The Flash Used to Be a Jerk - His Actions In Nightwing Suggest He Still Is - CBR - Comic Book Resources

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Nightwing #90, now on sale from DC Comics.

Among the heroes of the DC Universe, the Flash family are typically some of the most jovial and friendly of the bunch. While the speedsters might have dark moments in their histories, they're usually more focused on heroics instead of revenge, setting them apart from darker periods like the Wallace West "Dark Flash" era.

However, Wally West shows signs that he may have retained elements of his angry past in Nightwing #90 (by Tom Taylor, Geraldo Borges, Adriano Lucas, and Wes Abbott), and considering the stakes of the upcoming Dark Crisis, a volatile Flash might not do the heroes any favors.

After finally getting his life sorted, Wally has been adjusting to his more down-to-earth roots lately, and his appearance in Nightwing #90 largely plays into that. After learning Dick Grayson has been targeted by assassins, Wally rushes in to help save him and provide a safe space for his former Teen Titans teammate to recover. He then works alongside Dick to save Barbara Gordon, and their team-up is largely a fun one that harkens to their long history together. However, things become complicated when Wally discovers that their true enemy is the KGBeast. Noting that there are plenty of heroes who want to settle the score with the villain for his attempted murder of Nightwing during Tom King's run on Batman, Wally sprints into battle with an uncharacteristically dangerous grin, leaving a shocked Nightwing to watch as a firefight breaks out.

Wally's reaction to seeing the man who almost murdered one of his best friends is understandable, but given his historically short fuse and recent instability, this might be a sign of a bigger problem. Even in his earliest days as the Flash, Wally's occasional judgmental nature proved problematic, complicating his relationship with Kyle Rayner while they served on the Justice League together and pushing him down dark paths when he thought his loved ones were threatened. In his early days as the Flash, Wally could be perceived as something of a jerk. While Wally grew into his role as a hero, husband, and father, the darker side of his nature was pushed to the side with his maturity, making his fate in the Post-Flashpoint timeline all the more tragic (and terrifying).

After becoming a fixture in the Post-Crisis DC Universe, Wally was more or less erased by the New 52, and only returned as a result of DC Rebirth. Since then, Wally has been through a number of harrowing experiences -- including being partly responsible for the massacre at Sanctuary in Heroes in Crisis and going to war with his former mentor Barry Allen in the Flash War storyline. But by the end of the reality-shaking events of Flashforward and Dark Nights: Death Metal, Wally's life has been more or less restored: he's reunited with his wife Linda (who regained her memories of their relationship), and his children Jai and Iris have returned to their proper place in reality. But that's what makes his confrontation with KGBeast so worrisome.

Attacking the villain could bring out the darker side of Wally, which recent years have confirmed is still present within the speedster. This could even be a precursor of how dangerously protective he could become, especially with his children becoming more more involved in the world of superheroes. Rushing to attack the man who almost killed Dick Grayson makes sense for Wally, but it also might be a precursor of his darker impulses once again coming to the forefront.

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Brandon Zachary (4669 Articles Published)

Brandon Zachary is an Associate Writer with Comic Book Resources and has written for CBR since 2018. He covers breakouts on comics, film, television, video games, and anime. He also conducts industry interviews, is a Rotten Tomatoes certified film critic, and knows SO MUCH about the X-Men. For requests, comments, or to hear his pitch for a third Avatar series that incorporates robots, you can contact him through bs.zachary@gmail.com.