Titans in Crisis: Marv talks about The Crisis: how Kole was created
to die, how Wally became the Flash, and the original concept behind
the female Dr. Light; plus, see Marv's idea on how to restart the
DC Universe!
[from Comics Interview #50, 1987]
ANDY: Was Kole created to die?
GEORGE: Yes. I told Marv, "If we create another Teen Titan, then we better create a woman who's going to survive." So far, he's created one new male Titan, he's alive. Creates two female Titans, they both die. (Laughter.) Something he has about these girls - he's constantly, you know, killing them off.
[...]
ANDY: Well, as a result of CRISIS, TITANS was changed somewhat. Now that, for instance, Kandor never even existed, where did Nightwing get the inspiration for his costume?
GEORGE: From the Batman. It could have just been a nickname he came up with some time ago. You can devise anything, as far as that's concerned. Our big problem is "Who the hell is Donna Troy?" Now that Wonder Woman is starting all over, who the hell is Donna Troy?
ANDY: I was getting to that... So how does Wonder Girl exist - if Wonder Woman never did?
GEORGE: Since I'm now the plotter or co-plotter of both books, Marv and I will work Out something.
ANDY: So you don't have any plans just yet?
GEORGE: No, but it'll be a crossover between WONDER WOMAN and SPOTLIGHT with Wonder Girl, and obviously I would draw both. Beyond that, we haven't decided what. When I actually, get back on the TITANS, Marv and I will work on that.
[...]
ANDY: [...] What was the character that popped up in TITANS SAMPLER #2, who's in a light blue and red costume - I've heard she's called Polara?
GEORGE: Actually, her name was, at the time, something like... I don't remember now. Originally it was supposed to be Francis Kane. There were a lot of plans for that sampler, which was done just before I ended up leaving the TITANS book, including a black woman as opposed to the Japanese woman who ended up in CRISlS. For all the plans that Marv and I had, once I left, Man' went his way and the superpowered Francis Kane never quite got anywhere.
ANDY: Was the full costume designed, or...
GEORGE: No, just what you saw in the sampler.
[...]
ANDY: You mentioned earlier, when talking about the Titans, that Dr. Light was originally to be black. What made you change your mind there?
GEORGE: Well, because of the Captain Marvel character over at Marvel, it was becoming too much of a cliche; already, they had one major character who was originally a white male superhero and now became a black female superheroine -and whose power also had something to do with light or energy. When doing the new Dr. Light, we did want to make a female; since we were killing so many females, we needed a new one. I came up with the thing of her becoming Japanese, and Marv liked the idea, he had no problem with that. So that's why Dr. Light became a Japanese.
[...]
How Wally West Became The Flash
Courtesy of Comics Interview #50 and Amazing Heroes #91
In the final pages of Crisis #12, Wally West, the former Kid Flash, found that the physical condition he'd had that prevented him from exercising his powers was abated. He opted to return to a life of crimefighting, and assumed the name and famous crimson suit of his late uncle and mentor, Barry Allen. According to George Pérez, "that became almost an 11th hour decision after DC couldn't quite come up with an idea for a new Flash. No one could think of anything without feeling like they were somehow insulting the name by giving it to a concept that had nothing to do with Barry Allen!"
Pérez adds, "Basically, they just ran out of what they could think of. After trying to figure out a new Flash, they realized they weren't getting anywhere. One idea was unacceptable, another idea was unacceptable, and the end of the series was starting to come up. We needed something. They couldn't think of a new Flash that would be unique unto him or herself, so unfortunately they decided to go for Wally West as the Flash. Which was a logical thing, but what bothered me is that technically we just killed the costume, because he's the same basic character and anyone who picks up the book without any real knowledge of who Wally West or Barry Allen were is going to immediately think it's the same character. So there was no real reason in my mind to have killed him off, since all you did was technically kill off Barry Allen, who was not the problem - you kept the Flash, who supposedly was the problem. (Laughter.)"
Pérez says that no one liked the idea of creating a female Flash, if for no other reason than the gimmick of creating female versions of former male characters had already been done twice in Crisis (with the new Dr. Light and Wildcat). "We still had the Wally West storyline up in the air from the Titans. Marv came up with the idea first, I liked it, and we let the mantle go on to a younger character. Now there are still two Flashes... but one - the Golden Age Flash - "is definitely a much older man and one is a teenager. It's much more of a father/son relationship than before. It opens up a whole new idea for stories. "I think our decision to make Wally West the Flash worked out nicely - after all, he's the only other person who ever wore the costume.
