One of the biggest things the Flash is known for is traveling through time, and ever since Barry Allen infamously messed up the entire timeline during Flashpoint, Wally West has expressed a strong dislike of time travel. Despite this dislike of time travel, though, Wally would never be the hero he is today without it. One of the major formative moments in Wally’s childhood was getting a talk from an older relative, only for Wally to eventually realize that it wasn’t an older relative, it was an older version of himself.
Wally West rarely travels through time if he can help it, but the most important time he did was first seen in Flash #0 (1987) by Mark Waid, Mike Wieringo, Jose Marzan Jr, Gina Going, and Gaspar Saladino. This story sees Flash stuck in the time stream after DC’s Zero Hour Crisis event, with no real control over when or where he is.
Wally ends up seeing several events from his past, before being dumped at a family party from his childhood. It takes him a bit to get his bearings, but when he does, Wally realizes that this party was an extremely formative event in his life, as it was when a mysterious family member gave a young Wally West the exact advice he needed to hear.
Wally West Inspired His Younger Self
Time travel is an iconic ability that almost all speedsters possess, but despite this Wally West famously hates time travel. This makes it all the more ironic that one of Wally’s most important moments in his childhood was only possible due to time travel. Throughout Mark Waid’s run on The Flash, a recurring plot point is when Wally was struggling with what he wanted to do in life, he got some powerful words of encouragement from a mysterious family relative. Wally never learns who that relative was, but his words of encouragement were fundamental in making Wally the man he is today. Eventually, it is revealed to both Wally and readers, that the older family member was a time-traveling Wally West.
While Wally didn’t intentionally time travel in this example, there’s no denying that the fact he did was incredibly important to his character history, and had nothing but benefits for him. This is a stark contrast to the times when his mentor Barry Allen has time traveled. In a desperate attempt to save his mother’s life, Barry Allen went back in time and accidentally created the Flashpoint timeline which is one of the darkest timelines DC has ever seen. Barry accidentally ruined the lives of everyone and was the cause of the New 52. This shows that Barry’s time traveling often ends in complete disaster, but surprisingly, the same isn’t true for his apprentice Wally West.
Wally West is Much Better At Time Travel Than Barry Allen
Wally West is one of the greatest heroes to ever operate under the mantle of the Flash, and Barry Allen is a complete legend in his own right as well. Fans may compare and contrast each other’s achievements and try to see which hero is the better Flash. But at the end of the day the one thing that can’t be denied is that when it comes to time travel, Wally West is a lot better at it than his fellow Flash Barry Allen is.
