First appearing in The Flash #110 (December 1959), Wally West started out as Kid Flash, the sidekick of the previous Flash, his uncle Barry Allen. He gained his power in a duplication of the chemical and lightning accident that granted Allen his own super-speed powers. As Kid Flash, Wally was one of the original Teen Titans. When Barry Allen sacrificed his life to save the universe in Crisis on Infinite Earths, Wally took up his mentor's mantle.
Over the next two decades, Wally would grow into the mantle and make it his own. However, despite the character's popularity (boosted by appearing in the DCAU Justice League cartoon), he would be ignored by DC when Barry Allen returned in Final Crisis. Then Flashpoint and the New 52 hit, wiping out Wally's Flash tenure from continuity, a move (among many) that alienated many readers from DC. DC would then reintroduce a new Wally West, a black teenager. And then Rebirth hit, and with it, the return of the original Wally West...while still keeping the New 52 Wally West around.
Yes, folks. You have heard right. There are now TWO Wally Wests running around in the DC Universe. That is totally not confusing. They have tried to explain it as that the black Wally is the cousin of the white Wally. You know, nobody is going to get Peter Parker and Miles Morales mixed up. Nor will anyone get Tony Stark and Riri Williams mixed up. I hate DC Rebirth.
And with that, let's take a look at one of Wally's many adventures during his original now non-canon tenure as the Flash, Flash #71!
The cover is a basic one, showing Flash facing off against the new Doctor Alchemy. We see Wally West valiantly charging towards the new Doctor Alchemy, while he's getting ready to use his Philosopher's Stone. I noticed that above the masthead logo, there is a bit of a pun. "The criminal...ELEMENT!" Get it? Criminal element? Dr. Alchemy can mess with elements. That's the joke.
Writer: Mark Waid
Penciller: Greg LaRocque
Inker: Tony Richardson
Letterer: Tim Harkins
Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth
Editor: Brian Augustyn
Assistant Editor: Ruben Diaz
The story begins with Wally West being tortured.
For a normal man, waiting in line at the bank is tough. For a man used to running at velocities that would make race cars jealous, it is Hell. He tries to suggest to a man in front of him how to speed things up, but the man tells him to get bent. The wall of the bank seemingly melts away, and guess who has arrived.
It's Doctor Alchemy, in the flesh. I do like the costume, although I can't help but wonder if he really needs his boots that high. Aw well, if it works for him, I guess. I'm not gonna judge. Wally changes into the Flash with the aid of a revolving door, and engages the villain, who introduces himself as "The Alchemist". The original Doctor Alchemy, Albert Desmond, also started his criminal career as "Mr. Element". Wally asks if that's the original Alchemy's Philosopher's Stone he's holding. Alchemist says, "You tell me", and turns the ground beneath the Flash into tar.
Wally escapes by ditching his boots, and tries to grab the stone. He notes that if he really wanted some easy money, why not use the stone to turn a lamppost into platinum? That does raise a good point. He's stopped by Alchemist changing the air in front of the Flash into a crystal barrier. Alchemy then goes after the man Wally was waiting behind at the bank, revealing his name is Migliani, and they have a score to settle. The shocked Migliani recognizes the Alchemist under his hood.
This Alchemist is named Curt. Which means he's definitely not the original Dr. Alchemy. Flash realizes that the Alchemist may be an assassin. He uses some velvet ropes to distract the Alchemist, allowing Migliani to make his escape. Wally again goes for the Stone, but fails. Alchemist turns the air into unbreathable ozone, and makes his escape while the Flash gets the people out. Flash also notices that Migliani is gone. A search turns up no leads, and Wally West feels down. As such, he knows who to go to when he needs cheering up. He zips by a girl selling flowers.
Heh heh. During this, Wally remarks about his time in Justice League Europe, and that no matter what, the person he's getting flowers for is always there for him. The unmasked Wally arrives at the news studio to his girlfriend, talk show host Linda Park...and her farewell party.
Much to Wally's shock, Linda is taking an offer for a job in Midway City, who have been after her talents for a while. Linda explains that Midway gives her a change of pace. She has no family in Keystone City, no real reason to stay...right? Yeah, Wally and Linda's relationship is having some troubles. Evidently, the speedster can't seem to decide whether they are friends or something more. The Flash may be the Fastest Man Alive, and one of the World's Greatest Heroes, but even he is not immune to troubles of the heart. Linda tells him she's going on the train at two this afternoon, and if he has an answer, he'd better deliver it by then. Flash is forced to table the problem for now by an urgent police bulletin.