For him, it was just a case of going back to his roots, says Pérez, referring to the fact that Kid Flash's original costume, which he wore during the first few years of his career, was nothing more than a kid-sized version of the Flash's suit. "By doing this, we firmly established that the Flash did exist in the DC Universe, unlike Supergirl, who will pretty much have to be disavowed now. He lived, he died, and this is now a tribute to him. He remains active in DC history.'
Of course, unlike Barry Allen, who could travel at faster-than,-light speeds, the new Flash is "only" as fast as the speed of sound. "Marv and I debated as to how much we should tone down his powers. I, myself wanted him a little faster, probably able to reach the speed of light so that his name would make sense. I had absolutely no problems with it, though - between the speed of sound and the speed of light, you're not talking about that much difference in terms of what you can show in a comic book, anyway!'
What If The Flash Lived?
BECAUSE YOU DEMANDED IT! flash lives!!!
courtesy of http://www.marvwolfman.com
"For those hundreds of people who have been asking how I intended to bring back Barry Allen from death in "Crisis On Infinite Earths" the answer will now be revealed once an for all! If you remember, Flash was moving backward through time, from the future to the (1985) present. Occasionally he would pop up for an instant before the time stream closed up on him once again. My idea was to pluck him out of one second of time. From this moment on Barry would know that the time stream could close in on him for the last time at any instant. For the first time in his life, Barry understood that every moment mattered to him. He therefore had to do as much good as he could knowing any moment might be his last. Because it was felt by some (not me) that Barry wasn't as dynamic a character as many others, I thought this character alteration would make him more interesting to the readers at large. I could bring him back from the dead and add a dynamic tension to the character that others felt he lacked. I proposed this solution from Day one, but for good or bad - your decision - it wasn't taken. Was I right? Well, I think it would have given Barry the 'oomph' some thought he lacked. On the other hand, Wally West as the new Flash has been an incredibly popular character for fifteen years now."
- Marv Wolfman
The Unused Flash: Mackenzie Ryan
From Amazing Heroes Preview Special #2 [1986]
A last-minute entry into the Preview Special, The Flash is shrouded in mystery. Created by Len Wein and Mary Wolfman, who at this point are scheduled to co-write the series, The Flash is reported to bear absolutely no similarities to the long-time DC star who met his end in Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Editor Alan Gold assured Amazing Heroes that this new character won't even be a super- speedster, but will instead be able to manipulate various forms of energy - light, sound, and so forth - in order to defeat his foes. In his secret identity of Mackenzie Ryan, the Flash will be a technician at STAR Labs in Metropolis, working side-by-side with Jeanette Klyburn. Says Gold, "Mackenzie is more than just friendly with Jeanette. Whether or not they're lovers is still open for debate at this point, but he's definitely the only non-work interest in her life. Mac is also a single parent, with a daughter somewhere between the ages of eight and twelve. "The only other thing I can say right now is that there will be a new, major DC villain in the first issue. He has no name as of yet, but his origin and the Flash's origin will be inextricably connected" No artist has yet been chosen for the book, which has just seen its release date pushed into the far future, but both Gold and Wein indicate Chuck Patton to be the most likely candidate.
The Chronology of Kid Flash
Final appearance: Crisis on Infinite Earths #12 (March, 1986)
The biggest day in the life of Wally West, president of the Flash Fan Club (Blue Valley chapter) was certainly the day that his aunt Iris West arranged for him to meet his hero. Flash spent an afternoon with the lad and even showed him a chemical cabinet just like the one from which he had gained his super-speed. Then, in a coincidence defying all odds, a bolt of lightning entered the room and the accident reoccurred before Flash's eyes once more, as chemicals doused young Wally and bestowed upon him powers identical to his own. Flash gave Wally a tailored-down version of his own uniform, a ring to keep it in, and the christened him Kid Flash (Flash #110). From that day forward, Kid Flash took part in super-speed adventures both with and without his mentor, carrying an irregular solo-strip in the Flash book for many years.
Outside of Ira West, Kid Flash was the first person to whom Flash revealed the secret of his double-identity (Flash #120, May, 1961). In that story, the two speedsters were inadvertently thrown 25 million years into the past, where they battled a race of golden humanoids. It was only the first of many time-trips for the pair, who teamed up next to try out Flash's Cosmic Treadmill (Flash #125, Dec. 1961).
