The Flash Season 3: 10 Things You Need To Know About Kid Flash

5. His Powers Were Killing Him

The Flash Wally West Kid Flash
DC Comics

Under the Kid Flash guise, Wally West was living the dream of many. Not only was he under the wing of his hero, he also had his own superpowers to play with. All was not entirely well for Kid Flash, though.

After Wally’s d*ckish behaviour as a Teen Titan resulted in many questioning what his problem was, Barry Allen decided to take his protégé for a professional examination. It was here that the bombshell was dropped that Wally West’s superspeed was actually killing him.

Each time that Wally would use his powers, not only was he put in great pain, he was actually ageing as a result. So extreme was the problem, it meant that his superspeed was slowly killing him each time he’d unleash his abilities.

With seemingly no other option, it was at this point that Wally actually gave up the Kid Flash mantle. In fact, he gave up the hero game full stop, hanging up his tights and retiring from the business.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.