The Fool with the Heart of Gold: The Flash of Justice League

A blue-collar everyman in the comics, the Justice League creative team transformed the Fastest Man Alive into a comedic figure for the animated series.

Surprisingly, compared to many of his teammates on Justice League, I suspect that the decisions made when adapting the Flash came rather quickly, the first one being which Scarlet Speedster to use.  After all, the Golden Age Flash—Jay Garrick, who first appeared in Flash Comics #1 (January 1940)—had a good run, but he’s largely been used as a supporting character in Flash and Justice Society titles for the past sixty years.  Meanwhile, the Silver Age Flash—Barry Allen, who first appeared in Showcase #4 (October 1956)—could have been a strong contender, but he famously died in battle during Crisis on Infinite Earths #8 (November 1985) and—seeing as how his resurrection would not occur until Final Crisis #2 (August 2008)—he was off the table.  That left us with Wally West—Barry Allen’s former sidekick, initially known as Kid Flash—who took over the role as Flash in Crisis on Infinite Earths #12 (March 1986).  With fifteen years as the titular hero under his belt and, with that, a respectable familiarity among comic book fans, the role was his to lose.

However, even though he was basically a lock, there was still a question as to how to portray him.  Would he be the teen sidekick and reluctant hero of Marv Wolfman and George Pérez’s The New Teen Titans?  Or perhaps the new-to-the-role-of-Flash, problematic Romeo of Mike Baron’s 1987 run?  Or would he be patterned after the celebrated Mark Waid era, where Wally West learned of the Speed Force, grew up, and moved out from his predecessor’s shadow?  In his way, the Flash of Justice League and Justice League Unlimited (JLU) would be all of these things and none of these things, but the character would still grow into one of the best interpretations of the superhero dubbed the Fastest Man Alive.

Getting People Up to Speed

Created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, Wally West made his first appearance as Kid Flash in The Flash #110 (January 1960). The nephew of Barry Allen’s girlfriend, Iris West, Wally gained his superpowers in a plot contrivance identical to Barry’s: a stray lightning bolt struck a shelf of chemicals in his lab, resulting in an explosion. Originally wearing a costume identical to Barry’s, Wally acquired the more familiar red-and-yellow costume in The Flash #135 (March 1963). While serving as the Flash’s partner, he also chanced to team up with fellow teen sidekicks Robin and Aqualad in The Brave and the Bold #54 (July 1964), which would lead to a more permanent arrangement as the Teen Titans in The Brave and the Bold #60 (July 1965). For the majority of the Silver Age (and the first half of the Bronze Age), this would be the status quo for Wally West, but this would be disrupted in the 1980s.

Above left: scenes of Kid Flash and Raven’s ill-fated relationship, including The New Teen Titans #4 (top; February 1981) and The New Teen Titans #29 (bottom; March 1983). Above right: Kid Flash quits the Teen Titans in The New Teen Titans #39 (February 1984).

The changes began with the release of The New Teen Titans #1 (November 1980), when Raven attempted to create a new team of Teen Titans in anticipation of a conflict with her father, the demon Trigon. However, Wally West was at a crossroads, as he was considering quitting as a superhero to attend college and, more significantly, he had learned that he had developed a sickness that was killing him whenever he used his speed. In order to get him on the team, Raven used her magic to manufacture in him an attraction to her, and while it was true that Raven did had affection for him, she could not act on it for fear that such emotion would allow her father access to their reality. In the end, however, her manipulation of him was a factor in his decision to quit the team, but his retirement plans hit a snag following the death of Barry Allen in Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985-1986). Conveniently cured of his illness during the event, he chose to honor his mentor by becoming the new Flash.

Above left: Wally West becomes the third Flash in Crisis on Infinite Earths #12 (March 1986). Above right: cover of The Flash #1 (June 1987).

With Barry Allen dead and Jay Garrick transported to Asgard in the Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special #1 (July 1986), Wally West became the only active Flash in the dawn of the Post-Crisis era. Looking back, one can interpret that, at least at first, Wally took on the mantle of his then-uncle more out of obligation than actual desire to continue crimefighting, but he soldiered on. The first writer of the new series, Mike Baron, established that—to be able to function—Wally West needed massive amounts of food to compensate for his energy expenditures, and he also established Wally’s early habit of seeking a quid pro quo in exchange for his services (for example, in the first issue, he arranged for free health care with a hospital in exchange for using his super-speed for transporting transplant organs across great distances). It was also during Baron’s run that Wally West won the lottery, but his good fortune only lasted until The Flash #14 (July 1988), when he lost it all due to a stock market crash. Needing an income to pay for his home and expensive food bills, he quickly signed up with a team in Justice League Europe #1 (April 1989) in exchange for a paycheck.

Top left: cover of Justice League Europe #1 (April 1989). Top above center: Flash hits on Power Girl in Justice League Europe #13 (April 1990) and Crimson Fox in Justice League Europe #49 (April 1993). Top below center: Flash hits on Power Girl again in Justice League Europe #39 (June 1992). Top right: Flash hits on Ice in Justice League Europe #31 (October 1991).

It was during this era that the Flash became known for another, more problematic character trait: his propensity for womanizing and harassment. Possibly influenced by his toxic relationship with Raven (though this is not an excuse for his behavior), Wally West used his money and clout to pursue several women during this time period. Looking back on his behavior in The Flash #175 (August 2001), Wally recalled how “when I first took over as the Flash, I was … well, I was kind of a jerk.  I milked the title and the costume for all it was worth.  I was a kid, so getting women’s attention was high on my list” (Johns). Notable low points during this time period included infidelity with girlfriend Connie Noelski in The Flash Annual #1 (September 1987) and his constant hounding of teammate Power Girl (among others) during his tenure in Justice League Europe. Only able to run at the speed of sound, Wally West was now known as “the Fastest Man Alive” for the wrong reasons.

Fortunately, the Flash began his rehabilitation following Baron’s departure, under the tenure of writers William Messner-Loebs and Mark Waid. In fact, as stated above, it was during Waid’s run on the title when the most significant changes to the character were made: the discovery of the Speed Force and, through it, reclaiming his full speed potential; marrying longtime partner Linda Park, and transcending being simply a replacement for Barry Allen, allowing him to make the title fully his own. In addition, the Flash joined the Justice League when the “big guns” reclaimed the mantle in Grant Morrison’s JLA #1 (January 1997), and he was beginning another celebrated run—this time under the direction of writer Geoff Johns—when the Justice League creative team began developing their animated series for Cartoon Network. However, in adapting the character for the show, they not only had to look to the comics that came before, they also had to contend with their own continuity, as—unlike most of the team—the Flash had already made an appearance in the DC Animated Universe (DCAU).

