Valerie Perez
Encyclopedia
Valerie Perez is a fictional character
, a DC Comics
supporting character and love interest for Bart Allen
when Bart was the Flash
.
, Valerie's life was saved from a riot at her high school by Bart Allen
when he was Kid Flash. After being rescued, Valerie idolized the young hero and, being a scientific genius, devoted her life to studying the Speed Force
and, in particular, Bart. After graduating from high school, Valerie worked for Tina McGee
as a S.T.A.R. Labs
intern at Keystone City
, and was in charge of working with Bart in sorting out what has changed in the Speed Force
, after Bart refused to work with Tina. Managing to earn Bart's trust, the two kissed during a lab test.
Near that same time, Valerie's relationship to Mota was discovered by her employers, and despite Tina McGee's efforts, she was fired from her job at S.T.A.R. Labs. Mota called Valerie at her office, wanting to meet her, though she refused. Later, her father visited Valerie at her home, having somehow been transformed into an energy being, by reasons not yet explained. Leaving behind a fake Dear John letter
for Bart Allen, that as expected prevented him from questioning Valerie's disappearance and search for her whereabouts, he took Valerie into an unknown location, hoping to use her DNA to restore his appearance, and use Valerie as a bait to take his vengeance on Bart, with Inertia
's aid. Valerie survived the experimentation, and Inertia used her for a trap against Bart on Las Vegas after a phone call to him by disguising his voice with Valerie's.
Bart arrived to the penthouse of a Las Vegas hotel, only to find Inertia. Inertia then led Bart to Valerie, revealing that she was wired to a bomb. Faced with the classic choice of saving the girl he loves or Las Vegas, Bart deactivated the bomb and leads the bolt from the cannon around the world to destroy itself (arguably also the classic choice of a speedster). Inertia escaped and Bart, after aiding Las Vegas in recouping from the power loss of the canon firing, returned to the penthouse to find Valerie. They rekindled their relationship there until morning.
Mota arrived at the penthouse, to try and convince Valerie of his love for her and desire to become human again, but was once again rebuffed by his daughter and thwarted by Bart Allen, being trapped in an electromagnet
.
Valerie planned to rejoin S.T.A.R. Labs
, with the help of Bart's new found fame as The Flash. Despite this, Valerie loses her job anyway, being seen more as a liability than as an asset, implying in a conversation with Bart that her fall of grace greatly depended by her having a relationship with an active, accident-prone metahuman
.
Her loss of employment, the strain of having a relationship with a metahuman of convoluted origins whose biological and chronological ages don't match and her growing feelings of isolation and inadequacy lead Valerie to carelessly vent her troubles and feelings, including the concern about Bart's secret identity
, to her best friends: a thing Bart discovered during a double date, when Valerie's best friend, Brenda, rebuffed him with a barrage of sex
ual innuendo
s about his speed-related abilities.
While Valerie attempted to patch things up, opening up to Bart about her feelings and concerns, Bart snappily told her about Sue Dibny
's final fate, comparing her brutal rape at the hands of Doctor Light
and her grievous death with the destiny awaiting Valerie because of her carelessness. Deeply hurt by his lack of tact and understanding, Valerie unilaterally broke off their relationship.
Later, having a change of heart about Bart's concerns about her, she followed him to the Police Academy, hoping to restart their relationship. But Bart, having been forewarned by his grandmother Iris West
, about a battle awaiting him in the near future, with only few chances to win, and stay alive, spurned her coldly, hoping to spare her the pain of his highly probable death.
Despite this, Iris Allen showed up to call Bart's bluff to her, asking for Valerie's help in foiling Inertia's plan to strip the Speed Force out of Bart, and leave him to die at the hands of the Rogues. Valerie complies, but fails: as Bart, now powerless, stoped Inertia from attacking Valerie and prevented her from tampering with the machines meant to steal Bart's powers, the Rogues, afraid of being incarcerated again and miscalculating the strength of their best shots upon a powerless Flash, killed him in front of Valerie's eyes.
As Valerie held his hands for the last time, with his dying breath Bart Allen finally professed his undying love for her.
Valerie has not been seen in any DC publications since Wally West
's re-emergence as The Flash
and apparently Bart hasn't made contact with her since his resurrection (Although the last may be because Bart has reverted back to his teenage body since he was reborn, making any reunion between them awkward at best).
