Countdown #43

The Funeral

Paul Dini – Head Writer, with Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray
Manuel Garcia w/David Lopez – Pencils
Jimmy Palmiotti w/Don Hillman – Inks
Pete Pantazis – Colors
Ken Lopez – Letters

Our cover by Terry Dodson shows the Teen Titans mourning Bart Allen, as his casket is lowered into his grave. I like that those who knew Bart best — Robin and Wonder Girl — are front and center, overcome with a bit more grief than their teammates. It makes sense to have Beast Boy, Raven and Cyborg in attendance, but Speedy's inclusion is kind of a mistake. Not only did she leave the Teen Titans after Infinite Crisis, but she didn't even appear in this issue. In any case, this is a beautiful cover with appropriate, mournful coloring.

Our story begins with Daily Planet photographer Jimmy Olsen covering the funeral of the Flash. He acknowledges that while Metropolis may have Superman, and Gotham has Batman, no other city can match the love Keystone has for the Flash with its museum, statues and street names. Both Keystone City and Central City have essentially shut down for the funeral — the only places left open are bars to give people a place to mourn. The funeral itself is held in a large football stadium and broadcast live on TV.

A large contingent of superheroes are in the stands — mostly JLA, JSA, Teen Titans and even some Doom Patrol members. Jay Garrick is the first to speak, with his wife, Joan, at his side. Jay says that since the Flash is dead, he'll reveal his secret identity — Bart Allen, grandson of Barry. Jay describes Bart as a fun-loving and impulsive young man, filled with a lust for life and a heart overflowing with joy. He says none of the other Flashes were as funny or sweet as Bart, and he admits that Bart was like a son to him and Joan. Jay says Bart displayed the true measure of a hero by rushing forward in our darkest hour without a single thought for his safety. He briefly hints about Bart's sacrifice during Infinite Crisis when he was still Kid Flash, and concludes by asking everyone to honor Bart's memory by allowing more joy and laughter into their lives.

During Jay's speech, Beast Boy, Robin, Wonder Girl and Nightwing were all visibly moved. Ravager, however, was not, idly scrolling on her cellphone with a look of sheer boredom. Hidden up in the rafters of the stadium are Donna Troy, Jason Todd and one of the Monitors. The Monitor wants to leave the funeral to begin searching for the Atom, but Donna and Jason insist on paying their respects.

Cyborg is the next to speak, saying he's had to bury many friends and heroes over the years, and he's sad to say it never gets easier. He says the Titans always grow up fast, but no one grew faster than Bart. It wasn't just his super speed pushing him, Cyborg says, but it was as if Bart was a runaway comet on a collision course with destiny. He thinks Bart clung so tightly to his childish behavior because, unlike his teammates, he wanted to be a kid for however long as he could. Cyborg concludes by saying he wishes he could have been a better friend and mentor to Bart, but he was always moving faster and burning brighter than the rest of them.

As Wonder Girl gets up to speak, we see the Pied Piper and Trickster hiding in the audience in the upper decks. They're not wearing their super villain outfits, but still chose to wear color-corresponding civilian clothes (Piper is in a green hoodie and Trickster has an orange-and-blue baseball cap). Trickster is pretty nervous, saying everyone in the stadium hates them and they're sure to get caught. But Piper also insists upon paying his respects.

Cassie says Bart was like a little brother to her — a little brother who often drove her crazy and was always making jokes. She says she wishes she could find something positive to say, but after having endured so much tragedy, she just can't be optimistic anymore. Cassie quickly gets worked up into a rage, vowing to make sure the men who killed her little brother will pay for this. She says they'll rot in hell, but that still won't be good enough. She prays to the gods that she's the first to find Bart's murderers, then tearfully embraces Robin, admitting that Bart deserved a better speech — just as he deserved more time to prove he would have been the greatest Flash ever.

Halfway through Cassie's speech, Piper agreed with Trickster, and the two immediately ran away from the stadium. As they walk through the parking lot, Trickster suggests they split up to increase their chances of avoiding being captured by revenge-seeking heroes. Piper says he wants to round up the other Rogues and dump them at Wonder Girl's feet. Trickster says they have blood on their hands and there's no redemption for this. Before they leave the parking lot, though, Trickster and Piper are ambushed by Multiplex and Deadshot of the Suicide Squad.

Meanwhile, Robin opens his speech with a quote from Mark Twain: "When we do not know a person — and also when we do ... we have to judge his size by the size and nature of his achievements, as compared with the achievements of others in his special line of business — there is no other way." Robin says he always told Bart that he'd have to live in the shadow of the Flash, because he always thought he'd have to live in Batman's shadow. But Robin says Bart proved him wrong. He says Bart used to be reckless and undisciplined, and it was Batman who first called him Impulse. Robin thought Bart would never take things seriously enough to be the Flash, but once again, Bart proved him wrong. Robin says he always underestimated his friend, but Bart never once said, "I told you so."