Arriving Early to the Party

On September 13, 1997, the Flash made his debut on Kids’ WB! in “Speed Demons,” an episode of the network’s Superman: The Animated Series (STAS). The first genuine, costumed hero to appear in the DCAU that was not Batman, Superman, or their sidekicks; this Flash appeared to fulfill a traditional Superman bucket list event: the classic race between the Man of Steel and the Scarlet Speedster. In terms of the character’s identity, Producer Bruce Timm kept it vague, saying how this Flash looked like Barry Allen but acted like Wally West in a September 8, 1997 Comics Continuum article (Allstetter, “Superman”), but Producer Alan Burnett cut to the chase in a 1998 interview:

I’ve always wanted to do the Flash, so we decided to incorporate him into Superman.  We didn’t identify which Flash he was, although I think he’s probably the Wally West Flash.  He was identified as coming from Central City, so some fans said, “He must be Barry Allen!”  But, y’know, Wally goes back quite a few years, so it’s very natural for him to have been from Central City himself. (qtd. in Brick 22)

Originally titled “The Fastest Man Alive” (Tejeda), the episode presented the Flash as a “hyperactive jerk” who spent the majority of his time crowing about how fast he was. Voiced by Charlie Schlatter (Dr. Jesse Travis on Diagnosis: Murder [1993-2001], Ferris Bueller on the short-lived television sitcom based on the film [1990-1991]), this Scarlet Speedster spent much of his screentime talking trash about how slow the Man of Steel was compared to him. Another notable scene featured him hitting on Lois Lane—right in front of Superman, I might add—who referred to him as a “fast worker” for his speed-induced overtures. Watching the episode, one gets the sense that his characterization was a result of 1) the creative team giving him an overbearing attitude to better play against the mild-mannered Kryptonian and / or 2) the Flash was dealing with insecurity over meeting a more powerful hero for the first time. At any rate, as the duo faced off both on the racetrack and against the Weather Wizard, Superman learned that, once you get past the bravado and self-promotion, the Flash was a competent hero capable of fighting for truth and justice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7AT1pPc5lU

While only appearing once during the Kids’ WB! days, the episode did set a precedent for his existence in the DCAU, though the Justice League creative team did almost replace the Flash with a younger hero at one point. As previously discussed, their original plans called for pitching Justice League at Kids’ WB! and, recognizing their preference for teenage heroes, they swapped out the Flash for Impulse in their initial sizzle reel (as seen in the video above). However, when they decided to go to Cartoon Network instead, they dropped the teen hero and returned to Wally West. Beating the odds by a nose, the Fastest Man Alive had crossed the finish line ahead of his opponent, maintaining his animated legacy.

Kicking the Tires

Added to the Justice League’s roster in a photo finish, the creative team now had to figure out how he would fit into the dynamics of the group. As previously stated, they desperately wanted to avoid the pitfalls of both the Silver Age and Super Friends eras, where each character essentially had the same personality. Said Producer Rich Fogel in a 2004 interview, “[t]here was no personality, no dynamic between them.  So, one of the big challenges we had in the first season was, we’re putting this group together, what niche are they going to fill?  How are they going to play off of each other?” (qtd. in Gross 4). To compensate for their previous lack of chemistry, the creative team went out of their way to design the Justice League team members’ personalities to respond to each other in more deliberate ways and, in Flash’s case, they elected to double down on the snarky, irreverent character from “Speed Demons.”

On the surface, their choices were a radical departure from the character in the comics. Often portrayed as a blue-collar everyman (or Peter Parker without the anxiety), this Flash was slotted in as the youthful comic relief—the guy who punctures the solemnity of the moment with a bad joke. And while the Flash could be humorous in the comics (particularly the Wally West version), his take on Justice League was arguably jacked up to Spider-Man levels of wit. Now, considering the lineup and their need for differing personalities, the Flash had to be the one designated as “the funny one” and, considering his tenure in Justice League Europe, there was precedence for this type of portrayal. In the end, as this team had no place for the likes of Blue Beetle or Booster Gold (Jankiewicz 30), they must have felt a need to include at least one League member as a tribute to the 1980s, “BWA-HA-HA!” Justice League pioneered by writers such as Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Gerald Jones. Thus, the Flash was elected our class clown.

At the 2001 Justice League panel at San Diego Comic-Con, Bruce Timm and Rich Fogel introduced their take on the Flash to fans, and it’s worth noting here that, even though the series played coy with his identity until the season / series finale “Starcrossed,” they were initially quite open with who their man under the mask was:

BRUCE TIMM:  Flash is Wally West.  He’s the Wally West Flash.  The way we’re playing him … I don’t want to say that he’s the comedy relief of the gang, but he kind of is.  He’s young.  He’s pretty much immature.  He’s just out of puberty and ready to go.

RICH FOGEL:  He thinks he’s a ladies’ man, but he really doesn’t have a clue.

BRUCE TIMM:  He’s really great for the other characters to bounce off of.  He’s such a wild card.  And our version of the Green Lantern is such a straight arrow that we have to team them up as often as possible because they’re just oil and water. (qtd. in Davis)

Timm elaborated further in an April 24, 2001 interview with Comics Continuum:

It’s Wally West, but one of the things about the show is that we hardly ever refer to the characters in their alter-egos.  They’re almost never out of their costumes, so there’s not a lot of secret identity stuff.  I don’t think, not yet, that we’ve ever referred to him as Wally West.  But it is.  He’s a very youthful, brash, energetic Flash. (qtd. in Allstetter, “Bruce”)

Above top left: the Flash model from the “STAS team-up” pitch that was eventually rejected for a more traditional Superman series. Above bottom left: a Flash model sheet from STAS. Above right: a Flash turnaround model sheet from Justice League, illustrated by character designer Glenn Wong.

With his characterization decided upon, the next step was to design the Scarlet Speedster, which was pretty easy, considering how they had previous models to work from. Redesigned by character designer and Producer James Tucker (kyerkes98), the “Flash is real close to what he looked like before,” said Bruce Timm in the aforementioned Comics Continuum interview, adding that “[w]e redid the design, but it’s very close to what he looked like on the Superman show” (qtd. in Allstetter, “Bruce”). He later expanded upon this in “The Look of the League,” a special feature from the Justice League:  Justice on Trial DVD release:

Above left: the Flash from the STAS episode “Speed Demons.” Above right: the Flash from the Justice League episode “Maid of Honor.”

