Here is an unexpected return – Wally West will be making his New 52 debut in The Flash Annual #3.
That was revealed in a very matter-of-fact way in USA Today, with little else in the way of information beyond a tiny glimpse at the cover from Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund, which would seem to indicate a new costume and identity for Wally. Booth will be the new artist on Flash, along with Green Lantern scribes Robert Venditti and Van Jensen taking over the writing duties from Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato. No doubt DC will release a better image soon, but until then:
We don’t know much else yet, other than it doesn’t seem like Wally will be putting Barry out to pasture, although the fact that Venditti has spent some time knocking the Geoff Johns-beloved Hal Jordan down several pegs in Green Lantern may lead us to believe he won’t treat Barry the way Johns did, either (you know, loving him so much that he brought him back from his heroic high-profile death in Crisis on Infinite Earths and made him Flash Numero Uno once more). Given that Bart Allen is already Kid Flash, maybe Wally will become the Blue Flash? Either way, we’ve got Wally coming back, and Stephanie Brown coming back in Batman Eternal, which is a sign that DC is finally listening to the repeated questions they get at every convention panel. How long until Cassandra Cain comes back? Personally, I want the Secret Six back – including the REAL Deadshot, porn stache and all.
UPDATE: As expected, here’s the bigger image of Flash Annual #3.
Keep in mind that this Electric Blue Flash is not necessarily Wally. Remember that Daniel West, Iris West’s brother, was turned into some kind of Reverse Flash. Iris was Wally’s aunt, and Daniel had the whole timestream to play with, which included going back in time to try and kill his own father. Wally could be the spray-paint kid, and given the madness going on in Teen Titans with Bart Allen, maybe there will be a new Kid Flash, which is how Wally originally debuted. That may not satisfy those of us who miss the fun snarky adult Wally West, but you gotta start somewhere.
