| Wally West | |
|---|---|
Wally West, the third Flash. Cover art for The Flash vol. 2, #207, by Michael Turner. |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | as Kid Flash: The Flash #110 (December 1959) as Flash: Crisis on Infinite Earths #12 (March 1986) |
| Created by | John Broome Carmine Infantino |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Wallace Rudolph "Wally" West |
| Place of origin | Keystone City, Kansas |
| Team affiliations | Justice League Teen Titans Young Justice |
| Partnerships | Barry Allen Linda Park |
| Notable aliases | Kid Flash, Kid Lantern,[1] Flash |
| Abilities |
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The Flash (Wally West) is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. He is the first Kid Flash and the third Flash.[2]
On May 6, 2011, IGN ranked Wally West #8 on their list of the "Top 100 Super Heroes of All Time", stating that "Wally has also been a member of the Teen Titans, New Teen Titans and the Justice League.
Contents |
Wally West was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino and introduced in The Flash #110 (1959). The character was the nephew of the existing Flash character's girlfriend and later wife, Iris West. During a visit to the Central City police laboratory where Barry Allen worked, the freak accident that gave Allen his powers repeated itself, bathing West in electrically-charged chemicals. Now possessing the same powers as the Flash, West donned a smaller sized copy of Barry Allen's Flash outfit and became the young crimefighter Kid Flash. Wally had a strained relationship with his own parents and often looked to his beloved aunt and uncle for moral support and guidance.
This costume was later altered (in The Flash #135 [1963]) to one that would make him more visually distinctive. The original red was replaced with a costume that was primarily yellow with red leggings, gloves, and ear-pieces.
In addition to his appearances within the Flash title, the character was used as a member of the newly created Teen Titans, where he became friends with Dick Grayson, then known as Robin, later known as Nightwing.[2] Sometime later, Wally contracted a mysterious disease: the more he used his speed powers, the faster his body would die. Wally subsequently retired from his hero role.
In 2010, West reprised his role as Kid Flash in the Cartoon Network television series Young Justice.
During the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Barry gave his life to save the Earth when destroying the antimatter cannon that was aimed at Earth.[3] Initially unaware of this, Wally was coaxed by Jay Garrick into assisting the heroes against the Anti-Monitor's forces. During the final battle with the Anti-Monitor, Wally was struck by a blast of anti-matter energy, which put his disease into remission. In the aftermath of the conflict, Wally took on his fallen mentor's costume and identity.[4]
The decision by DC Comics' editorial staff to radically change their fictional universe saw a number of changes to the status quo of the character. Wally West became a less powerful new Flash than his predecessor.[2] For example, instead of being able to reach the speed of light, he could run just faster than that of sound.[4] Also, the character had to eat vast quantities of food to maintain his metabolism.[5]
Those changes were quickly followed up and 1987 saw the publication of a new Flash comic, initially written by Mike Baron. These stories focused not only on the Flash's superhero exploits, but the state of Wally's wealth. West won a lottery,[6] bought a large mansion,[7] and became something of a playboy. The character's finances and luck continued to ebb and wane until Flash vol. 2, #62, when his playboy ways ended and his fortunes stabilized.
The 1990s also saw further modifications to the look of the character, with a modified uniform appearing in 1991.[8] This modified costume altered the visual appearance of the traditional Flash costume, with a belt made of two connecting lightning bolts meeting in a "V" at the front (where Allen's costume had a single bolt in a horizontal band), removal of the wings from the top of his boots, a change in the material of his costume, and opaque lenses added to the eyes of his cowl. This modified design utilized elements of the costume designed by artist Dave Stevens for the live action television series, The Flash.
