The Flash is one of DC’s most storied characters. Starting with Jay Garrick in 1940, the Flash became a key part of DC and would become even bigger with 1956’s Showcase #4, which introduced Barry Allen. Barry Allen’s introduction is considered the beginning of the Silver Age of Comics. Barry became the standard bearer for these comics, which took gonzo sci-fi ideas and married them to the Americana of the ’50s — the straight-laced white guy who was as exciting as a glass of milk. Barry Allen was a huge part of Silver Age DC, but as comics got more complex in the Bronze Age, Barry fell from prominence, until he was killed in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Barry would be replaced by his sidekick Kid Flash, and Wally West would become the greatest Flash of them all. Barry became the patron saint of the DC Universe, and we were all better off. However, Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns, and Dan DiDio didn’t think so and we got Barry Allen back in the late ’00s.
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DC went all in on Barry Allen’s return as the Flash. Barry became the main Flash, and the dawn of the New 52 saw him repositioned as the most important Flash of them all. Barry Allen even got a CW TV series, The Flash and was tapped as the Flash of the DCEU. However, fans could tell from the beginning that this wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. Barry never should have come back, and fan outrage got Wally West back, little by little. We’re living in a Wally-centric world again, and it’s proving that bringing Barry Allen back was always a mistake.
Barry Allen’s Return was Wrong From the Beginning
Barry Allen returned as the Flash in Final Crisis #2 and played a key role in the story, helping Wally West lead the Black Racer on a chase that ended with Darkseid. It was a cool beginning, but things got really weird really fast with The Flash: Rebirth. This story brought back Reverse Flash… except Reverse Flash technically was already back to life before the story started, resurrected in 2010’s Blackest Night and then running back in time to Barry’s return to torture Barry. Reverse Flash torturing Barry became the main idea of Barry’s return as the Flash, and was the only interesting Barry Allen story. Well, the first time we read it, at least. After that it became diminishing returns. The problem with Barry as a character, and the reason that he died, was because Barry was the epitome of the one-dimensional science hero. Maybe calling Barry one-dimensional isn’t accurate, but he’s definitely not a fully-realized character. DC tried to fix that by basically making him a more responsible version of Wally West, but it just made fans want Wally back more. DC seemed to believe that Barry’s return would lead to success on the level of the returns of Oliver Queen — people always forget how popular this return was — and Hal Jordan, but the difference is that those characters were interesting. Barry was never interesting.
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Barry’s return led to some cool stories, but nothing special. Barry fell from prominence because there was very little that could be done with him. He was lame, he loved his wife, he was a great detective and scientist, and he was late despite being superfast. That was it. When they brought Barry back, they played up his legendary status as a hero, but never really gave readers any reason to actually like him other than that he was Barry Allen. They banked on their own nostalgia to be universal and didn’t realize that for most DC fans of the ’00s and the ’10s, Barry wasn’t our Flash. Wally was. We respected Barry, but comic fans had voted for their wallet on Barry years before. Maybe they figured that would change, but even the blank slate of the New 52 couldn’t make Barry as popular as Wally was, mostly because Barry just isn’t interesting. There was no reason to replace Wally with Barry other than DC bigwigs had grown up with him.
Barry Allen’s Return Was a Failure
Now, obviously, DC definitely made money off Barry Allen. While The Flash movie was a bomb, CW’s The Flash was successful enough to run for almost a decade. However, in the comics, Barry’s return was a huge failure. It was a decision based completely on the nostalgia of DC creators and editors, and it was only popular until DC decided to completely replace Wally West with Barry Allen as the Flash. After that, it was war, and the fans finally won.
Barry Allen was great dead. He was a great hero who taught valuable lessons to his friends. He sacrificed himself to save all of creation. It was a perfect ending for him. His return was pretty cool, but after that DC banked on nostalgia for him being universal. It wasn’t and eventually DC brought back the Flash everyone wanted. I’m fine with Barry Allen still existing in the current DC Multiverse; it’s cool that he’s still around for the Flash Family. However, if he never came back, I don’t think anyone would be that sad about it. Barry was better off dead, and fans of the Flash were better then as well.
