Why wasn't Barry Allen effected by his mother's death like Bruce was

[Random4]

it seems like Barry was able to get over it unlike Bruce.... why is this? i know that people are different and react to things differently, but is their some reason for this?

[Lee Stone]

Because Bruce has been sufferering from manic depression since the '70s?

[MajorHoy]

Maybe you should ask Geoff Johns . . . he introduced the stupid [and a lot of EXPLETIVES DELETED!!!] retcon when he brought Barry back from the dead.
(Barry's parents had been alive when he originally died in Crisis on Infinite Earths back in the mid-1980s.)

[Kao]

Because people react differently to trauma.

[Desean101101]

it seems like Barry was able to get over it unlike Bruce.... why is this? i know that people are different and react to things differently, but is their some reason for this?

Bruce had no support system outside of his Butler. Barry and Iris and Her family and His father was still alive

[Atlanta96]

Maybe Bruce had some mental problems before his parents died that we've never seen on panel.

[Tommyboydalton21]

Mr Freeze fights Flash, but stops when Barry chokes out ".....Nora..."

[WonderScott]

I echo that people respond to trauma differently. More recent versions of Batman (TDK forward) portray Bruce as a person who has obsessive compulsive tendencies, so along with all his other gifts he has that as part of his biology and psychology to contend with as well.

Barry doesn't seem predisposed to OCD or other anxiety issues, so he's been better equipped to make peace with the trauma.

[FishyZombie]

http://www.littlestuffedbull.com/ima...alfred0409.jpg
theres this great panel from Batman: Dark Victory where it shows young Bruce Wayne just after his parent's death, and Alfred just doesn't know how to connect with him. Alfred is a good guy, but he wasn't prepared to be a parent, he was just a fricking butler. Bruce was all alone so he ending up coping in unhealthy ways. By the time Alfred got his parenting sh*t together the damage was already done. This is something Alfred deeply regrets, so when faced with a similar situation with young Dick Grayson, Alfred is more prepared and does a better job connecting with him early on.
As for Barry, I assume Daryl Frye or Joe West depending on the version did a better job early on filling that void, plus his dad was still around, abet in prison.

[phantom1592]

Bruce always had issues.

The biggest problem with Batman is the way the writers try to make him 'inevitable'. He watched his parents die in a dark alley... there was no way he WOULDN'T become batman from that... yet also try to make Gotham such a dark miserable place where there are at least dozens of kids every year who's parents are murdered in front of them... Statistically there should be a LOT more Batmen running around.

Same with Flash. Despite the fact that his parents death was a retcon and his personality was already established... Lots of parents are murdered, and not all the kids grow up to be broody dark vigilantes... Some just cope better.

[Jim Kelly]

You could say the retcon happened for Bruce seven months into his Batman run--in DETECTIVE COMICS No. 33 (November ’39) on sale October 10th, 1939--after his first appearance in 'TEC No. 27 (May ’39) on sale April 18th, 1939. Maybe before that, Bruce was written as a well-adjusted kid--who was just really into Goth.

After that, the writers must have had it in the back of their minds that Bruce was an orphan.

Barry had a happy family life, his parents came to his wedding, he visited his home town on occasion. Pretty hard to retcon all that out of the character and introduce the kind of misanthropy that plagues Batman.

[codystarbuck]

Because Bruce has been sufferering from manic depression since the '70s?

More like the 80s (and mid-80s at that). He didn't mope around as much in the 70s.

Barry is a lighter figure; plus, the mother's death is a recent era concept.

[NeoStar9X]

Because people react differently to trauma.

I always figured it was that combined with Alfred not being prepared to take care of a child on his own likely playing a part. Ultimately people just respond differently to things. Also Bruce lost both parents. Just Barry's mother was killed and he knows his dad didn't do it. Unless that's different when you compare the comic and the show.

[SmokeMonster]

Well everyone's different, but are some potential 'reasons':

1. Bruce saw his parents murdered in front of him. Barry didn't.

2. Both of Bruce's parents died. Only one of Barry's did.

3. Proving his father's innocence gives Barry a different drive or focus than Bruce had.

4. Environmental factors. Gotham is different than Central City. Bruce living in that mansion with all that wealth probably allowed for an unhealthy amount of alone time.

5. Although this is more of a reason about why they continue to be different rather than why they are different in the first place, Batman's reason for being is tied to his parents death, so Bruce being Batman every night in a sense is about Bruce never forgetting that pain and loss. He utilizes it. Getting over it would mean no more Batman in a sense. But Barry being the Flash and helping people is not about his mother's death. It's not what drives his heroics. Getting over it would mean a better Flash (one who doesn't create awful alternate timelines).

[phantom1592]

You could say the retcon happened for Bruce seven months into his Batman run--in DETECTIVE COMICS No. 33 (November ’39) on sale October 10th, 1939--after his first appearance in 'TEC No. 27 (May ’39) on sale April 18th, 1939. Maybe before that, Bruce was written as a well-adjusted kid--who was just really into Goth..

Lets not forget that Alfred himself was a gigantic Retcon too. He didnt' originally show up till after Robin was around. So any failing of his parenting was added in later.