Dedicated to creators Gardner Fox, Robert Kanigher, John Broome and all the men who rode the lightning.
Chapter Fourteen: The Fastest Man Alive
Guys, I'm going to have break character for a moment because… this should be a Flash chapter and I have nothing to say about him. That's not to say that Flash is a bad character, just the opposite; he made it through the Crisis better that anyone—relatively. That's why he has no place here!
The idea of this quasi-fanfic is how could DC characters have done better in the post-Crisis DCU and the Flash(es) made it through the immediate post-Crisis era perfectly. Their pasts were not rewritten and were used very well to enrich their stories all the way up to the time of the New 52. Barry Alan went out with a blaze of glory and Mark Waid handled his successor so well, in fact, that Wally West needs no improvement in terms of continuity or character. Waid took into account that West had hero worshipped the Flash as a boy and been the president of the man's fan club. Thus when he not only finds out that the Flash is really his uncle but gains speed powers and becomes the man's sidekick, every dream he ever had came true. …And it all came crashing down when his uncle died in the Crisis.
Wally took up the name Flash but was at first very uncertain of himself. That's understandable; Barry Alan already loomed large in his nephew's mind and even larger when he sacrificed his life to save the universe. Waid took that to the next level on becoming writer by saying that West had so idolized his uncle that he was now subconsciously trying to be a bad Flash, to be slow and immature, for fear of one day eclipsing him. It was only until a villain came and, disguised as Barry Alan, tried to disgrace Allan's name that Wally West forced himself to not only be as fast as uncle but faster. With that Wally West became his own man and not just a little kid pretending to be a grownup. He was—is—the Flash.
Wally had a lovely wife, genuinely enjoyed his career as a superhero, was a celebrity, the man was everything a superhero should be. He had has bad days, sure, but he always saved the day and without any angst. He was pure superhero wish fulfillment, Superman without the heavy drama. The same was mostly true for the other Flashes. So, no, I wouldn't change anything about any version of him. Jay Garrick works nice as did Barry Alan. Ditto Wally West. I even liked his villains as is—with how the Rogues (almost) never murder anyone and how their leader Captain Cold actually cares about his men, they might even be anti-heroes by other standards. It's all almost like some kind of Astro City style metafictional commentary on the nature of superheroism.
The only things I might change are to bring Hermes into the picture and keep Wally West.
Since the god and the hero/heroes have crossed paths now and then, why not have Hermes as the patron of the Flash family? Garrick based his costume on the god's winged helmet and winged sandals and said deity is part of the DCU. The New 52 Jay Garrick was even given his speed by a dying Hermes so that it might not be lost. I know that during George Perez' War of the Gods story arc that Wally West raced Hermes. And yes in the Justice League Unlimitedcartoon, Hermes was mistaken for Flash—with whom he shared a voice actor. "Nah," he said. "It's the original speedster." A post-Crisis DCU where the gods are regular characters and not just Wonder Woman's supporting cast would have been nice.
Who knows? Waid once remarked that Garrick's origin—he inhaled heavy/hard water fumes—struck him as weak and retconned him and the other speedsters as drawing power form a "speed force." What if, in the late 1980s, it's revealed in one issue that Hermes thought to raise up a champion in 1940? He picks Garrick, gives him the power and he lets him merely think that is was fumes. The next day, the new Flash just can't get the image of Hermes with winged helmet out of his mind…
Hermes, Barry Alan, and Wally West all have a mutual friend in Diana. At least some versions of Wally are close in temperament to the deity. It would be kind of cool to see Hermes as a Yoda figure for the Flash family, perhaps taking the place of Max Mercury (!) in that regard. With similar powers and use of iconography, they're the closet things he has to worshippers.
Now to the next part… I like Barry Alan, I really do and he does have a place in one shots or adaptations/alternate continuities or retellings of the past. But Wally West is a great character and it's such a waste to just shunt him aside. It's oddly poetic. He made is through the New 52 as badly as he got through the Crisis well.
DC's New 52 makes some change inevitable with how it's all about new beginnings. However it is a shame to see all Wally's character development stripped away and see him turned back into Kid Flash. (And a Kid Flash who isn't even Barry Alan's sidekick!) It's not like say the Young Justice cartoon which was set in a "young" DC Universe. As young as it is, of course Barry Alan is still the Flash and of course Wally is still a kid in training. The New 52, on the other hand, did not start a new DCU but rather it undid an existing one and threw away what had made one character great.
It's also worth saying that I did not like DC's bringing back the Barry Alan Flash back in 2008. Firstly, they waited far too long for then current readers to be much impressed. Secondly, why should current readers have a man who'd been out of action for years take the place of the Flash who'd been saving the day for all that time? Barry Alan and Wally West are both great characters and it shouldn't be some kind of competition between them but Flash is not like the Green Lantern Corps where GL is a job description and not a name. If x-guy is the Flash, let him be the one and only!
