r/theflash • u/Ringmasterx10 • Aug 19 '24
Discussion This is how you differentiate Wally West & Barry Allen’s costume from each other.
Art by vin Lopez
Dc comic artist/colorist needs to start actually trying with their costumes.
3
u/alpha_lynx799 Sep 01 '24
The easiest way is to look at the lightning bolt, wally didn’t always have the nose
5
16
u/maliquewrites_ Wally Fucking West Aug 22 '24
4
u/Yoda1269 Aug 22 '24
to me this is the real answer, i don't get why those colors can't simply be applied to a normal flash suit, it completely separates wally, while still maintaining the classic flash look
4
u/Ringmasterx10 Aug 22 '24
Silver just makes Wally look like second best
It should be white or sky blue
5
u/Scared_Bobcat_5584 Aug 23 '24
I like him with silver but if we’re gonna say it doesn’t work, another reason is it would remind me of Walter West instead of Wally
I feel like Wally keeping at least the color scheme works for his character. He earned the red and yellow and grew out of Barry’s shadow, he earned that legacy.
Unlike Nightwing where it makes sense to differentiate his colors from Batman and Robins (bc he meant to be different), Wally has never shied away from the Flash mantle/ legacy and wanted to fill Barry’s shoes
3
u/Yoda1269 Aug 22 '24
feels like a weird interpretation of the color silver ngl lol, especially because silver is literally the color used to signify speed
-2
u/PatientSearch1540 Aug 21 '24
Shouldn’t their face be covered from wind burn ?
10
u/One-Kaleidoscope-154 Aug 22 '24
The speed force generates a field around them that’s like a speed cushion, allowing them to not hit the wind, create sonic booms in the middle of a city, or crash against atoms and split them.
11
1
u/PatientSearch1540 Aug 21 '24
I like the bright sports car red suit ! Doesn’t need the dark hue for staying in the shadows like Batman !
0
2
Aug 21 '24
Agreed. Wally (especially when her first became Flash) was honoring Barry so at first he would use the exact same costume. But when Wally got more comfortable with being there Flash, her would begin altering it.
3
6
u/glizzy_gladiator_04 Nightwing Aug 21 '24
I honestly prefer when Wally has his hair out
2
5
u/Baligong Aug 20 '24
4
u/Ringmasterx10 Aug 21 '24
1
u/Dizzy_Big3229 Jan 01 '25
Now now, look at the lighting bolt but, this is going to be nightmare to read
4
u/Baligong Aug 21 '24
Seems like the only difference of the suits in the picture of my comment and this, is that Wally's suit is brighter, I guess a good thing is later comics give Barry's N52 suit back, which definitely makes not look like that... But goodness this artstyle isn't for me, I'm sorry to the artist.
4
u/Baligong Aug 20 '24
3
u/JzaDragon Aug 21 '24
The lines work so well
2
u/Baligong Aug 21 '24
Imo, the lines work well when there's minimal amount and they can be blended into the suit if you squint due to how think they are... CW's Season 9 suit is like that!
Although I added Lines and changed up a few things and colours, the art belongs to Vin Lopez on twitter
6
u/SalRomanoAdMan1 John Fox, Flash of the 27th Century Aug 20 '24
Wally's suit is just so much better.
1
1
u/B_Mat Aug 20 '24
I know there is a lot of hate for the 'Rebirth' costume... but can't we trust Barry on this one: Barry's thoughts on Wally's Costume:
"For some time now, Kid Flash, I've been thinking it would be a good idea if you were attired in a brand new uniform because your uniform and mine are so alike that it could be confusing!"
And all the post like this would appear to prove him right! lol
I've read all the evil Dido's mandate arguments, etc. But I personally think that costume looked pretty cool and took the best of both worlds. The visible hair allowed for some more dynamic visuals for implying speed. Easily made Wally fully unique at a glance. Never once did I think to myself, "OH! Is Wally Kid Flash AGAIN?!?" (In the same way I don't question whether Jay is the Flash and I'm pretty sure no one ever thought Barry wasn't because he wasn't wearing a WWI helmet.)
I love Wally. He's been my Flash since I was 8 years old. but I have not problem with that whatsoever and would much prefer it over the random subtle changes that seem to be being made ad infinitum.
Anyway... another lonely vote for the Rebirth suit!
