The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #9

Full Throttle Prologue: Split Decision

Introducing Marc Guggenheim – Writer
Andy Kuhn – Layouts
Ron Adrian – Finishes
Art Thibert – Inks
Pat Brosseau – Letterer
Richard & Tanya Horie – Colorists
Rachel Gluckstern – Associate Editor
Joan Hilty – Editor
Cover by Ethan Van Sciver
Special thanks to Brad Meltzer

I loved Van Sciver's work on Impulse. It was fresh, dynamic, intricate and joyful. So you'd think I'd be overjoyed to see him draw Bart again. But there is no joy on this cover. Just pure, unbridled rage. That is just about the angriest I've ever seen Bart, and I don't know why. He doesn't look cool or focused or determined or anything like. He's practically frothing at the mouth with uncontrollable anger. Throw in the fact that Kid Flash looks like he's 20 years old and Flash looks 35, and you end up with a very frustrating cover. This should have been a slam dunk for Van Sciver.

Before we begin our story, let's pull the curtain back a little bit. Sometime during the Danny Bilson-Paul DeMeo run, DC figured out things weren't working. Bart's story was slow, clumsy and boring. And fans flat-out rejected the concept of Bart being the Flash. Some still missed the days of Impulse, others liked Kid Flash, but barely got a chance to get to know him. And many more fans deeply missed Wally West. So DC decided to pull the plug. Marc Guggenheim said in interviews that he was hired with the sole purpose of killing Bart off in five issues, while also coordinating with Brad Meltzer and Geoff Johns on JLA and JSA. So keep that in mind with this issue and each ensuing one until the end at #13. Everything Guggenheim is doing is to prepare for that grisly end.

We open in Los Angeles, California, where Bart has received a phone call from an old friend — Tim Drake, aka Robin. After some awkward small talk, Tim asks Bart to return to the Teen Titans. Not only do the Titans miss Bart, but Tim feels Bart should be helping them battle Inertia. Unfortunately, Bart's a little too busy to be having this conversation, as he's currently locked in a battle with a super villain named Impulse.

While complaining about copyright violation, Bart gets hit in the back by one of Impulse's energy blasts. But he quickly recovers, gets behind Impulse, knocks him out, deactivates his power distributor and places him in the back of a police car. The policeman identifies Impulse as one of the few holdovers from Lex Luthor's Everyman program. Bart immediately recognizes the officer as one of his instructors at the police academy, and instead of quickly leaving, he lingers around long enough for the officer to realize there's something very familiar about the Flash.

Luckily, Bart ends the awkward conversation by noticing a green glow coming from a hole in the street created by Impulse. The source of the glow is a strange device that looks pretty high-tech. The officer asks if Impulse planted it there, but Bart notes it doesn't match the rest of Impulse's gear. He then takes off with the device, despite the cop telling him it should be logged in as evidence of this crime scene.

Bart takes the device to an empty lab at the police academy and has Val come over to help him look at it. Val complains that they're supposed to meet with her friends for a double date in Keystone in 15 minutes, but Bart says that's plenty of time for them to investigate the device and even pick up a bottle of win in Paris if they want. So Val takes a look at the green glowing "doohickey" as she calls it, and can only speculate that it comes from Apokolips. However, the only equipment they have available to them in this lab is a microscope, which won't help them at all. Bart laments the fact that Val still hasn't gotten her job back with S.T.A.R. Labs and decides to put the device in his locker and continue investigating it after their date.

At Anastasia's Cafe in Keystone City, Bart begins telling the group about his defensive driving course at the police academy, when Val's friend, Brenda, comments on how she's heard Bart likes to go fast. Worried, Bart asks Brenda exactly what Val told her. Val hastily tries to brush it off as a joke, but Brenda continues, saying she's heard Bart likes to go running. She then asks Bart if he's met any celebrities in L.A. since there aren't any superheroes there — except the Flash.

After the dinner, Bart and Val get into a big argument in the parking lot. Val accuses Bart of being paranoid, but he says Brenda was being as subtle as a root canal. Val says Bart has no idea what it's like to date a 16-year-old in the body of a 20-year-old with superpowers (I wonder if she knows Bart's really only 4 or 5 years old). Val continues to deny that she told Brenda about Bart's secret identity, but she does angrily say she needs somebody to talk to about their crazy relationship. Bart counters with the danger of exposing his secret identity. He tells her how Sue Dibny, wife of the Elongated Man, was raped and killed because Ralph's identity was public.

But this only makes Val angrier. She swears at Bart, reminding him that her own father is a super villain who kidnapped and tried to kill her. Bart tries to apologize, but Val refuses it, saying their month-long relationship isn't working anymore. Bart offers to at least walk Val home, but she turns him down, coldly saying she knows how much he hates to walk.

