Posted in: Comics | Tagged: c2e2, Comics, dan didio, dc, flash, wally west

Talking To Dan DiDio About Wally West. And Not Karen Berger.

Cody Walker writes for Bleeding Cool from C2E2.

Here's the beauty of covering a convention with your charming and wonderful wife.

It was early morning and my wife was cranky because she didn't have coffee, and she went on a rant in our hotel room about Wally  West and how upset she was that Wally had been left out of the New 52. After some coffee, she calmed  down, but the Wally West topic has been a sore spot for months now, so it isn't as if she let it go.

Then, we saw Dan Didio sort of meandering around at the DC Booth, so my wife and I approached, shook his hand and explained that we were with Bleeding Cool.

Dan gave the look. That same look that we've received from every person I've spoken too – as if they had broken an expensive piece of glassware in an antique store.

I said, "I just wanted to come by and tell  you how much I love DC and I appreciate all that you do. I frequently go to your facebook and defend against the trolls."

"It's okay," he said, "There  is nothing wrong with having  opinions and we welcome that discussion."

"I have a question about something said at the all-access panel, yesterday," I started to go into a question about Harras's insistence that it isn't strange for Karen Berger to edit China Mieville and that they were "one company" but before, I could get to it, Dan anticipated another question altogether.

"You're going to ask about Wally West," he said.

"No, but my wife is a really big Wally West fan," and then he went on.

"This is not for you," Dan said, indicating me and by extension Bleeding Cool, "this is for her." He explained that fans had grown up with Wally West, seen him get married and have children and with the de-aging of Barry Allen, it would cheat those fans who grew to love Wally to de-age him as well. "But don't go quoting me on that," he said with a laugh.

I couldn't help but find this strange – this secrecy of an explanation for fans who would be satisfied with it. If comics have become such a transparent business as they are with the internet spoiling plot points months and months in advance, then it seems odd that DC would stick by short, curt, and sometimes rude and dismissive answers in panels. Then again, they have answered the question of Wally West in countless panels before C2E2, so maybe they're just tired of it. I know I would be.

Anyway, we thanked him, shook his hand again, and let him get back to work. My wife, the Wally West fan, had been satisfied with Mr.  Didio's answer which was a pretty big win… until I realized that I forgot to ask about Karen Berger.

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