QUOTE: The fact that Wally is quoting the Pied Piper is disturbing in itself, because it signals in my mind that Wally "lives" with the Rogues...he's somehow tolerant of them in a way Barry wasn't.

Hey, let's not forget that Barry made friends with Heat Wave.  Both Heat Wave and the Piper had to reform first, of course.

Well, I look at it this way: Geoff Johns did an interview on CBR talking about how the Flash is his favorite character. He meant the Wally West Flash. He grew up (young punk) with Wally as the Flash.

What I think will happen is Johns pretty quickly leaves this title, maybe as soon as this mini-series is over. Johns will do enough for a trade and leave the book in other hands.

That's what I'm hoping, not neccessarily because Johns stinks, but I think he's not on target.

And for god's sake, will somebody put a decent penciller on THE FLASH? I haven't seen an artist I really liked on that books since...what? I liked Butch Guice.

Well, it looks like Johns is focused on the "Flash family" and Hal Jordan "for the immediate future" through BLACKEST NIGHT. 

I guess Johns won't really mess up Barry Allen too badly. Barry's alive, so I that's worth while.

Don Zomberg wrote: Why do fictional characters need a happy "ending"? Why can't they just continue on unmolested for future audiences?

"Need" has nothing to do with it.  But if it happens, why is that such a horrible thing?  Why does "preserving the character for future audiences" have to mean "ongoing monthly title?"  Thanks to Showcase, readers of today get to experience the very stories that made Barry popular in the first place.  How is that not preservation?  King Arthur and Robin Hood not having truly new stories in a few hundred years hasn't stopped new generations from being exposed to them.

Every long running character (at least as far as superheroes are concerned) has gone through various changes in the name of "keeping them vital."  Some are subtle and some are major.  (Which is which tends to depend on your perspective, with people being the most open-minded about changes that occured before they started reading or the first few years in.  After that, you tend to get more locked into how the way things Should Be.  Same with the whole question of what's a barnacle vs. what's a vital part of the series.  But I digress.)

Ending a character's story does far more to preserve them for future generations because they're allowed to stay as they are, rather than be drastically altered (either instantly or over a period of time) in the name of revitalization and maintaining reader interest in the series.

QUOTE: And for god's sake, will somebody put a decent penciller on THE FLASH?

Well, the good news is that there's no way Sciver is fast enough for a monthly, so there's bound to be an artist switch with the ongoing.