Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2014 1:19:37 GMT -5
Hey all. about Three years ago DC Comics rebooted their Entire continuity leaving some poickets open while completely altering others. Flash was a section that underwent several major changes.
Barry allen and iris west were no longer married and in fact had never gone beyond a first date.
Wally West iris' Nephew had never met barry allen never became Kid flash and so had never grown to become The Flash himself.
Barry was now dating his co-worker in the Central City Crime Lab Patty Spivot(Marriages in the NEW52 have been outlawed by Dan Didio(t) (Pronounced De-Idiot!)
Jay Garrick was no longer Barry's Inspiration for getting into police work (and thus being in a position where he'd get struck by lightning and become the Flash)
barry's origin would be retold with a much more tragic beginning involving the death of his Mother and the imprisonment of his father. (for a while it would even be hinted that Henry Allen wasn't even Barry's true biological father at all)
There are so many other alterations to the Flash timeline that I can barely keep it all straight. let's just say that the changes have not sat well with me.
Now this is not to say I'm against Barry being an active part of the DCU. I like Barry and his job has become far more relevant and interesting to the general public than it was when he was first created.
nor am I against Barry being the headliner of the Flash book at present (Wally had the lead from 1987-2009. That's 22 years!)
I was very much against DC's Wally Who? attitude and i'm growing increasingly less enthusiastic about NuWally.
At any rate, as a way of venting my frustrations I created Wally West Appreciation Day. A monthly Blog that would coincide with the Month's current New52 Flash Comic's release
In each installment I would explore the stories and adventures of the Pre-Flashpoint Wally West. None of these posts would be against Barry allen Pre or Post-Flashpoint. nor would they be directed at attacking NuWally (and believe me! that's hard!)
Instead, it would keep to positive themes celebrating Wally West's career from 1959-2009)
I first created the idea in 2011 when the New52 took hold but i didn't make it a regular message board thread until the following year. another year later and I would add it to the Hall of Justice forum. Now, i'm hoping to make a home for it here as well. so (despite the fact that it's a day late) I hereby welcome you to Wally West Appreciation Day and I hope you enjoy it.
now then,
This week,
Jumps ahead! not a meager five years as with future's End but a FULL TEN!!
Specifically i refer to the Ten Year look ahead in the 1991 DC Annuals event Armageddon 2001. The framing story is that of Waverider, A future physicist turned Time Traveler who's seeking to stop Monarch the Totalitarian ruler of the future from coming to power. Waverider's only clue about monbarch's identity is that he's a former hero who turned on his allies and destroyed all the other super-heroes in the early 1990's Waverider arrives in 1991 and finds that he can learn a person's future when he touches them. (he finds however, that repeated touches to the same person show different futures with each successive event.
All caught up? GOOD!
So, onto FLASH Annual #4
It's 1991 keystone City and Wally is in the Middle of ....
GASP!!
FLASH APPRECIATION DAY!!!!
(Wally isn't specified as he's the only Flash operating at the time It's also Interesting to note that despite the fact that this issue occurs after Wally alters his suit from Barry's old uniform to his own shiny suit, his mask doesn't have the white Eye-shields)
Wally of course is enjoying every minute of it seeing his image on everything in sight and gleefully works the crowd signing autographs and photo-oping with anyone interested. Wally's friends of course simply sit and smile on the panel table wondering how they can get through the day with their sanity intact.
Waverider arrives on the scene and adopts the guise of a Flash fan looking for an autograph as a young woman approaches flash about some papers she has in her purse. Before they can continue Waverider touches flash and the scene shifts to a suburban home some ten years later.
This is the home of Michael and Diane Edwards and their son David. Michael, (Great name by the way!
) arrives home from work, Diane is contemplating Spaghetti for dinner and David wants to go outside and play. Diane is concerned, but Micahel reassures her that David knows "the Rules".
Still, Michael watches David through the window as the youngster rides his bicycle up and down the street and Michael starts to reflect on his life up to this point.
Michael is Wally West. His son has inherited his Super Speed powers but without the protectve Aura the shields him from wind-friction. Wally doesn't go into detail regarding why he changed his name and ditched the Flash identity but he seems content with his current situation. and he still uses his powers at home zipping through the catalogues in his house in a blur. Diane seems anxious about him doing it in view of other people citing "a guy in a coat' who was around a few days earlier. Mike dismisses the chance that anyone saw hims "speed-reading" but moves to close the curtain. unfortunately everything's about to be revealed in a major way. David sees a young girl chasing after her ball which bounces into the street there's a bus coming however and dabid can tell that the Bus driver and the girl won't see each other until it's too late. david kicks into high gear despite the painful burns he suffers as a result and saves the girl Mike/Wally races out and scoops David up into his arms and whisks him away to a hospital diane hears about the accident and runs into the house unaware of an old man who sits outside with a malicious look of triumph on his face.
