DC Comics has slipped us a promo image for Flash #13 that could spell the end of Bart Allen, or the return of Barry Allen. As usual, when DC sends these things out, it generally means something big is ahead (see Emo Superman post from several months ago that teased Countdown), or it could mean you need to take the jump and do some sleuthing yourself.
If you believe the literal meaning of the tag, then it has something to do with the goings on in the current Countdown story, which I’ve already mentioned in those reviews.
From the solicitation information for Flash #13, DC sent the following:
THE FLASH: THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE #13
Written by Mark Guggenheim
Art by Tony S. Daniel & Art Thibert
Cover by Tony S. Daniel
The Flash must make the choice he was offered at the beginning of “Full Throttle.” And you won’t want to miss the stunning full version of this cover — but you only can catch it when this issue races into stores!
On sale June 6 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
Check out the cover that features certain elements missing:
What is being blacked out? could we be seeing a story featuring multiple Flashes (Flashii?)? Could this be the “Whatever Happened to Wally West?” story we’ve been waiting for, or something else entirely?
We’ll find out next week!
9 Comments
DC would have to be critically stupid to bring back Barry OR Wally after less than a dozen issues with Bart, no matter HOW badly they botched the relaunch.
It just smacks of editorial caveat… AGAIN.
That pic with the Rogues and the stone logo is damn AWESOME, right out of the old Carmine Infantino playbook. One of the best comics images I’ve seen all year.
I don’t think anyone outside of hardcore fans realizes Bart is the Flash anyway. Casual folks know Wally from Justice League Unlimited and the assumed appearance of Barry in the New Frontier DVD-movie will only make it more muddled. I say get Bart out of there as quickly as possible and retcon/Infanto Ray him into a Kid Flash outfit, pronto.
And yeah, leave Barry dead…BUT BRING WALLY BACK!!! Even if he ends up in Jay Garrick’s spot as “helmety goodness” Flash.
Personally, I want Barry to stay dead. The only reason I bring it up is because that is Barry’s suit Bart is wearing. Honestly, if you’ve been reading Flash, you know Bart took a header in the last issue, so this teaser makes perfect sense as a way to get readers on board Countdown and to tie into the whole Piper/Trickster storyline.
Honestly, if you’ve been reading Flash, you know Bart took a header in the last issue, so this teaser makes perfect sense as a way to get readers on board Countdown and to tie into the whole Piper/Trickster storyline.
I suppose, but given the leisurely pace and generally not-quite-as-awesome-as-52 storyline in Countdown may not be the draw it should have been… Either way, there’s no excuse for pushing Bart up to the big league without committing to it.
The new Flash will be an amalgamation of Barry, Wally and Bart that will have it’s own memories. It will last one month before Iris West picks up the mantle. :p
I never read the original Flash series with Barry Allen. I did start reading after the first Crisis when Wally took over the mantle of the Flash. I was interested in a while, but stopped. I did enjoy Wally in the Justice League. I have always thought that making Wally disappear was just a cheap way of DC trying to get some more money just to pump a needle into a dying comic series or one that they ran out of ideas for when Wally was the speedster. They need to get rid of Bart, bring Wally back, and the best thing they have done is keep Barry DEAD. Let’s hope it stays that way.
I disagree completely. They NEVER SHOULD have changed Bart in favor of Wally. But NOW THAT THEY HAVE, switching back would be ridiculous.
Bringing Barry back in a permanent fashion would be another of those stupid “Well, nobody’s ever done THAT before!” stories that are so in vogue now. Both the big companies are desperately vamping to try and outdo their last big revelation, and it’s getting a bit tedious…
I never read the original Flash series with Barry Allen.
Well, even as the token old dude, I only caught the tail-end of the story, as my first Flash issue was the one where he killed Professor Zoom (#323) and the original series ended in 1986, with #350. His appearances in Crisis on Infinite Earths notwithstanding, most comic book readers today aren’t OLD enough to have read Barry’s book off the stands, and only know him as ‘Saint Barry,’ from the excellent Gardner Fox stories. Flash’s book was in the doldrums for YEARS before the issue I read, and, having bought a complete run from #200 up, I can tell you that the vast majority of the stories in the late-70s/early-80s were safe, and boring, and more than a little blah. That’s not to say there aren’t great Flash stories in there, and certainly not to say that Flash isn’t a brilliant concept with some wonderfully inventive writing.
But killing Barry was the best thing that ever happened to him. As for Wally, the way his ending played out felt remarkably like “Hey, don’t we have to kill a Flash in these things?”