Everything old is new again at DC.
It’s been years in the making, but Barry Allen is back in the saddle as The Flash, and while all the company’s comments and reports until yesterday had indicated that Barry would be the lead feature in The Flash, while Barry’s successor/predecessor Wally West would take the backup feature and the recently-resurrected Bart Allen/Kid Flash would have his own title, Dan DiDio announced during his “20 Questions” feature on the Newsarama main page that both of those features are on hold, essentially resetting the status quo for The Flash as a character back to what it was before the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Not only is this just the latest in a long line of DC moves that seem to be focused on rolling back character and plot development to the ’80s, but it begs the question: Why bring back Bart?
I loved the Impulse series by Mark Waid and Todd Dezago as much as the next guy, but as a Booster Gold reader, one of the conversations I often find myself having with regard to Ted Kord is–why bring him back if there’s no plan for what to do with him once we have him? WIth a Kid Flash series imminent, bringing Bart back made sense. Now, all we can expect is to see him cluttering up the backgrounds in Teen Titans or whatever unnamed series it is that Jaime Reyes will be appearing in. Frankly, that kind of coverage hardly seems worth cheapening his death (and by extension all other DC Universe deaths) for.
December 22nd, 2009 at 6:05 pm
I actually have no thoughts on Bart, since I’ve never read anything with him… But what’s happening with Wally? Surely he’s not being downgraded back to Kid Flash??
I had some Barry/Flash comics as a kid, but really, as a big fan of the post-Crisis DCU, Wally is MY Flash… I still have a lot of Wally/Flash comics from the 90′s. Barry’s death was one of the few that lasted (for 20+ years, at least), as well as one of the few that honestly mattered. Thanks to Dan Didiot for shitting all over that, just like he has on pretty much everything in the DCU.
Guess I’ll stick with my handful of Marvel titles and indie books for now, at least until the Earth One graphic novels come out. Hopefully those will be better than most of DC’s offerings of the past few years. At least DC’s saving me some money.
December 22nd, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Im loving this!!! Even though I too loved the Impulse series..
December 22nd, 2009 at 6:15 pm
My theory is they wanted Bart back before BN changed the ground rules so they could have everyone on the field when the new status quo hit.
Once that’s done they will probably bring things on line in a more controlled fashion.
December 22nd, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Not sure what I make of it either.
I’m still thinking Hal and Wally ought to stand trial for wiping the world’s memories re: Wally and Barry’s IDs.
December 22nd, 2009 at 7:52 pm
‘why bring him back if there’s no plan for what to do with him once we have him?’
Well, they obviously did have a plan, but it’s changed.
December 22nd, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Cheapening Bart’s death? That would imply his death had actual meaning to it.
December 22nd, 2009 at 8:27 pm
I am actually getting pretty pissed at the treatment of Wally.
And I haven’t heard any plans to retire Jay Garrick. So he will still be out there, yes?
December 22nd, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Why don’t we have a Flash Corps title where Wally and Bart can co-feature sharing the spotlight with other speedsters to show the fans that kept the title alive for over a decade that they have not been marginalized one bit! That’ll make EVERYONE happy!
December 23rd, 2009 at 12:02 am
@Martin – While I agree with you on some level, I think that this situation is emblematic of one of DiDio’s biggest problems–he seems to get himself all hypered up into a frenzy about an idea, and then drop it the next time something shiny comes along. It’s left DC lacking direction while at the same time having had several well-articulated directions to choose from.
December 23rd, 2009 at 12:32 am
@ Russ “DiDio’s biggest problems–he seems to get himself all hypered up into a frenzy about an idea, and then drop it the next time something shiny comes along.”
Exactly, that is how DC feels from a reader’s perspective. There doesn’t seem to be a coherent, concrete direction for the DCU. Just when they get something good going, they up and change directions again or exploit it to the point no one cares.