It's with diane's reflection that we get the story on Wally's new life as Michael Edwards. Diane was Bonnie Blackmon Bonnie had just been working for a company called Diogenes Industries for two weeks. She had discovered some papers in the file room tha she realized were not meant for her eyes and was frightened by what they contained. while taking a walk to think over her dilemma she meets Wally on Flash Appreciation Day and before she knows it she tells him everything. It turns out her boss and his son had that ability to autmatically know a persons deepest and darkest secrets and dreams when they shook hands with the individual allowing them to manipulate anyone they dealt with. Wally took down Diogenes and with bonnie's testimony and evidence sent him to Prison for life and fell in love in the process. But Diogenes touches both of them after the trial and gains knowledge of everything and everyone they care about.
By the time wally and Bonnie were married diogenes' underworld network had threatened her father beaten her brother and, on their wedding day, killed Wally's Mother. Bonnie used her status as a witness in a major trial to enterthem into the Witness relocation program and wally and bonnie west became Michael and diane edwards and Flash permanently retired shortly thereafter they had a son. Which brings us to the present. The man outside is revealed to be leonard smart and he visits Diogenes in prison. within a handshake Diogenes learns all of Snart's information on the Edwards/Wests and asks him for another favorr.
Meanwhile diane joins Mike at the hospital learning that David should recover from his injuries. however, Wally West is paged over the Hospital's PA and Wally finds himself on the phone with diogenes. Diogenes wants the Flash and to ensure Wally co-operates with him he has david abducted from the hospital.
One of Diogenes men is at STAR Labs and has Jerry and Tina Hostage. Jerry has been coerced into building devices for Diogenes that would affect Flash. Tina accuses Jerry of doing it out of revenge for her affair with Wally but in fact Jerry did it because diogenes threatened tina's life if Jerry didn't co-operate. The devices Jerry designed are designed to steal all of Flash's speed powers. and they are used against wally as he fights several of the old rogues including Weather Wizard, the Turtle's old henchmen Sloe Stedy and Sprynt, Rainbow Raider, Golden Glider and Chilblaine, and finally Paradox (the guy from before in the Black and White costume.He carries a staffed with an hourglass the sand in the hourglass can slow or speed up time. Paradox gets an advantage on Wally but uses the time to gloat and suggests that he used his sick tricks on wally's son. this throws Flash into a rage and he almost kills Paradox but instead makes him tell wally where his son is.
a short while later wally as himself arrives Tina tells him David is fine and wally warns Diogenes against using the machine to give Matthew wally's powers but diogenes refuses to listen. at first it seems to be working but the power instead of channeling into him making him a super-speedster they age him incredibly fast killing him in seconds. Diogenes himself dies from the shock at seeing his son age and die in front of his eyes. Tina and Jerry inform Wally that the machine can restore all his powers back to him but wally has other ideas. He visits his son in the Hospital but when David tries to a polarize for breaking the no-powers in public rule Wally instead reassures his son that he did the right thing and earned his place as part of the (Flash) family. giving him a Flash Ring. shortly after we're back at the edwards house but the name on the Mailbox now says West and Wally has returned to his original name and look (He colored his hair brown as Michael Edwards) Wally and bonnie are watching David tear around the neighborhood on his bike at full speed wearing his Flash ring. It's at this moment that Waverider breaks contact with Flash. The break distracts Flash and Diogenes catches up to Bonnie to talk to her wally remembers nothing of what Waverider has seen so he's unaware of Bonnie's discovery or the danger she's in. passing Diogenes off as her boyfriend.
THE END?!?
Sadly it must be for poor Bonnie as her knowledge will undoubtably cost her her life. Waverider doesn't seem to do anything that will ensure her survival (Sloppy work there!) and the rest of Flash Appreciation Day goes on.
This was one of those issues that was both part of a larger story and yet was also largely a one and done adventure as well. the writing and characterizations were pretty good. The open ended-ness of the story screams for a follow up or resolution (we enver see any headlines or TV news reports that indicate Bonnie's final fate in the regular series.