Flash was kind of a no-brainer designing him.  We knew pretty much off the bat that we pretty much needed to stick to the comic version of his character.  And it’s a great costume, you know—red and yellow—you can’t beat it.  The one note we did get from DC Comics is that they had, in recent years, […] tried to go a little bit darker with his character and with his design; to try and make him look a little bit more fresh and more modern.  We adapted that by giving him a […] velour-kind of look to his costume, so that he’s always rim-lit.  […] The main body of his costume is a dark, shadowed character, and he’s got a little bit of the brighter red on the outside of his costume to kind of keep him a little bit more dynamic-looking, so that he’s not just a real big, you know, tomato. (qtd. in “Look”)

Finally, there was a matter of casting, and it was decided that they would replace Charlie Schlatter (above left) with actor Michael Rosenbaum (above right), best known for playing Lex Luthor on Smallville (2001-2011). Already a DCAU alumni—having voiced a number of characters for Batman Beyond, including Jokerz members Terminal (“Hidden Agenda”) and Ghoul (Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker)—Rosenbaum discussed how he got the role in a January 31, 2002 interview with Comics Continuum:

Bruce Timm and [Voice Director] Andrea Romano, they gave me a chance.  I was doing a lot of voice work for Batman Beyond and Return of the Joker, and I did Static [Shock] and The Zeta Project.  And they said, “Hey, would you like to read for the Flash?”  And I really didn’t know too much about him, but I read it and gave my own take on it and trusted my instincts, so I got that, and it’s really the best of both worlds. […] Everybody’s so great, and we have such a good time. (qtd. in Allstetter, “Michael”)

To his credit, Andrea Romano revealed in a November 2005 ToyFare Magazine interview how “[w]hen we were casting, he was my first thought for Flash,“ adding how the actor “understood animation energy, and he had a very good ear for impressions” (qtd. in Rossen 50). Unfortunately, due to his obligations with Smallville, which he auditioned for when Justice League was in production (Rossen 50), this caused some availability issues. In the aforementioned interview with Comics Continuum, Rosenbaum discussed how “[i]t’s unfortunate because, a lot of times, I don’t get with the other actors because we’re filming.  I have to fly down [from Vancouver, where Smallville is filmed], and I have to do my lines by myself” (qtd. in Allstetter, “Michael”). Fortunately, the creative team made it work, allowing Rosenbaum to perform both roles for DC Comics fans.

Their refurbishment of the chassis complete, the creative team was ready to introduce the world to their newer model of the Fastest Man Alive. Reproduced below is Cartoon Network’s original character profile for the Flash, officially released on October 19, 2001:

Young, brash, and impulsive, Wally West gained the power of super-speed during a freak electro-chemical accident.  Now the Fastest Man Alive, he can run at velocities approaching the speed of light.  Even Superman has a hard time keeping up with him.  Because of his super-fast metabolism, Wally is constantly hungry. Also blessed with a quick wit, Wally takes a light-hearted view of saving the universe.  He is the comedian of the group, a wise-cracking, easy-going slacker who relies on speed, not brains, to get him out of trouble.  Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work, and his flippant attitude annoys his teammates who take their jobs far more seriously.  Often, this over-reliance on speed will get him in over his head, and his teammates will have to catch up to rescue him.  For them, there is one thing the Flash cannot do fast enough—grow up. (qtd. in Allstetter, “Justice League Characters”)

With this narrative in place, the Flash was figuratively crouched in the classic four-point stance, waiting for sound of the starter’s pistol to begin the race of a lifetime. On your mark … get set…

GO!!!

Unfortunately, much like Green Lantern and Hawkgirl, both Justice League and JLU did not really go into the Flash’s background, but the creative team did leave fans some conceptual breadcrumbs that—along with what little that can be gleaned from the series—we could use to make some educated guesses regarding his past. To begin, writer and Producer Dwayne McDuffie, has—at various times—established that Wally’s age was 20 (in a February 4, 2010 post on his now-defunct message boards) or “maybe 23 or 24” (in a March 2, 2006 post; Maestro). In addition, he has also stated that while “[t]he Flash family doesn’t exist in the DCAU” (in an April 4, 2010 post), “Flash and Kid Flash exist” (in an August 30, 2010 post; Maestro). From this, we can interpret that 1) unlike the mainstream DC Comics, there is only one Flash in the DCAU and 2) he must have been, at some point in the past, Kid Flash as well.

Of course, just because Barry Allen isn’t the Flash here doesn’t mean that he doesn’t exist. In “Flash and Substance,” we get introduced to a blond supervisor in the Central City Police Department’s forensics lab who Wally—as an employee of this division—apparently reports to (and one who appears to have no problem with Wally wearing a T-shirt and a ripped-up button-down to work). Though it is never expressly stated, it could be interpreted that this man is Barry Allen. Having a strained relationship with his parents in the comics, Wally West leaned on his Aunt Iris and—through her—Barry, who started off as a “big brother”-type but eventually became his uncle through marriage. Assuming that this is Barry, it is conceivable that he served here as a father figure to Wally, and this could have motivated him to pursue a career in forensics science.

Again, in the comics, both Barry Allen and Wally West were victims of two identical, freak accidents: a bolt of lightning struck a shelf of chemicals in the lab, a situation resulting in both figures getting drenched in unknown compounds while simultaneously getting struck by the resulting explosion. Apparently in the DCAU, however, there was only one such accident, and Wally was the victim, as seen in flashback in the episode “The Brave and the Bold.” Presumably visiting his soon-to-be uncle at work, a teenaged Wally West experienced a once-in-a-lifetime accident that granted him super-speed and, unknown to him at the time, tied him to the aforementioned Speed Force. Possibly inspired by news reports of costumed individuals fighting crime in Metropolis and Gotham City, the young Wally elected to join them as the new superhero of Central City.

Above top left: what appears to be Jay Garrick’s Golden Age Flash helmet, seen on display in the Flash Museum in “Flash and Substance.” Above top right: a Kid Flash costume, also seen on display in “Flash and Substance.”  Bottom: Kid Flash, as seen in the Teen Titans episode “Lightspeed.”

Thanks to the aforementioned JLU episode “Flash and Substance,” we got a taste of the Flash’s legacy through the exhibits in the Flash Museum, and—as seen above—this includes what appears to be a winged helmet reminiscent of the Golden Age Flash and a full Kid Flash costume. When asked on his message boards whether the former implied the existence of Jay Garrick in the DCAU, Dwayne McDuffie shot that down in a September 5, 2010 post and instead kept it open-ended:

It’s not Jay’s helmet; it belongs to Hermes.  It’s from an old Wally Flash costume.  It’s a trophy from a completely unrelated adventure and has nothing to do with any Flash costume whatsoever, et cetera.  The only reason you think it’s Jay’s is because you know about Jay.  95% of the audience have never heard of him and don’t care.  If we wanted it to be Jay’s it would be just as easy to bring into continuity, but we didn’t say either way. (Maestro)

Considering the above, I propose that—much like Batman did through Batman: The Animated Series (BTAS), The New Batman Adventures (TNBA), Justice League, and Batman Beyond—the Flash most likely went through several costume changes before settling on the “velour” red suit of Justice League and JLU, and he may very well have gone through a “Kid Flash” period early in his career. And while not officially part of the DCAU, Kid Flash’s appearances on sister series Teen Titans—in the episodes “Lightspeed” and “Titans Together”—may have given us a look at what a teenaged Wally West was like prior to becoming the Flash proper (and Michael Rosenbaum reprised his role here as well, so there is a connection). Eventually, however, Wally must have decided to drop his Kid Flash persona and “age up” his look into the Flash, possibly as a way of seeking more respect from his burgeoning Rogues’ Gallery and—let’s face it—as a way to get more attention from the ladies.