While on the way there, Wally practices what he intends to say to Linda at the train station, zipping by various couples. Nice touch there. He arrives at the police department, where he has a guest.
The police explain that Moe Migliani offered to turn in some state's evidence against some big-time mob bosses. His credibility is not get, but it is good enough for the police. They have to keep him safe until the feds can pick him up. Only, there is one problem: Alchemist. Migliani wants the Flash to protect him because he claims the Alchemist was his former cellmate. The police provide the Flash with his file, revealing his name is Dr. Curtis Engstrom, a brilliant biochemist, who is also rather nuts.
I love this spread here. I like that the panels covering Engstrom's origins are in the Philosopher's Stone itself. Long story short, Engstrom stole a medical microcomputer that was made from a piece of the Stone. You know, I can't help but wonder if his name was an homage to Swedish programmer Christian Engstrom. Anyway, Curtis Engstrom was caught, but the computer was never recovered. However, Engstrom's big priority happened to be Migliani. There's a little moment where Migliani tries to buy a favor from a cop with a watch, but the chief puts a stop to that. "Payola." "Bad." "Internal Affairs Investigation." "Really bad."
What the police want Flash to do is zip Migliani around the city, so Alchemist will have a harder time finding him. Migliani is thrilled by this, and in a funny moment, becomes a little kid again when the Flash runs off with him.
Migliani tries to give Flash a watch as a gift, and Wally only accepts it so he'll shut up about it. Wally West asks why Engstrom wants to kill him. See, Migliani couldn't get him out of jail. Yeah. Wally realizes that he's Moe "Mouthpiece" Migliani, the jailhouse lawyer. Yup. He once went to jail, studied law in jail, and was able to use his knowledge to get him out all nice and legal. He considered Engstrom a friend and tried to get him out. However, medical crimes are hard to fight in court, so despite his best efforts, Engstrom couldn't get out. So Engstrom got furious and vowed to kill Migliani.
Migliani asks what time it is, and reveals that he has a talk show appearance to do. Wally is understandably infuriated by this, as Migliani is supposed to keep a low profile. Doing an appearance on a talk show is the opposite of this. Migliani reassures him it will be fine, as TV shows are taped, and won't be broadcast for days, giving Flash time to deal with the Alchemist.
I feel for Wally. He wants to punch Migliani in the face so hard. You can't really blame the guy. Flash takes Migliani to the studio where the talk show is being filmed. The interview is a man named Fernando. Get it? It's a nod to Geraldo Rivera. Fernando states that the episode is being filmed live, much to Migliani's shock and Wally's seething fury. The spotlights explode, and the Alchemist attacks.
Alchemist and Flash fight, but Wally West is left wondering something. If Engstrom is so mad at Migliani for not getting him out, why all these theatrics? Why didn't he just kill him? Maybe there's something more going on here. But the Fastest Man Alive can't puzzle on it right now, as he has lives to save. The Alchemist tries to attack some people with his Philosopher's Stone.
While he's saving people, Wally remembers that the original Dr. Alchemy had to make a lot of effort to mess around with basic compounds, but he was able to change a person into another substance. But that happened only once, and it took years for the original to master the Stone enough to pull that trick off. He's hoping Engstrom isn't able to master the Stone enough to pull off that trick. Flash saves a woman from a blast from the Stone, and...
...Curtis Engstrom has mastered the Stone enough to turn him into gold. Which actually makes sense. Remember, Engstrom is a biochemist. He is an expert on the chemical processes within living beings. He could use that knowledge to make the Stone pull these kind of tricks.
This issue was really good. It had drama, action, and a nice little bit of humor here and there. It was an epic introduction to a new legacy villain. The Alchemist was a great way to update one of the Barry Allen Flash's old Silver Age Rogues for Wally to take on in the then-modern 1990s. Wally is a different Flash than Barry was, so it'd be appropriate the Alchemist be a different man that the original Dr. Alchemy. Waid's love of science does get shown in this issue, and Greg LaRocque's art is well-done. There was also a nice little twist here with Engstrom and Migliani's little sub-plot. If you ever find Mark Waid's Flash run, I highly recommend it.
Next time, we stick around in the DC Universe as we look at an adventure of Wonder Woman...
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