Wally West
| Flash | |
|---|---|
| File:Flash207.jpg Cover art for The Flash vol. 2, # 207 Art by Michael Turner | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | as Kid Flash: The Flash vol. 1, #110 (Dec. 1959 – January 1960) as Flash: Crisis on Infinite Earths #12 (March 1986) |
| Created by | John Broome Carmine Infantino |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Wallace "Wally" Rudolph West |
| Team affiliations | Justice League Teen Titans Justice League Elite |
| Notable aliases | Kid Flash, Kid Lantern, Supersonic, Fastest Man Alive |
| Abilities | Super speed, molecular control, time and dimensional travel |
Wally West is a fictional character, a superhero in the DC Comics Universe, the first Kid Flash and the third Flash.
Fictional character biography
When Wally was eight years old, he dreamed of being like the Flash, which his parents did not approve of. One day, he was visited by a friendly stranger, whose kindness gave young Wally the hope he needed for the future. The stranger then mysteriously disappeared. It was later revealed in The Flash vol. 2 #0 that the stranger was an older version of Wally himself, who made a detour in his traversal through time to meet his younger self.
Kid Flash
Wally West was the nephew of Iris West (and consequently, Barry Allen's nephew by marriage), and was introduced in The Flash vol. 1, #110 (1959). When West was about ten years old, he was visiting the Central City police laboratory that Barry Allen (Iris' boyfriend at the time) worked, and 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.
He soon adopted a slightly different, yellow-and-red outfit with his hair exposed, and became a founding member of the Teen Titans, along with fellow sidekicks Robin and Aqualad. Always something of a straight-shooter from rural America, Kid Flash sometimes felt out of place alongside more flamboyant heroes such as Speedy and Wonder Girl.
Note that Bart Allen adopted the codename Kid Flash, and in the alternate future of Kingdom Come, Wally's daughter Iris is Kid Flash.
Flash
As a young adult, West found his powers to be failing and even doing damage to his body, and he retired from crimefighting until a cure could be found. But he was called to action again by the Crisis on Infinite Earths, in which his uncle Barry was killed. As a side effect of the energies he was exposed to during that adventure, West's powers stabilized. However, he could no longer run at the extraordinary speeds of his uncle, but was limited to the speed of sound, and had to eat vast quantities of food to maintain his metabolism.
Despite these handicaps, West resumed his career, though he retired his own Kid Flash costume and adopted the costume and name of the Flash to honor his uncle. He did, however, make his identity public knowledge to keep from replacing Barry Allen in the minds of the public. This made him the first sidekick to actually take on the name of his mentor. A short time later, West won a lottery, bought a large mansion, and became something of a playboy. He joined Justice League Europe early in his career as Flash and also later joined the reformed Justice League. Like his powers at the time, West's finances and luck continued to ebb and wane until Flash vol. 2, #62, when his playboy ways also ended and his fortunes stabilized.
The Speed Force
Over the next few years, West learned several things about his powers. First, it was suggested that Allen had not actually been human after gaining his own powers, but was a powerful energy force of which West used only a fraction. As Allen's career wound down and after he died, West had access to only a fraction of the energy. Later, West discovered that in fact Allen was a conduit to the Speed Force, an extradimensional energy force that West and other speedsters also tapped. West had been holding back from fully embracing the Speed Force again for fear of replacing his uncle in the minds of the public.
Realization of his full potential
A difficult encounter with a particularly vicious foe, the first Reverse-Flash (Eobard Thawne), who was bent on destroying Allen's legacy finally motivated West to use his abilities to their fullest potential. Upon arriving, Thawne believed he was Barry Allen due to the shock of time travel. Thawne's true personality began to emerge, and "Barry" went rogue, attacking Central City for 'forgetting him', even breaking Jay Garrick's leg in a battle. However, as Thawne (now his true self, uniform and all) bragged to Wally about how, when he was finished, no one would even remember Barry, a subconscious mental block Wally had imposed on his speed finally snapped; Wally had always limited his speed because, when he could move as fast as Barry, he really would have replaced him, but he feared Thawne replacing Barry more than he feared himself doing so. After this encounter, he was Barry Allen's equal in speed, though he still had not been able to recover Barry's vibrational abilities.
After discovering and being absorbed by the Speed Force, returning to Earth found Wally to be even faster than Barry Allen. This also saw the return of his vibration powers, though they had a destructive side effect. Battling the student/priest of speed, Savitar, West gained some additional powers from the Speed Force, and even more powers after meeting an alternate version of himself, Walter West (the Dark Flash), via Hypertime travel.
