Could The Flash sustain a second ongoing?

[LordTrump]

Editor confirmed that they don't want OG Wally on main Flash book because of confusion with New 52 Wally. Also Wally and Flash are under different editorial offices, which means it's impossible to make it cohesive as a Flash family book.

Whatever they are planning seems to be the endgame for Rebirth, which means we need to wait at least another year.

Then why keep the little s**t?!!!

[GreenLanternRanger]

Depends on what that title is. A book focusing on either of the Wally's or heck even the rouges might be able to hold some water. But just a second title about Barry Allen, eh, I dunno.

[Adekis]

I could see a Wally West book doing very well. Better than just keeping him relegated to Titans all the time. Heck, maybe I'd even buy it, I haven't gotten Flash since early on in the New 52.

Not that I've got anything against Barry, inherently, Wally's just... better.

[Frontier]

I could see a Wally West book doing very well. Better than just keeping him relegated to Titans all the time. Heck, maybe I'd even buy it, I haven't gotten Flash since early on in the New 52.

I think Wally getting his own solo or Flash book would definitely have benefits for the Titans book.

[Lee]

I'd like to see a good Pied Piper series, but it would be a hard sell given that he's not a very well known/popular character.

An Impulse series that harkens back to the Mark Waid written sitcom era would be fantastic. Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics, Squirrel Girl, Adventure Time) could probably write the hell out of it.

At this point in time though, I think only a "Flash: Speed Force" or a solo Wally West Flash series would stand much of a chance.

When they re-launch JSA they might be able to do a few mini-series around it. Something like "JSA Secret Origins: The Flash".

[Ulysses]

I'd like a second book, don't really like the main one but would love a Flash book I could get behind.

[Ascended]

Yes,the DC "families" need their own family.book,while the main "iconic" character keeps his or her own series.

Oh and I don't see how a family.type.book would fail if you brought back very popular characters and placed them all in the same book,there would be 2 many fanbases wanting the book to lose

You're assuming there's no overlap among fanbases. Isn't it likely that, if there's 100 fans of Wally, and Bart has 75 fans, many (not all, but many) of Bart's 75 are also part of Wally's 100? The gain from a team up title wouldn't be insignificant, but is it enough to sustain a book and reach numbers that aren't embarrassing? It might not be.

Dont get me wrong, I'd love to see a new Wally title, and a Speed Force team-up (with Wally at the head) would be even better. Im just not convinced there's enough business incentive. Wouldn't they have done it by now, if it was likely to turn a profit?

[rui no onna]

I'd be interested in reading it but as it is, my monthly DC is already at ~$100 retail every month and I'm not looking to add anymore titles. Maybe via Hoopla or something.

[stephens2177]

You're assuming there's no overlap among fanbases. Isn't it likely that, if there's 100 fans of Wally, and Bart has 75 fans, many (not all, but many) of Bart's 75 are also part of Wally's 100? The gain from a team up title wouldn't be insignificant, but is it enough to sustain a book and reach numbers that aren't embarrassing? It might not be.

Dont get me wrong, I'd love to see a new Wally title, and a Speed Force team-up (with Wally at the head) would be even better. Im just not convinced there's enough business incentive. Wouldn't they have done it by now, if it was likely to turn a profit?

Well let's find out then OK.lets.find out how many wally,Bart,Jesse,and Jay fans there are,and that will buy the book.

You know DC is business dumb,they have no idea how to run a business.its like they follow shitty focus groups,or whatever social cause its hot at the moment.If they ran their business right we would already have many of the books we all want

[SuperiorIronman]

I can totally see a second Flash book happen. I'd be interested very much in a Reverse Flash book and you can always make Eobard out of continuity due to him coming from the future (nothing is set in stone right?). Zolomon would also be an interesting read since his whole thing was to make Flash a better hero by being his opposite, so how does that translate into him fighting crime or even heroes? What good can come from that and how does it influence Wally or Barry? Zolomon could be cool if he is manipulating things behind the scenes and we watch how he technically saves the day through tragedy.