A difficult encounter with a particularly vicious foe, the first Reverse-Flash (Eobard Thawne), also served to increase the speed of the character, forcing him to push past a psychological block he had placed on his powers. To prevent himself from truly "replacing" Barry, Wally had subconsciously limited his speed so that he could never become his mentor's equal, but Thawne's bragging that he would become the true Flash forced Wally past this block as he feared Thawne replacing Barry more than he feared himself doing so.[9] After this encounter he was Barry Allen's equal in speed, and eventually became even faster. Though he still had not been able to recover Barry's vibrational/phasing abilities (he could vibrate through objects but they would explode instead) he gained several new powers that Barry never had. He was able to share/steal speed, use his speed to kinetically upgrade his attacks, and super heal others.
Writer Mark Waid expanded on the character's powers thematically and further redefined the character by introducing the Speed Force, an energy source that served as a pseudo-scientific explanation for his powers and that of other fictional speedsters within the DC Universe. Using this concept as a basis, the character's ability to tap into the Speed Force was used to expand his abilities. The character was now able to lend speed to other objects and people[10][11] and create a costume directly out of Speed Force energy. Traditional powers such as the ability to vibrate through solid objects were also restored.
The 2000s saw writer Geoff Johns revitalize the character by introducing new versions of characters such as Zoom; making significant use of the Rogues; and marrying the character to longtime girlfriend Linda Park.[12]
After Johns left the series, sales dropped significantly and DC editorial decided that it was time for the status quo to change once more. Using the miniseries Infinite Crisis as a narrative device, the character of Wally West and his family were seen leaving for an alternative reality. This allowed the character Bart Allen to become the fourth Flash and headline a relaunched third volume of the title, called The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive.
The critical reaction to this new version of the character was mixed and the character was killed off in the final issue of the short-lived third volume.[2] It was decided that Wally West should return; and the JLA/JSA story "The Lightning Saga" was used to return the character to Earth along with his wife and children, who appear to have aged several years.
The character next appeared in All Flash #1 (2007), seeking vengeance on those who had killed Bart Allen. This was followed by The Flash vol. 2, which resumed publication after the long hiatus with issue #231 (October 2007). The series found the character struggling with trying to raise his two super-powered twins, plagued by accelerated growth and their inexperience in the heroic game, a task made more difficult by Wally's unemployment, his inability to keep a steady job, and the mistrust of the League for his decision to bring two children into the fold. The series was canceled with issue #247 (February 2009).
In Final Crisis, the character was reunited with Barry Allen, who had returned to life.
Interviews with The Flash: Rebirth artist Ethan Van Sciver revealed that the character would adopt a newly-designed costume in the limited series that reintroduces Barry Allen as the Flash.[13] The new costume is heavily inspired by the original changes made to the suit in Flash vol. 2, #50 (cowl lenses, "wingless" boots, the belt-line V-shape, and the darker red color of the suit), which were slipping in and out of usage when the character was drawn by different artists. Wally's costume has also been given a straight cowl which cuts off at the bottom of the nose, similar to Batman's. Wally has also gained a new symbol identical to the symbol worn by his animated counterpart in the Justice League animated series, to further distinguish Wally from Barry Allen. After the end of "The Flash: Rebirth", Barry Allen became the star of a new ongoing "Flash" series, with Wally West making only one, out-of-costume appearance during the series' 12-issue run.[14].
Following the events of Flashpoint, the timeline for the DC Universe has been rewritten. Barry Allen has never been married to Iris West, and it would appear that Wally West's time as Kid Flash/The Flash no longer occurred. When asked about Wally's whereabouts, DC creators have had no comment, and Dan DiDio has stated that the Wally is currently benched. Current Flash writers Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato, however, have said they have a proposal for Wally on Didio's desk.
Wally's primary superpower is his ability to be able to control the speed of which his body vibrates and to move at super speed, which he uses primarily to run at super-human velocities. This super speed is derived from his connection to the Speed Force: a vaguely defined extra-dimensional energy force from which most speedster heroes draw their powers (while the original Flash, Jay Garrick, can draw upon the Speed Force, Jay is one of the few speedsters that is a metahuman first, allowing him to keep a degree of super speed even when the Speed Force was cut off from the others).