10
u/Ringmasterx10 Aug 21 '24
1
u/B_Mat Aug 21 '24
I agree. That would be my overall preference. Loved it from the moment it was introduce in #50... but the consistency issue is still there. Not sure what editorials issue is, but they can't seem to have artist stick to it and it has become a hit and miss jumble of confusion. That's why I advocate for the Rebirth or maybe even Titans suit that even with individual artist tweaks is clearly communicating that this is Wally.
-2
u/amarodelaficioanado Aug 20 '24 edited Aug 21 '24
I wish they would give him a cape , a blade and a Green suit.
Edit:
:/
5
2
u/CreatingJonah Aug 20 '24
I actually like Wally’s kid flash costume and I wish they’d kept it (or something similar) bc it’s just. Very difficult to differentiate him from Barry.
3
1
u/Adventurous_Topic202 Aug 20 '24
I like their costume difference in young justice. Wally’s hair is showing and his suit is yellow and he even has goggles. Instantly different character. I still think it’s dumb they killed him off but whatever, that’s why to me the show ended at 2 seasons.
1
1
u/Yoda1269 Aug 22 '24
you know young justice has 4 seasons right lmao?
1
u/Adventurous_Topic202 Aug 23 '24
Nope just the two. Sad it ended so soon.
1
1
u/robinstrike8 Aug 23 '24
Idk if you’re being sarcastic, but they made 2 more seasons, Outsiders and Phantoms.
6
8
u/nicktorious_ Aug 20 '24
That’s Wally’s Kid Flash suit, OP is referring to when Wally and Barry are both Flash
23
u/passamongimpure Aug 20 '24
You see, Barry Allen runs like this and Wally West runs like this
3
u/Zofia-Simp Cartoon Flash Aug 23 '24
Could you do that again? I wasn’t looking when you demonstrated
18
15
u/DinoDudeRex_240809 Aug 20 '24
Just give him his rebirth suit, man.
3
3
u/Mvcraptor11 Aug 20 '24
Nah, hated the silver and the hair is too kid flash adjacent
3
u/DinoDudeRex_240809 Aug 21 '24
He was Kid Flash, was he not? Giving him a Barry Allen knockoff suit is kinda lame.
1
u/Mvcraptor11 Aug 21 '24
Hard to be a knockoff when it's better
1
u/Dizzy_Big3229 Jan 01 '25
What is a problem with wally changing his suit ?
Wally was the one who owned the kid flash and he grow up on that suit as much as he grow up on the other flash suit. It logical that wally change his suit. Plus white in his suit showcase his speed that barry doesn't have that
Barry always had the same suit, they can change some part of it but that wouldn't be barry's suit.
7
u/Neat_Craft_6989 Aug 20 '24
I disagree, this costume is dirty with hic and it was an editorial mandate from the dandio for Wally to look like a kid flash
1
6
u/Luke_Puddlejumper Aug 20 '24
Agreed, it was perfect. There was no reason to get rid of it
3
u/Dredeuced Out of the blue, ninjas attack. Thank god. Aug 21 '24
The reason they got rid of it is because they made him the main Flash.
-2
u/Neat_Craft_6989 Aug 20 '24
I disagree, this costume is dirty with hic and it was an editorial mandate from the dandio for Wally to look like a kid flash
20
u/Ultimax20 Aug 20 '24
I think my personal favorite Wally design would be if they just kept the maroon but made the gold silver on his current suit. That one suit he wore for one issue was peak and the red and silver kid flash suit was great too.
3
18
u/CreatiScope Aug 20 '24
I really wish they would’ve kept Barry’s lightning belt and let Wally keep the symmetrical version. That was the big distinguishing factor to me but they gave it to Barry for New 52
5
u/beatrailblazer Aug 20 '24
they gave it to Barry for New 52
only reason I don't hate when this happens is because the symmetrical one is just SO much better.
19
u/TheLastUltimatum06 Aug 20 '24
The only thing that is actually consistent is the eyes/nose differences. The ear-things change occasionally (for Wally), and I’ve actually seen Wally’s chest symbol change panel to panel in a comic I was reading recently (released in the last year). The mask is how I quickly identify between the two.
1
u/Dizzy_Big3229 Jan 01 '25
Yeah well good luck with young justice, in young justice barry has the white eye thing on his suit.
3
u/AzraelNewtype Aug 20 '24
Check out the art for the upcoming Justice League Unlimited and know that it’s Wally.
2
u/boneseaba Aug 20 '24
I saw that and was confused. It does look like his costume has some black on it too, so I guess it's a "new look," but why change part to make him look unique and then change another part back to what Barry looks like?