Well i gotta run off to work!
See you all next month!
Barry allen and iris west were no longer married and in fact had never gone beyond a first date.
Wally West iris' Nephew had never met barry allen never became Kid flash and so had never grown to become The Flash himself.
Barry was now dating his co-worker in the Central City Crime Lab Patty Spivot(Marriages in the NEW52 have been outlawed by Dan Didio(t) (Pronounced De-Idiot!)
Jay Garrick was no longer Barry's Inspiration for getting into police work (and thus being in a position where he'd get struck by lightning and become the Flash)
barry's origin would be retold with a much more tragic beginning involving the death of his Mother and the imprisonment of his father. (for a while it would even be hinted that Henry Allen wasn't even Barry's true biological father at all)
There are so many other alterations to the Flash timeline that I can barely keep it all straight. let's just say that the changes have not sat well with me.
Now this is not to say I'm against Barry being an active part of the DCU. I like Barry and his job has become far more relevant and interesting to the general public than it was when he was first created.
nor am I against Barry being the headliner of the Flash book at present (Wally had the lead from 1987-2009. That's 22 years!)
I was very much against DC's Wally Who? attitude and i'm growing increasingly less enthusiastic about NuWally.
At any rate, as a way of venting my frustrations I created Wally West Appreciation Day. A monthly Blog that would coincide with the Month's current New52 Flash Comic's release
In each installment I would explore the stories and adventures of the Pre-Flashpoint Wally West. None of these posts would be against Barry allen Pre or Post-Flashpoint. nor would they be directed at attacking NuWally (and believe me! that's hard!)
Instead, it would keep to positive themes celebrating Wally West's career from 1959-2009)
I first created the idea in 2011 when the New52 took hold but i didn't make it a regular message board thread until the following year. another year later and I would add it to the Hall of Justice forum. Now, i'm hoping to make a home for it here as well. so (despite the fact that it's a day late) I hereby welcome you to Wally West Appreciation Day and I hope you enjoy it.
now then,
This week,
Jumps ahead! not a meager five years as with future's End but a FULL TEN!!
Specifically i refer to the Ten Year look ahead in the 1991 DC Annuals event Armageddon 2001. The framing story is that of Waverider, A future physicist turned Time Traveler who's seeking to stop Monarch the Totalitarian ruler of the future from coming to power. Waverider's only clue about monbarch's identity is that he's a former hero who turned on his allies and destroyed all the other super-heroes in the early 1990's Waverider arrives in 1991 and finds that he can learn a person's future when he touches them. (he finds however, that repeated touches to the same person show different futures with each successive event.
All caught up? GOOD!
So, onto FLASH Annual #4
It's 1991 keystone City and Wally is in the Middle of ....
GASP!!
FLASH APPRECIATION DAY!!!!
(Wally isn't specified as he's the only Flash operating at the time It's also Interesting to note that despite the fact that this issue occurs after Wally alters his suit from Barry's old uniform to his own shiny suit, his mask doesn't have the white Eye-shields)
Wally of course is enjoying every minute of it seeing his image on everything in sight and gleefully works the crowd signing autographs and photo-oping with anyone interested. Wally's friends of course simply sit and smile on the panel table wondering how they can get through the day with their sanity intact.
Waverider arrives on the scene and adopts the guise of a Flash fan looking for an autograph as a young woman approaches flash about some papers she has in her purse. Before they can continue Waverider touches flash and the scene shifts to a suburban home some ten years later.
This is the home of Michael and Diane Edwards and their son David. Michael, (Great name by the way!
) arrives home from work, Diane is contemplating Spaghetti for dinner and David wants to go outside and play. Diane is concerned, but Micahel reassures her that David knows "the Rules".Still, Michael watches David through the window as the youngster rides his bicycle up and down the street and Michael starts to reflect on his life up to this point.
Michael is Wally West. His son has inherited his Super Speed powers but without the protectve Aura the shields him from wind-friction. Wally doesn't go into detail regarding why he changed his name and ditched the Flash identity but he seems content with his current situation. and he still uses his powers at home zipping through the catalogues in his house in a blur. Diane seems anxious about him doing it in view of other people citing "a guy in a coat' who was around a few days earlier. Mike dismisses the chance that anyone saw hims "speed-reading" but moves to close the curtain. unfortunately everything's about to be revealed in a major way. David sees a young girl chasing after her ball which bounces into the street there's a bus coming however and dabid can tell that the Bus driver and the girl won't see each other until it's too late. david kicks into high gear despite the painful burns he suffers as a result and saves the girl Mike/Wally races out and scoops David up into his arms and whisks him away to a hospital diane hears about the accident and runs into the house unaware of an old man who sits outside with a malicious look of triumph on his face.
