Buh-bye.

So, The Flash, who in a rather convoluted way is responsible for this new DC Universe, is now a swinging single. Not only is he no longer married to Iris West - they've NEVER dated. Not that he's all alone; like Lois Lane, Barry Allen is pooping where he eats, dating co-worker Patty Spivot.

"I swear, this has NEVER happened to me before."

It's one of those "new fans won't care, old fans will like what we tell them to like" things that seem to be a driving force behind the New 52. I'm not particularly attached to Iris West, but it's impossible to ignore how many of DC's women are simply vanishing as part of the relaunch. Will they return, better then before? Time will tell. According to DC's blog The Source:

The life and times of Barry Allen are as familiar today as they were yesterday, but his love life is one of the things that have been freshened up for 2011. New fans will fall in love with the fastest man alive for the first time, and I guarantee that longtime Flash fans will not only still recognize the world of Barry Allen, they will be hooked like they were the first time.

What are your thoughts, folks? Is this a positive move? Are we psyched for the Barry/Patty relationship, or, as the tabloids will doubtless come to call them, "Batty?" Is this a step forward, backward, or do we just not have an opinion about Barry's love life at this juncture?