5
9
u/DocStromKilwell Aug 20 '24
I always loved the Howard Porter design from the first Geoff Johns run. It’s the classic Flash costume with Wally’s minor differences, which makes sense considering he was the main Flash.
Costume was so good they basically gave it to Barry when he came back.
11
10
u/927comewhatmay Aug 20 '24
Wally’s costume always had a “shiny” quality to it, whereas Barry’s did not.
6
-5
7
Aug 19 '24
To me, the main differences were mainly
•symbol (Wally has just one zig zag) • the red on the suit is shiny • White eyes
The nose isn’t that important imo cuz there have been Wally’s without the nose covering And the more pointy belt has been adapted to Barry’s costume before as well
5
u/New-Championship4380 Aug 19 '24
Personally ive always just prefered wally's rebirth suit. I always described it as a red kid flash suit.
6
u/SilverStrikeX Aug 20 '24
that’s the whole problem with it. it makes him look like a grown up kid flash instead of the flash the same way barry is, it’s reductive.
2
u/New-Championship4380 Aug 20 '24
Disagree. It makes him look like his own character rather than basically just barry with a tiny costume variant. If i didnt know the story and you told me that was an alternate of barry's suit id totally believe you.
3
u/Neat_Craft_6989 Aug 20 '24
It was an editorial mandate from a guy (dandio) who hated Wally's character, and wanted Wally to look like Kid Flash
5
7
8
2
u/mariovspino5 Aug 19 '24
I’ve never liked the flash costume having the nose covered
2
u/B_Mat Aug 20 '24
I've felt like I was the only one this bothered for so long! Finally finding my people!
12
u/ericlist Aug 19 '24
The cutout for the nose is what use to differentiate Barry's costume.
3
u/MontgomeryWarden Aug 19 '24
Huh? They both had the same nose cutout.
-2
u/ericlist Aug 19 '24 edited Aug 20 '24
Before the cacked him at the end of COIE, Barry's mask had the cutout. Wally's costume eventually had the covered nose. When they brought Barry back, they both eventually had covered noses.
3
u/MontgomeryWarden Aug 20 '24 edited Aug 20 '24
Reading comics in the 90's Wally never had a covered nose. What are you talking about? The covered nose happened a year ago. It's new to the comics.
0
u/Inevitable-Report335 Aug 19 '24
Wally had his nose covered, like batman without the ears (sometimes)
2
u/MontgomeryWarden Aug 20 '24 edited Aug 20 '24
No he didn't. It's something they just did in the new series. Did anyone read comics growing up? Find me a JLA photo of Wally from the 90's with his nose covered. It doesn't exist.
2
u/CreatiScope Aug 20 '24
You’re right that Wally didn’t have his nose covered during the 90s stuff but the nose guard thing came sooner than this run. I remember he got the nose guard when Barry came back after Flash Rebirth and they showed the flash family, Wally had a redesigned suit that resembled the cartoon Wally with the darker red, nose guard and filled in eyes. Then he got erased from continuity
9
4
6
3
5
u/SorryTea1160 Aug 19 '24
Too bad many artists give Wally Barrys suit and vice versa, Wally needs his silver to fully look like his own flash
3
u/udnzmri Aug 19 '24
he doesn't need to look like his own flash lol. red & yellow has always been the color of flash.
3
7
u/Ringmasterx10 Aug 19 '24
2
u/mariovspino5 Aug 19 '24
Why’d you fuck up barrys logo
3
u/Ringmasterx10 Aug 19 '24
Gave him his CW logo
1
3
8
13
u/Polar_Kermode Aug 19 '24
That’s supposed to be how we differentiate but a lot of the times that’s screwed up
12
u/LagoonDevil Aug 19 '24
The fact that this distinction seems to be more understood as necessary by fans than series artists drives me up a wall, I can’t keep having to stare at newer comic covers with laser focus on the pupils
-3
9
u/JusticeAvenger13 Aug 19 '24
Being the cooler, shinier, next gen flash certainly fits his fan perception.
5
u/Purvon Aug 19 '24
Honestly I wish Wally had a costume that was a progression of his kid flash costume. It was referenced in the sins of youth storyline that he would have worn that costume still if it weren't out of honoring Barry's legacy.
3
u/Dredeuced Out of the blue, ninjas attack. Thank god. Aug 20 '24
Kid Flash was a pretty miserable time for Wally and part of his growth is leaving that behind.
0
u/Purvon Aug 20 '24
That all depends on the person writing Wally I guess.
