Growing up the only true exposure I had to Barry Allen as The Flash was the 90’s TV show. BUT remember, in the comics Barry Allen died in the 80’s, right before I got into comics! For me Wally West was always The Flash, the Scarlet Speedster! He was a great character and added the perfect humor to the show. Voiced by Smallville alumni, Michael Rosenbaum, this version of The Flash has made his way into a couple of the animated movies from Warner Premiere as well!
Wally West The Flash, Third Generation
During the 1985-86 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths, Barry gave his life to save the Earth when destroying the antimatter cannon that was aimed at Earth. Initially unaware of this, Wally was coaxed by Jay Garrick into assisting the heroes against the Anti-Monitor’s forces. During the final battle with the Anti-Monitor, Wally was struck by a blast of anti-matter energy, which put his disease into remission. In the aftermath of the conflict, Wally took on his fallen mentor’s costume and identity. Wally’s primary superpower is his ability to control the speed of which his body vibrates and to move at super speed, which he uses primarily to run at super-human velocities. This super speed is derived from his connection to the Speed Force: a vaguely defined extra-dimensional energy force from which most speedster heroes draw their powers (while the original Flash, Jay Garrick, can draw upon the Speed Force, Jay is one of the few speedsters that is a metahuman first, allowing him to keep a degree of super speed even when the Speed Force was cut off from the others).
Like all Flashes, Wally is surrounded by a protective aura that allows him to resist the heat created by the pressure of compressed air caused by moving at super speed as well as other environmental consequences of moving at such velocities. It is not known how Wally is able to circumvent the damage moving at such great speeds would normally have on the environment, but it has been hypothesized that his protective aura allows him to “side step” such environmental consequences. Because of his powers and connection to the Speed Force, he can run at varying speeds for extended periods of time without needing rest or causing damage to his body. It is his connection to the Speed Force that constantly rejuvenates him while running making it so he does not literally feed upon his own body to generate the energy for super speed. Even so, as a consequence of his sped up metabolism, he finds it necessary to eat often and in great quantities to help supply the chemical energy needed to run like he does.
Wally West found his road to fame as The Flash of the Justice League animated series, embedding him in comic history forever. A show that lasted 4 seasons in the early 2000’s, in the wake of the success of both the Batman and Superman shows, WB had a new hit on their hands, and a team that was not familiar to original fans of the comic series!
We have received a few different Flash builds so far in the DC Universe Classics line. With great figures like Barry Allen original and more obscure choices like Blue and White Lantern Flashes, its about time Mattel got around to giving us this guy. The final piece of the puzzle, Wally joins Barry, Jay Garrick (2012 CIE figure), and Kid Flash. Even if you have to pretend that the figure is Bart Allen.
What I really like about this figure is the paint job. The metallic red layer gives Wally a glow that makes him kinda difficult to shoot, yet I am not complaining. The figure is beautiful. The detail of the gold sections is amazing and the paint application of the lightning designs are very crisp. The belt is a great touch and really adds to the dynamic look of this figure.
Wally has a great head sculpt, which is original. My only complaint is that he isn’t more smirky. This really takes away from the presentation of the figure, but still looks good. My biggest issue is that there is no real character to him, other than being a masked man. The Flash emblem sits perfectly on his chest, with very clean lines. Over all the build is a re-hash of many familiar pieces from the Mattel bin.
I give the Wally West version of The Flash 4.5 outta 5 stars. Its awesome to get a superstar from our era included among the heroes of past generations. Its a great shout-out to fans of the character and the Justice League cartoon. Though DC has yet to bring back the character in the comics, it seems that they are keeping good ‘ol Wally in the reserves for a major Flash story arc down the road! We can only hope as the New 52 universe continues to grow!
What’s coming this month from the Club Infinite Earth‘s?! Red Hood, a figure that should have probably made its appearance in the Batman Legacy line. I really don’t see anything wrong with releasing it under the CIE banner, I just hope that we see the current Jason Todd version of the Red Hood soon. I can see him popping up in his New 52 garb in one of the retail lines. So for now we have Jason Todd as he first re-appeared in DCU re-defining a character that was made famous by Alan Moore‘s grim tale, The Killing Joke. Remember that these figures sell out fast so get on over the sale page DAY 1 of the sale and hope to get in line. OR you could buy a sub and help support the continuing success of this line! Just sayin…..
Head on over to MattyCollector and check ’em out!
Stay tooned 😛
~CynicNerd