Finally, as for the Flash’s age, in the comics, Wally West got his powers when he was twelve, but the flashback scene in “The Brave and the Bold” makes me wonder if he was closer to fifteen or sixteen. Assuming that, as well as the assumption that the Flash was twenty to twenty-one at the start of Justice League (“He’s young.  He’s pretty much immature.  He’s just out of puberty and ready to go”), I speculate that Wally West has been an active hero for at least five to six years (he was probably around seventeen or eighteen in “Speed Demons”). Experienced, but still rough around the edges, the Flash would come to the Justice League with an impressive resume, but it would take some time to mold him into the hero that he would eventually become.

First Lap

Already established as a local hero in Central City, the first season of Justice League introduced us to a Flash that, by virtue of joining an assemblage of the World’s Greatest Heroes, was now achieving a higher level of prominence in the superhero community. “Secret Origins” found him saving an entire world instead of merely a city, and subsequent adventures found him travelling into space (“In Blackest Night,” “Hearts and Minds”), visiting parallel Earths (“Legends,” “A Better World”), and serving in World War II (“The Savage Time”). However, while he excelled at fighting crime and protecting the innocent, the young twenty-something still had a lot of growing up to do and, in early appearances, he often came off to others as a clueless, self-aggrandizing twit.

Based on interactions the Flash had with various citizens in Season One, it became painfully obvious that the guy who repeatedly reminded everyone that he was “the Fastest Man Alive” was barely tolerated by the people he had sworn to protect. I mean, look at Snapper Carr’s face as he interviewed the Flash in a scene from “Secret Origins” (above left); I know a “So, my career has come to this!?” look of resignation when I see one. Also, as shown in a scene from “The Brave and the Bold” (above right), his amateurish attempts to pick up two women at a local diner were met with eye-rolling and general indifference. He thought he was God’s gift to everyone but, in reality, he was that boorish, annoying guy you avoided at a party.

As for his teammates, he generally got along well with them, though they did recognize his immaturity. Of them, Green Lantern and Batman were especially critical, though their opinions would soften over time. In the case of the former, Dwayne McDuffie described their pairings as “a classic unity of opposites.  Green Lantern is a straight soldier, by-the-book kind of guy, and Wally’s kind of a slacker who tries to do things the easy way and is kind of a pain to be around.  John makes a great straight man and a particularly great straight man for the Flash” (qtd. in “Behind”). He would later add the following, in a March 9, 2002 interview with Comics Continuum:

Flash is pure id.  As such, he’s a pleasure to write.  He reacts without thought or tact filter, so he gets almost all of the good lines.  On the other hand, Green Lantern is much more the traditional, no-nonsense hero.  As much fun as they both are to write as individuals, when you put them together, magical things happen.  Flash constantly rubs GL the wrong way but, despite himself, GL likes him.  And, wonder of wonders, they make an effective team. (qtd. in Allstetter, “Dwayne”)

While occasionally contentious, the pairing of the older, veteran Green Lantern and the younger, cocky Flash proved to be a highlight of the series, providing Wally West with a “big brother” figure (in absence of Barry Allen) to help him navigate next-level heroism while, at the same time, giving John Stewart—who began the series as a lonely, isolated figure, having been off-world for ten to fifteen years—a much-needed emotional tie to Earth.

As for his relationship with the Dark Knight, it began a little pricklier than the one with John Stewart, and not because he saw Flash as just another Robin. Initially described as “antagonistic” in an August 2001 interview with Wizard Magazine (Cotton 81), Bruce Timm revealed that “Batman and Flash’s relationship is much more like Batman and Guy Gardner’s relationship in the Keith Giffen, Kevin Maguire, and J.M. DeMatteis days of Justice League.  Flash is kind of cocky and rude and Batman … well, he’s Batman” (qtd. in Cotton 81). Recognizing that, at his core, Wally was still more Kid Flash than Flash in Season One, one gets the sense that Batman—used to training and dealing with a trio of costumed sidekicks—elected to “mentor” Wally whether he asked for it or not, such as when he stopped his losing defense of Wonder Woman at the end of “Paradise Lost” and when he motivated him to find a way to escape the Justice Lords’ custody in “A Better World.” As a member of the Justice League, Batman wanted Flash to be the best that he could be, even if he wasn’t always nice about it.

Of course, considering the source material the creative team pulled from, there is the matter of his relationships with Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl, which initially consisted of his adolescent attempts to flirt. To his credit, however, his behavior was dialed down compared to the 1980s comics, and Wally came off here more cluelessly juvenile than predatory scumbag. In the case of Wonder Woman, after an initial pass in “Secret Origins,” he actually backed off a bit, possibly recognizing that—after the events of “Paradise Lost”—what she really needed was a friend. This left him with plenty of time to chat up Hawkgirl, which developed into a very interesting friendship over the course of the series.

Above: examples of the Flash’s wordplay with Hawkgirl from “In Blackest Night” (top) and “Injustice for All” (bottom).

Over multiple episodes of Justice League, the banter between Flash and Hawkgirl was largely playful, save for a few exceptions like in “Legends,” where her attempts to play the team’s “Gal Friday” in front of the Justice Guild irritated her to no end (see above). Based on scenes like the ones above from “In Blackest Night” and “Injustice for All,” one gets the sense that she actually enjoys the back-and-forth between them. In fact, when their repartee began generating fan speculation, Bruce Timm expressed confusion regarding this particular shipping, as stated in a July 29, 2024 message board post on Anime Superhero:

When the first season of Justice League was airing, I remember seeing comments here from some fans who were sure that there was something going on between Hawkgirl and Flash—James Tucker, Rich Fogel, and I were all like, “Really??  We’re throwing in all these rather obvious and unsubtle foreshadowing bits about Hawkgirl and [Green Lantern] getting together, and they somehow think Hawkgirl and Flash are going to be an item?!!” (b.t., “’Batman’”)

In retrospect, Hawkgirl’s patience with Flash probably had something more to do with maintaining her cover, as it was no doubt helpful for her to play on his testosterone-infused immaturity to keep him from speculating too much on her origins. That said, even the events of “Starcrossed” did little to affect their bond, which evolved into a powerful friendship by the time of JLU, with Flash acknowledging how Shayera Hol was “like the big sister I never had” in “I Am Legion.”

Generally likable despite his sometimes juvenile behavior, the everyman Flash made a place for himself on a team consisting of aliens, demigods, galactic soldiers, and urban legends. However, while a valued member of the team, it didn’t mean that there wasn’t an awkward transitional period as he went from local hero to global hero.

