"The Flash Is Not About Tragedy": Wally West Appreciation! (NO NUWALLY BASHING!!!)

[TheSupernaut]

At this point, there is no real reason not to believe the Walker rumors. G. Willow Wilson has now been confirmed on to be on Wonder Woman, the Grant Morrison on Green Lantern rumor has gotten a lot of traction, and Kelly Sue DeConnick (who is rumored to be taking over Aquaman) was at the DC Writer's Summit. There is a very good chance the rumors about Walker are also correct.

I'm a bit out of the loop, what Walker rumors are we talking here?

[Sam]

I'm a bit out of the loop, what Walker rumors are we talking here?

A couple months ago, Bleeding Cool ran a series of stories about some new creative teams coming onto various DC books. They labeled this all under the heading off DC: Fresh Start, but acknowledged that was more their title for it than a label DC planned to use.

The rumored creative teams were:

Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp on Green Lantern
Kelly Sue DeConnick on Aquaman
Brian Azzarello on Suicide Squad
David Walker on a Flash title (but not the main Flash title, which they said would remain with Williamson)

Additionally, they said that Matt Fraction was considering doing a Jimmy Olsen book, but that plan fell through.

Since then they've also posted rumors about G. Willow Wilson taking over Wonder Woman and Peter Tomasi taking over Detective Comics.

When the rumors were first revealed, some were excited and some were skeptical. Some said the rumors couldn't be trusted because it was from Bleeding Cool, forgetting that one thing Bleeding Cool has a very good track record of is predicting upcoming creative teams (ex. stating Greg Rucka would be returning to Wonder Woman for Rebirth, which...who could have predicted). However, since these rumors were first announced, G. Willow Wilson has been confirmed to take over Wonder Woman, a big Green Lantern announcement is said to be forthcoming, and Kelly Sue DeConnick was seen at the DC Writer's Summit. Since all these other rumors seem to be coming to pass, the idea of a Walker Flash-related title could be well in the cards as well. Granted, things can change and it is always possible that even if a Walker Flash book was planned at some point, the plan could have changed.

[TheSupernaut]

A couple months ago, Bleeding Cool ran a series of stories about some new creative teams coming onto various DC books. They labeled this all under the heading off DC: Fresh Start, but acknowledged that was more their title for it than a label DC planned to use.

The rumored creative teams were:

Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp on Green Lantern
Kelly Sue DeConnick on Aquaman
Brian Azzarello on Suicide Squad
David Walker on a Flash title (but not the main Flash title, which they said would remain with Williamson)

Additionally, they said that Matt Fraction was considering doing a Jimmy Olsen book, but that plan fell through.

Since then they've also posted rumors about G. Willow Wilson taking over Wonder Woman and Peter Tomasi taking over Detective Comics.

When the rumors were first revealed, some were excited and some were skeptical. Some said the rumors couldn't be trusted because it was from Bleeding Cool, forgetting that one thing Bleeding Cool has a very good track record of is predicting upcoming creative teams (ex. stating Greg Rucka would be returning to Wonder Woman for Rebirth, which...who could have predicted). However, since these rumors were first announced, G. Willow Wilson has been confirmed to take over Wonder Woman, a big Green Lantern announcement is said to be forthcoming, and Kelly Sue DeConnick was seen at the DC Writer's Summit. Since all these other rumors seem to be coming to pass, the idea of a Walker Flash-related title could be well in the cards as well. Granted, things can change and it is always possible that even if a Walker Flash book was planned at some point, the plan could have changed.

Interesting, now I vaguely remember something like that. I don't want to get my hopes up...but at the same time I'm hoping for the best.

Edit:Also thanks for taking so much time to explain to me.

[Fuzzy Barbarian]

At this point, there is no real reason not to believe the Walker rumors. G. Willow Wilson has now been confirmed on to be on Wonder Woman, the Grant Morrison on Green Lantern rumor has gotten a lot of traction, and Kelly Sue DeConnick (who is rumored to be taking over Aquaman) was at the DC Writer's Summit. There is a very good chance the rumors about Walker are also correct.

