The Flash: What was Joe West like in the comics?

The Flash issue 152, courtesy of DC Entertainment

7. He was a moron

Television’s Joe West may not be as scientifically inclined as his allies Cisco Ramon or Harrison Wells, but he’s no dummy. Joe West has enough sensible wisdom to be an effective member of the Central City Police and the moral compass for Barry and his friends.

As the above picture demonstrates, Ira West is too stupid to be driving a car. It’s no small miracle that Iris made it to adulthood unscathed. Why on Earth are Barry and Iris letting him operate a motor vehicle? Look at that comic image and ask yourself if you’d feel comfortable being a passenger in his car.

Some of you may be wondering how Ira could be so dumb if he was a Nobel Prize winner. Ira was portrayed as an “absent minded professor”, a constant character trope in older fiction. While he was very adapt at science, his focus didn’t extend to the real world. He often forgot many things like where was going, who he was with and what he was doing. A later Bronze Age comic attributed this to unfortunate condition to a brain injury. Ouch!