Fast on His Feet, Slow on the Uptake

While seen as a valued member of the Justice League by both viewers and his own teammates, the Flash still found himself at a disadvantage as, seen story-wise as “the young one” and “the funny one” by the creative team, he was the most likely one to screw up when a script called for raised stakes. Multiple episodes featured him flying the Javelin-7 without proper training (“In Blackest Night”), mouthing off to the wrong person (“The Brave and the Bold,” “A Knight of Shadows”), getting sucked out of airlocks (“Maid of Honor”), letting the villain get away because he stopped to use the bathroom (“A Better World”), hitting on every woman he comes across (too many to count), and rushing into conflicts without a plan (“Secret Origins,” “In Blackest Night,” “Injustice for All,” “The Brave and the Bold,” etc.). Compared to his contemporaries, he came off as impulsive and thoughtless, resulting in a further lessening of his stature.

Above: Quicksilver scene from X-Factor #87 (February 1993). Images courtesy of Marvel Comics and the Walt Disney Company.

Of course, his issues with discipline and self-regulation could be explained as potential side-effects stemming from his powers. Considering how his body perpetually functions at super-speed, it would make sense that the Flash’s sensory processing does as well and, with his body forced to make sense of the world at an accelerated rate, it stands to reason that he would apparently suffer from some form of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Forced to take in the world at warp speed, his mind must have to filter out massive quantities of unnecessary data all the time just to function, resulting in him constantly misreading social cues and being the last guy in the room to put two-and-two together. I’m sure it’s a daily hassle but, compared to his Marvel Comics counterpart, the mutant Quicksilver, Wally got off lucky.

In addition to the above, there is also the possibility that the Flash’s growing pains may have had something to do with the creative team’s own issues with writing the character. Of them, Bruce Timm was particularly vocal with his frustrations, admitting in a 2003 interview how “[Flash is] difficult to write action scenes for,” as well as how “I wish we could kill him off. He’s so fast, if he was just a little bit smarter, he wouldn’t need a Justice League” (qtd. in MacDonald); he would later continue in an interview with RetroVision CD-ROM Magazine:

Just trying, for example, to come up with a way of staging the Flash so he doesn’t come off looking like a total moron is really difficult, because he can be everywhere at once.  We know that really doesn’t work in any kind of filmic medium.  Nobody should ever be able to get the drop on the Flash; his reflexes should be so fast that nobody should be able to land a punch on him or shoot him with a ray gun. (qtd. in Gross 2)

Other issues were raised by the writers, including Stan Berkowitz, who admitted at a 2004 San Diego Comic-Con panel how Flash was “a challenge due to the impulse to go overboard with wisecracks” (Tabu), and Dwayne McDuffie, who gave his take on the Flash in an interview from 2006 / 2007 (but released posthumously in March 2011):

The problem with Flash—the problem with a lot of DC characters—is that they’re so powerful that if they use their powers even a little bit reasonably, there’s no story.  The Flash thing is like [VILLAIN VOICE.], “Give me what I want, or I’ll push this button—give back my button!  You can’t take my button before I make the … I quit!”  There’s just no story!  The guy moves at the speed of light!  The guy can give his speed to other objects!  He can go through walls! […] You can’t sneak up on him […] unless he’s kind of being a moron.

[…W]e kind of played it that he’s just goofing, and mainly goofing, because it’s so easy for him that he can screw with you.  I actually had him talk about that a couple of times, where he thinks Superman is dead [in “Hereafter”], he’s like, “Okay, I’ve got to stop screwing around now.  Because not only am I the fastest guy alive, but Superman’s standing behind me!  So, why shouldn’t I have a good time?”  What can you do? (qtd. in Weitzman)

And so, the Flash carried on through Justice League, cracking jokes and surviving crises through a combination of super-speed and pure luck. However, he made it work and, along the way, he positioned himself as a vital member of the team … even if he didn’t realize he was doing it at the time.

Second Wind

It should be noted that, even with his aforementioned typecasting, the Flash improved incrementally as the series progressed. After his cringe-inducing first time behind the wheel of the Javelin-7 in “In Blackest Night,” he was shown being a capable pilot in “Maid of Honor.” After a failed attempt to interrogate Copperhead with Superman in “Injustice for All,” he successfully leaned on a perp for information in “Secret Society.” His crimefighting game improving by leaps and bounds, the Flash was catching up to his teammates in terms of professionalism and work ethic. In a November 2005 interview with ToyFare Magazine, Michael Rosenbaum recalled how Bruce Timm once said to him, “[y]ou know, let’s make [Flash] a little bit smarter,” with Rosenbaum himself adding how Flash is “still a fun-lovin’ Joker, but when things get serious, he does tend to become a little bit more of an adult” (qtd. in Rossen 55). Timm would go on to expand on this further in the aforementioned interview with RetroVision CD-ROM Magazine:

I think as Season Two went on, we started showing in Flash, for example, different sides to his character than we had in Season One.  He’s still the young, kind of goofball guy, but what was great about that is that because, for the most part, we played him fast and loose, when he would show a more caring or mature side, it would take you by surprise.  It had more strength.  Even in Season One’s “[The] Savage Time,” there’s the great scene where he chews Hawkgirl out for leaving Green Lantern behind on the battlefield.  You’ve never seen Flash act like that before.  There was actual depth and strong feelings for his buddy Green Lantern expressed as he took it out on Hawkgirl, and it was really neat to see him do that.  So, those are some of the things that we tried to do in Season Two. (qtd. in Gross 4)

Top row, left to right: the Flash covers a sleeping Hawkgirl with a blanket in “Only a Dream,” and he eats with Green Lantern at a diner in “Eclipsed.” Center: the Flash prevents Wonder Woman from murdering Toyman in “Hereafter.” Bottom row, left to right: the Flash brings some holiday cheer to Central City orphans in “Comfort and Joy,” and he says goodbye to Shayera Hol in “Starcrossed.”

As the series progressed, the Flash grew to become the heart of the team, the moral compass who kept the rest of them grounded and in tune with their humanity. Whether it was hanging out with Green Lantern and Hawkgirl, preventing Wonder Woman from crossing a line, or advocating for the protection of life while disarming an orbital doomsday weapon (“Maid of Honor”), he was there for them in ways that nobody else could be (which was important, especially on a series that initially had no supporting cast for the leads to go to). As previously stated, even superheroes need contemporaries with shared experience and, when things got tough, the Flash was always there with a smile and an iced mocha. In the aforementioned 2002 interview with Comics Continuum, Michael Rosenbaum discussed this side of Flash’s personality:

I think he’s a fun guy.  “So, Hawkgirl, where do you come from?”  She’s just looking at him, and he’s like, “Seriously, I really care.”  He’s such a fun guy, and he tries to make light of the situations.  With all these horrible situations and everybody’s so serious, you need that guy around.  I’m that guy in real life. (qtd. in Allstetter, “Michael”)

The best example of his newfound status can be found in the episode “A Better World,” where we got a taste of what his absence could have brought through the Justice Lords, a parallel Earth version of the Justice League whose Flash had been killed in battle. While the alternate Batman admitted that “it wasn’t quite that simple,” it was heavily implied that the loss of their Fastest Man Alive served as one of the catalysts that spun off the Justice Lords into a darker, more fascist trajectory. In fact, it could be argued that his absence caused more rot than expected as, while his presence caused the Lords’ Batman pause, the alternate Superman had no qualms about repeating the Flash’s demise to further his agenda.