My biggest issue is that they seem to have this overwhelming desire to bring back the 60′s & 70′s and update those stories/ideas to today. I just get the feeling that the entire DCU is taking a step backwards. Sure there are select titles that are some of the best on the shelves, but over all the entire DCU seems to be trying to unsuccessfully relive the glory days. If they are that hard up for story ideas they can give me a call, I’ll help as much as I can. Just please quit bringing back the past, it wasn’t that good the first time.
December 23rd, 2009 at 4:02 am
I don’t really give two shits about who is what or whatever the fanboys are complaining about is there’s, if the comic is good that’s all I really care about.
December 23rd, 2009 at 7:10 am
@GG – I agree completely. I like Hal and Barry as much as the next guy, but it seems to me that the REBIRTH series have been as much about hitting the cosmic reset button, and ignoring most of what’s come since 1985, as anything else. And with their success, the rest of the DCU has followed suit. It’s frustrating because there was a point, not that long ago, where even if you didn’t love everything that went on, there was a sense that it COUNTED and that, good or bad, the story you were reading would have ramifications months and years down the line. That’s one of the things I’ve always enjoyed about having a rich continuity in these universes. Nowadays when I read a really crappy issue I know I don’t have to think about it ever again because it’ll be retconned by the next creative team.
December 23rd, 2009 at 8:19 am
I have to say that I liked the idea of a Barry Allen lead and Wally West back-up but we need to realize that there is a fanbase out there that for almost 25 years, hasn’t read a new (or any) Barry Allen story. There are stories to be told now that the “death” and other parts of the history of the character allow for.
I’m a Marvel kid (70′s-early 80′s) and came to the DC Universe post-Crisis on Infinite Earths so I guess that Wally is technically “my” Flash but I don’t feel that DC is turning back the clock. Didio is definitely someone that hypes something and then changes it but we don’t know what goes on behind the scenes. I’m content to wait it out because I feel that whatever comes out will eventually make Wally and Bart fans happy.
One question (sort of related): Will we be questioning DC when Bruce Wayne comes back?
December 23rd, 2009 at 9:11 am
They brought Bart back because his death was pointless and his story wasn’t done. DC made a huge mistake in rushing him to be Flash and in killing him. And while I am a little bummed his series was put on hold, maybe DC is thinking that he just cannot get the sales needed. Or that it would be better to have Bart and Conner star in Teen Titans and save that series.
But the decision to drop Wally’s second feature is bizarre. If we’ve seen one thing from the GL books, it’s that there is room for many heroes with the same name. Hal fans are happy, Kyle fans are happy, fans of nearly every GL ever (except maybe Katma Tui) are happy. It feels like DC is trying far too hard to force nuBarry down our throats, even though Flash: Rebirth hasn’t been nearly as good as GL: Rebirth and even though a lot of us don’t like the grimmer Barry Allen. And even though huge numbers of fans were stoked for some Johns/Kolins Wally stories.
I will add that Geoff Johns has promised to post about this on his message board, so there might be more to this than we suspect.
December 23rd, 2009 at 9:25 am
There was (almost) always a Green Latern Corps. Therefore you could get away with having lots of Green Laterns.
Having lots of characters all named the Flash (4 or so running around now)seems a bit silly.
“@ Russ “DiDio’s biggest problems–he seems to get himself all hypered up into a frenzy about an idea, and then drop it the next time something shiny comes along.”
I think that is spot-on. Ever since they first brought Barry back they were facing the problem of not knowing what to do with him.
December 23rd, 2009 at 9:57 am
@Shawn Kane – “Will we be questioning DC when Bruce Wayne comes back?”
Bruce is a little different, given that nobody has ever, for an instant, believed he would actually stay dead.