While many hypothesize that the Speed Force is to an extent sentient, most utilize it primarily as just a tool, drawing upon it and using it when necessary; however, Max Mercury, a veteran speedster, has been able to commune and communicate with it, making it his life's goal to unlocking its secrets with many calling him the "Zen Master of the Speed Force". The Speed Force serves as the ultimate measure of velocity in the DC Universe. They are often referred to in terms of barriers: Sound Barrier, Light Barrier, Time Barrier, Dimensional Barrier, and finally the Speed Force Barrier.
While most to all speedsters can make a connection and draw upon this force, West mainlines power from the Speed Force itself and cannot be cut off from the source, unlike the others (as of 2009, Barry Allen has recently departed from his extended time within the Speed Force itself essentially "coming back to life" and while it is not known whether he shares the unbreakable connection to the Speed Force that Wally does, it stands to reason that he might). This connection to the Speed Force allows him additional abilities than other speedsters such as lending and taking speed (which allows others to temporarily utilize the Speed Force in different ways ranging from becoming speedsters themselves to bolstering others metabolisms and healing abilities, allowing them to recover from injuries in a fraction of the normal time), as well as absorbing kinetic energy in a less direct manner; he once absorbed the kinetic energy of the entire planet Earth while standing at the North Pole when his teammates were forced to move the planet to prevent possible earthquakes. Wally has also found a way to create a costume out of pure Speed Force energy, unlike other speedsters who use conventional costumes.
Like all Flashes, Wally is surrounded by a protective aura that allows him to resist the heat created by the friction of moving at super speed as well as other environmental consequences of moving at such velocities. It is not known how Wally is able to circumvent the damage moving at such great speeds would normally have on the environment, but it has been hypothesized that his protective aura allows him to "side step" such environmental consequences. Because of his powers and connection to the Speed Force, he can run at varying speeds for extended periods of time without needing rest or causing damage to his body. It is his connection to the Speed Force that constantly rejuvenates him while running making it so he does not literally feed upon his own body to generate the energy for super speed. Even so, as a consequence of his sped up metabolism, he finds it necessary to eat often and in great quantities to help supply the chemical energy needed to run like he does.
Using his abilities, Wally can run at such speed that he can run on water, create powerful vortices with his arms or body, and vibrate at such speeds that he becomes invisible to the naked eye. Wally can also match the vibrational constant of solid objects and vibrate through them, passing his molecules through the spaces in between the atoms and molecules of the matter he's vibrating through. Unlike other speedsters, once he became one with the Speed Force some of his abilities changed, one of which is that the objects Wally is vibrating though become atomically unstable and explode a second or two later. While this has its drawbacks, Wally now tends to use this offensively in battle.
Wally can also use his speed in a variety of clever ways in combat from creating a powerful whirlwind/tornado lifting and trapping his foe (which, if he chooses, can be used to knock his opponent out by robbing them of their oxygen supply), to binding and trapping his foes with whatever's lying around before they have a chance to react, to pummeling them with hundreds of super speed punches in a few seconds. Like many of the more powerful speedsters, he is able to run at such speeds where he is able to travel through time, although being able to control and fine tune his temporal destinations is quote "extremely tricky".
Wally is the fastest of all the Flashes, arguably even the fastest being that has ever existed and it has been remarked that Wally and Barry Allen are the only two speedsters that were fast enough to even outrun death.[11] However, now that Barry Allen is back, his "Fastest Man Alive" title may be in dispute.
Over the years, Wally's speed has fluctuated from his career as Kid Flash, where he could run beyond the speed of light, to the beginning of his career as the Flash, in which he was limited to a top speed of approximately 700 mph (1,100 km/h).[15]
Wally's father, Rudolph West[16] (a Manhunter agent), was presumed deceased following an explosion in Cuba during the Invasion series. He reappeared years later at, among other places, his ex-wife Mary West's (Wally's mother) second wedding. They both later attended Wally and Linda's wedding.
