Wally West: The Flash Appreciation 2020

[WallyWestFlash]

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[SuperX]

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I want this so damn bad. Along with the 2 statues in my avatar

[Dr. Ellingham]

True, but I also think he'd have made a better fist of Barry Allen's triumphant return if given the chance.

Agreed. But the key words may be "if given the chance". Did Johns have that?

I think Geoff Johns' strong suit is that he's a great high-concept thinker, and a good plotter. But it's interesting how the arc from Flash Rebirth to Flashpoint is so flat. It seems like they took the checklist of what made his Green Lantern work, and tried to replicate each bullet point. And then it just...stops at Flashpoint. And Johns did something he'd never really done before - he walked away from a book he'd just relaunched, and wasn't done rebuilding.

And yet - he co-developed the Flash TV series, which incorporate a lot of the same concepts, and despite its sappy teenager styling, was pretty faithful otherwise to Johns' style. And it worked way better. I'd guess the disparity is due to frequent editorial direction changes. I guess we'll hear the full story someday. Hopefully.

[Kyer]

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I'm taking it that this is a Barry Allen Flash statue mod for a Wally West statue.

Maybe its possible.... they could make a new Wally statue? (I put off getting that action figure because I prefer statues.)

[Ilan Preskovsky]

Agreed. But the key words may be "if given the chance". Did Johns have that?

I think Geoff Johns' strong suit is that he's a great high-concept thinker, and a good plotter. But it's interesting how the arc from Flash Rebirth to Flashpoint is so flat. It seems like they took the checklist of what made his Green Lantern work, and tried to replicate each bullet point. And then it just...stops at Flashpoint. And Johns did something he'd never really done before - he walked away from a book he'd just relaunched, and wasn't done rebuilding.

And yet - he co-developed the Flash TV series, which incorporate a lot of the same concepts, and despite its sappy teenager styling, was pretty faithful otherwise to Johns' style. And it worked way better. I'd guess the disparity is due to frequent editorial direction changes. I guess we'll hear the full story someday. Hopefully.

Nah, I don't buy it. Johns wrote a terrible Barry Allen right from the off, not using any of the story potential from his return (instead going for more of a "the one true Flash is back lets continue as if nothing changed!" approach) and introducing some disastrous retcons with Barry's return.

I like a lot of what Johns has written by Flash: Rebirth, which felt like entirely his baby, is still the worst thing he has ever written by a mile.

[Frontier]

Hey now!

Dark Mary Marvel has a pretty good fan following.

...For all the wrong reasons .

Nah, I don't buy it. Johns wrote a terrible Barry Allen right from the off, not using any of the story potential from his return (instead going for more of a "the one true Flash is back lets continue as if nothing changed!" approach) and introducing some disastrous retcons with Barry's return.

I like a lot of what Johns has written by Flash: Rebirth, which felt like entirely his baby, is still the worst thing he has ever written by a mile.

I think he started the idea of "mopey, depressed" Barry Allen but he was one of the few writers who I felt could write Barry and Wally distinct from each other and the idea of a major hero re-acclimating themselves to a world that had moved on past him was pretty interesting to me.

Don't get me started on the "dead mom, imprisoned father" stuff though...

[TheCape]

...For all the wrong reasons .

I think he started the idea of "mopey, depressed" Barry Allen but he was one of the few writers who I felt could write Barry and Wally distinct from each other and the idea of a major her re-acclimating themselves to a world that had moved on past him was pretty interesting to me.

Don't get me started on the "dead mom, imprisoned father" stuff though...

Believe it or not, it kinda was worse in Johns Rebirth, because it was "dead mom, imprisoned father who died in prison and his innocence was never proved" lol, i supposed that a good thing about New 52 is that it gave Barry a father back.

[Digifiend]

Believe it or not, it kinda was worse in Johns Rebirth, because it was "dead mom, imprisoned father who died in prison and his innocence was never proved" lol, i supposed that a good thing about New 52 is that it gave Barry a father back.

I take it the TV show (also with Johns involved) was based on the New 52 interpretation?

[WallyWestFlash]

For such a character that has the reputation of being lighthearted and fun Barry has had a pretty depressing history.

He was fine.in the silver age but who wasnt? When the bronze age rolled around they really screwed with him. Killing off Iris was the start of it. From there Barry spiraled psychologically and emotionally. Trying to move on and remarry Fiona who was about to be killed by Thawne. He had to kill him and then be dragged through the mud as a criminal. At the end of the series he got his "happy ending" by totally changing his face and escaping to the future. I remember reading those comics and getting pretty depressed.

The next chapter was him being dead. He was actually given good treatment then and portrayed as happy when shown. Which is pretty sad as well since it was as a dead guy.

