Who is your favorite Flash and why?

[SBPrime]

-flails- Hands down Wally. Give it up for the only flash able to survive a light-speed run~. I like Bart as Impulse because he reminds me of what a true-speedster is like but Wally definitely has more depth and is a better character overall~
-glances about- And uh...Jay Garrick...when I think of him I think, "True Hero" because of his ideals but uh...in Infinite Crisis when he helped Wally and Bart pulled Superboy Prime into the speed force -laughs- I always see in my mind's eye, when I hear Jay Garrick, the way he bounced/ fell about when he let go of Superboy Prime after saying he couldn't keep up.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Wally. He's the Flash that I grew around with the comics and Justice League cartoon. I was totally down for Bart taking over the mantle and was a good concept with a flawed execution but Wally was still the better Flash. I'm also open to Barry's return as well.

 

[Phatman]

Wally. I've been reading him since The New Teen Titans. It was great to watch his character grow and change throught the years and inherit the mantle of his mentor. The Waid/Larocque issues are some of my favorites (The definitive run of Flash IMO) and easily stand the test of time when it comes to storytelling and art. When I think of the Flash, I think of Wally's Flash; he has the most personality and humor out of all the characters who use that name

I like Jay Garrick, His costume design is cool and He also has a great personality. But Barry Allen just never worked for me. While he relevant historically (Ushered in the silver age, with his birth and closed it with his death) he never really "grabbed" me the way Wally or Jay did. His costume design is bland and dated, his personality is that of a brick, and he just had little chemistry with any other charcacters. He was great for the silver age, but I don't think he'll work out as the Flash today. He's a character from another era.

 

[hippie_hunter]

But Barry Allen just never worked for me. While he relevant historically (Ushered in the silver age, with his birth and closed it with his death) he never really "grabbed" me the way Wally or Jay did. His costume design is bland and dated,

Wait...how the hell can you criticize Barry's costume design when his costume looks almost exactly the same as Wally and Barts'?

Seriously, the only difference between Barry's costume and that of his successors was the belt and the boots lacking those stick thingys.

his personality is that of a brick, and he just had little chemistry with any other charcacters. He was great for the silver age, but I don't think he'll work out as the Flash today. He's a character from another era.

That's a rather piss poor argument on account that Hal Jordan was the Green Lantern for the Silver Age and whatnot but look at what Geoff Johns has done with the character. He's done a great job bringing him back to the modern era.

And Barry does have chemistry with other characters. He's an important part of the Flash mythos by being the father figure to Wally and grandfather to Bart. They will be heavily affected by his return. Barry was also very close to Zatanna, Hal Jordan, Oliver Queen, and Black Canary. There are going to be characters, particularly the other Flashes, that will be heavily affected by Barry's return.

Seriously, I can't fathom why people can't be open minded about Barry Allen's return? It worked for Hal Jordan, it can work for Barry, especially since Johns in charge of bringing him back. It's not like Wally is going to get completely screwed over.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

That's a rather piss poor argument on account that Hal Jordan was the Green Lantern for the Silver Age and whatnot but look at what Geoff Johns has done with the character. He's done a great job bringing him back to the modern era.

Yeah, instead of being dull and boring Johns made him combative and arrogant.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Yeah, instead of being dull and boring Johns made him combative and arrogant.

Hey, the stories are good. That's what matters the most, plus combative and arrogant is more exciting than dull and boring.

 

[ironman29758]

Barry or Bart their characters seemed very intresting.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

Barry was MY generation's Flash, so he'll always have my vote.

 

[Blader5489]

Wait...how the hell can you criticize Barry's costume design when his costume looks almost exactly the same as Wally and Barts'?

More importantly, how can anyone criticize Barry's costume but praise Jay's?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Jay's looks more comfortable, at least. Maybe comfort rates highly with Phatman.

 

[hippie_hunter]

More importantly, how can anyone criticize Barry's costume but praise Jay's?

I don't see anything wrong with Jay's, as a matter in fact, I'd be pissed if they redesigned Jay.

But seriously, he has no problem with Wally and Bart's costume, but he has a problem with Barry's. That makes no freaking sense.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I always thought Barry's boots were stupid. Other than that, yeah, basically the same costume on all three.

 

[flash13]

I grew up with Wally West and while i don't dislike the other three Wally is way better

 

[Sawyer]

Wally West. Mainly because of Michael Rosenbaum's kickass potrayal on JL/JLU.

 

[flash13]

i see Wally is the most popular DC should see this

 

[hippie_hunter]

i see Wally is the most popular DC should see this

What DC probably sees is that the Flash was a decent seller for DC but they wanted to do better so they relaunched the series with Bart as the Flash. It failed miserably, so they brought back Wally according to fan demand. That too failed miserably.

