I remember reading the Barry Allen Flash back in the early to just before mid 80's but don't remember the stories. I am familiar with the Wally West from the Justice League/Justice League Unlimited animated series. Unfortunately for me, that particular character of the Flash, is my favorite. At the same time, I read the Geoff Johns Flash run from the beginning of the century, and I loved the Wally West/Flash stories he wrote all the way to the Infinite Crisis era.

Thanks for this thread String. This is the second thread I have read on Wally West/Flash and I am more interested now in reading his early run as The Flash from the mid 80's and 90's stories.

Wally is far better in his own title (even more so under Mark Waid) than he was with the Titans... it comes across pretty clearly that Wolfman didn't want him.

Flash #1




Script: Mike Baron
Pencils: Jackson Guice
Inks: Larry Mahlstedt
Colors: Carl Gafford
Letters: Steve Haynie
Editor : Mike Gold



Speed reading: 

It should be a happy occasion, it's Wally's 20th birthday and we find our hero on the way to his apartment home in Brooklyn when he stops to buy six candy bars and, because of the occasion he feels lucky, also a lottery ticket. He then continues home to be 'surprised'.





Having been made suspicious by his current girlfriend Frances Kane about the party, Wally is still happy to see his Titans teammates. Gar and Vic are still amazed over Wally's new metabolic state due his reduced powers as he starts to wolf down a large meal. Presents start to be opened when Wally receives a phone call from a hospital in Manhattan, who ask him if he could deliver a heart for a transplant patient in Seattle. Over Frances' objections, Wally leaves.

At the hospital, the doctor informs Wally of the situation. Due to severe weather over the northwest, air flights are hampered. He needs to deliver the heart to Seattle within five hours. Due to this distance and time constraints, Wally is concerned over the cost to his metabolism (we see that Wally is now fixated on needing to 'refuel' via eating constantly depending on how much energy he exerts). Because of this demand, Wally issues a few demands of his own for this costly venture.



Along with health insurance, Wally also asks them to pay for him a one-way plane ticket back east. Slightly stunned, the doctor agrees, giving Wally the heart in a medical backpack. Wally begins his trek west, mulling over becoming the new Flash. His recent demands may seem harsh but he recalls how when Barry died, he left behind a mountain of legal bills and how the League had to pay for his funeral. Still, Wally thinks, Barry left him all his old costumes as well as a picture of a what a real hero should be.

As he races through the Midwest, the exertion is starting to show. Wally becomes concerned over the weather (snow and sleet start to fall as he reaches Wyoming), will it slow him down, forcing him to stop to refuel and lose precious time? But then, Wally comes across something worse, an assault.



Racing back, Wally finds the victim, a private investigator who, before he dies, tells Wally of his attacker, a man named Vandal Savage.  Surprised, Wally is nearly taken back when Savage attacks him from behind. His speed reflexes saving him, Wally braces to attack before remembering about his mission, the needed heart. Racing on, Wally stops at a nearby local town to inform the police about the murder before continuing on towards Seattle. His stamina nearly broken, Wally reaches the hospital in time.



Wally collapses, being out for nearly seventeen hours while noted author Hegstrom receives her new heart. Once Wally recovers (and wolfs down large amounts of fast-food to refuel), he visits her, being familiar with her work in college. She's happy to see him and thanks him for his effort. History being one of her passions, Wally asks her if she's ever heard of Vandal Savage. She has, his name like a plague throughout history but she believes him to be something akin to a myth. Wally thanks her (after eating all the chocolates on her bedstand) and leaves, flying back east.

Aboard the flight, Wally has to intercede to stop a takeover by militants, nearly breaking his wrist in the process. Taken the the hospital up on their promise, Wally stops bye after landing for them to examine his injury. Putting his wrist in a cast, they say it will take about two weeks to heal. Heading home, Wally muses that with his speed, he could heal the injury in a few days but with some pain and at a cost. Debating this, Wally settles in to eat a large meal when the lotto announcement comes over the news.