The next day, Bart has a hard time concentrating in his class, but luckily his residual knowledge from the San Francisco Public Library saves him from facing the full wrath of his teacher. Suddenly, the class is evacuated due to a metahuman tearing up the science lab. Bart realizes he was an idiot for stashing the Apokolips gadget in his locker, and he quickly throws on his Flash uniform to deal with the situation.

To Bart's horror, the "metahuman" in the science lab is actually the uncle of Darkseid, Steppenwolf (although Steppenwolf doesn't look too intimidating in his orange jumpsuit — I guess that's one thing the Justice League movie did better on). Bart plans to take out Steppenwolf with a bunch of super-speed punches and then call in the Justice League to take him away, but those punches don't seem to bother the god at all. Steppenwolf then manages to land a couple of hits on Bart with his electric axe, including one shot that sends Bart flying through a couple of walls and breaks a couple of his ribs.

Fighting through the pain, and remembering the sacrifice of his grandpa Barry, Bart charges again at Steppenwolf, prepared to fight to the death. Bart takes another beating, but eventually figures out that Steppenwolf's axe is generating an electric field, which he can harness and turn against Steppenwolf. Running around the villain at super speed, Bart creates a large electrical explosion, which finally manages to hurt Steppenwolf. However, the god is still on his feet after that blast.

Suddenly, an arrow pierces the handle of Steppenwolf's axe and a large fist of green energy slugs him in the jaw. Bart turns to see Red Arrow, Green Lantern and Black Canary flying in to save the day. Black Canary tends to Bart, while Red Arrow manages to get a rope around Steppenwolf and Green Lantern encases him in a green bubble. Black Canary praises Bart for his efforts in the battle, and Green Lantern offers to get Bart some medical attention, but he turns him down, explaining that his metabolism will have him healed in no time. So the three members of the Justice League of America take off with Steppenwolf in tow, leaving a star-struck Flash behind.

That night, Bart finally calls Tim back, who can immediately tell that his old friend is going to turn down his offer. Bart doesn't exactly tell Tim what's on his mind, merely stating that he's going to hold off on joining a team until he's ready. But as he said that, Bart was looking at an old photograph of the JLA.




This was such a relief! This is the difference between having a writer who knows what he's doing versus a couple of writers who were clearly in over their heads. Perhaps the best thing about this issue was Bart actually got to be a superhero. He fought two villains in this issue, came up with some creative solutions, made some mistakes but quickly admitted to them, met some other superheroes, and struggled to balance his civilian life with his secret identity. In short, all the typical stuff I craved, but didn't really get in the past eight issues of this series.

And one of the things I'd been craving was to see Bart actually talk to Tim. That little bit with Cyborg didn't cut it. This issue mentions the (still ongoing) Titans East saga and finally gives us a reason why Bart doesn't want to be a Teen Titan anymore. He's got his sights set on the JLA, and who can blame him, right? He is the Flash, after all. Well, I can blame him! Remember the last words Bart gave to Robin, Superboy and Wonder Girl before heading into the Speed Force? He desperately wanted them to stay together to avoid becoming the nightmarish Titans of Tomorrow. So I don't quite buy Bart's aversion to hang out with his old friends anymore. I mean, he's not really that much older than them now, so I don't think it'd be too weird.

Perhaps the most consequential moment of this issue was Bart's breakup with Valerie. And I have to say I'm in favor of it. Their relationship was always incredibly rushed and forced. And since we know that Bart's going to die pretty soon, it's time to start cutting off all the loose ends. To recap: Val first met Bart when he saved her from a fire at her high school. She became infatuated with him ever since, lying on her application form to get an internship at S.T.A.R. Labs, where she proceeded to stalk Bart relentlessly, even showing up unannounced at his apartment. Eventually she wore him down, and the two of them sort of began dating ... until she was kidnapped. After Bart finally saved her, they immediately had sex. So it's no wonder that things would fall apart a month later. They don't know each other at all and dove head-first into a relationship way too quickly. (And for the record, I'm on Bart's side of the argument.)

Let's check out the new ads:

From the creators of Metal Gear Solid, Lunar Knights for Nintendo DS.

Wonder Woman featuring the New York Times best-selling author Jodi Picoult.

Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis written by acclaimed fantasy novelist Tad Williams.

So begins the end ...

This is a teaser ad to DC's next weekly series, Countdown. It's been a while since Bart was on a house ad, but he really won't have a big role in that story. I am also compelled to complain about Tim Drake's new stupid outfit.

Justice League of America action figures.

Absolute Batman: The Long Halloween.

The DC Nation page strongly hints at Countdown without coming out and saying it.

The Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art, Inc.

Next time, we'll take a very brief look at another backup story in 52.