My Obligatory Flash Post:

As a warning, this post contains heavy spoilers for Flash #13 and the end of the Lightning Saga.

Seriously. If you haven't read them and still intend to, go away.

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Okay. I have to say, I'm happy. I'm VERY happy. Well, to be fair, I do think Bart Allen got screwed over. I don't deny that. But as to who came back...well, I couldn't be happier.

Wally West is MY Flash. And I had no idea I'd missed him so much until he came back.

I sympathize with the disappointed Barry fans. I really do. It sucks to have hope dangled in front of you and have it snatched away again. I actually expected it to be Barry too (though not long term. My prediction was Barry would be back for the event and die/return to death again.)

But I'm going to be very rude right now and make a hard prediction about the future of the DCU: Barry Allen will never lead the Flash title ever again.

Yes, Barry was incredibly popular. Yes, a lot of folks miss him. Yes, he was a great character. Yes, it sometimes does seem like they're trying to make Wally into Barry 2.0.

But Barry Allen is not going to be back for good, for one simple reason. He died in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Sure, we've seen him since. We've seen him in guest spots. We saw him in JLA Year One. But Barry Allen hasn't been the primary Flash character for more than twenty years.

I know that may not seem like a long time to a lot of Barry Allen fans. But to put it in perspective:

Crisis on Infinite Earths was written in 1985-1986.

I was BORN in 1983. I was two years old when Crisis on Infinite Earths began. TWO YEARS OLD.

This isn't the same as Hal Jordan. Hal Jordan went Parallax in 1994. Final Night, wherein Hal Jordan died, was 1996. Green Lantern Rebirth was in 2004. He made prominent appearances as Parallax and the Spectre pretty frequently during Kyle's run, JLA, JSA, and other important comics. He had his own series as the Spectre. People, even new people to comics, pretty quickly knew who Hal Jordan was. Hal Jordan was dead less than ten years.

Ten years is very different from twenty years when you're thinking in terms of a comic book audience. In ten years, boys who were playing kickball in the street and reading their older siblings' comics have become the young men that comic book companies still consider their target audience.

Twenty years ago? That target age-range was gnawing toothlessly on rattles and playing peek-a-boo. Not reading comics.

Yes, the people writing the comics are older. Yes, they're usually trying to recapture the stories of their youth. But honestly, they're not stupid. And as awesome as Barry is as a character, he's more ingrained in their audience as the dead inspiration than he is as a living hero.

I mean, think about it. With both Barry and Wally "dead", people immediately assumed that the Flash that would be brought back was Barry.

And honestly, that's what makes sure Barry will stay dead. (Or come back and die again.) Because if Barry came back, who would immediately assume during the next big event that WALLY would show up? I don't think anyone would.

But this way, at every single event, our first thought will always be the expectation that it's Barry Allen. Infinite Crisis? Barry Allen! Nope. It's Bart. Lightning Saga? Barry! Nope. Wally.

I mean, Wally didn't even DIE in Infinite Crisis and very few actually floated the idea that he'd be back. That's how powerful dead-Barry is.

From a business standpoint, Wally West is a perfectly functional Flash. He's fronted his comic for twenty years. He's been in the JLA for almost ten. He was one of the core members of the very popular Justice League Unlimited. I don't think it's a stretch to say that for my generation, he IS the Flash. Would a living Barry sell to my generation? Maybe. There are quite a few of us who enjoy the old back-issues and trade paperbacks. Who can say? But do you really think they'll take the risk when they have one that works quite nicely?

It's a horrible thing to say, but honestly, the company knows you expect Barry to come back, they know it'll sell comics to tease you, and they're going to milk that cash cow until the day you die. In the meantime, they'll be selling Wally and his successors to my generation and beyond.

Of course, I could be wrong. If this turns out to be a trick. If Barry Allen both comes back and assumes leadership of the title, then feel free to come back here and say "I told you so."

I doubt it though. Twenty years might not be a long time to a comic book fan, but to a company, it might as well be an eternity.