I got used to Kyle as the new Green Lantern, Tim Drake as the new Robin, Connor Hawke as the new Green Arrow, Cassandra Cain as the new Batgirl, Pieter Cross as the new Dr. Mid-Nite, Michael Holt as the new Mr. Terrific, the android Tyler as the new Hourman, Rick Tyler as the new Hourman (for the second time) after him, Johnny Thunder as a part of the new Thunderbolt, etc. Granted, I wasn't really attached to many of the previous bearers of those mantles beforehand, but of the four I did know (GL, GA, Batgirl, and Robin), I came to like the more recent bearers as much as or more than the previous ones. Kyle's a better GL to me than Hal ever was, likely because the stakes tend to get higher as time goes on and Kyle weathered the storm better than Hal could, Connor's about even with Ollie for me, Cassandra far exceeds Babs as Batgirl (though Babs got herself a nice, new niche as Oracle that she's done quite well with), and Tim's better than Dick and way better than Jason in the areas that count for me.
In the Flash's case, however, I just think there's a hell of a lot more stories that could've been told with Wally before he really needed retiring. His story feels unfinished to me. Being happy with Linda and the kids wasn't an end to me, it was a beginning of a new and interesting chapter in Wally's life that I, for one, would've loved to follow. Who knows, maybe I'll still get the chance. I'll find out in about 2 weeks, I guess.
