Wally West (New Earth)

Real Name: Wallace Rudolph West Nicknames: Fastest Man Alive, Scarlet Speedster Former Aliases: Kid Flash Other Current Aliases: No other known current aliases

Status
Occupation: adventurer Legal Status: American citizen with no criminal record Identity: Secret Marital Status: Married Group Affiliation: Justice League of America, formerly Teen Titans Base of Operations: Keystone City

Origin
One summer, when he was ten years old, Wally West went to Central City to stay with his aunt, Iris. Iris was going out with police scientist Barry Allen, who was "friends" with the Flash. Barry "introduced" Wally to his idol, the Flash. In the back room of Barry's apartment was a lab, where Wally asked the Flash all sorts of questions. When he asked Flash how he got his powers, the speedster set up his cabinet of chemicals just as it had been when he was created. Wally wished that something like that could happen to him, the Flash dismissed it as a billion-to-one chance. Just then, however, lightning did strike te cabinet, bathing Wally in the same chemicals that created the Flash.

Place of Birth: Blue Valley, Nebraska Known Relatives: Rudy and Mary West (parents), Ira and Nadine West (grandparents), Iris and Charlotte West (aunts), Barry Allen (uncle), Don, Dawn, and Bart Allen, Jenni Ognats (cousins), Linda Park West (wife) First Appearance: Flash (1st series) #110 (December, 1959-January, 1960)

History
Wally West was born to Rudy and Mary West in Blue Valley, Nebraska. As a boy, Wally would often dream about being the Flash. His parents hated that. His father wanted him to work at the plant, but Wally just wanted to be the Flash. He was the president and sole member of the Blue Valley Flash Fan Club.

One year, the Wests had a family reunion at their house. After Wally was yelled at by his dad for spilling some pop, he went into his room crying. A man, who he thought was maybe his uncle or something, came in and talked to him, giving him confidence that all his dreams would come true.

One summer, when he was ten years old, Wally went to Central City to stay with his aunt, Iris. Iris was going out with police scientist Barry Allen, who was "friends" with the Flash. Barry "introduced" Wally to his idol, the Flash. In the back room of Barry's apartment was a lab, where Wally asked the Flash all sorts of questions. When he asked Flash how he got his powers, the speedster set up his cabinet of chemicals just as it had been when he was created. Wally wished that something like that could happen to him, the Flash dismissed it as a billion-to-one chance. Just then, however, lightning did strike te cabinet, bathing Wally in the same chemicals that created the Flash.

Flash told Wally to keep this a secret, and not even tell aunt Iris. He gave Wally a smaller Flash costume, and Wally became Kid Flash. The Flash taught Wally all the secrets of using his speed to his advantage, and told him about all the members of the rogues gallery.

The next day, Wally apprehended his first criminal, Mr. Element. Element had attacked the Art Museum, transmuting many pieces of art into shapeless forms. Element stole the Giardi Atom, an atomic model crafted from gold and jewels. Kid Flash followed Element to the home of Ward Wellington Weaver, owner of another Giardi Atom, where he defeated the villain and turned him into the police.

The next summer, Barry told Wally his secret identity, which surprised Wally, who had always thought Barry was kind of boring. Again, lightning struck, causing a matter-transforming machine to transform Wally's costume into a newer, predominantly yellow, costume, the design of which Barry had been toying with in the back of his mind. He also joined the Teen Titans. He began to take classes at Taggert University, with hopes of eventually getting a doctorate in physics.

During the Crisis on Infinite Earths, when Barry Allen was killed, Wally took his uniform and declared himself the Flash until Barry returned. However, the rest of the population did not share Wally's feeling that Barry was still alive, yet they did not accept Wally as his replacement either. After being publicly embarassed in a fight with Dr. Alchemy, Green Lantern declared that he would protect Central City. For about a week, Wally donned his Kid Flash costume again. However, he saved Green Lantern and Jay Garrick from Dr. Alchemy. Finally, he was accepted as the Flash.

After accepting that Barry was dead, Wally still had to overcome his anger of feeling abandoned, and forced into a role he did not feel ready for. This anger somehow overcame all the values that Barry had taught him, and he was rather rude and childish for a while. All these mental blocks also slowed him down, sometimes to the point where he lost his speed entirely. He also manifested the need to consume large quantities of food after using his powers, another product of his psychological condition.

Wally won six and a half million dollars in the lottery and asked Frances Kane to live with him in his new mansion in Middle Hampton. She moved out within a short while, but soon afterward Wally invited nutritionist Tina McGee to live with him, even though she was eleven years his senior and married. Wally's mother, Mary, also came to live with him, causing much tension between the two women.

After Tina left him so that she could go back to her husband, Wally lost all of his money in the stockmarket, and had to move to an apartment. Here, he befriended his neighbor, Mason Trollbridge. He also began seeing Connie Noleski again, a Texan model who he had actually been living with for a short time before Tina.