He won! Slightly happy, Wally spots an unopened birthday present on a nearby table. Thinking it's from Frances (who is not home at the moment), Wally opens it, shocked to find inside a human heart! It's then that Wally hears a voice echo from the darkness of his home.






Flash facts:

Interestingly, this is the first ever Flash #1. Jay Garrick first appeared in Flash Comics #1. Jay later moved to his own title which became All-Flash which ran for 104 issues. Barry Allen first appeared in Showcase #4. When he was awarded his own title, DC simply picked up at the old numbering, thus Barry's first full Flash issue was #105.

For this new relaunch, editor Mike Gold wanted as big a break from Barry Allen as he could get. The new power restrictions on Wally helped emphasize this but he needed a writer with little connection to the previous Flash. Enter Mike Baron, who accepted the assignment on the basis of Gold, whom Baron liked as he fought continually for freelancer rights within the company. To start with, Baron had Wally become a young adult, no longer the precocious teen. Baron's image of Wally was of a confident young man, sure of what he wanted to do with his life, something very atypical from a 20 year old. Baron decided to offset this by giving Wally the typical young male outlook of a womanizer (which is coming up to play soon).

As for the health insurance demand, Baron thought such actions would help lend some credibility to Wally's plight and needs. As for winning the lottery, Baron thought that was some nice irony, for the guy who has nearly everything he wants to suddenly get a taste of the rich and famous. How will it play out?

This was Jackson Guice's first major assignment for DC after recently leaving Marvel. Gold's direction for Guice was about the same, a break from the past which in this case meant finding new creative ways to portray speed after Carmine Infantino made speed lines for Barry Allen iconic. Guice was up to the challenge as he began exploring the possibilities. (In this first issue though, he does make use of speed lines but they're cleaner than Infantino's version, lending to Wally a leaner form of speed).

Frances Kane, Wally's current girlfriend, is an old  childhood friend who had a crush on Wally. Unfortunately, she developed  uncontrollable magnetic powers, causing her to seek out Wally's help (and the Titans) in New Teen Titans #17. They helped her avert disaster and by this point in time, she's gained some measure of control over her powers.

This story was also adopted, in part, in the Young Justice episode 'Coldhearted' in season two. Well worth checking out.

 

Fantastic review, my friend! I just recently started picking up this series and have been reading issues here and there, so it will be interesting to follow along with your journey.

Just read it. Great Job! I didn't read this issue til long after I became a Flash fan 19 92-93. I do recall it clarified a few things for me about the Next issue which I read first in the Greatest Flash Stories Ever Told.
This issue always seemed to fall in line with DC's newer more realistic approach to certain characters.
They have flaws They Age (Green Arrow in particular was celebrating his 45th Birthday that same year), and in some cases they even allow themselves to use lethal force.
Given that I was well into the shiny suit era (by the time I started Mark Waid was already writing Wally's adventures) It's not hard to see why Wally's early issues seemed so off to me.
Every month I was reading new issues that made Wally look better and better while every week I was buying ten issues at a time that were showing Wally exhibiting far less admirable qualities.
Still, knowing he would grow out of it kept me engaged and I looked forward to seeing Wally evolve into the Speedster i knew.

Flash #2




'Heart of...Stone!'

Script: Mike Baron
Pencils: Jackson Guice
Inks: Larry Mahlstedt
Colors: Carl Gafford
Letters: Steve Haynie
Editor: Mike Gold



Speed Reading:

When we last left our hero, Wally, he had just been surprised in his own home by the villainous ancient presence of Vandal Savage! Wally quickly learns that this isn't quite the same foe that his mentor Barry Allen faced.




With the aid of 'modern medicine', Vandal has recalled ancient magics that he had learned long ago. Having weaved a containment spell around Wally's apartment, Vandal reveals that the bloody heart that he left for Wally belongs to the private investigator whom Vandal killed last issue during Wally's cross-country trek. The PI had discovered Vandal's secret and his current public identity. Having disposed of him, Vandal seeks to renew his energies by killing this upstart who wears the costume of an old foe.