Otherwise, Season Two brought additional changes to the Flash’s character. In “Only a Dream,” we see him wrestle with the fears and anxieties related to his powers, specifically the concern that—one day—he might find himself stuck in speed mode and forced to live his entire lifetime within the ticks of a second (possible Speed Force foreshadowing?). Aside from eating and skirt-chasing, we knew little of his off-hours activities, but here we learned that he frequently visited the Central City Orphanage (implied in the aforementioned “Only a Dream”; established in “Comfort and Joy”) to be there for kids who had nobody else. As mentioned above, we learned how the Death of Superman in “Hereafter” affected Flash deeply, as he confided in J’onn J’onzz how “I used to be able to goof around so much because I knew Superman had my back. Now, all I’ve got is his example, and that’s gonna have to be enough.” And, even after the complications regarding Shayera Hol’s actions in “Starcrossed,” he was the first one to spring to her defense.

Chronologically speaking, “Starcrossed” marked the end of the original Justice League series, but there is still the matter of Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010), the direct-to-video film that was originally developed to be a bridge between Justice League and JLU, but it was cancelled, and its script was later repurposed into an original DCU film (Renaud). While officially disconnected from the DCAU, enough of the original story remains for it to be considered in-continuity (as I’ve said before, just pretend that Hal Jordan is John Stewart, and it’s fine). That said, it is worth noting that, thanks to the character designs by artist Phil Bourassa (Liu), the Flash’s costume went back to resembling “a real big, you know, tomato.”

The film is relevant to our discussion as it contained a subplot regarding the relationship between the Flash and Batman, a plot point utilized infrequently during Justice League’s two seasons. Following a surprise test of the Watchtower’s new teleporters, the Fastest Man Alive is rattled by Batman’s use of him as a guinea pig and is convinced that the Dark Knight doesn’t like him. This belief is tested, however, at the film’s climax, where Batman—needing a super-speedster to jumpstart the alternate Luthor’s dimensional transporter to follow his opposite, Owlman, to Earth Prime—tells the Flash he’s “too slow,” choosing instead to use the services of the Crime Syndicate’s Johnny Quick. This subterfuge ends up saving the Flash’s life, as the vibrational speed needed to keep the portal open destroyed Johnny Quick’s body, rapidly aging him to literally moments before death. Watching his interdimensional analogue die in his arms, the Flash realizes that, even if Batman may not like him personally, he does care about his well-being.

Through the progression of the character’s arc, the audience saw how the Flash had evolved over the course of Justice League. He was still the impulsive, humorous rogue we knew from Season One, but he had matured into a stronger, more competent hero. And, as Justice League transitioned into Justice League Unlimited, Wally just … disappeared for a season.

Where’s Wally?

Debuting on July 31, 2004, Justice League Unlimited retooled the original Justice League into a super-sized mega-organization, with a new Watchtower, a fleet of Javelins, a full support staff, and an army of over fifty heroes under the command of the remaining, original members. With Hawkgirl gone and J’onn J’onzz promoted to the team’s official coordinator, episodes frequently featured teams consisting of a veteran member partnered with new recruits, and they worked together to fight supervillains, respond to natural disasters, and handle crises that no hero could face alone. However, while Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern were regularly seen as team leads on various missions, the Flash was not. In fact, during Season One of JLU, the Flash was barely seen at all.

Top row: the Flash appears with what remained of the original team (sans Green Lantern) in “Initiation.” Bottom row: the Flash appears on a video feed in the Watchtower in “Fearful Symmetry,” and the Flash appears as ground support during the Justice League’s conflict with AMAZO in “The Return.”

That is not to say, however, that the Flash was completely unseen. He did make the occasional, voiceless background appearance, but it seemed odd that his presence was cut down so drastically, especially considering how he was part of the original cast. Rumors circulated on message boards speculating on his absence, leading to Bruce Timm offering an explanation in a January 25, 2006 post on the Anime Superhero (formerly Toon Zone) message boards:

Fact is, it is very difficult to schedule recording times for actors who have regular primetime gigs (strangely enough, it’s actually been even harder to get Carl Lumbly in the studio, even though his show is shot here in town, not in Vancouver).  Michael [Rosenbaum’s] always been very cooperative, whenever he’s in town, he always lets us know in advance, in case we need to pick him up for ADR or whatnot, and when he’s in Vancouver for extended periods, we record him over [Integrated Services Digital Network] phone-patch (which, unfortunately, is technically a pain in the arse and pretty expensive as well).  And, poor Carl, I can’t tell you how many times he’s raced across town from the Alias set, run into the recording booth, jammed through his lines, and then zoomed back to Alias.  Whenever I think of Carl, I see him panting for breath.  Since Season One of [Justice League], it’s been very rare that either of them has actually recorded their lines with the rest of the cast, but they’ve been absolute pros, both on ‘em (and just generally swell guys too; I love ‘em both to pieces).

More to the point, it wasn’t necessarily that we didn’t know how to write the Flash; it was more that we weren’t 100% happy with his characterization in the two seasons of [Justice League] and wanted to give him a bit of an overhaul.  There were a few Flash-centric story springboards that we toyed with during Season One of JLU, but none of them panned out.  Other story ideas were working out better, so we concentrated on those, put Flash on the back burner and, before we knew it, Season One was almost over, sans Flash.

We made sure to bring him back prominently early on in Season Two and didn’t even end up tweaking his personality as much as we’d expected to.  He was still “goofy comic-relief guy,” but not as blatantly.  Also, he truly is the most difficult superhero to write, we always end up “cheating” his powers-usage with varying degrees of success (as every writer who has ever written Flash has always had to do, whether it’s for comics, live-action, or animation).

And no, no one ever told us Smallville was more important than JLU (though, it’d be a hard point to argue if they had, in the bigger scheme of things) and no, Michael isn’t and never has been under any kind of “contractual obligation” to appear in any set number of episodes, our [voice actor] contracts don’t work that way.  Mystery solved? (b.t., “So”)

As stated above, Timm revealed that, while Michael Rosenbaum’s Smallville schedule was a factor, the real reason for the Flash’s initial JLU absence was the simple fact that the creative team was still struggling with his character and, as they had a massive number of new heroes to introduce, Wally West was sidelined and, before they could return to him, the season was over. And while it was true that Rosenbaum did reprise his role as Ghoul in “The Once and Future Thing, Part Two: Time, Warped,” it wasn’t the same.