Shortly after meeting Flash's friend Elongated Man (Flash #130, Aug. 1962), Kid Flash received his own unique uniform. The Flash, who had been toying with a new design for Wally, was inspecting an alien mind over-matter machine when, in a burst of light, the new costume sprang from his mind and onto the body of his protégé (Flash #135, Mar. 1963). Since the new outfit exposed Wally's bright red hair, FIash provided his costume-storage ring with a special instant-dye spray with which he could easily change his hair color, as Wally, to brown (Flash #138).
The boy speedster first met Robin and Aqualad in The Brave and the Bold #53 (June-July, 1964), in an adventure that would predicate the formation of the Teen Titans shortly thereafter. Kid Flash remained a member in good standing of that team, though his participation limited his involvement in solo adventures considerably, particularly during the period when the Titans began working with the mysterious Mr. Jupiter (Teen Titans #25-43, Jan-Feb. 1970-Jan-Feb. 1973). after which the team disbanded. The Titans reformed for a short time a few years later, and Kid Flash was happy to be working with his friends once more (Teen Titans #44-53, Nov. 1976-Feb.1978).
Even though the group had broken up, they attended Wally's high school graduation (DC Special Series #11, 1978). Now 18, Wally revealed his alter-ego to his parents Bob and Mary for the first time, chose his university (Taggart), and confided to the Flash his intentions to retire from super-heroing upon graduation from college so that he might live a normal life.
As it happened, he left his crime-fighting career behind even before that (New Teen Titans #39, Feb. 1984), when he retired from the third incarnation of the Teen Titans for personal reasons, including a desire to devote more time to studying, to his new girlfriend Frances Kane, and - more seriously - because, as a resuIt of his changing metabolism, he was beginning to lose his powers; whenever he did go into action, he experienced severe pain.
Kid Flash came out of retirement to fight in the Crisis, and was hit harder than anyone when the heroes found Flash's costume and ring and realized that their compatriot was dead. However, even though a blast from the Anti-Monitor reduced Wally's top speed to that of sound, it cured him of his metabolic malady. This, combined with the desire to honor his mentor and friend, caused Wally West to forevermore discard his Kid Flash identity and, instead, adopt the name and costume of Flash (Crisis #12).
[from Amazing Heroes #135, 1988 – A Marv Wolfman Interview]
[...]
AH: Big question here. Do you think Crisis worked?
WOLFMAN: Yes and no. Crisis never had the ending I wanted. If it had, it would have worked better.
AH: Do you mind if I ask what ending that was?
WOLFMAN: Nobody would've remembered a thing. I sent them back in time with the idea of starting it all over with the January 1986 books. I insisted upon it repeatedly. The best compromise I could get is only the heroes remembered. I didn't want anyone to remember. If nobody had remembered the Crisis, if it had, in effect, never happened, only the results that happened, it would have been a lot clearer. There never would have been a mention of the Crisis again. No flashbacks.
In fact, one of the things I had asked for, and was flatly turned down, was that every DC comic be renumbered with an issue 1, as if they had just started for the first time. If that had happened, you could have approached the company as a new company and not worried about all the crap that existed before. But because the characters had to remember, which I thought was immensely stupid, you have all the problems that have been plaguing DC now for two years, and I think making the company more incomprehensible than before it happened.
AH: You didn't see any problem with it all beginning with number 1?
WOLFMAN: Whether it was literally number 1, which I wanted, or just figuratively number 1, it didn't matter.
AH: Wouldn't that have called for starting all the heroes from origin on in order to develop the characters?
WOLFMAN: Yeah. Wouldn't that have been exciting?
AH: Yeah.
WOLFMAN: My job, when I'm working exclusively as an editor for a company, is to make that company the best company. Marvel's 25th anniversary was coming up that next year. I thought having every single DC comic start over with number 1, plus start developing the characters fresh- cancel the Justice League for 8 months until all the heroes finally can meet each other. Cancelling one book that was just a marginal seller wouldn't have mattered-Boy, that would have blown out Marvel's 25th. Marvel did it on their own. [laughs] But we didn't know that.
I think you could've developed the characters correctly then, you wouldn't have had to constantly make comments about what had been. You just start over. In fact, Miller did that essentially with Batman: Year One and that was brilliant. George Pérez did it with Wonder Woman, same thing. It could have been done throughout the whole company. Teen Titans may not have needed all those changes or any changes, but to begin over with number I and you have the characters meet and get them involved for the first time. It allows you to create new excitement, new tensions, new everything.