Quite simply, the past should be honored but it shouldn't control the present.
The easiest way out is just to have multiple continuities. One has a Barry Alan Flash with a Wally West sidekick—he might rename himself "Red Lightning" or some such on manhood. Another continuity has a Wally West Flash with a dead or retired Barry Alan. Marvel successfully tried a similar tactic with their regular and Ultimate lines. The regulars continue to chronicle the soap opera lives of the established versions of the characters whilst Ultimates allow writers freedom to start over and go in directions they normally couldn't take. (Reed Richards and Sue Storm divorcing and Spider-Man staying permanently dead come to mind.)
Wally West and Barry Alan can both work as the Flash but not at the same time. I have the same thoughts concerning Bruce Wayne & Dick Grayson simultaneously being Batman and Steve Rogers & Bucky Barnes both being Captain America. Unless it's a "franchise" multiple name holders weaken the magic.
Well… c'est la vie. Let's look on the bright side. To paraphrase Casablanca, we'll always have fanfiction!
Next chapter should be more on the mark. I already have outlines for Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, and Captain Marvel and can write them in any order. If you have any preferences, just say so in the comments section. Until then. See'ya!
Author's Note: I was hoping to turn this in faster but I spent time spit polishing. Sorry the last one took so long. ^_^ But enough of my breast beating! Let's get to the stuff!
Sir Thames: Glad as always to see you and thanks for the kind words. :-)
Wolmbm: Thank you for your compliments!
As for Kyle Rayner... its worth saying that I was disappointed by the 2000s decisions to bring back deceased heroes and shunting their heirs aside. Its not like how Clark Kent can be the one and only Superman, no. I read Grant Morrison's run on JLA when it first came out, and, a new fan at the time unfamiliar with the larger DCU, was eager to see the "new generation." I liked seeing the Wally West Flash, Kyle Rayner Green Lantern, and the Conner Hawke Green Arrow. I like to imagine that there's these older superheroes embodying truth and justice and then there are these Three Stooges with Wally-AKA Moe-playing babysitter and wondering if he was that useless in his rookie days.
I liked Kyle and I've always been eager to see the DCU advance and come up with new ideas and new characters. That's one of the reasons I am tentatively in favor of the New 52. The reason that Ryan Choi should have had his time as Atom instead of being replaced by Roy Palmer is the same reason I liked Rhonda Pineda as Atom-before she turned evil of course. ;-)
As is however... and as much as I've come to like Kyle, I could think of nowhere to put him on the timeline. The whole point behind him was that Hal went nuts and destroyed the rest of the Corps. With how that implicitly never happened that throws Kyle into limbo.
However... Maybe at some point, the Salak sees a big threat and calls all veteran Lanterns on a mission. Not sure when Hal Jordan and John Stewart might come back, Salak recruits a certain starving artist to serve as an interim Lantern until Earth's regular Corpsmen return. This unnamed artist as also given the promise of full status should he prove worthy. Jordan and Stewart thus save the day in Green Lantern Corps whilst Kyle Rayner takes Green Lantern for himself.
As for Guy Gardner... now I know I need an editor. I can't believe I forgot him! My first comics were the Death, Funeral and Return of Superman trade paperbacks and I was laughing like a madman at Guy's antics there! One thing I must disagree with Geoff Johns is undoing his status as the "moron" of the DC Universe. I actually found him funny as a boorish lout-albeit one with some sense of decency to keep from becoming a cardboard cutout. Besides, he was already established pre-Crisis so he's not going anywhere. Not that I would have made him go away. :-D
And yes I have "blamed" the Crisis on the Barry Alan Flash with how his exploration of the multiverse ultimately, if indirectly, led to the continuity headaches that were dealt with in Crisis on Infinite Earths. New 52 shows how it could have been done better with the Earths mostly separate and crossovers the exception. To emphasize the uniqueness of the Trinity, the new Earth Two's Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are all dead by the time Earth Two stories start in earnest. Yes the other heroes such as Flash and Green Lantern have their doppelgangers but their separateness is emphasized.
In some ways you might even say that Barry Alan dying in the Crisis was the DCU's way of paying him back!
Lord Ultimas: This is your first time here so welcome aboard! ;-) AS for Kyle, see above and as for Aresia and Hal, I see no reason why they in the end shouldn't get together. Flash of course is next though after him its uncertain. I am thinking of Aquaman though. Feel free to submit your suggestions. And yes I do hope to do Teen Titans/Young Justice.
Michael Weyer: Again its alwasy nice to see a new face, glad you liked it. :-) As for amping up the Rogues... sorry buddy but they're pretty much as is. :-(
That's all for now but remember if you have any suggestions for the next chapter just send them in. Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, and Captain Marvel all have their outlines ready to go. Until then God be with you!