DC Are About to Disprove the Worst Retcon In Flash History

The Flash has always been one of DC’s headliners and the hero at the forefront of the company’s major changes. The Flash kick-started the Silver Age, introduced us to the multiverse, stopped the Anti-Monitor’s Anti-Matter Cannon, and reset the universe with the Flashpoint event. All of these massively important events weren’t just spearheaded by any old Flash. They were done by one Flash in particular: Barry Allen. Barry has long since been one of the most important characters in DC and is constantly rewriting the rules of what is possible, but while he’s brought so much good to DC, there is one massive change that actually hurt it.

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Barry Allen was once the subject of a major Flash retcon that split the fandom in two. Years after Wally West popularized the Speed Force as the source of the speedsters’ powers, Barry’s return from the dead in The Flash: Rebirth confirmed that the forensic scientist actually created the Speed Force with his accident, becoming the very lightning bolt that gave him his powers. This is widely regarded as one of the worst Flash retcons in history, but thankfully, it’s been ignored for the most part. Now, DC’s biggest event of the year is offering a completely different perspective that shows exactly why this retcon was so bad in the first place.

Wally West Was Born to Be the Flash

It’s the midst of the DC K.O. event, and while most of the world’s heroes were fighting to stop Darkseid’s return, the Flashes were caught up in their own adventures. The Flash (2023) #28 had Jay Garrick fight against Guy Gardner for the right to advance in the tournament. Meanwhile, Wally West was racing through time, trying to prevent Darkseid’s Legion from wiping out all the time-related heroes for good. The villains had already gone back in time and turned Max Mercury to their side, and when Impsule tried to stop them, they traveled to the moment when Barry was first struck by lightning and prevented it.

Without Barry, Impulse would never have been born with his powers, and they immediately disappeared. Wally managed to save Impulse from the Legion and raced back in time to stop them from killing Barry. Unfortunately, without his protection from the Speed Force, the rough time travel knocked Bart out. Wally left him with a very confused Iris while he raced off to confront the Legion and save Barry’s life, all the while wondering why he still had his powers. Bart lost his at once, which is easily explained as his powers being genetic. However, Wally’s legacy is just as tied to Barry’s, so in Wally’s mind, it doesn’t make any sense that he would still get his powers if Barry never got his. And yet, he still had them.

This seems to confirm that Wally would receive his connection to the Speed Force regardless of whether Barry became the Flash or not. Barry might have inspired Wally to the path of heroism, but he’s more than proven he’s just as good, if not a better hero than his mentor. The fact that Wally kept his powers implies that he would have always been struck by lightning and granted these powers, showing that Wally is his own hero, no matter what happened to Barry. This isn’t just a great realization for Wally, but a sign of why the Barry Speed Force retcon didn’t work.

One Hero Name, Different Legacies

The reason that Barry being the nexus point for the Speed Force didn’t work is that it centralized the idea of the Flash far too much. From Jay to Bart, each Flash has contributed something special to the identity and passed it on to the next generation, putting their own twist on it. The Flash has always been one of DC’s best legacies, and that is specifically because the story makes it clear that the Flashes want their successor to surpass them in every way. Yet, even as the newest Scarlet Speedster runs faster than ever and learns more about the grand source of all of their powers, they always pay respect to those who came before.

Every Flash felt equally important, like a pillar of the identity. They each contributed something of value that helped forge the identity into what it is. Barry being the source of the Speed Force unbalanced that. It positioned Barry as the most important character in the Flash mythos while simultaneously ripping away the mysticism that the Flashes carried. Instead of a mythical building block of the universe, it was a power that Barry accidentally created and generated, making the Flash all about Barry, instead of the legacy of the suit. Overall, the retcon took away the communal nature of the Flash, which is what makes him such a great hero. I’m very glad it’s been retconed away and that this issue proves that the Flash is more than just Barry.

The Flash #28 is on sale now!

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