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  1. #1
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    Default When did Barry Allen become Wally West?

    I've been away from comics for years, just bought Justice League #1, 2018 the Scott Snyder run.

    Barry Allen acts the way I'd expect Wally West to act. Hell Wally used to be more grown up than this. He's pitching a fit about being taken off of assignments, then going "Ew yeah you can have that assignment" A lot of it is the looks he has on his face, he's overly emotional in his reactions, not very professional or adult like you used to get out of Barry. I don't like it. I want a Flash who acts like a man, not a teenager.

    Is this just a Scott Snyder thing or has his character been devolved?

    Bad enough that they turned Wally back into a teenager then made him a murderer.

  2. #2
    Spectacular Member Modamy's Avatar
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    Barry doesn't act like this in the main Flash book. It seems like a lot of writers just prefer to write the Flash as a comic relief character as opposed to how Barry is supposed to be. I haven't read John's Wally run yet so I can't speak on that. I'd say Williamson never wrote Barry as a jokester although it did feel like it took a while for Barry to feel like properly like himself even in the main Flash book.

  3. #3
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    Barry in the current Flash book to me feels like Barry from his original series, just younger and with a modernized background. In teams whoever is wearing a Flash suit is basically Wally no matter what. It's the Flash brand not specific to any character

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Modamy View Post
    Barry doesn't act like this in the main Flash book. It seems like a lot of writers just prefer to write the Flash as a comic relief character as opposed to how Barry is supposed to be. I haven't read John's Wally run yet so I can't speak on that. I'd say Williamson never wrote Barry as a jokester although it did feel like it took a while for Barry to feel like properly like himself even in the main Flash book.
    Part of it is probably because no other member of the current Justice League can carry the comic relief role. Truth to tell, Barry really can't either (and if this team included characters such as Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, he wouldn't need to).

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  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Buried Alien View Post
    Part of it is probably because no other member of the current Justice League can carry the comic relief role. Truth to tell, Barry really can't either (and if this team included characters such as Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, he wouldn't need to).

    Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)
    Cyborg could carry the comic relief role and still be a credible threat if writers allowed him to overcome his angst. I also suspect that a lot of modern JL writers were influenced by Wally West's portrayal in the JL and JLU cartoons when it comes to Barry role on the current roster.

  6. #6
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    Barry has always been kinda goofy and thus I believe he can fit into the comic relief role in a geeky kind of way.

    (Mind you, I believe that both Scott Snyder and Brian Bendis portray him too childish at times).

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by king81992 View Post
    Cyborg could carry the comic relief role and still be a credible threat if writers allowed him to overcome his angst. I also suspect that a lot of modern JL writers were influenced by Wally West's portrayal in the JL and JLU cartoons when it comes to Barry role on the current roster.
    Snyder definitely is. He's cited a lot of influence from the DCAU JL cartoons, and that's why Barry and John get paired up (even though The Flash and GL always get paired up no matter who it is).

  8. #8
    It sucks to be right BohemiaDrinker's Avatar
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    He didn't.

    It's true that lots of elements that were particular to Wally were grafted onto Barry, yes. And it's true that DC does want to take every trait that makes the Flash cool - any Flash - and graft that onto Barry as well.

    But for better or worse and despite these mandates, all 4 creative teams that worked on the Flash title since his return have tried to make Barry distinctively Barry, to varying degrees of success (IMHO, Willianson and Manapul & Booch had a moderate success while Johns and Venditti & Van Jensen failed spectacularly on every possible level).

    That said, Snyder in particular does write Barry as JLU Wally, and or early Messner Loebs Wally or JLI Wally. From what I gather, neither the Barry fandom nor the Wally fandom welcomed this take. But it's pretty clear that he wish he was writing Wally, yes.
    Last edited by BohemiaDrinker; 07-24-2019 at 06:59 PM.
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  9. #9
    Unstoppable Member KC's Avatar
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    He didn't.

    Barry is currently the product of DC trying to modernize the character. Something he missed out on in the wake of COIE because he was dead. And to do this, DC gave him a bunch of modern traits. Wally does not own being funny or down to earth and even with the modernization, he still has traits associated with Barry Allen.
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  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Deku View Post
    He didn't.

    Barry is currently the product of DC trying to modernize the character. Something he missed out on in the wake of COIE because he was dead. And to do this, DC gave him a bunch of modern traits. Wally does not own being funny or down to earth and even with the modernization, he still has traits associated with Barry Allen.
    I'm glad they're reopening the door to Barry's geekiness (a box of old comics was seen in the current issue of THE FLASH). They really need to reemphasize this aspect of Barry more.

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  11. #11
    Unstoppable Member KC's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Buried Alien View Post
    I'm glad they're reopening the door to Barry's geekiness (a box of old comics was seen in the current issue of THE FLASH). They really need to reemphasize this aspect of Barry more.

    Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)
    Loving comic books is a big part of the character that went missing from Barry post-Flashpoint. I agree that it is a part of the character that needs to be shown more.
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  12. #12
    Astonishing Member CrimsonEchidna's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by king81992 View Post
    Cyborg could carry the comic relief role and still be a credible threat if writers allowed him to overcome his angst. I also suspect that a lot of modern JL writers were influenced by Wally West's portrayal in the JL and JLU cartoons when it comes to Barry role on the current roster.
    Yeah it's like, if you want to be technical, it was Bart Allen who was the speedster who originally served the comedy relief role for the team he was part of. And then the DCAU kind of grafted the hot headed comedic relief onto Wally be default.
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  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by BohemiaDrinker View Post
    He didn't.

    It's true that lots of elements that were particular to Wally were grafted onto Barry, yes. And it's true that DC does want to take every trait that makes the Flash cool - any Flash - and graft that onto Barry as well.

    But for better or worse and despite these mandates, all 4 creative teams that worked on the Flash title since his return have tried to make Barry distinctively Barry, to varying degrees of success (IMHO, Willianson and Manapul & Booch had a moderate success while Johns and Venditti & Van Jensen failed spectacularly on every possible level).

    That said, Snyder in particular does write Barry as JLU Wally, and or early Messner Loebs Wally or JLI Wally. From what I gather, neither the Barry fandom nor the Wally fandom welcomed this take. But it's pretty clear that he wish he was writing Wally, yes.
    Essentially Barry is written as Barry in the Flash solo proper but guest appearances and team books usually default to the standardized DCAU Wally take.
    Quote Originally Posted by CrimsonEchidna View Post
    Yeah it's like, if you want to be technical, it was Bart Allen who was the speedster who originally served the comedy relief role for the team he was part of. And then the DCAU kind of grafted the hot headed comedic relief onto Wally be default.
    The thing is, they didn't go for Morrison JLA Wally, they went with JLI era/Justice League Europe Wally, which was where a lot of his characterization from the cartoon originated from.

  14. #14
    It sucks to be right BohemiaDrinker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frontier View Post
    Essentially Barry is written as Barry in the Flash solo proper but guest appearances and team books usually default to the standardized DCAU Wally take.
    Not always, but Snyder sure is guilty of this.
    ConnEr Kent flies. ConnOr Hawke has a bow. Batman's kid is named DamiAn.

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  15. #15
    Astonishing Member 9th.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Deku View Post
    He didn't.

    Barry is currently the product of DC trying to modernize the character. Something he missed out on in the wake of COIE because he was dead. And to do this, DC gave him a bunch of modern traits. Wally does not own being funny or down to earth and even with the modernization, he still has traits associated with Barry Allen.
    This is how I've always saw it, the character was dead for 30 years and the medium changed during that time. He wasn't going to come back being the exact same because he had to be modernized.
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