The Mythmaker's Notebook

I spent a lot of my free time over the last few weeks reading comic books. The Flash has always been my favorite character and I had not read many of the older comics. I really have a hard time reading older comics because they are so thick with dialogue and descriptive boxes that it takes a very long time to read them. The beginning of Mark Waid’s run was like that for me. Eventually, it settled in and I was able to enjoy some of it. I think its around the late 1990s when comics really started using the art to help tell the story and reduce the word count, and that’s when comics became more my style.

Anyhow, I am doing this review and looking at the run by Mark Waid from 1992-2000 and Geoff John’s first run from 2000-2005. This 13 years of Wally West comics. I’m definitely a Barry Allen guy, but Wally is a great Flash, too.

This whole saga is about Wally West becoming a true hero. Waid starts things off with Born to Run (#62–65), which is mostly Wally telling us about his days as Kid Flash, sharing how much he idolized Barry and how tough it was to step into the Flash role after Barry’s death. Stories like The Return of Barry Allen (#73–79) and Terminal Velocity (#95–100) show Wally battling his insecurities, mastering this wild new thing called the Speed Force, and falling head over heels for Linda Park, his reporter girlfriend. Waid brings in new characters like Bart Allen, Barry’s impulsive grandson from the future, and Max Mercury, a wise old speedster, making the Flash Family a big part of the story. Arcs like Dead Heat (#108–111) and Chain Lightning (#145–150) throw Wally into crazy adventures, fighting speed-obsessed villains or traveling through time to save the Flash legacy. Waid’s final arc, The Dark Flash Saga (#152–159), pits Wally against a darker, alternate version of himself, wrapping up his run with Wally stronger than ever and ready for Johns to take over.

Johns starts out in Wonderland (#164–169), tossing Wally into a strange alternate reality where he’s powerless, setting the stage for a deeper connection to Keystone City. Cool new villain with a terrible name, “Abra Kadabra” is introduced here. Blood Will Run (#170–173), Iron Heights (2001), Crossfire (#177–181), and Blitz (#192–200), make Keystone feel like a real, rough-around-the-edges place, focusing on Wally’s bond with its everyday people and his epic battles with a revamped rogues’ gallery. The big finale, Rogue War (#212–217, #220–225), has the Rogues splitting into rival factions, fighting each other in a city-wide brawl that ties up Wally’s growth and the whole theme of legacy and community.

Waid’s introduction of the Speed Force and Flash Family are huge contributions to Flash’s history, but his stories feel a bit flat for me. It might just be my difficulty connecting with older stories.

Johns, however, nails it by making Keystone a character in and of itself and having Wally’s fights feel super personal. His Rogues and Zoom are way more interesting than Waid’s villains, and the Blitz arc hits harder emotionally than anything Waid wrote. Waid gets credit for building the world, but Johns filled it with heart and grit, making his run the high point for me. This run is darker, more emotional, and more grounded than Waid’s and with a more modernized art style, it was easy for me to say I enjoyed Johns’ run significantly more.