While they disagree regularly, Wally has developed an odd friendship/respect with Batman, who has more than once made it clear that those feelings are mutual.
Like his predecessors, West is good friends with the Green Lantern of his time (Kyle Rayner). Wally also retained a close friendship with Kyle's predecessor, Hal Jordan, who often looked out for Wally even while he was the Spectre. His best friend is Dick Grayson, who served with Wally on the Teen Titans as the first Robin and served as Wally's best man at his wedding.
The members of the New Teen Titans, the team Wally served on as Kid Flash, has reappeared several times throughout his life. Although they are not always in close contact with one another, the team considers each other family; Wally is no exception.
Wally has developed a very extensive supporting cast over the duration of his comic series that began in 1987. It should be noted that a few of them are former villains and adversaries, such as Pied Piper, Speed Demon, and Chunk.
In John Byrne's graphic novel Superman & Batman: Generations 2, characters from the DC Universe are shown to age in real time. In this series, Wally appears as Kid Flash in 1964,[19] which is the year he first appeared as a founding member of the Teen Titans (though in this version, he is a founding member of the Justice League). By 1986, Wally has retired and been replaced by the fourth Flash (Carrie Allen, the daughter of Barry Allen).[20] Wally's son, Jay West, in turn, replaces Carrie in 2008 to become the fifth Flash.[21]
Flash Annual #7 (1994) shows a Flash who has become a superstar celebrity and film director.
In Mark Waid's Kingdom Come, Wally becomes an embodiment of the Speed Force, but at the cost of his humanity until the events of The Kingdom. His twin children, Barry and Iris West, inherit their father's speed, but only Iris decides to become a superhero, a new Kid Flash. In Waid's The Life Story of the Flash, "written" by Iris Allen, she describes her namesake in a positive light and Barry West as "a tragedy."
The Flash vol. 2, #150–159 (1999–2000) introduces a version of Wally named "Walter West", also known as the Dark Flash, who appeared in the main DC universe after Wally and Linda were apparently killed in a fight with Abra Kadabra after he tried to dispose of Linda by sending her into Walter's reality, prompting Walter to travel back to Wally's world to take his place in recognition of his other self's sacrifice. This version of Wally is revealed to be an older, more powerful and experienced version from another reality within Hypertime (Although he only revealed his true identity to Jay Garrick, Donna Troy and Superman so that he could work with their various teams). It is revealed that this version of Wally was unable to save Linda from death at Kobra's hands. This made Walter a darker hero similar to Batman in The Dark Knight Returns storyline. After Walter's presence in the main DC Universe starts to cause other realities in Hypertime to bleed over into the main one, Superman and Wonder Woman force Walter to transverse Hypertime and return home. Although he leaves the main DC Universe, he appears to never make it back to his own reality. He seems to go from reality to reality with no success. After Hypertime was abandoned by DC, Walter West's continued existence becomes unclear.
An Elseworlds tale in Superboy Annual #1 (1994) shows a Wally West that had lost the use of his legs and had them replaced with bionic ones. With his artificial legs, Wally was not able to run at high speeds, though he could still move his arms at super-speed. This version of Wally died saving Green Lantern Hal Jordan from a yellow projectile.
In JLA: Another Nail, Wally West (as Kid Flash) makes a brief appearance when all time periods meld together. He is flying with Wonder Girl (Donna Troy).
