The Replacements: Ron Marz's Kyle Rayner Green Lantern vs. Mark Waid's Wally West Flash?

[Crazy Diamond]

Waid's Flash, hand's down. Kyle was alright and I liked how he would bust out fighting games moves like the Shoryuken, but for all the talk about how different he was from Jordan a lot of those differences were superficial to me. The whole artistic constructs thing didn't matter much when I had seen other GLs do stuff like walk on walls, teleport, fight in each other's heads, and bring people back to life. Also, Morrison handled Rayner better than Marz did in his own book. That wasn't the case for Wally. Maybe if I read more of Rayner's time as GL I'll change my mind but of what I read I found myself more interested in Parallax, his supporting cast like Radu, and even some of his villains (Effigy and Fatality) more interesting than Kyle himself.

[Bruce Wayne]

No contest: Waid's Flash.

[Nomads1]

Love them both, but I'll go with Wally.

Peace

[md62]

I thought Marz did a great job on Kyle given the editorial edict to repace Hal. The problem was Kyle was just dropped into the book & it did not feel natural for him to become GL

Wally West EARNED the right to be Flash. He was Barry's protégé for 20 yrs. He was an established character in the Flash mythos. It felt natural for him to become the Flash. This is the way DC should do "replacement" characters.

[Shadowcat]

Idk...Baron's Flash didn't really seem like he was especially earnest in the role. He was very self-serving and motivated. By the time Waid got to Wally, he was pretty much established. Marz had the more difficult position of creating a character from the ground up, develop him and his cast.

[Kyer]

I really, really liked Ron Marz's GL - at least the first few years of it - but this isn't even close for me. Waid's Flash is the comic book that made me into a genuine comic book fan. It's that simple.

This. Before I read Terminal Velocity and Born To Run I'd only ever watched the cartoon shows and Superman TV & Movies. JLU made me interested in Wally and Wally made me interested in DC Comics as a reading medium: Green Lantern, Impulse, Justice Society, Nightwing, Booster Gold, Superman, Phantom Stranger, The Question! It was fascinating fun reading the 90's and early 2000's material even if was hearing negative feedback on the newest issues.

*sigh* And then just a couple of years later it all fell flat on its face.

[Arnoldoaad]

Still havent read waid´s flash, so will not vote but i really like Marz´s run on GL

[Güicho]

'The Greatest Replacement?'

Nice to get all the votes.........Oh, I'm not even considered on the poll?
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Wait, who are you again? You wan'a see a real replacement, check me...
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I'm the new eXtreme Batman replacement.... Don't tell me extreme thigh-pouches are out?
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[Güicho]

You were saying?
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Wait, how am I not on this poll?
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[married guy]

I LOVE both characters, and Ron Marz did a BRILLIANT job creating Kyle Rayner....BUT!

NOBODY is better than Wally West. Waid's portrayal a whisker in front of Messner-Loebs with Johns taking the bronze.

[married guy]

Loved both titles, bought both titles but Wakes Flash was superior. This was a period where a hero that felt like a sidekick still, finally realised he was the man. He expanded on his power set , well you know your reading it. G.L. was very good though. Kyle was a great fill in, my only problem was that none of the other DCU heroes even questioned where Hal was. That was weird.

Don't forget the DCU pretty much saw Hal go FULL Bond villian during Zero Hour, and the JLA were there when he returned again after Kyle's ring in issues #63 and #64.

[Kyer]

I was going to comment.... but then saw I had already done so... over four years prior. Old thread.