When they brought him back there was the obvious depression and messing with Barry with the dead mom and dad framed for her murder and sitting in jail bit. Which is pretty messed up.

It's not a surprise that Williamson is writing Barry as angsty and constantly going through something.

So although people usually say Barry is a fun , bright character if you think about it he is a pretty dark and depressing one.

[Steel Inquisitor]

Wally West is my Flash. Got into Flash with "Dead Heat" in Waid's first run, and was instantly hooked. Before that I didn't take DC seriously, I was instantly addicted to Marvel when I collected comics but this and Morrison's JLA really turned that around. Looking back, I was surprised to see future superstar artists like Pacheco and Larocca in Waid's Flash (Terminal Velocity), Flash always had great artists consistently along with the writing, it just overshadowed other titles like Ron Marz' Green Lantern. Not because they weren't good, it's just because Flash was that amazing.

Rereading Waid's Flash Oscar Jiminez was creating numerous memorable panels that stuck with me to this day, especially #111. Wally and Savitar fist fighting at superspeed, Savitar bouncing off a blow from Wally into a lake then telekinetically throwing a buoy at Wally in response, Savitar smashing away the line of speedsters like a wrecking ball, Savitar in traffic in the middle of adjusting where to run to mid-sprint while Wally catches up behind him, Impulse playing chicken with Savitar and only surviving at the last second because Wally picked him up from being hit because he's a stupid kid, Savitar's clawed hand reaching up grab Wally as they run into the Speed Force only for Wally to catch it and throw him deeper into it. Epic visuals. I noticed that artists didn't stick around for longer than an arc, however. That's a shame. They were all so good.

I think I'm the only fan of John Fox. I adored how that goofball tried replace Wally in the present and unintentionally sabotaged Wally coming back by putting the moves on Linda. Nearly started an ice age he was trying to prevent which he knew was coming since he came from the future. He was trying so hard to be a super-hero and failing at it.

[SanityOrMadness]

David Finch's Death Metal #3 FOC variant (unfinished):

[Spider-Ham]

Can’t wait to see this bad boy in blue.

I preordered this beauty.

[WallyWestFlash]

Wally West is my Flash. Got into Flash with "Dead Heat" in Waid's first run, and was instantly hooked. Before that I didn't take DC seriously, I was instantly addicted to Marvel when I collected comics but this and Morrison's JLA really turned that around. Looking back, I was surprised to see future superstar artists like Pacheco and Larocca in Waid's Flash (Terminal Velocity), Flash always had great artists consistently along with the writing, it just overshadowed other titles like Ron Marz' Green Lantern. Not because they weren't good, it's just because Flash was that amazing.

Rereading Waid's Flash Oscar Jiminez was creating numerous memorable panels that stuck with me to this day, especially #111. Wally and Savitar fist fighting at superspeed, Savitar bouncing off a blow from Wally into a lake then telekinetically throwing a buoy at Wally in response, Savitar smashing away the line of speedsters like a wrecking ball, Savitar in traffic in the middle of adjusting where to run to mid-sprint while Wally catches up behind him, Impulse playing chicken with Savitar and only surviving at the last second because Wally picked him up from being hit because he's a stupid kid, Savitar's clawed hand reaching up grab Wally as they run into the Speed Force only for Wally to catch it and throw him deeper into it. Epic visuals. I noticed that artists didn't stick around for longer than an arc, however. That's a shame. They were all so good.

I think I'm the only fan of John Fox. I adored how that goofball tried replace Wally in the present and unintentionally sabotaged Wally coming back by putting the moves on Linda. Nearly started an ice age he was trying to prevent which he knew was coming since he came from the future. He was trying so hard to be a super-hero and failing at it.

Could not agree more with this post. I love Dead Heat. Savitar was a great villain and Jimenez was amazing at the art. With a lot of great moments like u posted.

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Your not the only fan of John Fox. I like the character as well. His costume was really cool as well.

David Finch's Death Metal #3 FOC variant (unfinished):

Wow. That's epic. Getting more Hyped for Speed Metal.

[married guy]

I want this so damn bad. Along with the 2 statues in my avatar

I need this!!!
Where did you find this image??

[Robanker]

I generally don't like Finch's pencils and this is no exception. It reminds a lot of Jim Lee's recent Justice League Flash cover. Similar pose and grimace.

I've always equated Flashes with being blue collar down-to-earth fellows, so whenever I see someone making them super angry it just reminds of edgy 90s stuff and it doesn't really feel 90s to me. Some artists can pull it off (Ringo was a fine example), but Finch is a miss for this Wally fan. He looks like Batman in a Flash costume.