After the alien invasion of Earth, during which Wally fought Durlans in Cuba, the aliens set off a gene bomb that robbed Wally of his superspeed. His friends, Jerry and Tina McGee, set up a device to restore his speed. It sprayed him with the chemicals Barry was sprayed with while sending an electrical charge through him. However, with his new speed, Wally burned a deep trench across America, stretching from New York all the way to New Mexico. His aura, which had previously served as an energy collector, began to feed directly on him, starving him and affecting his brain, and sending his consciousness to another energy level. He grew long spines around his body, and stalked around Swainsville, New Mexico, looking for food, contributing to the citizens' belief in a local myth, the Porcupine Man. Chunk was able to restore his essence to this dimension by using his singularity powers. Fortunately, Mason Trollbridge was able to pluck the spines out of his body.

After several attempts at Wally's life, he decided to move to Keystone City, which had been reccommended by Jay Garrick's wife, Joan. Mason decided to join him so they could share rent.

In Keystone, he started to date Linda Park, a reporter he had met initially during the Porcupine Man incident.

When Barry Allen seemingly returned from the dead, Wally didn't know what to think. Jay and Hal Jordan had both embraced his return, but Wally remained skeptical, mostly because he hadn't mentioned Iris at all. However, when Wally saw this Barry visit Iris's grave, his heart was won. Barry was back, or so he thought. Barry began to behave irrationally, as if he, and only he, was the true Flash. When they were both stuck in a Combine trap, Barry left Wally in it to die. After Wally finally escaped, he gave up on the Flash identity. However, in his aimless wanderings through the streets, he came upon a tattered old book in the alleyway where Barry had materialized. It contained the truth. Barry's true identity was Eobard Thawne, better known as Professor Zoom. With the help of the older speedsters, Jay, Johnny Quick, and Max Mercury, Wally brought Zoom down. In this fight, his speed returned to its old glory. He was every bit as fast as Zoom because he had finally come to terms with his fear that he would be replacing Barry.

In an elaborate scheme laid out by Abra Kadabra, Wally was sued for negligence by Allison Armitage, a store employee who was maimed in his fight with Razer. Although all the evidence in court favored him, Wally himself was furious at his actions. He felt that he, being the fastest man alive, should be everyone at once. During the trial, he went on a non-stop, one-man life-saving spree, trying to make up for what he had done. After the trial was over, he went to Johnny Quick to ask for his speed formula, hoping that adding their speeds would make him unstoppable, able to save everyone. However, the formula only froze him in time. Max Mercury, who was able to join him for a while at that speed, taught him an important lesson. He cannot be everywhere at once. No matter what, he can't save everyone.

Wally brushed with the Speed Force while unsuccessfully trying to save the 64th Century from Zero Hour. He was sent back through time, where he saw important points in his life as they happened, despite the fact that he was invisible. Wally became solid at the West Family Reunion, and he turned out to be the "uncle" that gave his past self that pep talk. He soon returned to his proper time, but not until he had seen one more vision, a vision of Linda's apparent fate at the hands of Kobra, as well as his own death.

Afraid for Linda, he tried to take out Kobra as soon as possible, hoping that he could stop the tragedy that he had seen before it happened. However, he hid all of this information from her. However, he kept holding back his speed, hoping to not brush against the future again. In a fit of rage when Bart ruined his plans against Kobra, Wally raced home, and began to turn into a being of pure energy. It subsided shortly, but it happened again shortly thereafter, and moreso. He thought he had averted the disaster he had foreseen when he saved Linda from Kobra's laser for the first time, but he not expected for it to play out again. He had to go faster than light to save her, the consequence being that he would enter the Speed Force. He traded what her fate for what he thought would be his. However, he returned from the Speed Force, despite what Max had said about no one being able to. Linda hadn't been there, and that kept him from leaving her forever. Upon his return, he quickly defeated Kobra and destroyed his geothermal tap, ruining Project Morpheus. This trip beyond the light gave Wally the power to tap directly into the Speed Force, manifesting in him new powers. He healed Jesse Quick's leg, was able to vibrate through objects like he did as a kid, only now they were microwaved afterwards, and was able to give speed to other objects.

Previously, Wally had been able to find his way home by using Linda as a beacon to his proper time, but in his last jump, Wally was not able to make it home right away because Linda's love had been distracted by the attention of John Fox, the Flash of the 27th century. Finally, he did return, only to find that Linda had been frozen in an attempted Ice Age by Polaris and Abra Kadabra. Wally used the Speed Force to speed up her molecules and thaw her out.

Wally, during a brush with the Black Flash who had apparently claimed the life of Linda, saved her from the Speed Force. He proposed to her and they were married shortly thereafter, but then she disappeared off the face of the earth, and no one, even Wally, remembered her.

Characteristics
Height: 6'0" Weight: 175 lbs (79 kg) Eyes: green Hair: red Unusual Features: No unusual features

Powers
Known Powers: Superspeed, ability to tap into the Speed Force. Known Abilities: No known abilities. Strength Level: Strength level unknown

Miscellaneous
Equipment: No known equipment. Transportation: No known transportation. Weapons: No known weapons.

Recommended Readings

 * Flash (1st series) #325 (September, 1983)
 * Flash (2nd series) #1-on (June, 1987-present)
 * Flash Annual #1-on (1987-present)
 * Flash Secret Files #1 (November, 1997)
 * The Life Story of the Flash