Sorry I'm Late!: Barry Allen Appreciation

[KC]

I know you have a gripe with the 90s Flash in general but Mark Waid wrote Barry as good as anyone ever has. He didn't neuter anything. He took a boring Silver Age character and breathed life and purpose and depth that wasn't there into him. I don't see how you could possibly read Born To Run, Chain Lightning, or The Life Story of The Flash and say Waid neutered Barry. Waid is the one who did all of the work establishing Barry as this all time great person. His best story and the best Flash story ever is literally about how monumental a task and accomplishment it was just for Wally to live up to Barry's stature -- how being an equal to Barry is the greatest accomplishment of his lifetime. If that's neutered to you I wonder what you think is an unneutered Barry.

Barry wasn't boring in the Silver Age and he had plenty of life and purpose and depth. That's the thing, Barry died saving the world so Waid made Barry into a saint instead of a proper character. He neutered him by writing him in a way that made him boring and bland and he got rid of the characters wit and most of his personality. This is also true when he wrote Barry when he was alive like in Waid's Flash and Green Lantern: The Brave and the Bold.