Fortunately, the Flash would return in JLU’s Season Two, specifically in the episode “The Ties That Bind.” In a meta wink to the audience, his first scene back was with fellow Justice League Europe alumni the Elongated Man, where he apparently laments his Season One benching, claiming that his teammates still treat him like a “teenaged sidekick,” adding how “I was one of the original seven […] can it hurt them to show me just a little respect?” In an act of defiance, Flash ignores J’onn J’onzz’s orders and agrees to help Mister Miracle and Big Barda on a mission to Apokolips to save Scott Free’s mentor, Oberon. Thrust into Fourth World craziness, the Scarlet Speedster found himself taking on the task of peacemaker to prevent Barda from coming to blows with Kalibak, the son of Darkseid (“I can’t believe I’m the mature one here!”). In the end, however, the mission was a success, and J’onn welcomes the Flash back to active duty by playing him in a round of Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots.

As for an in-universe explanation for the Flash’s absence, a clue could be found three episodes later, in the Wonder Woman-centric episode “The Balance.” Seeking to get Diana to bury the hatchet with the returning Shayera Hol, Wally attempted to lure both of them together for a lunch date to clear the air. Starting early, he revealed to Wonder Woman that his absence was mostly his fault, as “I’ve been pretty busy in Central City.” Considering his character’s trajectory over Seasons One and Two on Justice League, I suspect that the older, slightly more mature Flash was busy orchestrating a “charm offensive” in an attempt to make citizens forget the coarse, horndog Flash of early episodes like “The Brave and the Bold.” Fortunately for him, his plan appears to have worked as of JLU’s Season Three, but more on that later.

Back in the saddle, the Flash featured prominently in the four-part conclusion of the Cadmus Arc, closing out Season Two strong. Highlights include the Flash finally serving as team lead during disaster relief efforts in “Flashpoint” and, for the first time in the series, tapping into his full potential to defeat the merged Luthor / Brainiac hybrid in “Divided We Fall.” Moving so fast that his body is phasing in and out of reality, the Fastest Man Alive literally forces his hands into their body, yanking out Brainiac’s technology at super-speed. Unfortunately, moving at these speeds came at a price, with Wally nearly finding his essence pulled into the Speed Force had it not been for his friends dragging him back into our reality. Reflecting on the Flash’s hero moment after two seasons of a reduced presence, Michael Rosenbaum commented how “[h]e’s the underdog of the group.  He’s the guy no one really expects a lot out of.  They’re like, ‘He’s gonna do something to mess everything up.’  But he comes through.  I think it’s subtly telling the world that anybody can be the hero.  He’s an integral part of the team” (qtd. in Rossen 64).

Victory Lap

Expecting the series to end with the Cadmus Arc, the creative team was pleasantly surprised when Cartoon Network offered them one, final season of thirteen episodes, and while this pickup was marred by the departure of longtime DCAU writer Stan Berkowitz, we did benefit from the addition of longtime Dwayne McDuffie collaborator Matt Wayne, who was added to the crew as the show’s new writer and story editor. Working together (and with a host of contributing writers such as J.M. DeMatteis, Paul Dini, and Geoff Johns), the duo would craft a long goodbye to the DCAU that featured three significant Flash episodes, and I would argue that, after four seasons of the creative team attempting to make the character work, McDuffie and Wayne successfully cracked the code.

Top: the Flash and Shayera Hol in “I Am Legion.” Middle row, left to right: the Flash canoodles with Fire in “I Am Legion” and Linda Park in “Flash and Substance.” Bottom row, left to right: Wally West (in Lex Luthor’s body) following a tryst with Tala in “The Great Brain Robbery,” and Giganta kisses the Flash before escaping in “Destroyer.”

The season premiere, “I Am Legion,” featured a Flash that was pretty much the same save for one obvious change: he no longer had the false belief that he was God’s gift to all women. Lacking his earlier, undeserved confidence, this Flash was a little nervous around women he liked, such as fellow Justice League teammate Fire, which forced Shayera Hol to play his literal wingman. Ironically, this newly-humbled Flash became catnip to the ladies, with a number of women approaching him throughout this season. When asked about this change in a February 9, 2006 interview with Comics Continuum, Matt Wayne gave readers his take on the Fastest Man Alive:

I love the Flash, particularly the JLU take on him.  The great thing about this Wally is what a nuanced character he is.  He’s kind of the League’s heart, the moral compass.  He’s also a big goof—an arrested adolescent who either tries too hard to impress girls or can’t read their signals. (qtd. in Allstetter, “Justice League Unlimited”)

The Flash’s new romantic status quo aside, this episode was a sequel, of sorts, to “The Savage Time” (with the adventure on Blackhawk Island), and it was a chance for Flash to get a final outing with Shayera Hol, a character with whom Wally has had an ongoing friendship since the beginning.

Moving out of order, “The Great Brain Robbery” was—on its surface—a chance to use the clichéd storytelling trope of the mind swap, which sci-fi writers have used for decades in fiction, television, and movies. However, the one saving grace of this episode—featuring a “Freaky Friday”-like switch between the Flash and Lex Luthor—was the opportunity to have Michael Rosenbaum play his Smallville Luthor in Flash’s body while, at the same time, give Clancy Brown (the DCAU voice of Luthor) the chance to go nuts as a completely overwhelmed Wally West masquerading as the villain in the Legion of Doom’s supervillain headquarters. In the “Justice League Chronicles:  ‘The Great Brain Robbery’” special feature on the Justice League Unlimited:  Season Two DVD, Bruce Timm and Dwayne McDuffie explained that, while the episode did not work out as intended, it did provide an excellent opportunity to explore the Flash’s super-powers without a filter:

BRUCE TIMM:  Yeah, we ended up not having quite as much fun with Luthor being in Flash’s body, but it’s cool, but, you know, it’s more serious because it’s like, yeah, we always make this joke that if Flash were half as smart as a normal human being, he would be, like, the most powerful superhero on Earth.  And so, yeah, sure, we put Luthor in his body; it’s like, “Wow, you put a super-genius inside Flash’s body.”  It’s like, you know, he’s gonna figure out how to do all these deadly things with the super-powers.  The super-speed.

DWAYNE McDUFFIE:  And we actually did a lot of dialogue covering why our Flash doesn’t do that stuff all the time.

BRUCE TIMM:  Right, sure.  Trying to cover our tracks there.  Yeah, why doesn’t Flash vibrate through walls and all that other stuff?

DWAYNE McDUFFIE:  Because the show would be over! (qtd. in “Justice”)

Besides giving Clancy Brown—who is probably better known for playing Mr. Krabs on SpongeBob SquarePants—a chance to flex his comedy chops, the episode was instrumental in providing an explanation for the Flash’s selective use of his abilities. Watching Lex Luthor use the Flash’s powers to destabilize objects via vibration to cause explosions and threatening to kill people by giving them a super-speed-induced concussion only highlights Wally’s restraint as a hero, and it gives us a taste of what must have been a difficult learning curve when he started out as Kid Flash.