Until West's accumulation of new powers circa issues #90 and up, some of his uncle's abilities continued to elude West; most notably, the power to precisely travel through time, especially with the ease which Allen accomplished these feats. More recently, West has on several occasions used his speed to break time and even dimensional barriers, though unlike Barry Allen, he did not require the use of the Cosmic Treadmill to do so. By this time, Wally had also learned to temper the destructive nature of his vibration powers. While Walter seemed able to traverse dimensions easily (in The Flash vol. 2, #159, Walter West landed on our Earth and recognized himself on the cover of what was then the current month's issue of the comic), Wally has not, to date, been able to do so easily. The abilities that West has not been able to duplicate seem to coincide with Barry Allen's unique and complete control of his molecular structure.
Like his uncle, West had a friendship with Hal Jordan, a.k.a. Green Lantern. When Jordan became Parallax, he was replaced by Kyle Rayner. Having grown up with Jordan as Green Lantern and had always seeing him as 'Uncle Hal', West did not warmly embrace Rayner when Rayner first took over the mantle and was very critical and sometimes harsh with Rayner during his early days. In time, West eventually accepted Rayner as Green Lantern and they became best friends and supporters.
Marriage
West married journalist and longtime girlfriend, Linda Park. After an attack on Linda by a new Reverse-Flash, Zoom, caused a miscarriage of their unborn twins by triggering a sonic boom, West regretted the public knowledge of his identity. The Spectre (Hal Jordan) wiped the knowledge of the Flash's secret identity from everyone's mind, including West's. He began working as a mechanic for the Keystone City Police, a job that reminded him of Barry Allen (whom he only remembered as a police scientist). Eventually, Batman deduced the truth and restored West's memory. The truth has also been revealed to West's friends in the heroic community, and to Linda Park, who found it difficult to deal with (as, in her false memories, their twins had been innocent victims caught in the crossfire between the Flash and Zoom) and took some time away from her husband. They are now back together.
Due to another fight with Zoom, which featured the temporary return of Barry Allen and Professor Zoom, the events leading to Linda's miscarriage were altered, Zoom took the brunt of the sonic boom that would have hit Linda, and the miscarriage was erased. Linda soon after delivered twins, leading Wally to reconsider his position as the Flash, aiming to give more time to his newfound family than to the heroic business.
Infinite Crisis
In Infinite Crisis #4, Wally, Jay, and Bart joined together to stop the rampage of Superboy-Prime in Smallville, using their top speeds to hinder him. During the battle, Wally seemed to turn into energy and started to disappear. He was able to appear to Linda (his "lightning rod"). During his goodbye to her, she grabbed onto him with their infant children in her arms and all four vanished.
Apparently, Linda, Wally and their twins are still alive in an alternate reality, living in its version of Keystone City, from which only Bart Allen has managed to return. Bart tells the other heroes that Wally is "just taking some time away" with Linda to watch his twins grow.
Trade Paperback Collection
Collected editions reprinting The Flash (vol. 2) series featuring Wally West:
| Title | Material collected |
|---|---|
| Original | |
| The Flash: Born to Run | The Flash (vol. 2) #62-65 Flash Annual #1 Speed Force #1 Flash 80-Page Giant #1 |
| The Flash: The Return of Barry Allen | The Flash (vol.2) #74-79 |
| Impulse: Reckless Youth | The Flash (vol.2) #92-94 Impulse #1-6 |
| The Flash: Terminal Velocity | The Flash (vol.2) #0, 95-100 |
| The Flash: Dead Heat | The Flash (vol.2) #108-111 Impulse #9-11 |
| The Flash: Race Against Time | The Flash (vol.2) #112-118 |
| The Flash: Blood Will Run | The Flash (vol.2) #170-176 |
| The Flash: Rogues | The Flash (vol.2) #177–181 |
| The Flash: Crossfire | The Flash (vol.2) #183-191 |
| The Flash: Blitz | The Flash (vol.2) #192-200 |
| The Flash: Ignition | The Flash (vol.2) #201-206 |
| The Flash: The Secret of Barry Allen | The Flash (vol.2) #207-211 and 213-217 |
| The Flash: Rogue War | The Flash (vol.2) #½, 212, 218-225 |
Collected editions featuring other Flashes, Jay Garrick and Barry Allen, as well as Wally West:
| Title | Material collected |
|---|---|
| Original | |
| The Greatest Flash Stories Ever Told HC and TPB (1991) | Flash Comics #1, 66, 86 Comic Cavalcade #24 Showcase #4 The Flash (vol. 1) #107, 113, 119, 124, 125, 137, 143, 148, 179 Five-Star Super-Hero Spectacular The Flash (vol. 2) #2 |
| The Flash: The Greatest Stories Ever Told TPB (2007) | Flash Comics #86, 104 The Flash (vol. 1) #123, 155, 165, 179 The Flash (vol. 2) #91 DC Special Series #11 |
Powers
Wally's primary super power is his speed. Over the years, this has fluctuated from his career as Kid Flash, where he could approach the speed of light, to the beginning of his career as The Flash, in which he was limited to a top speed of approximately Template:Mph, leading to near retirement and returning to college before the death of Barry Allen. In recent years, with the knowledge and mastery of the Speed Force at his disposal, Wally has managed to reach the seemingly impossible speeds beyond light that lead into the Speed Force.
