The Flash #214

The Secret of Barry Allen Part One

Geoff Johns Writer
Howard Porter Penciller
Livesay Inker
Pat Brosseau Letterer
James Sinclair Colorist
Joey Cavalieri Editor
Harvey Richards Asst. Editor

Our cover is by former Impulse artist Ethan Van Sciver, showing a shocked Wally West pouring over some papers, while the shadow of Barry Allen looms over him. Barry's Flash outfit has popped out of his ring, coincidentally forming the "shush" pose. It is a very interesting cover, but something about it just feels a little off. Is Barry's head too small?

Even though the cover doesn't say so, this issue is a tie-in to Identity Crisis. Our story begins with Wally recapping what has happened so far. After the Elongated Man's wife was murdered, Ralph Dibny led a small group of heroes to take down Doctor Light. Wally didn't see how Doctor Light could have committed the murder, but he trusted the Elongated Man's reputation as a detective, so he joined the raiding party. However, Doctor Light was prepared for this and hired Deathstroke to protect him. Deathstroke managed to hold off the heroes long enough for Doctor Light to escape, even stabbing Wally in the chest with his sword.

The JSA later ruled out Doctor Light as a suspect, and Wally later learned the troubling reason why Light was suspected in the first place. Years ago, Doctor Light raped Sue Dibny. He was so violent and vicious at the time, several members of the Justice League proposed the idea of having Zatanna magically wipe Light's memory and alter his personality so he wouldn't repeat those grotesque actions. A vote was held, with Barry Allen casting the deciding vote in favor of the mind wipe.

Naturally, Wally is quite upset by all this. Seeking answers, he checks in at Alcatraz Island, where the Teen Titans and Outsiders are interrogating prisoners. Wonder Girl is even using her lasso to electrocute Monsieur Mallah. Flash asks Roy and Dick why they're even bothering with them, and Dick explains that they believe Mallah and the Brain might know where Warp and Plasmus are, following their theory that Warp teleported into the Dibny home and Plasmus burned Sue. Wally says that angle feels a bit desperate, and Roy admits they are pretty desperate at this point.

Wally then pulls Dick aside, and Dick tells him how Roy is worried about Rose becoming Ravager, since she used to babysit his daughter. Wally tells Dick about Deathstroke's impressive fight, saying he's even more skilled and insane than ever. Wally then begins talking about his wife, Linda, who left him after their memories were erased. Dick says Linda should be safe, since Wally's public identity is a secret again. But Wally's still worried. He had previously honored Linda's request to be left alone, but now he's asking Nightwing's help in tracking her down. Dick considers this for a moment, then decides to call Oracle to see if she can help.

Wally then pays a visit to the Watchtower and immediately begins chewing out the JLA. He says he realizes that when they brought him to the Watchtower after his secret identity was erased, they were actually worried that what they did to Doctor Light was done to them. Black Canary says that might have been in the back of their minds, but they were more worried about Wally's well-being at that time. But Wally brushes this off and goes right into his next accusation: The JLA turned his uncle into a liar.

This comment definitely ruffles a few feathers (literally in Hawkman's case), but Green Arrow quickly defuses the situation by pulling Wally aside to speak in private. Oliver criticizes Wally for his holier-than-thou attitude and says he can see that Wally is actually feeling guilty for making his deal with the Spectre. After shouting for a bit more, Wally eventually accepts Oliver's diagnosis. Now that he's calmed down, Oliver suggests he go home to be with the ones he loves, leaving him with the words: "Nobody's perfect, kid. Not even the big guy."

So Wally heeds Oliver's advice and heads straight for the isolated home of his Aunt Iris. But Bart stops Wally from entering, asking if the killer has been found. Wally says they're still working on it, but Bart's worried about who the next target will be, since the Atom's ex-wife was also attacked (although she survived). Wally tries to assure Bart that everything's going to be OK, but Bart can tell he's not sure. He asks Wally where Linda is, and Wally can't answer that. He then heads inside, telling Bart to make sure nobody enters. Bart agrees, and Wally sees something in his face he's never noticed before that makes him believe Bart.

Iris is reading about Sue's murder in the newspaper, weeping over the loss. Wally gives her a hug, and she asks him if Doctor Light killed Sue. Wally says no, and Iris infers that Wally has been told about Doctor Light's past and Barry's involvement in the ordeal. She explains that Barry made that decision during a dark time in his life, when he believed that she was dead. Iris hints that she has more to tell Wally, but first says that Oliver Queen has something to give him.

So Wally heads to Star City to visit Green Arrow in his base. He tells Oliver he now realizes that when he mentioned the "big guy," he wasn't talking about Superman, but Barry. Oliver says Barry had the hardest time among them holding on to the lie. Wally turns the topic to Iris' message, and Oliver pulls out an envelope. He says he wanted to give it to Wally earlier, but he decided to get Iris' approval first. He says it's a letter Barry wrote to him after the business with Doctor Light. He warns Wally not to judge Barry too harsh, saying he was only trying to make the world a safer place.

We then see that Sue Dibny's murder has even affected the Rogues. Captain Cold abruptly calls off a bank heist in the middle of the job and orders his crew to send flowers to Ralph. Meanwhile, Wally heads to the Flash Museum to read Barry's letter under his statue.



This issue highlights one of the main problems with Identity Crisis — retconning. It really is unfair to readers to randomly tell them, "Oh, by the way, years ago your favorite characters faced an ethical dilemma and have been carrying a dark secret with them ever since and nobody bothered mentioning it until now." It's actually easier for me to handle reality being completely altered because of some grand, cosmic event like in Zero Hour or Genesis than something like this. And I do feel bad for Geoff Johns in this case, as he's forced to try to explain this massive change caused by Brad Meltzer.

But I do like seeing how this mystery murder has caused so much panic throughout the superhero community. And the ethical debate about these mind wipes is an interesting debate to have — I just wish it wasn't the result of a retcon. As for Bart's involvement, it is a little frustrating that Johns once again went out of his way to say that he likes Bart better as Kid Flash than Impulse, while simultaneously keeping him excluded from everything in this story.

Next time, we'll take a step away from Identity Crisis with Teen Titans #16.