In the "Armageddon 2001" crossover, Wally's future shows he has married and fathered a son. All three move into the Witness Protection Program to escape a mobster that can discern secrets with a touch. His son gains his speed but not his protective aura. After defeating the mobster and his older rogue's gallery, Wally manages to donate all of his speed to his son, granting the much needed aura.[22]
In the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event, Wally West acts as an assistant and cameraman for his aunt Iris, who in this reality is a television reporter. Investigating Central City's hero, Citizen Cold, Wally discovers that his true identity is that of a former low-level criminal. Citizen Cold confronts him before he can reveal this information, and freezes him in a block of ice.[23] Wally was a childhood friend of Pied Piper, who arrives at Wally's lair and discovers Wally is killed by Citizen Cold. Pied Piper takes Wally's place in uncovering evidence of Citizen Cold's true identity.[24] Afterwards, a grave for Wally is held by his aunt Iris along with her husband John.[25]
Wally West's stories from The Flash vol. 2 have been reprinted in several trade paperbacks.
| Title | Material collected | Publication date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Flash: Born to Run | Flash vol. 2, #62–65, Annual #8 Speed Force #1 Flash 80-Page Giant #1 |
June 1999 | 978-1563895043 |
| Flash: The Return of Barry Allen | Flash vol. 2, #74–79 | July 1996 | 978-1563892684 |
| Impulse: Reckless Youth | Flash vol. 2, #92–94 Impulse #1–6 |
April 1997 | 978-1563892769 |
| The Flash: Terminal Velocity | Flash vol. 2, #0, 95–100 | September 1995 | 978-1563892493 |
| The Flash: Dead Heat | The Flash vol. 2, #108–111 Impulse #10–11 |
August 2000 | 978-1563896231 |
| The Flash: Race Against Time | The Flash vol. 2, #112–118 | July 2001 | 978-1563897214 |
| The Flash: Emergency Stop | The Flash vol. 2, #130–135 | January 2009 | 978-1401221775 |
| The Flash: The Human Race | The Flash vol. 2, #136–141 "Flash of Two Worlds" from Secret Origins #50 |
June 2009 | 978-1401222390 |
| The Flash: Wonderland | The Flash vol. 2, #164–169 | October 2007 | 978-1401214890 |
| The Flash: Blood Will Run | The Flash vol. 2, #170–176 The Flash Secret Files #3 |
June 2002 | 978-1563898792 |
| The Flash: Blood Will Run (2nd ed.) | The Flash vol. 2, #170–176 The Flash Secret Files #3 The Flash: Iron Heights |
February 2008 | 978-1401216474 |
| The Flash: Rogues | The Flash vol. 2, #177–182 | February 2003 | 978-1563899508 |
| The Flash: Crossfire | The Flash vol. 2, #183–191 | March 2004 | 978-1401201951 |
| The Flash: Blitz | The Flash vol. 2, #192–200 | August 2004 | 978-1401203351 |
| The Flash: Ignition | The Flash vol. 2, #201–206 | March 2005 | 978-1401204631 |
| The Flash: The Secret of Barry Allen | The Flash vol. 2, #207–211, 213–217 | August 2005 | 978-1401207236 |
| The Flash: Rogue War | The Flash vol. 2, #½, 212, 218, 220–225 | January 2006 | 978-1401209247 |
| The Flash: The Wild Wests | The Flash vol. 2, #231–237 | August 2008 | HC: 978-1401218287 |
| The Flash Omnibus by Geoff Johns Vol. 1 | The Flash vol. 2, #164-176 The Flash: Our Worlds at War #1 The Flash Secret Files #3 The Flash: Iron Heights |
May 2011 | HC: 978-1401230685 |
Collected editions featuring the other Flashes Jay Garrick and Barry Allen as well as Wally West:
| Title | Material collected | Publication date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Greatest Flash Stories Ever Told | Flash Comics #1, 66, 86 Comic Cavalcade #24 Showcase #4 The Flash #107, 113, 119, 124, 125, 137, 143, 148, 179 Five-Star Super-Hero Spectacular Flash vol. 2, #2 |
February 1991 April 1992 |
HC: 978-0930289812 SC: 978-0930289843 |
| The Flash: The Greatest Stories Ever Told | Flash Comics #86, 104 The Flash #123, 155, 165, 179 Flash vol. 2, #91 DC Special Series #11 |
August 2007 | 978-1401213725 |
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