But the biggest Flash story of the season was the appropriately titled “Flash and Substance,” an episode that I’m convinced was developed as a backdoor pilot for a solo series. Presented as a “day in the life” of the Scarlet Speedster, here we see him celebrate “Flash Appreciation Day,” a special holiday coinciding with the opening of the aforementioned Flash Museum (a mainstay of the Flash mythos, first appearing in The Flash #154; August 1965) in Central City. However, the party is crashed by four of the Rogues, the collective name for the assortment of working-class, gimmick villains who regularly fight the Flash, and they attempt to get their revenge. Along for the ride are Batman and New God Orion, who struggles to figure out the Flash’s appeal.

As stated previously, in “The Balance,” the Flash mentioned to Wonder Woman how he had been “pretty busy in Central City,” and here is when we discover how as, compared to the tepid responses he got in the first season of Justice League, here the population of Central City genuinely loves the Flash and, as the episode progresses, we soon find out what caused this sea change. Apparently, in the time since either Season Two of Justice League or the beginning of JLU, the Flash has used his speed powers to not only become best friends with everyone in town, but he seems to be on a first-name basis with the majority of them. Not only is he fighting supervillains and stopping alien invasions, but he is also taking time to paint Mrs. Green’s fence, playing minigolf with Todd, and recommending liniment cream to Erlene the cab driver. And why shouldn’t he as, with his super-speed, he literally has all the time in the world?

In addition, the episode showcases his compassion by way of his handling of the Trickster, a mentally ill man who dresses up as a supervillain when he’s off his medication. Rather than allow Orion to brutalize him to get information about the Rogues’ plan, the Flash calmly sat down with him and spoke to him, man-to-man, offering him his time and attention if he helped them and returned to the hospital. And while it is true that a regular fight may have been more visually pleasing, Matt Wayne reminded us in a March 2007 interview how we “mustn’t forget that Wally’s an outgoing everyman who wins through basic decency” (qtd. in Hamilton).

Finally, there is the matter of the Flash Museum, a tribute to Central City’s favorite son that is a treasure in and of itself. Existing as an archive holding artifacts and mementos from Wally’s considerable career, one can only imagine the adventures he experienced, especially seeing as how we only received glints and glimmers of them before the museum’s destruction. It’s amazing to consider that—as we watched BTAS, TNBA, STAS, and all the other animated series that made up the DCAU over the years—all of Flash’s solo stories were going on in the background, just off-camera.

As I alluded to previously, here the Flash successfully polished his tarnished image by making everyone forget the arrogant, socially immature dolt he was perceived as at the beginning of the Justice League series. Having grown up a little, the Flash now better resembles the public hero that Grant Morrison saw him as when they wrote JLA, describing him in a 1998 interview as “a big celebrity.  The Flash is like a movie star—a real good guy—the way we would look at a Tom Cruise or whatever.  He has that role.  He’s a public superhero.  I think people like him.  He’s friendly.  He smiles a lot.  The Flash tends to be like everyone’s favorite pop star” (qtd. in Brick 49). If Batman’s smile above is any indication, the Flash has finally become the hero the rest of the team knew he was capable of becoming.

Running His Course

On a final note, it is worth observing how, during the runs of Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, there was some criticism about the handling of Flash, specifically the omission of the Flash Legacy. By omitting Jay Garrick and Barry Allen, critics argued that Wally served as the Flash in a diminished capacity, having been disconnected from the generational lineage of speedsters that came before and after. To this, I would argue that, while his mythos does provide a rich tapestry for writers to draw from in the comics, it also holds the character back, as it makes him less of a person and more of a persona. In addition, it is also worth noting that the Flash Legacy is more than just three Flashes, as DC Comics is littered with speedster characters that collectively make up the Flash Family. Add in Impulse, Jesse Quick, Max Mercury, XS, and the Golden Age Johnny Quick, and suddenly the Fastest Man Alive is just another face in a marathon.

In fact, in the case of Wally West, it can also be argued that the Flash Legacy does more harm that good. Following the return of Barry Allen in the aforementioned Final Crisis #2 (August 2008), Wally was kind of pushed to the side, and he was eliminated entirely during the New 52 reboot and replaced with another Kid Flash, Wallace “Ace” West. However, due to fan protest, he was reintroduced in DC Universe: Rebirth #1 (July 2016), but without his wife and kids, his return was a mixed blessing at best. It was later revealed that Wally’s deletion was caused by Doctor Manhattan (from Alan Moore’s Watchmen series) in a storyline that culminated in Doomsday Clock (2017-2019), and he was later accused of murder in Heroes in Crisis (2018-2019), but it was later revealed that it was actually done by the Reverse-Flash in The Flash #761 (November 2020). Eventually, despite these horrors, Wally put his life back together, reclaiming his family during the Dark Knights: Death Metal event (2020-2021) and, when Barry Allen lost his powers, the mantle he first earned nearly forty years prior during the Absolute Power event (2024). After fifteen years as the Flash in the DCU—much of that time the only Flash—he spent another sixteen years as a second-string player, an unperson, and a presumed killer.

Above, left to right: a Flash promotional image from 2001, and a Flash illustration by Justice League Adventures artist John Delaney, which was part of Anime Superhero’s (formerly Toon Zone’s) Sketch of the Week from September 5, 2002 (original post here).

By comparison, the Flash of the DCAU has been and will always be only Wally West. He is not mired in other people’s stories, nor is there a chance that some another character will pop up and take away his life or his identity, costumed or otherwise. For the first time, Wally is not living in the shadow of two prior versions, and he is free to live his life without the comparison. In short, the Flash of Justice League and Justice League Unlimited is not a footnote in someone else’s legacy—he is the head of his own, and no heritage hero or newer, alternate version of him is going to change that.

While not exactly a direct, comics-accurate adaptation of Wally West, the Flash of Justice League featured a successful compromise between art and commerce, maintaining the integrity of the character while servicing the needs of the series. And while the creative team may have found him to be a difficult character to incorporate into their stories, fans still fondly remember the charming, super-powered slacker to this day.

Works Cited

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Brick, Scott.  “Fast Talker:  Grant Morrison Tells Us What the World Thinks of the Flash.”  Wizard JLA Special.  1998:  49.  Print.

---.  “Tooned Out?”  Wizard JLA Special.  1998:  20-23.  Print.

b.t.  Comment on “’Batman:  Caped Crusader (Amazon Prime)’ Animated Series News & Discussion Part 3 (Spoilers).”  Anime Superhero.  XenForo Ltd.  29 Jul. 2024.  <https://animesuperhero.com/forums/threads/batman-caped-crusader-amazon-prime-animated-series-news-discussion-part-3-spoilers.5799781/post-87960044>.  Accessed 13 Sept. 2024.

---.  Comment on “So, What Did Happen to Flash in [Season One] of JLU?”  Anime Superhero.  XenForo Ltd.  25 Jan. 2006.  <https://animesuperhero.com/forums/threads/so-what-did-happen-to-flash-in-s1-of-jlu.4055101/#post-61283401>.  Accessed 6 Oct. 2023.

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Images—unless otherwise indicated—courtesy of Warner Bros. Discovery, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation, and DC Comics. YouTube video courtesy of the Watchtower Database channel.