As Kid Flash, Wally had the ability to control the vibration of his molecules to the degree that he could vibrate through solid objects and traverse other dimensions and times. He lost this ability when he became The Flash, and regained this power in later years with the added twist that vibrating through objects could cause them to explode; apparently, this later version of the power passed kinetic energy into the molecular structure of the object he vibrated through, and the object would explode from the charge.
Other applications of super-speed:
- Does not leave a scent trail that a bloodhound can track, even at the "low" speed of Template:Mph
- Being able to run across the surface of large bodies of water--moving so fast that he does not break the surface tension of the water as he runs.
- Overcoming gravity by running up and down vertical surfaces.
- Creating wind vortices by running in circles or rotating his arms and legs.
- "Lending" velocity to objects or people already in motion
- "Stealing" the speed of others and utilizing it himself.
- Vibrating his molecules so fast he can travel through objects such as walls.
- Use of his incredibly fast reflexes in order to withstand powerful blows.
- Gaining infinite mass as he approaches light speed, resulting in extremely heavy blows.
- Creating after-images of himself.
As with most super-speedsters, Wally possesses an "aura" which protects him (and whatever he carries) from heat and air friction when he travels at high velocities. He also has a slight deal of invulnerability with this "aura".
Uniforms
As Kid Flash, Wally wore a uniform that was primarily yellow with red leggings, gloves and mask. The uniform, like that of the Flash, would compress into a ring's compartment for quick changes.
At the beginning of his career as the Flash, initially wearing the costume of his late mentor Barry Allen, Wally would soon modify the belt of his uniform to resemble two connecting lightning bolts, remove the wings from the top of his boots, alter the material of his costume, and add opaque lenses 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. Later, after an accident left him with two broken legs, Wally discovered he had gained enough control over the Speed Force to create a costume of solidified energy which would support him and enable him to run despite his injury. With enough control, his Speed Force Energy costume could be shaped identically to his uniform. This energy-based costume could appear at Wally's will, and could be mentally modified to show his eyes (which he resumed as the normal appearance) and mouth, or to shield both from a hostile environment.
Villains
Like his predecessor before him, Wally has accumulated a Rogues' Gallery as well. Many of his uncle's old rogues are still around, except for Captain Boomerang (George "Digger" Harkness, who was killed during Identity Crisis by Jack Drake, the father of the current Robin, in self-defense, although Jack died as well) and Mirror Master (Samuel Scudder, who was killed during the Crisis on Infinite Earths by Krona).
Some of these newer rogues include:
- Blacksmith - head of the Network with the ability to fuse metal with flesh.
- Cicada - cult leader with immortality
- Double Down - has a cursed deck of mystical playing cards embedded in himself. They can be thrown telekinetically and are razor sharp.
- Girder - superstrong and superdurable, made of steel.
- Magenta - uses magnetism-based powers.
- Mirror Master (Evan McCulloch) - uses the original Mirror Master's equipment.
- Murmur - a serial killer who developed the "frenzy virus", an anthrax-like virus based on his own blood.
- Peek-a-Boo: A teleporting metahuman and reluctant rogue.
- Plunder - a bounty hunter from a mirror universe. His analogue in this world is the Keystone City PD cop Jared Morillo.
- Tar Pit - mind trapped in invulnerable asphalt.
- Thinker - A sentient computer program in hologram form based on the brain patterns of the original Thinker.
- Trickster (Axel Walker) - based on the original Trickster.
- Zoom - exists on a separate timeline from the world. This gives the illusion of superspeed.