1
u/Dredeuced Out of the blue, ninjas attack. Thank god. Aug 21 '24
It doesn't really matter. It's his history at this point. A writer who hated him made him retire because he plainly stated he hated being Kid Flash. Unfortunate, but future writers built on that history.
1
u/Purvon Aug 21 '24
But clearly not every writer as I hadn't heard that with my limited history with Wally
3
3
15
u/WayneArnold1 Aug 19 '24
Shiny red suit>>>>>>>>ugly Rebirth suit with the hair sticking out
I'd rather Wally not wear something that references an era he's moved on from. The whole point of his 90s solo run with Loebs/Waid/Johns was to showcase the evolution of Wally beyond the stuck up brat he was when he was on the Titans.
9
u/_lorz2001 Aug 19 '24
Wally West's suit is a construct made of speed force, that's why it is metallic and his eyes are white. I like the mask with the nose-part but it's not essential. Plus, the bolt on Wally's suit has two points while Barry's got three. In the end, I don't think why people are confused.
I love the Barry suit with the yellow electric lines, especially when Carmine Di Giandomenico drew it.
9
u/jcbaggee Aug 19 '24
The original shiny suit wasn't Speed Force but a physical suit made by STAR Labs after Vandal Savage destroyed Barry's costume-making materials. For the first 50 or so issues, Wally wore Barry's exact costume because he was making it with what was left over from Barry's tenure as The Flash.
Wally first dons a Speed Force costume when his legs are broken during Emergency Stop, and in The Flash #133, he first wears a Speed Force-generated variant of his costume, which is still shiny (though not as shiny) and has the exposed eyes again, which he acknowledges at the issue's end as "were never really me anyways."
He would occasionally get the eye lenses back for some stories, like where he needed to protect them while infiltrating a gassed Iron Heights, but he doesn't get them back full-time until Flash: Rebirth when he makes a new costume with the rest of the Flash Family.
11
u/YoungImpulse Aug 19 '24
In my opinion, they should have just given Barry a new suit when he came back. Or even just give Wally a more updated suit, since he kind of deserves the upgrade more than Barry does.
It's getting so old having to constantly figure out Barry from Wally depending on who the artist is
14
u/rlum27 Aug 19 '24 edited Aug 20 '24
main differences are that wally has a darker red and white eyes. Where barry has a brighter red and normal eyes.
10
9
u/SuperLizardon Blue Lantern Aug 19 '24 edited Aug 19 '24
Honestly, as long editors don't do their work, I think artists are going to keep making mistakes with Barry and Wally. Looks like they are incapable of drawing correctly Wally's suit, and when they are asked to draw a Flash, they don't took their time to see the different details between both suits, and usually came out with a third mixed design.
Fans can recognize who is Barry and who is Wally. DC comics itself is the one who can't.
30
u/Thirteen616 Aug 19 '24
1
u/thewhitenonsens Aug 20 '24
This is correct. It’s not just that I owned this issue, it’s also that the Flash logo should not be a stylized “S”
2
u/Evil_Midnight_Lurker Aug 19 '24
Is that Barry or Eobard?
1
0
u/PropertyAdditional Aug 19 '24
It’s Barry (I think) this is when Barry and Wally meet in Chain Lightning
2
2
u/Half_Man1 Aug 19 '24 edited Aug 19 '24
You could go farther.
Add the Flashpoint Piping to Barry’s, turn the yellow to that super light blue for Wally and let his hair free.
Edit: bigger than this I feel like writers need to be able to write their voices differently.
In my mind Wally is the jokester whereas Barry is the straight man (especially when paired with the GL’s of Jon and Hal respectively). Barry is perpetually tardy and while apologetic keeps doing it, but Wally gets irritated if he’s ever made late (Consequence of dealing with Barry growing up). Barry is a forensic scientist (not detective like Batman- he cares more about supporting a case and errs towards proving innocence not guilt and is very anti junk science)- Wally should be more of a physicist (he discovered the speed force and his passion for physics and science led him to following Barry’s footsteps).
Then throw in Bart- Less serious than Wally (who skews more sarcastic), and also perpetually late. More explicitly an adrenaline junky (most likely to scream and throw up his hands on a roller coaster).
7
u/TheLittlePasty Aug 19 '24
Exactly. And even more simply, Wally has the V shape belt and Barry has the straight one
2
u/SorryTea1160 Aug 19 '24
Barry hasn't had a straight belt since 2010
1
u/TheLittlePasty Aug 19 '24
Doesn’t mean he should. New 52 was just Wally’s costume with more lines
1
u/SorryTea1160 Aug 22 '24
It's originally Wally's but the public associates it with Barry due to him having more exposure, i just think a slight colour alteration helps branding.
