Gone in a... Flash

 -Spoilers for Teen Titans #27-28-

The Flash is probably one of my top five DC heroes. He has an interesting cast of side characters and an even more interesting rouges gallery of villains. However my favorite aspect of the Flash's story is Kid-Flash.

The original Kid-Flash, Wally West, was a founding member of the Teen Titans, and after a cross-over titled Crisis one Infinite Earths, West became the new Flash. (The previous one had died.)

The second Kid-Flash, Bart Allen, is the one i grew up reading about. According to his back-story he is Barry Allen's (The original Flash) grandson from the 31st century. I'm not sure how Bart can be Barry's grandson and still be born 10 centuries from now, but that's a post for a different day.

This was all before the New 52. After the universe altering events of Flash-Point, The Flash legacy was changed as well as everything else.

After the New 52...

First, Wally West hasn't yet been mentioned in the pages of The Flash or Teen Titans and we're about three years into the New 52. Instead Bart Allen is now the first Kid-Flash as well as a founding member of the Teen Titans. This isn't necessarily a bad thing... As I said above, Bart Allen is the Kid-Flash i grew up reading.  However... The origins of this Kid-Flash have finally been revealed and it breaks my heart.

In the New 52, Bart Allen still comes from the future, but his REAL name is Bar Tor. So there's that. A name isn't so important though, and I'd be able to get past that, but on top of everything else it's revealed that Bar Tor is a war criminal responsible for the death of millions of people, then sent back in time as a part of a witness relocation program in the future... This was revealed in issue 27, and the series ends with issue 30. So i think it's fare to say Bart Allen's time as Kid-Flash is over...

On a related note, I have heard rumors of Wally West appearing in the New 52. Originally, West was the nephew of Iris West, whose brother (In the New 52) turns out to be the new Reverse-Flash. Which means if West becomes the Flash's sidekick once more, he could possibly have a super-villain dad.
So that could be interesting.