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
, a DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
supporting character and love interest for Bart Allen
Bart Allen
Bartholomew "Bart" Allen is a superhero in the . Allen first appeared as the superhero Impulse. He would later go on to become the second Kid Flash and the fourth Flash. Allen's first cameo appearance was in The Flash #91, while his first full appearance was in issue #92...
when Bart was the Flash
Flash (comics)
The Flash is a name shared by several fictional comic book superheroes from the DC Comics universe. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in Flash Comics #1 ....
.
Fictional character biography
The daughter of one of the enemies of the previous Flashes, Professor Manfred MotaManfred Mota
Manfred Mota is a fictional DC Comics villain and adversary of The Flash.-Fictional character biography:Manfred Mota is a nuclear engineer, and the father of Valerie Perez...
, Valerie's life was saved from a riot at her high school by Bart Allen
Bart Allen
Bartholomew "Bart" Allen is a superhero in the . Allen first appeared as the superhero Impulse. He would later go on to become the second Kid Flash and the fourth Flash. Allen's first cameo appearance was in The Flash #91, while his first full appearance was in issue #92...
when he was Kid Flash. After being rescued, Valerie idolized the young hero and, being a scientific genius, devoted her life to studying the Speed Force
Speed Force
The Speed Force is a concept presented in various comic books published by DC Comics, primarily in relation to the various speedsters in the DC Universe.-Empowered:...
and, in particular, Bart. After graduating from high school, Valerie worked for Tina McGee
Tina McGee
Tina McGee is a fictional character appearing in The Flash comic book series published by DC Comics. She first appeared in Flash vol. 2 #3. Tina McGee is a nutritionist and researcher for STAR Labs.-Fictional character biography:...
as a S.T.A.R. Labs
S.T.A.R. Labs
S.T.A.R. Labs, is a fictional research facility, and comic book organization appearing in titles published by DC Comics. They first appeared in Superman vol. 1 #246 , and was created by Cary Bates and Rich Buckler.-Publication history:...
intern at Keystone City
Keystone City
Keystone City is a fictional city in the . Specifically, it is the home of both the original Flash, Jay Garrick, and the third Flash, Wally West...
, and was in charge of working with Bart in sorting out what has changed in the Speed Force
Speed Force
The Speed Force is a concept presented in various comic books published by DC Comics, primarily in relation to the various speedsters in the DC Universe.-Empowered:...
, after Bart refused to work with Tina. Managing to earn Bart's trust, the two kissed during a lab test.
Near that same time, Valerie's relationship to Mota was discovered by her employers, and despite Tina McGee's efforts, she was fired from her job at S.T.A.R. Labs. Mota called Valerie at her office, wanting to meet her, though she refused. Later, her father visited Valerie at her home, having somehow been transformed into an energy being, by reasons not yet explained. Leaving behind a fake Dear John letter
Dear John letter
A "Dear John letter" is a letter written to a husband or boyfriend by his wife or girlfriend to inform him their relationship is over, usually because the author has found another lover. Dear John Letters are often written out of an inability or unwillingness to inform the person face to face...
for Bart Allen, that as expected prevented him from questioning Valerie's disappearance and search for her whereabouts, he took Valerie into an unknown location, hoping to use her DNA to restore his appearance, and use Valerie as a bait to take his vengeance on Bart, with Inertia
Inertia (DC Comics)
Inertia or Kid Zoom is a fictional character, a supervillain in the DC Comics universe.-Creation:When questioned as to who created Inertia, Ethan van Sciver wrote that he could only accept five percent of the credit. The rest was offered to Mike Wieringo , Grant Morrison , and Todd Dezago...
's aid. Valerie survived the experimentation, and Inertia used her for a trap against Bart on Las Vegas after a phone call to him by disguising his voice with Valerie's.
Bart arrived to the penthouse of a Las Vegas hotel, only to find Inertia. Inertia then led Bart to Valerie, revealing that she was wired to a bomb. Faced with the classic choice of saving the girl he loves or Las Vegas, Bart deactivated the bomb and leads the bolt from the cannon around the world to destroy itself (arguably also the classic choice of a speedster). Inertia escaped and Bart, after aiding Las Vegas in recouping from the power loss of the canon firing, returned to the penthouse to find Valerie. They rekindled their relationship there until morning.