While on the other hand you have Green Lantern who is doing fantastically in sales thanks to Geoff Johns' "reboot" of the line. So thinking like a business does, why not repeat the very same success of Green Lantern with the Flash?

Why continue with the direction that has proven to have failed with the Flash? No doubly created by piss poor editorial decisions and the various writing teams of varying quality. Instead of saying "Hey, we totally ****ed up with the Flash" just simply apply the Green Lantern formula onto the Flash of handing the keys to top tier writer Geoff Johns and a top tier artist. And "reboot" the line with the Silver Age variation of the character leading the line. It is literally an excuse to print money and it'll probably boost the character's stature enough to help push a Flash movie (starring Barry Allen).

 

[yenaled]

The reboot will bring increased sales even if Wally remains the fans favourite.

 

[Phatman]

More importantly, how can anyone criticize Barry's costume but praise Jay's?

Well I was comparing Barry's costume design to Wally's second suit, The one with no eyepices darker reds and the gloss coating and the belt from the TV show. That suit was the coolest flash costume to me. While I was reading Flash (issue 73-79 on they had a picture of wally running with Barry in "The return of Barry Allen". The old design looked dated with it's dull colors and winged boots. The other one just "popped" off the page.

I always liked Jay's design because of all the elements coming together. The mercury helmet, the lightning bolt and the red and blue had a great style to them. Very colorful and dynamic.

I never liked the later version of Wally's/bart's suit. The darker reds just work better IMO.

That being said, Wally is my favorite flash. I loved him in the comics and I loved him in the JL/JLU cartoons. DC never needed to replace him as THE flash, they just need to let a good creative team have another crack at him instead of tryiing to shove a dead guy down our throats.

 

[hippie_hunter]

That being said, Wally is my favorite flash. I loved him in the comics and I loved him in the JL/JLU cartoons. DC never needed to replace him as THE flash, they just need to let a good creative team have another crack at him instead of tryiing to shove a dead guy down our throats.

As I've already said, The Flash with Wally in the lead role was never a very high seller to begin with. It was always just a decent one.

After the reboot of the title with Bart in the lead, they brought back Wally and the sales of the title have just been going down, even with good writers like Peyer and Burnett.

So instead they're repeating the success they've had with Green Lantern, and with Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver starting it up, it will sell. And once the title relaunches after Flash: Rebirth, it will be given to a top tier artist to go along with Johns and that too will sell.

And with Flash given more prominence in the comics world, just like Green Lantern, we'll probably start seeing a Flash movie start taking a more serious development, just like Green Lantern, very likely starring Barry Allen, just like Hal Jordan.

Afterall, DC, like Marvel is a business. They're going to go in directions that sell (for the most part), not in directions that Internet fanboys want.

 

[Silicon Surfer]

Barry was the Flash when I started reading comics although one of the first I ever remember reading was the first meeting between the JLA and JSA. This made it easy for me to accept Jay as the Flash also since it was that way from the beginning. Barry was the Flash for more years than Wally as well so duration is a factor too. To me Wally never was the Flash and never can be. I liked him well enough as Kid Flash though

 

[CLARKY]

The first Flash I knew was Barry Allen, and I've always loved him a lot. If they were going to do a movie, I was "of course they have to use Barry". Nevertheless, Wally has been Flash for 20 years, and he was not a replacement as the common term suggests but was the heir of Barry. With time, Wally became everything Barry was, in much better, and in my opinion Wally represents/is the maturity of the character, the idea of it.
I came to like and love Wally for the same reasons I liked Barry, and now I say "Wally West IS the Flash".
Favorite of mine.
the only thing is that I think that instead of bring him into the police and make him work in the garage, I would have moved him slowly to the labs.
Wally all the way.

 

[Franklin Richards]

Barry Allen. He's like Quincy with Super-Speed. Take that you CSI *****es!!!


Being a Hal fan and over 30 means I actually remember Barry. He's always been more cerebral than Wally and I miss that aspect of the Flash storytelling. Wally was always like Bruce Lee when it came to the Speedforce. Barry was Sherlock Holmes. I still love Wally, it's just that Barry was my Flash.


:gl: :gl: :gl:

 

[yenaled]

I don't think Barry was ever used like that though.

In theory a CSI/Quincy aspect to a Speedster would be good but no-one ever used that aspect of his life in the book.

It's really my only hope for his return that we can get more of that aspect of his life over.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Meh. CSI-style shows have always bored me.

 

[Phatman]

Meh. CSI-style shows have always bored me.

CSI has never been my cup of tea either. It's an interesting idea, but I don't know how it'd work with a speedster. Nightwing Maybe, but I don't think The Flash would fit into a CSI/Quincy type formula.