- Owen Mercer - The son of the original Captain Boomerang killed by Tim Drake's Father Jack Drake in the Identity Crisis story line.
Allies and friends
Wally's father, Rudolph West (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 a developed an odd friendship/respect with Batman, whom 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 perhaps Dick Grayson, who served with Wally on the Teen Titans as the first Robin.
Supporting cast
Wally also has developed a very extensive supporting cast over the duration of his ongoing comic book series which 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.
- Mary West - Wally's mother
- Dr. Tina McGee - a scientist/nutritionist with whom he had a brief romantic involvement
- Dr. Jerry McGee a.k.a. Speed Demon a.k.a. Speed McGee - Tina's (formerly ex-) husband and former super-speed villain
- Connie Noleski - a model and girlfriend of Wally's in his early career as the Flash. She is currently married to Chunk.
- Chester P. Runk a.k.a. Chunk - a brilliant physicist who became a walking black hole after a matter-transmitting machine he invented imploded during its first test
- Mason Trollbridge - the former kid sidekick of a hard-edged depression-era crimefighter known as the Clipper.
- Pied Piper - one of Barry Allen's former Rogues.
- Linda Park-West - originally introduced as a television news reporter, Wally began dating and eventually married her.
- Jay Garrick - the original Flash. Currently out of semi-retirement and a member of the Justice Society of America.
- Jesse Quick - the daughter of Liberty Belle and Johnny Quick, Jesse is a second generation superhero and speedster like her father.
- Max Mercury - the Zen Master of Speed.
- Iris Allen - Wally's aunt, returned from the future.
- Kid Flash - Bart Allen, Barry and Iris Allen's grandson from the future. Originally code-named Impulse. Was a member of the Teen Titans when he took on his cousin's old identity.
- Ashley Zolomon - current Rogue Profiler with the Keystone City PD, and former wife of Hunter Zolomon
Children
At the end of Rogue War, Linda retroactively gave birth to twins. The twins are never named; however, Mark Waid's Kingdom Come and The Kingdom gives those names as Barry and Iris West. Both 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". However, the timeline has since been altered. Presently, the fate of the entire family is unknown.
Other media
The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure
In 1967, The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure was produced by Filmation and featured seven minute shorts which starred various DC Universe heroes. Wally West was featured in two of them as Kid Flash.
Wally West is in a segment starring the Flash (Barry Allen), "To Catch A Blue Bolt" shows Barry and Wally changing into their Flash and Kid Flash uniforms using their rings. It should be noted that Wally's appearance differs from his comic book counterpart. He has black hair and his red and yellow color scheme is reversed from his second uniform.
Wally was also featured on the Teen Titans segment which featured Aqualad, Wonder Girl, Speedy and the Wally West version of Kid Flash as seen in the Flash segment.
The Flash TV series (1990-1991)
The Flash was a live action CBS television series that starred John Wesley Shipp and Amanda Pays. The Flash featured in the series was an amalgamation of the silver-age Flash, Barry Allen, and the modern-age Wally West. The only resemblances between the TV Barry Allen Flash and the comic book Barry Allen Flash were his name, his profession as a forensic scientist, and his love interest Iris (who is very short lived as a love interest in the television series). Most of the elements in the television show were taken directly from the main story line in the first Wally West Flash comic books: The STAR labs researcher Tina McGee, her and her husband's research into speed, her husband's allegedly fatal accident with their speed research, the Flash's ravenous appetite, heat problems (which were mitigated by the TV show Flash suit), and speed limit on the order of the speed of sound were all elements from the main Wally West comic book storyline.
Justice League of America pilot
The Flash (Barry Allen) was in a CBS live-action pilot called Justice League of America, portrayed by Kenny Johnston. The pilot did not air in the United States. Similar to The Flash (TV series), this Flash appeared to be Barry Allen in name only, as he reflected Wally's age, ravenous appetite, and personality. In addition, this version of Justice League was inspired by the Keith Giffen-era Justice League, of which Wally was a member.
DC Animated Universe
Superman: The Animated Series
An episode of Superman: The Animated Series called "Speed Demons" featured the first animated appearance of Wally West as Flash. He was voiced by Charlie Schlatter.
