The Four Color Media Monitor

For the so-called redemption of Wally West in Scott Lobdell's miniseries sequel to Heroes in Crisis, DC's idea of making things better is to cast an otherworldly clone of Roy Harper:

DC's solicitation for Flash Forward #3 reveals Wally West will meet a version of Roy Harper/Red Arrow that's much different than the one he knew on his Earth.

As revealed in DC's solicitations for November, Flash Forward #3 will see Wally meeting up with the Roy Harper of Earth-43, where the archer is a vampire hunter. The series serves as something of a redemption arc for the speedster following the events of Heroes in Crisis, in which he was responsible for several high-profile deaths. Roy was among those who died as a result of Wally's actions.

I don't see how a doppelganger on a parallel world ensures Roy will be resurrected, and thus, Wally redeemed. So far, I've seen nothing to guarantee resurrections of the real deals among the Titans and other DCU characters who bit the bullet will take place, and that's just the problem here. If they really meant to apologize, they'd have revealed resurrections in store already. So, nothing to see here, apparently, and in any case, it's best to avoid this junk regardless. Only when Dan DiDio is let go, so long as DC's still around, and somebody with a more respectable personality is hired, can resumption of readership be considered.

I'm not sure if I took note of this CBR interview with Lobdell and Brett Booth from 2 months ago before, but he sure didn't give any reason to feel optimistic:

Which is where Scott Lobdell and Brett Booth come into the picture. In September, the writer/artist team launch Flash Forward, a six-issue miniseries that will reveal the next chapter in Wally West's story as he attempts to put his life back together. It's a big challenge, but according to Lobdell, that's what made the gig so appealing.

Not if he can't offer a clear good-news ending, it's not.

"Often when you read about the marketing of an event, you'll see a variation of, 'After this issue...nothing will ever be the same!' But then the next month's issues come out and -- everything is the same," Lobdell told CBR. "Reading Heroes in Crisis, it was very clear that Wally's story couldn't end on the ninth issue. So much had happened to him over the last year, and going back to Rebirth and going all the way back to the New 52 and Flashpoint... everyone agreed we'd be doing a huge disservice to a character that it could easily be argued is one of the greatest fan favorites in all of comics."

This falls flat on its face when you consider Heroes in Crisis already was a huge disservice in itself, and not just to Wally, but to the Titans victimized in the story too.

"Trust me when I say Brett Booth wouldn't let me do anything other than write a love letter to his favorite character."

On this: if Booth doesn't push for and ensure a reversal of the fates, then he's got no business claiming to be a Wally fan either. Come to think of it, he can't even say he's a fan of co-stars like Linda Park.

Above all, it's vital to consider that all this could've been avoided, and instead, they drag it all out with a pathetic event/crossover approach that doesn't connect with wider audiences, and has only been dragging down comicdom for over 30 years since Secret Wars came about. And again, doppelgangers don't prove anything.

Labels: bad editors, crossoverloading, dc comics, dreadful writers, Flash, golden calf of death, msm propaganda, Titans, violence