They also reported that DC were planning another Crisis-level event that may reboot the universe. spoilers:

That one seems very true with the references to CoIE and the sey up of people being able to pick and choose continuity to create a new world using HYPERTIME.

end of spoilers

[Fuzzy Barbarian]

I get the feeling we won't see the Wally book announced until a few issues into Heroes in Crisis, and Wally will go directly from the last issue into his ongoing the following month (or even the same month).

And I bet it will probably involve Linda. Like, he decided to try and bring back her memories again after Heroes in Crisis.

[Waterfall]

Everything I've read from Walker ranges from mediocre to bad. Partly why I'm not excited about it at all.

A Wally or Flash family book is a must at this point, I don't know how long DC wants to sleep on the potential.

I know the old editor said it was mostly due to Wally & Barry being "too similar" but Flash War drew the lines perfectly, let Barry have wider Doctor Who-esque adventures while Wally gets a more grounded, relationship oriented series.

[Frontier]

Everything I've read from Walker ranges from mediocre to bad. Partly why I'm not excited about it at all.

I enjoyed his Power Man and Iron Fist. If he can inject the fun and energy of that run into a Flash book, I think it'd be pretty solid .

[Waterfall]

https://www.cbr.com/josh-williamson-...r-interview/2/

... We’re going to get through a lot in the next issues, which are going to explore a little bit of the new course — it’s all about Wally and what Wally is going through, post-war. I don’t think it’s secret what’s happening with Wally after this, and what book he’s going into — so you can, you know, you can fill in the blanks. Then, [Flash] #52 through 57 are all about the new Forces and realizing how dangerous they are.

At the end of “Flash War,” Hunter Zolomon is still out there, he’s still at large. What’s next for him? And what’s next for Wally and Barry?

Hunter has a plan. Hunter has a lot of stuff he needs to do and that’ll all be explored — It’ll be a while, though, because I really want to focus on some other stuff in the book. And I think moving forward with Barry especially — Barry’s still the Flash but right now, but the stuff that I’m writing for him — it’s been gearing up for a really long time, trying to solidify who Barry is and what separates him from Wally.
I think showing you different ideas of who the Flashes are is a big part of it. In #50, we see that Wally is the fastest man alive, but he got there because of Barry inspiring and motivating him. That says something about both characters, and that’s a testament to Barry, that he’s the character that inspires you. That’s what make him the Flash, that’s what separates him from everyone else.

Before I let you go, can you tease anything we can expect to see coming up?

Things are going to slow down a little bit with the new Forces arc coming up against everything but then, by issue 58, we’re just going to ramp up. I look at everything, and I’m like, “Oh, my God, this story is getting bigger and bigger.” The villain that we introduced at the end of 50, that’s going to be a big, big player. The quest for Barry to become the fastest man alive again will be a big part of the story.

[TheSupernaut]

https://www.cbr.com/josh-williamson-...r-interview/2/

... We’re going to get through a lot in the next issues, which are going to explore a little bit of the new course — it’s all about Wally and what Wally is going through, post-war. I don’t think it’s secret what’s happening with Wally after this, and what book he’s going into — so you can, you know, you can fill in the blanks. Then, [Flash] #52 through 57 are all about the new Forces and realizing how dangerous they are.

At the end of “Flash War,” Hunter Zolomon is still out there, he’s still at large. What’s next for him? And what’s next for Wally and Barry?

Hunter has a plan. Hunter has a lot of stuff he needs to do and that’ll all be explored — It’ll be a while, though, because I really want to focus on some other stuff in the book. And I think moving forward with Barry especially — Barry’s still the Flash but right now, but the stuff that I’m writing for him — it’s been gearing up for a really long time, trying to solidify who Barry is and what separates him from Wally.
I think showing you different ideas of who the Flashes are is a big part of it. In #50, we see that Wally is the fastest man alive, but he got there because of Barry inspiring and motivating him. That says something about both characters, and that’s a testament to Barry, that he’s the character that inspires you. That’s what make him the Flash, that’s what separates him from everyone else.

Before I let you go, can you tease anything we can expect to see coming up?

Things are going to slow down a little bit with the new Forces arc coming up against everything but then, by issue 58, we’re just going to ramp up. I look at everything, and I’m like, “Oh, my God, this story is getting bigger and bigger.” The villain that we introduced at the end of 50, that’s going to be a big, big player. The quest for Barry to become the fastest man alive again will be a big part of the story.

