Why Flash War Matters

One of the great debates among comic book fans is that of legacy. Since several icons have existed for 70+ years, it's only natural that several different men and women would share the name of a hero. Characters like Robin, Green Lantern, Captain America, and Spider-Man have had multiple people call themselves the true hero under the mask. But perhaps the biggest debate of all comes down to who is the Flash, who is the better Speeder: Barry Allen, or Wally West? As it would seem, this notion will lead these men to war with one another. So, it seems we have just another hero vs. hero debate, right? Well, I think it's a bit more than that.
Until the late 2000s it would've been difficult to find a comic book fan that touted Barry Allen as the Flash over Wally West. He wasn't even the original Flash, he was a guy invented for the Silver Age. Meanwhile, you have Wally West, the one who brought the Flash to prominence and fame. He was the one in the original Justice League cartoon and was the Flash for the generation of creators that influence media today.

Barry Allen didn't really see a return to the limelight until Flashpoint, wherein Wally West vanished and Barry Allen was the Flash. He even got his own TV show, again, and was a member of that Justice League movie I bet you forgot about. It's okay. I try to forget sometimes, too.

We're not here to debate who the Flash really is between Mr. Allen and Mr. West. Instead we're here to discuss the coming storyline, "Flash War" that's set to debut in The Flash #47, a comic that's been hyped and anticipated since the start of the year. I've done my own fair share of hyping this story up, and I've really been looking for to it.

While I have no doubt in my mind that seeing Barry and Wally throwdown will be something spectacular, I'm more looking forward to how Joshua Williamson, the writer of The Flash at the time of this blog post, handles their dynamic, as well as the legacy aspect of all of this. Williamson has done a magnificent job, so far, of handling the oceanic depths that is the lore behind the Scarlet Speedster. He's dragged in several of the character's most dynamic villains (Reverse Flash, Captain Cold, Gorilla Grodd) and introduced new ones to the mythos (Godspeed) and did it all while keeping things fresh, but in perspective.

"Flash War" should be a concept that anybody reading the book is unsurprised by. Williamson has been teasing the history and legacy of The Flash all throughout his run, and the fact of the matter is that this legacy belongs to several men, but the two in question bear the brunt of it. Not to mention that Wally West has, seemingly, regained the final bits of his memory of the world before the New 52. He knows everything, and may know that he is supposed to be the Flash, not Barry.

We can hope it's not something as simple as that. If it is, it won't be that dynamic of a story, and it won't pay proper respect to the characters of Barry and Wally. A friend of mine, a longtime Flash fan, pointed out to me the critical differences in Barry and Wally's dynamic, particularly how they stand regarding the Speed Force: Barry is far more scientific in his approach, taking things with an analytical mind, while Wally sees the speed as a gift, as something he puts his faith in.

It's, essentially, science versus faith. "Flash War" isn't necessarily a war between two men, but a war between ideologies. We've seen the Speed Force be heavily abused by the likes of Godspeed, Gorilla Grodd, and even Barry Allen, as he generated Negative Speed Force just twenty or so issues ago. That probably does not sit well with one Wally West.

"Flash War" matters because it will come to define these two characters that stand so close but are ideologically distance from one another. It's the same reason that the concept of Civil War is interesting enough: to let superheroes go about unabated in their actions, or to let them have some supervision. It isn't about goverment manipulation of the superhero community, it's an ideological struggle of freedom versus control. Here, we have a similar idea: the Speed Force as a theory, and the Speed Force as an entity.

It can be abused in two separate ways, and I have to imagine that Huner Zolomon, the antagonist for the arc, is going to play a big hand in exposing the inherent flaws Barry and Wally see in each other's ideology.

The ultimate result of "Flash War" is being teased that we will finally know who THE Flash is, but if "Flash War" is going to be truly successful, what it'll do is DEFINE what the Flash is, not necessarily WHO the Flash is. That, though, will not be an easy task.

Take, for example, Green Arrow. There have been two iterations of Green Arrow throughout the character's storied history: Oliver Queen and Connor Hawke. Oliver Queen is always painted as more of a Robin Hood character, someone who stands for the little guy and believes everyone deserves a fair shake. Connor Hawke, on the other hand, is more of a mystic. While he fights for the little guys, too, he does so from a spiritual element rather than a political element. It's difficult, therefore, to define the character of Green Arrow simply by his tendencies because, in fact, there have been two ways that Green Arrow handles his own character.

The Flash is similar. "Flash War" will define what Barry Allen and Wally West stand for...we hope. Wally West has been gone from the public image for so long that it new readers, people who jumped on for the New 52 or came back for "Rebirth," may not be as familiar with the character. In order to understand Wally as the one to potentially reclaim the mantle from Barry, it's necessary to pit him against Barry Allen in a clash of wills and ideals, not just of speed.

"Flash War" matters because Wally West matters. If Superman is the symbol of hope, Batman the symbol of justice, and Wonder Woman the symbol of truth, then Wally West is the symbol of love and joy. He reinvigorated the positive change to the DC Universe in 2016. "Flash War" will hopefully show us why that is.



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