Ah yes, those legacy characters we mentioned back there. They don't get as much press these days, thanks to the oft-maligned New 52 reboot reinstating many of the original heroes that they were descended from. For a while, though, they were one of DC's crowning achievements, a much-needed nod to realism and the passage of time in their comic book universe. When Barry Allen, the first Flash of the modern age (although he actually got the name from Golden Age speedster Jay Garrick) met his untimely end during the universe-breaking Crisis On Infinite Earths event, Central City found itself in need of a new protector. Step forward, Wally West. After spending years at Barry's side as his imaginatively named companion Kid Flash, Wally was the natural successor to the Flash title. And he certainly made it his own, keeping the classic full-body red costume, and dealing with issues that Barry had never faced before: he couldn't run quite as fast (just getting past the speed of sound, rather than the speed of light) and had unique problems like having to gorge himself on food in order to satiate his accelerated metabolism. Besides the nitty gritty, Wally featured in a lot of his own classic storylines, including those involving new enemy Reverse Flash, and great runs on the book by Mark Waid and Geoff Johns. All good things must come to an end, however. Eventually Wally managed to escape Barry's shadow, realising that his powers were being limited by his own mental block at not wanting to dishonour the memory of his fallen friend and mentor. After all that, Wally West may actually have become a better Flash than Barry Allen ever managed - nonetheless, in the New 52 he was deleted from existence, and Barry remains the one, true speedster.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