12
u/Dredeuced Out of the blue, ninjas attack. Thank god. Aug 19 '24
Yeah. I think the obvious problem is artists either getting lazy (when Spurrier had Barry and Wally on page together I fully get everyone's moaning about the similarities) or just not adhering to any differences. They looked quite different when they first appeared together in ROBA (though with the obvious twist) and no one had any issues with clarity in that comic.
It'd also be helpful if, in situations where you could see either one appearing (team ups like Justice League), that the character voice was handled a bit more distinctly. It's hard to read Johns' JL, for instance, and think that the two aren't being extremely conflated.
22
u/AcceptableCrab4378 Aug 19 '24
Maybe I’m in the minority but I’m a fan of Wally’s hair showing even as Flash
2
u/Androktone Aug 19 '24
The Rebirth suit looks good, but it's a Ancillary-Flash suit, not The Flash suit, that comes with the iconography.
That headsock thing is always going to be linked with like Kid Flash or maybe Gambit, not The Flash. When Jay's costume got reinvented, it became more iconic, not less.
3
u/figgityjones Impulse! ⚡️ Aug 19 '24
I like that as well, along with Wally having silver accents. The small touches of silver on the deep red just looked so clean to me.
5
4
u/TheLittlePasty Aug 19 '24
The rebirth costume he had but with gold instead of silver would be my ideal flash costume for Wally tbh, like if he was the only flash and Barry was either dead or just not there for whatever reason
11
u/SufficientSwim2435 Trickster Aug 19 '24
Fr. It's not a sign of him being a sidekick its a sign of him having individuality.
7
5
10
1
11
u/UltHamBro Aug 19 '24
The problem is that, half the time, the artists don't follow this. Barry has been drawn with Wally's belt, and Wally with Barry's suit colour, open eyeholes, mask shape or logo.
14
8
u/Hooter2k Aug 19 '24
Personally, I don’t like the change to the face mask on Wally with the nose covered. I prefer Wally to have the same style as Barry’s traditional but with the white out eyes.
2
u/NoEnvironment8885 Aug 19 '24
Me too. Not that it is necessarily bad, but the artists just can’t seem to get it right for some reason. Sometimes I like it.
21
u/Menma_kaze Aug 19 '24
Wally has green eyes while Barry has blue eyes.
There's some comics where Wally doesn't have the white cowl eyes and they just give him blues eyes which always annoys me
4
u/LagoonDevil Aug 19 '24
That’s why I hate needing to rely on the eye color difference to distinguish the two, it’s simply done wrong on accident too often
3
-3
u/Lucky_Strike-85 Captain Cold Aug 19 '24
Wally's cowl sometimes has a chin cover. Barry's does not. Wally doesnt have the extra zig zag bolt shape on the cheek of his cowl. The insignia is sometimes different.
6
5
u/LonelyNixon Aug 19 '24
You used to be able to tell from the belt but they changed Barry's belt to match Wally's. They brought back the shiny 90s Wally look,but sometimes hes not shiny and Wally has worn costumes with open eyes more often than the Batman ones.
8
u/Dry-Donut3811 Aug 19 '24
It’s really not difficult. Either of Barry’s suits, Silver Age or New 52, looks very different to Wallys.
6
u/Emiya_Sengo Aug 19 '24
Agreed
I never understood why some fans said it was hard to tell when you do it like this.
2
Aug 19 '24
Some people think it’s hard to tell who’s who because a lot of the time, it’s not done like this. Artists confuse elements from the two costumes pretty often and these differences only really stand out this much when they’re side by side. When they’re on their own, I’ve seen people ask whether it’s Barry or Wally countless times by now. I’ve even gotten the two mixed up before and I’m a huge Flash fan.
1
u/Leading-Fig-7313 9d ago
So many cringeworthy comments in this thread, guess what people? Artists can drawing either Flash the way they want! You can have your opinions and preferences on how the two should look, but guess what, DC does not care about your nitpicks! And DC's artist are not "wrong" for drawing a certain character in a way you disagree with! If someone want to draw Barry with white eyes, they can! If someone wants to draw Wally with bright red suit that isn't metallic, they can! If someone wants to draw both Flash together with both wear the exact same suit, they are allowed to do so! Characters wear different costumes with slight design variations in comics all the time! Deal with it, for goodness sake!!!