December 23rd, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Just start a second title…call it Flash Comics…like the old title and have it be a rotating feature of Wally and Bart…and throw a Jay wrench in there every once and a while…this does not seem that hard…this clusterf*@# is DC’s own doing…make the best of it. These are quality characters…
December 24th, 2009 at 5:20 am
As long as they have good reason to bring a character back and tell good stories, I don’t have any major problem with it. However, in the case of Barry, if I remember correctly, the character had lost a lot of readers and many fans thought the character had become boring. When he died in CoIE, he became an icon, a legend among heroes. His death meant a great deal more than his entire heroic career. Bringing him back just makes his sacrifice meaningless.
Wally made the Flash popular and as Shawn Kane mentioned there is a whole generations of readers who only know Wally. To them Barry is just a legend who has no meaning, except for his sacrifice and legacy.
As for Bruce’s return, Dick as Batman have been the best Batman stories I have read in a decade or more, I don’t want Bruce back. To be honest I’d be happy to see all of the old guard replaced by the next generation. Clark, Bruce, Diana, Ollie, Hal and any other “old” character should be replaced by the next generation. We’ve hung on too tightly to all the Silver and in some cases Golden Age characters and fans have whined and cried anytime there is a hint of change. How many times can they retcon, revamp and reimagine the same origin stories? It is time for some new blood to take top billing in the DCU.
December 24th, 2009 at 6:09 am
this was always going to be the problem with bringing back Barry. What do you do with Wally? What do you do with any other Flash character, for that matter?
I have to agree with some of the points being made about DiDio, his lack of focus, and it’s impact on the DCU. However, I will say that in this case, I think DC is being smart in not rushing out a KID FLASH title. Personally, I think it would be wiser to let the new FLASH series run (no pun intended) for at least a year on it’s own, with Barry as the lead and the ONLY Flash in the title. That’s part of the problem with the Flash corner of the DCU right now, it’s just muddled with too many people who look the same and do the same stuff. It’s not like with Green Lanterns were each character can be and do something different. They can be aliens from different planets, they can do different things with their rings. All Flashes are human, either male or female, and run really fast. End of story. And as much as I love Wally, it has just always felt wrong to me that he gets stuck in the back-up feature of this new title. I’d rather he find some other niche in the DCU. DC made a big mistake initially with Kyle when Hal first came back, trying to make into that Ion character or whatever, and it just didn’t work. Eventually, they figured out what to do with Kyle and now he’s shining as brightly as he ever has in GLC. It took time and patience, though, to get to that point. I think the best thing to do with Wally for now is let him lay low. Let him just hang with Linda and the kids. Eventually, a spot will present itself for Wally to jump back into the spotlight, instead of forcing him to play second fiddle to Barry.
December 24th, 2009 at 6:24 am
The thing that frustrates me so much about Wally is that, whether not you like the quagmire that came next, his “retirement” issue at the end of Johns’ first run on “The Flash” was well-done, well-handled and made sense. If they hadn’t botched everything so badly and left him with teenage, superhero kids, I think you could have had him come back from his extradimensional honeymoon and be semiretired here; make him a supporting character in Barry’s book and give him the happy ending he deserves. Instead, here we are now, and a (second) retirement or semi-retirement would just be a beard for writing him out.
December 24th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Russ, I agree. I think an answer might be to send Wally into the future for awhile. DC could even do a miniseries or two with Wally in that setting, as well.
December 24th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
I might have liked them to leave Bart there, for all the good it did bringing him back to the present. At least as part of Legion, he could have had some great heroic moments. Maybe with a little luck, we’ll see him in a Young Justice or JLI-type of book relaunching soon.
April 17th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
The king returned to claim his throne and that’s the way it should be. Barry Allen is not just my “Flash”, he is “The Flash” and always will be “The Flash”. Everybody is worried about Wally West being reduced to a sidekick again. He started as a sidekick and if he wants to be a hero taken seriously, he should have created his own super-persona instead of stealing someone elses, even if it was under the circumstances of honoring Allen. After Barry Allen died in Crisis, The Flash died with him and that was a sad time for true longtime Flash fans like myself. West fans should get West back in his own title but as a Flash Jr. type character. “The Flash” belongs to Barry Allen.