It's with diane's reflection that we get the story on Wally's new life as Michael Edwards. Diane was Bonnie Blackmon Bonnie had just been working for a company called Diogenes Industries for two weeks. She had discovered some papers in the file room tha she realized were not meant for her eyes and was frightened by what they contained. while taking a walk to think over her dilemma she meets Wally on Flash Appreciation Day and before she knows it she tells him everything. It turns out her boss and his son had that ability to autmatically know a persons deepest and darkest secrets and dreams when they shook hands with the individual allowing them to manipulate anyone they dealt with. Wally took down Diogenes and with bonnie's testimony and evidence sent him to Prison for life and fell in love in the process. But Diogenes touches both of them after the trial and gains knowledge of everything and everyone they care about.
By the time wally and Bonnie were married diogenes' underworld network had threatened her father beaten her brother and, on their wedding day, killed Wally's Mother. Bonnie used her status as a witness in a major trial to enterthem into the Witness relocation program and wally and bonnie west became Michael and diane edwards and Flash permanently retired shortly thereafter they had a son. Which brings us to the present. The man outside is revealed to be leonard smart and he visits Diogenes in prison. within a handshake Diogenes learns all of Snart's information on the Edwards/Wests and asks him for another favorr.
Meanwhile diane joins Mike at the hospital learning that David should recover from his injuries. however, Wally West is paged over the Hospital's PA and Wally finds himself on the phone with diogenes. Diogenes wants the Flash and to ensure Wally co-operates with him he has david abducted from the hospital.
One of Diogenes men is at STAR Labs and has Jerry and Tina Hostage. Jerry has been coerced into building devices for Diogenes that would affect Flash. Tina accuses Jerry of doing it out of revenge for her affair with Wally but in fact Jerry did it because diogenes threatened tina's life if Jerry didn't co-operate. The devices Jerry designed are designed to steal all of Flash's speed powers. and they are used against wally as he fights several of the old rogues including Weather Wizard, the Turtle's old henchmen Sloe Stedy and Sprynt, Rainbow Raider, Golden Glider and Chilblaine, and finally Paradox (the guy from before in the Black and White costume.He carries a staffed with an hourglass the sand in the hourglass can slow or speed up time. Paradox gets an advantage on Wally but uses the time to gloat and suggests that he used his sick tricks on wally's son. this throws Flash into a rage and he almost kills Paradox but instead makes him tell wally where his son is.
a short while later wally as himself arrives Tina tells him David is fine and wally warns Diogenes against using the machine to give Matthew wally's powers but diogenes refuses to listen. at first it seems to be working but the power instead of channeling into him making him a super-speedster they age him incredibly fast killing him in seconds. Diogenes himself dies from the shock at seeing his son age and die in front of his eyes. Tina and Jerry inform Wally that the machine can restore all his powers back to him but wally has other ideas. He visits his son in the Hospital but when David tries to a polarize for breaking the no-powers in public rule Wally instead reassures his son that he did the right thing and earned his place as part of the (Flash) family. giving him a Flash Ring. shortly after we're back at the edwards house but the name on the Mailbox now says West and Wally has returned to his original name and look (He colored his hair brown as Michael Edwards) Wally and bonnie are watching David tear around the neighborhood on his bike at full speed wearing his Flash ring. It's at this moment that Waverider breaks contact with Flash. The break distracts Flash and Diogenes catches up to Bonnie to talk to her wally remembers nothing of what Waverider has seen so he's unaware of Bonnie's discovery or the danger she's in. passing Diogenes off as her boyfriend.
THE END?!?
Sadly it must be for poor Bonnie as her knowledge will undoubtably cost her her life. Waverider doesn't seem to do anything that will ensure her survival (Sloppy work there!) and the rest of Flash Appreciation Day goes on.
This was one of those issues that was both part of a larger story and yet was also largely a one and done adventure as well. the writing and characterizations were pretty good. The open ended-ness of the story screams for a follow up or resolution (we enver see any headlines or TV news reports that indicate Bonnie's final fate in the regular series.
Well i gotta run off to work!
See you all next month!