Well Wally's time in the sun didn't last long. If he won't be able to be the fastest man alive, I'd rather he get a new identity, anything over having to hear the bad Barry fans gloat.

[Sam]

Who cares? If Barry does get the title again (and that is an assumption), then at someone else might take it. Barry, Wally, Jay, and Bart have all been the fastest man alive at one point and any of them could be again. None of them need it to be heroes or interesting characters. I swear this stupid Barry fan/Wally fan rivalry has really turned into one big dick measuring contest. It's tired and the point of this thread is to celebrate Wally, not bag on Barry. Move on.

[WallyWestFlash]

So the finale was ok. A little disappointing but not bad. I did like the event over all though.

And of course Impulse being back is super exciting and I'm really happy about that. I hope they actually use him and he isn't just in the background.

But my main thing is did this actually move Wally forward or change anything from the rut and stagnation he's been in the last two years.

I think the answer to that is no. He still doesn't have any of his old life back or anything new added to build a new one. After over two years we're still in the same place.

And it doesn't look like its getting any better with the cover to next issue. Looking like Wally is hanging up the boots for now. So after two years we got Wally moping around, giving up on Linda, getting a heart condition, dying, losing his team and his friends, getting temporal seizures, not being able to save his kids, falling out with Barry and finally it looks like he will give up being the Flash.

Seems more like breaking him down even more rather than building him up.

Am I missing something here?

[Sam]

So the finale was ok. A little disappointing but not bad. I did like the event over all though.

And of course Impulse being back is super exciting and I'm really happy about that. I hope they actually use him and he isn't just in the background.

But my main thing is did this actually move Wally forward or change anything from the rut and stagnation he's been in the last two years.

I think the answer to that is no. He still doesn't have any of his old life back or anything new added to build a new one. After over two years we're still in the same place.

And it doesn't look like its getting any better with the cover to next issue. Looking like Wally is hanging up the boots for now. So after two years we got Wally moping around, giving up on Linda, getting a heart condition, dying, losing his team and his friends, getting temporal seizures, not being able to save his kids, falling out with Barry and finally it looks like he will give up being the Flash.

Seems more like breaking him down even more rather than building him up.

Am I missing something here?

Well, he has the memories, which he is embracing. He knows what he is missing in his life now, and that will allow him to pursue it more specifically. He has a clear goal in mind whereas before he was missing something he couldn't really name. We'll get to see where his head is at more in the next issue.

[WallyWestFlash]

https://www.cbr.com/josh-williamson-...r-interview/2/

So I guess the continuation of this continues in issue #58. I guess I'll check back in then.

Although I am getting sick of an event not actually resolving anything but just teasing and leading into the next event.

Also I really hope that isn't Superboy Prime at the end and that we're getting Infinite Crisis the sequel. Bad enough we're already getting Identity Crisis the sequel.

Lord it's like reliving the (worst of the) 2000's.

[WallyWestFlash]

Well, he has the memories, which he is embracing. He knows what he is missing in his life now, and that will allow him to pursue it more specifically. He has a clear goal in mind whereas before he was missing something he couldn't really name. We'll get to see where his head is at more in the next issue.

So before he knew he was just missing Linda and now he knows he's also missing his kids and friends?

Doesn't really sound like much progression to me.

[WallyWestFlash]

https://www.cbr.com/josh-williamson-...r-interview/2/

CBR: So I have to ask about Bart. The Force Wall broke, and that’s where he’s coming back from, we know that much, but where is he fitting into the whole picture? Does anyone remember him? He hasn’t actually been acknowledged yet as far as the people having these temporal seizures are concerned. Now that he’s back, will people know who he is?

Joshua Williamson: I can’t really get into that too much, because it’s stuff that hasn’t been announced yet, but there’s a very big plan. I can probably give you my answer next month, but I can’t talk about it yet. That was the thing about timing this the way that we did. I wanted to make sure that it was actually something that would surprise people. That meant doing it a little bit in advance.

Sounds like Young Justice will be announced in the next few weeks at least. That's pretty exciting.