[Ascended]

Well let's find out then OK.lets.find out how many wally,Bart,Jesse,and Jay fans there are,and that will buy the book.

Sounds good to me. Like I said, I'd be all over a book like that (assuming it was well done of course). I just question if its financially viable.

You know DC is business dumb,they have no idea how to run a business.its like they follow shitty focus groups,or whatever social cause its hot at the moment.If they ran their business right we would already have many of the books we all want

I dont know what their deal is. I've studied business for years, and while Im no expert and dont deal with publishing, a lot of DC's choices appear to be pretty questionable.

But there are externalities we know nothing about, a limited talent pool, limited resources, and risk factors that we fans typically ignore or dont recognize. We know DC has been floating the Speed Force idea around for a while, but who knows why they haven't pulled the trigger?

[GlennSimpson]

Since he seems to be doing OK with twice-a-month shipping (which is effectively two series) I think they should keep things as they are.

[poroto678]

I wouldn't like that for two reasons.

1. I don't think the direction Williamson has taken for the main book is very good nor strong enough. It lacks character development and it's way too focused on standard super-heroing. It also lacks world-building (which is what Johns did with GL and that's why it had 5 books) and it's kinda bland IMHO, so adding a second book to that wouldn't help at all. Also, Geoff Johns made The Rogues the BEST villains team in comics and both him and Mark Waid had amazing Flash Family moments involving Jay, Bart, Jessie, Linda and the twins, but NEITHER of them got the Flash a second book. Considering the current development of the franchise, they probably shouldn't add more books. Unless a new writer comes with new ideas, expanding the Flash line sounds like a mistake or a move just for the sake of profit.

2. I read an article from comic book retailers. They argued that giving a second book to some characters (they were talking about Marvel specifically, where characters like Black Panther or Dr Strange got second books) which aren't strong enough to sustain them only makes things worse, mainly because it's too much information for new fans and it disencourages them from getting into said characters (or comics, for that matter).

Don't get me wrong. I'm a big Flash fan. I miss the Waid and Johns days where we got amazing characters and family interactions, but this doesn't seem to be the right time for that. If Jay (I'm a big fans of his) or Jesse come back, it has to be done right.
It sounds too much like something Marvel would do, and I don't like that one bit.

[rui no onna]

2. I read an article from comic book retailers. They argued that giving a second book to some characters (they were talking about Marvel specifically, where characters like Black Panther or Dr Strange got second books) which aren't strong enough to sustain them only makes things worse, mainly because it's too much information for new fans and it disencourages them from getting into said characters (or comics, for that matter).

Here's an interesting article from a retailer's perspective.

Too Much Competition

And speaking of Waid, he apparently owns a comic shop.
Mark Waid's Alter Ego Shop is Now Aw Yeah Comics Muncie

What has being a retailer taught you about comics?

That the signal-to-noise ratio between the number of comics in that hellish monthly catalogue and the number of available dollars in the comicsphere is harder to manage than anything you could imagine, short of government on a state or national level. Every month, I open the Necronomicon that is the Diamond catalogue and, every month, I am awhirl in trying to figure out who the audience is for most of this stuff. How do we find an audience for comics and books and merchandise our store believes in and wants to sell but is too expensive to order deep on? Conversely, how do we get our customers to tell us what they want us to be ordering when even they don’t know exactly what they want? I’ve been such a jerk. (Your pull quote.) I used to look down my nose at stores that would order only Marvel and DC Comics and only enough to sate their Wednesday customer base, and now I get it. At Aw Yeah Comics, we’re far more diverse than that, but even still, there’s only so much money we can spend because there’s only so much money our customer base — not just our regulars, but even our potential customer base — has.

[Slaughter]

I'm liking Williamson's Flash, but give it time. Right now he's in Rebuild and Rebirth mode:

- Barry's basics
- Wally
- Rogues