Justice League/Justice League Unlimited
Wally West is the Flash featured as one of the seven founding members of the Justice League, in both the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited animated series. His personality is more or less the same as it was from his appearance on Superman: The Animated Series, and his flippant attitude often annoys his teammates, most notably Green Lantern. The Flash is often used to provide comic relief from the often intense nature of his fellow Leaguers, though there are a few episodes which he is the featured hero. However, in one episode of Justice League Unlimited, he complains to Elongated Man that he dislikes being viewed as the "teenage sidekick" even though he was part of the original seven. His super fast metabolism, which results in him eating absurdly and inhumanly large portions of food, was something of a running gag on the series. Flash's endorsement of the "Lightspeed" candy bar (which created controversy fueled by a talk-show host who constantly dissed the League in one episode) was also a sort of running gag, as the bars make numerous other appearances, with Flash's picture on the wrapper in some cases. He was prominently featured in "Divided We Fall," where he successfully defeated a fused Lex Luthor and Brainiac (in addition, this also allowed him to contact the Speed Force), "Flash and Substance," a day in the life of The Flash in Central City during Flash Appreciation Day, and "The Great Brain Robbery," in which he switches bodies with Lex Luthor.
He was voiced by Michael Rosenbaum, the actor who portrays a young Lex Luthor in the live action television series Smallville, which adds an extra level of ironic humor to the episode "The Great Brain Robbery". He is shown to have an infatuation with Fire in the episode "I Am Legion".
Many notice that the Flash in JL/JLU is very much like X-Men character Iceman, an underachiever/slacker/joker who isn't taken seriously, but at his full power is one of the most powerful beings in the series. This was most noticeable when Flash fought Brainac.
Teen Titans animated series
Kid Flash appears in an episode of the Teen Titans animated series entitled "Lightspeed". While the character's true identity is never given, the fact that Michael Rosenbaum voices the character implies that he is intended to be Wally West as Rosenbaum also voices an older Flash/Wally West in Justice League. In the series, he is portrayed similar to the way that Wally was portrayed in comic books. His personality is often considered "laid back", and he is known to be comedic and sometimes flirtatious.
When Jinx asks Kid Flash who he is working for he says "I work alone these days", implying a previous partnership with The Flash.
When the Titans are searching for the Brotherhood of Evil and the Titans East have gone back home to Steel City, Kid Flash decides to help protect Jump City and stop crimes from being committed. When he interferes with the H.I.V.E. Five's criminal deeds, he flirts with their leader, Jinx, and tries to make her reevaluate her life of crime. Shortly afterwards the Brotherhood of Evil attempts to capture him and, after Madame Rouge tires him out, Jinx traps him in an electric field. He is nearly handed over to Madame Rouge, but is freed by Jinx when she realizes Madame Rouge isn't as great as she seemed and that Kid Flash was the one who truly cared for her well being. Afterwards, Jinx quits the H.I.V.E. Five and joins forces with him as a Titan and the two quickly form a romantic relationship.
He briefly appears in a shot of all the Titans in "Calling All Titans", where it is revealed the Titans have come in contact with him and he has a Titan communicator. In "Titans Together", he brings Jinx to the Brotherhood's lair as his ally and helps the speedsters Mas y Menos and the other Titans freeze the Brothehood's member villains inside cryogenic cases. Mas y Menos are very impressed by Kid Flash's speed and abilities which he can engage on his own.
Kid Flash is one of the few Titans in the animated series to fully resemble his comic counterpart. However, Wally's eyes in the comics are currently green. The design of Kid Flash with blue eyes remains consistent with his original appearances, pre-Crisis.
Kid Flash is mentioned in issue #28 of Teen Titans Go!, and makes cameo appearances in several other issues. He is featured in a worldwide race against Mas y Menos in issue #34. Although knowing that Jinx obviously has feelings for him, he inadvertently flirts with Raven, Argent, and several other girls behind while running the race, making Jinx jealous and causing him to lose the race to Mas y Menos when Jinx shows up at the finish line and confronts him about his flirtatious nature.
Stop Motion
Stop Motion, a novel about Wally West by Mark Schultz, adds depth to our understanding of the relationships between Wally and those closest to him: his mentor Barry, his aunt Iris, and his fellow members of the JLA. However, it contradicts established continuity on several points, most notably frequent mentions of a genetic link between Wally and Iris, who the comics have established as adopted.
External links
- Titans Tower biography
- Crimson Lightning - an online index to the comic book adventures of the Flash.
- Alan Kistler's Profile On: The Flash - an analysis of the history of the Flash by comic book historian Alan Kistler
- The Flash: Those Who Ride The Lightning - fan site with information about the super-speed characters of the DC Universe
- The Unofficial Flash Biography
- Photon Torpedoes - Flash Facts