The Wally West mess

 When the New 52 was announced, it was advertised as a relaunch, not a reboot. A lot of readers (me included) thought that even if the Flashpoint event changed the past and the Wildstorm (former Image line turn into DC imprint) characters were going to be incorporated in the DC Universe, continuity was mostly the same. But when it was finally released, some characters continued their adventures from were they left off (the Green Lanterns and the Bat-Family), others changed more drastically (Superman and Teen Titans) and some very popular characters were nowhere to be found. One of them was Wally West, original Kid Flash and the Flash for more than 20 years.


The only Flash Family members of the New 52 (main Earth) were Barry Allen (the Flash) and Bart Allen (Kid Flash). Jay Garrick (original Flash from the 40’s), Jesse Quick, Max Mercury and Wally West banished from continuity (a younger version of Jay Garrick returned in Earth 2). It was strange that relatively new characters such as Kyle Rayner and Damian Wayne remained unchanged (luckily!) and Wally disappeared.

He should have been an original character

Fans asked when would he return, but DC editorial refused to answer. Earlier this year, it was finally announced that he was coming back… but different. In a move that I clearly don’t understand, DC turned him from ginger to African-American instead of creating a new character. This is a Wally West in name only and that’s what angers fans of the previous version. 

I commend DC for creating an African-American speedster (besides XS). Most American comic book characters are Caucasian and diversity is always welcome. But DC should have made him new character instead of changing an existing one, like John Stewart (not the Daily Show host), Ryan Choi or Ultimate Marvel's Miles Morales. As he is now, will live under the shadow of Barry Allen and the previous version of Wally. If he was a new character, fans of the previous version will accept him and new fans will enjoy him as much as they do now. I think it is confusing for new readers to read a New 52 Flash comic, liking Wally and Google him for information and having a bunch of pictures with a red-haired Caucasian guy.  The same (but in reverse) applies to viewers of Justice League or Young Justice TV shows.

He should have been Wally West

I think the problem here doesn’t have to do with Wally; it has to do with Barry. DC hasn’t been able to justify Barry Allen as the main Flash in the comics; this is why he was alone when the New 52 started (and why Wally was pushed aside in the old universe). DC fears having told Wally share the same universe as Barry. Maybe this was the reason they changed Wally so much. If they want only Barry as the Flash on the main Earth is fine, the N52 Wally (as a new character) can be Kid Flash and Bart can return as Impulse (a much better identity for him). Wally could have been introduced as the Flash in Justice League 3000. At first it seemed that way but later it was revealed to be Barry instead (seriously, the are like 3 versions of Barry running around). Had the JL3000 Flash turned out to be Wally, he could have freed Barry from sharing the title in the main universe. They can still do it since the JL3000 world is the future of an alternate Earth (and the Flash is dead). I enjoyed a lot of old universe Wally stories and I hope to enjoy the New 52 version as well, but I would have preferred to have both version running around with new stories coming out for each. Old Wally appeared in Multiversity: The Just (highly recommended) and is set to feature in the Speed Force miniseries (part of the Convergence event) starting in April.

As a bonus, here's a picture of New52 Wally as fans of his expected him (might do a recolor of the old Wally as he appears in the New 52 later on).