A brief scuffle ensues, all within the tight confines of Wally's apartment. Still smarting from his wrist injury, Wally fights back, surprised by Vandal's strength and speed. But Wally eventually gains an advantage when he forces Vandal through his front door, apparently disrupting Vandal's spell as a magical explosion results, with Vandal seemingly vanished.

Afterwards, Francine catches up to Wally whose gone back to the hospital from last issue for a check-up. Relieved that he is basically unharmed, the pair retreat to Francine's apartment as Wally informs her that he just won six-and-half million dollars via the lottery. Skeptically, Francine offers to follow up with the lotto board about claiming his prize while Wally plans to seek out Vandal before he attacks again. Wally manages to access the PI's records, learning that he was in contact with the owner of a local antiques gallery. Suspicious, Wally plans to check this information out after Francine informs him that he has to publicly claim his prize money. Reluctantly, Wally does just this (meeting Gov. Cuomo no less). Afterwards, Wally's visit to the antiques gallery ends in disappointment as he finds the gallery is closed.

It's then that Wally decides that he and Francine should properly celebrate both his birthday and lotto winning. The pair eat out at an expensive restaurant and after, decide to hit a local club, with Wally spending money like he has plenty to spare.





They are having a grand time when Wally suddenly spots Vandal, watching them from the upper balcony of the club. Vandal suddenly breaks a window of the upper floor, grabs an innocent girl, and throws her out the window! Shocked, Wally changes and races downstairs outside in time to catch the poor girl before she hits the sidewalk. Seeing that she's unconscious but unharmed, Wally races back to the club only to find that Vandal has sealed the doors with another containment spell. Wally realizes that there's only one entrance left into the club - through the window Vandal smashed, if he can reach it.

Meanwhile, Francine is trapped inside with Vandal.



She uses her magnetic powers in an attempt to stop him but Vandal seems unfazed. Vandal is about to finish her off when Wally re-appears! Together, they use their powers in tandem to shove Vandal out of the same window down to the dark pavement below, only to see that once again, Vandal has somehow vanished into thin air.

If Vandal knows about his involvement with Francine now, Wally is reluctant to return to her apartment. So, if you just won the lottery and you need a room for the night, what do you do? You rent a suite from the Ritz. Francine is still surprised by Wally's new spending splurges especially after he gives her a gift, a piece of racy, lacy lingerie.

Consulting with Vic at Titans Tower, Wally concludes that Vandal has probably gone to ground for the moment since his new public identity as the gallery owner has been busted. Later, he picks up Francine (in his new Porsche) and drives her out to Southampton, showing her his new purchase, hoping that she likes it as much as he asks her to move in with him.




Flash facts:

This issue brings a split focus, as we see Wally deal with the threat of Vandal Savage while also deciding what to do now that he has won six-and-half million dollars.

On the Vandal front, I like this depiction of him. Guice depicts Vandal as a dark, shadowy menace. He almost stalks Wally throughout this encounter. His memories may be incomplete but now that he's relearned some of his ancient magic skills, he seems more dangerous than ever. There really wasn't any big super-speed displays here, other than the scene where Wally races after the falling girl. Guice is still using a form of the classic 'speed lines' but they're smaller and more tightly-packed, again giving Wally the illusion of a leaner form while running. We also see some of Wally's hand-to-hand fighting skills (picked up from Dick or Donna perhaps?) which he uses effectively against Vandal, turning his enemy's momentum against him (which saved him and Francine in the club).

On the Wally front, Wally quickly adapts to suddenly being flushed with money. For example, in their travels here, he encounters the same cabbie twice. The first time, before he claims his lotto prize, Wally tips him a quarter. The second time, after claiming his lotto prize, he tips him 20 bucks. This is a sign of things to come as he seeks to live up to his new standard and perhaps impress Francine as well. He hires a broker, accountant, and a lawyer to 'keep the greedy people off my back'. Then, he buys a new mansion for a home. Wally seems to be falling into the typical lotto winner trap but it's also interesting to note that in his public acceptance appearance with the Governor, Wally says that he plans to continue college and 'to slow down and enjoy life'.

Wally still needs to refuel, here eating everything from a large pizza to a rack of lamb dinner meant for two to room service at the Ritz.