid Flash forever?

We've seen DC struggle with managing its replacement heroes and their predecessors, especially in terms of sidekicks, over and over again.

If Wallace stops being Kid Flash, then DC will only introduce a new Kid Flash - the name has a lot of history, and it's a cool and iconic costume. Then the new Kid Flash becomes the sidekick of the Flash series and gets a spot on Teen Titans. Then what happens to Wallace?

Also, there aren't that many speedsters left, including Wallace, there are like 4? Godspeed, Barry, Wallace and Impulse.

Edit: 6 speedsters if you count Avery (who straight up vanished) and Meena (who's locked up and likely won't pop up again)

This just shows how DC are struggling to keep all the speedster characters active at once. Realistically it's not feasible.

As you said, there's Flash (Barry), Kid Flash, Impulse and Godspeed. I wouldn't count Flash (Wally) out of the picture until Heroes in Crisis is over either. Flash (Avery) hasn't been seen since New Super-Man ended four months ago, but she's still on the table. Negative Flash (Meena) is a character Williamson will come back to sooner or later. It's all but confirmed that Flash (Jay Garrick) and the Justice Society will be back by the end of Doomsday Clock. The Legion of Super-Heroes will return as well, potentially with XS. Jesse Quick was also teased earlier in Williamson's run. Max Mercury is a character Williamson considered using in his first arc, and we're more likely to see now that Impulse is back in a big way.

That's a LOT of characters, and they keep having to be cycled in and out, because it's simply too many to have active in comics at the same time. Kid Flash has a defined purpose as a character. The moment Wallace stops being Kid Flash, he'll end up like Jesse Quick or Max Mercury or Avery Ho, a character who is cycled in and out with potentially multiyear absences.

[married guy]

There's nothing wrong with Wally/Wallace West.
I quite liked the character in Teen Titans.
The issue lies with DC seriously underestimating the blowback they would get from trying to reintroduce a new Wally West, while trying it's hardest to pretend the original no longer existed in the DCU.
There's nothing wrong with having a new Kid Flash, especially since at the time Bart wasn't back.
BUT the name DEFINITELY rubbed some readers the wrong way.
That, and Williamson isn't doing the character any favours in the Flash title. Anytime he appears, he's written as a whiny, petulant turd who has no other characteristics other than being shitty at Barry for whatever reason.

[J. D. Guy]

I still hope one day Wally gets his sliver and black w/ red highlights color scheme he had as Future's End Flash. That look was too sleek and cool to be lost to time.

I actually like his portrayal in TT a lot. He seems more competent than in The Flash where he's almost always angsty or angry at Barry.

To be fair, Wally/KF had every right to be angry and "angsty" towards Barry whenever he was so, which wasn't all the time, believe it or not.

Don't see how that has anything to do with competence either way, though. He dips in and out of Williamson's story, like most characters not named Barry, but whenever Wally's in a story, he's generally shown to be pretty competent and not the total newb he was right after he gained his powers.

[deadman322]

BUT the name DEFINITELY rubbed some readers the wrong way.

well that doesn't matter now, he can go back to being called wally again.

[BohemiaDrinker]

well that doesn't matter now, he can go back to being called wally again.

He shouldn't, though.

Remember, he was supposed to THE Wally; and in all my 30 years reading comics, I haven't seen such a negative response (myself included, let's be clear, and that wasn't even my number one complaint).

Regardless of what happens with OG Wally, NuWally/Wallace has managed to move away from both his terrible origin and from rubbing a parcel of readers the wrong way, which is never a good thing. He's been growing into a likeable and unique character, and I'd like to see this continue rather than dumping him into controversy yet again.

[skyvolt2000]

He shouldn't, though.

Remember, he was supposed to THE Wally; and in all my 30 years reading comics, I haven't seen such a negative response (myself included, let's be clear, and that wasn't even my number one complaint).

Regardless of what happens with OG Wally, NuWally/Wallace has managed to move away from both his terrible origin and from rubbing a parcel of readers the wrong way, which is never a good thing. He's been growing into a likeable and unique character, and I'd like to see this continue rather than dumping him into controversy yet again.

Ms Marvel, Jaime Reyes, Moon Girl, CHo Hulk, Jane Foster & Riri Williams would beg to differ. Especially Riri-who didn't even wear Tony's armor unlike Doom.

To be fair, Wally/KF had every right to be angry and "angsty" towards Barry whenever he was so, which wasn't all the time, believe it or not.

If that is the case-Wally needs to STAY away from Barry.

Also remember for MANY folks Flash is the ONLY title they maybe read with him in it.

Same issue with Duke under Tom King, John Stewart in Green Lantern, Cyborg in Justice League & Storm in X-Men.

So while you do have him in Deathstroke & Teen Trainwreck-remember not every store STOCK those books. Remember the pile of books that packs bins will vary.

I have been to too many used book stores where FLASH has a huge bin pile and you would be LUCKY to see Teen Titans and Deathstroke (especially that arc).

So guess what version wins out? Thus making him a harder sell to folks because they expect that version to be seen.

That is an editorial issue. That either gets solved via Wally backups in Flash or he gets over it.