Mota arrived at the penthouse, to try and convince Valerie of his love for her and desire to become human again, but was once again rebuffed by his daughter and thwarted by Bart Allen, being trapped in an electromagnet
Electromagnet
An electromagnet is a type of magnet in which the magnetic field is produced by the flow of electric current. The magnetic field disappears when the current is turned off...
.
Valerie planned to rejoin S.T.A.R. Labs
S.T.A.R. Labs
S.T.A.R. Labs, is a fictional research facility, and comic book organization appearing in titles published by DC Comics. They first appeared in Superman vol. 1 #246 , and was created by Cary Bates and Rich Buckler.-Publication history:...
, with the help of Bart's new found fame as The Flash. Despite this, Valerie loses her job anyway, being seen more as a liability than as an asset, implying in a conversation with Bart that her fall of grace greatly depended by her having a relationship with an active, accident-prone metahuman
Metahuman
Metahuman is a term to describe superhumans in DC Comics' shared universe, the DC Universe. It is roughly synonymous with both mutant and mutate and posthuman in the Wildstorm and Ultimate Marvel Universes. Use of the term in reference to superheroes was coined in 1986 by author George R. R...
.
Her loss of employment, the strain of having a relationship with a metahuman of convoluted origins whose biological and chronological ages don't match and her growing feelings of isolation and inadequacy lead Valerie to carelessly vent her troubles and feelings, including the concern about Bart's secret identity
Secret identity
A secret identity is an element of fiction wherein a character develops a separate persona , while keeping their true identity hidden. The character also may wear a disguise...
, to her best friends: a thing Bart discovered during a double date, when Valerie's best friend, Brenda, rebuffed him with a barrage of sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
ual innuendo
Innuendo
An innuendo is a baseless invention of thoughts or ideas. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging , that works obliquely by allusion...
s about his speed-related abilities.
While Valerie attempted to patch things up, opening up to Bart about her feelings and concerns, Bart snappily told her about Sue Dibny
Sue Dibny
Susan "Sue" Dearbon Dibny is a fictional character from DC Comics associated with the Elongated Man. Created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, the character first appeared in Flash vol. 1 #119...
's final fate, comparing her brutal rape at the hands of Doctor Light
Doctor Light
Doctor Light is the name of various fictional scientists.* Doctor Light , the DC Comics supervillain* Doctor Light , the DC Comics superheroine* Doctor Light , the Mega Man character Thomas Light...
and her grievous death with the destiny awaiting Valerie because of her carelessness. Deeply hurt by his lack of tact and understanding, Valerie unilaterally broke off their relationship.
Later, having a change of heart about Bart's concerns about her, she followed him to the Police Academy, hoping to restart their relationship. But Bart, having been forewarned by his grandmother Iris West
Iris West Allen
Iris West Allen is a fictional character who appears in various DC Comics publications. She is a one-time wife of the second Flash , Barry Allen, the aunt of the third Flash, Wally West, and the grandmother of the fourth Flash, Bart Allen...
, about a battle awaiting him in the near future, with only few chances to win, and stay alive, spurned her coldly, hoping to spare her the pain of his highly probable death.
Despite this, Iris Allen showed up to call Bart's bluff to her, asking for Valerie's help in foiling Inertia's plan to strip the Speed Force out of Bart, and leave him to die at the hands of the Rogues. Valerie complies, but fails: as Bart, now powerless, stoped Inertia from attacking Valerie and prevented her from tampering with the machines meant to steal Bart's powers, the Rogues, afraid of being incarcerated again and miscalculating the strength of their best shots upon a powerless Flash, killed him in front of Valerie's eyes.
As Valerie held his hands for the last time, with his dying breath Bart Allen finally professed his undying love for her.
Valerie has not been seen in any DC publications since Wally West
Wally West
The Flash is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. He is the first Kid Flash and the third Flash....
's re-emergence as The Flash
The Lightning Saga
"The Lightning Saga" is a comic book crossover story arc that took place in DC Comics' two flagship team books: Justice League of America and Justice Society of America. It was written by Brad Meltzer and Geoff Johns, and illustrated by Ed Benes, Dale Eaglesham, and Shane Davis...
and apparently Bart hasn't made contact with her since his resurrection (Although the last may be because Bart has reverted back to his teenage body since he was reborn, making any reunion between them awkward at best).