Originally Posted by
Dred
Barry was never much of a smart ass. He was very matter of fact. Flash Facts were usually about him either telling a science lesson or wrapping up the moral of the story, it was rarely a witty repartee. Wally was usually the sarcastic smart alek, even in his original Teen Titans days, but especially in his Flash and JL days. His sense of humor was primarily situational puns for the longest time, until he started emulating Wally after his return. Less a smart ass and more just smart -- a know it all, but less to brag and more because he liked teaching.
Barry's responsible and well meaning. He's always looking out for the greater good and trying to help others, be it by being a hero or giving them advice (it's why he pairs so well with Hal Jordan, a man with questionable decision making skills who needs someone to rein him in a bit). Grounded and moral, and will always take time out of his life to help others. It's how he finds himself accidentally leading the JL in JLA Year One, being best buds with Hal, raising Wally alongside Iris, etc. Barry is very similar to Superman in that his whole point is he's there to save the day and he doesn't let you down, even until the very end, but without any of the Messianic qualities of Clark. He's not the last survivor of a forlorn race sent from the heavens to rescue mankind, he's your next door neighbor who runs into a burning building to get you out. He just also happened to get superpowers that let him do that easily.
I will admit a lot of these qualities are me projecting what Wally sees (and what we see through Wally's run) in Barry onto Barry, but it holds true through those stories I mentioned and I liked him all the more for it. But writers have an issue writing wholesome good guys, and Barry literally defines the silver age which is the era of wholesome good guys (and insanely wacky cover hijinks). So we get people taking Barry's hyperactive sense of responsibility and using that to put him in situations where he screws everything up by taking on every burden he sees. I get the idea, but hate the tone and execution, I suppose. Extrapolating what was more a gag (him always being late because he's always taking on responsibility) into a travesty.
These qualities aren't new, either. It's basically what happened in the Bronze Age, where they'd throw Barry in shock situation after shock situation to try to liven up a stale book and separate him from all of his previous ties (Killing Iris, crippling Wally, the trial etc). But darkening up a wholesome hero failed then and that's what ushered in Wally's era (where, amusingly, he stood out as a more optimistic and wholesome hero in the era of broody anti heroes and ultra violence of the 90s). There's a lot of irony in repeating the same thing and pretending it's evolving the character. We're a couple of months removed from Barry getting to the point he started his career at (being together with Iris). 10 years to get back to 1956
All of that said, take most of what I say with a grain of salt. Just try to find The Life Story of The Flash and read that. That's who I think Barry is, and that's the best version of him I've seen yet and I don't know if my description is doing it justice. It's a too little known book for how good and definitive it is for such a popular character.