As Robin talks, we see Batman and Alfred sadly watching from the Batcave. Tim concludes his speech by presenting a DVD that Bart made shortly after getting shot in the knee. Robin says Bart couldn't stop thinking about the recent death of Donna Troy at the time, so he recorded a video and gave it to Robin with strict instructions to not watch it until his funeral. Robin inserts the disc and says that he and the rest of the Titans agreed that Bart's final message should be shared with the people of Keystone.

Kid Flash pops up on a massive screen behind Robin, saying that he knows the idea of this video is a little creepy, but he got the idea for it from a website. He says he's been thinking, and jokes that Wonder Girl always warns him that it's dangerous when he thinks. Bart says they're just crazy kids for putting on costumes and fighting maniacs, but he figures that Superman, Batman and the Flash can't be everywhere all the time. Bart addresses an offscreen Superboy, saying he also knows what it's like to follow in the footsteps of giants and that they can't run from that responsibility. He says after Deathstroke shot him, he was reminded of Donna and Omen being killed, and realized that he easily could have died, too. Or Arrowette, or Secret, or Robin or any of them. Bart acknowledges that the good guys don't always win, but that's the risk they take. He acknowledges how serious the older heroes are, especially Batman, whom he jokingly advises to lighten up every once in a while — a joke he immediately begs Robin not to share with Batman.

Bart concludes his video by saying that if for some reason he should get killed by following the great Flash tradition of saving the universe from some crisis or Darkseid, he doesn't want anyone to forget how much fun he had being alive or how lucky he was to have such great friends. He asks them to tell Wally that even though he is a huge butthead, he was a great teacher and it's not his fault when bad things happen. Bart acknowledges Wonder Girl's pain after Donna's death, and says starting a new Teen Titans team is an awesome idea because they can't ever give up hope. Bart says he won't regret a single moment and if he's lucky, then someday he'll be the Flash like his grandfather. He doesn't think he'll ever be as good as Barry was, but says he owes it to the people of Keystone to at least try. Bart reiterates the great times he's having being a Titan, then tells Kon they need to throw more parties.

As soon as Bart's video ends, the argument between Jason, Donna and the Monitor resumes. Jason pushes back on the idea of entering the nanoverse to search for Ray Palmer, citing the speech Bart gave about confronting problems head on. Instead of running away, Jason suggests enlisting the aid of the hundreds of heroes in the stadium below them. But the Monitor insists that the Atom is the only one who can help them, and Donna agrees with him. Jason asks how do they know the Atom isn't already dead, and the Monitor says if he is dead, then they all are.

Bart's coffin is then loaded into a hearse with only four pallbearers — Cyborg, Beast Boy, Wonder Girl and Robin. As Jimmy Olsen takes the final pictures of the night, he's reminded of Superman's adventures with Young Justice, and how Superman spoke of the responsibilities of the rising generation of superheroes. Jimmy is inspired by Bart's life and decides it's time for him to do something with the powers he's recently acquired. (Yeah ... Jimmy has powers now because ... Countdown.)




That was a touching tribute to Bart. I liked seeing how his death affected people who didn't even really know him. I thought all the speeches were nice, especially Robin and Wonder Girl's, which showed how emotionally drained those two are after having lost so many friends and loved ones. It was nice seeing a large gathering of superheroes at the funeral, but there were some glaring absences. The biggest one, of course, is Wally West and his family. I get that Paul Dini and company are busy telling their own story over here in Countdown, but I find it impossible to believe that they knew Bart had died but didn't know that Wally had returned. Other absences included Iris, Jesse, Cissie, Greta, Anita, Helen, Dr. Morlo and even Bart's stupid "girlfriend" who I hate, Val. They all needed to be there.

Of course, that's the problem with putting a character's funeral in a massive, company-wide series like this, which also unfortunately had a reputation of being rather sloppy. Yes, we did get to see the perspectives of some people we normally wouldn't see in the regular Flash series, but that came at the expense of omitting much of the Flash family from such a significant moment for them. Ditto for Young Justice. The writers did a good job of referencing some of the Young Justice characters, but the artists failed to show any closeups of the crowd beside the Teen Titans. Hey, instead of repeatedly showing the Titans, why not throw in just one panel of a few of those people I mentioned? Oh well. I guess it's natural to feel sad and frustrated at funerals.

Next time, we'll find out what happened to the Trickster and Pied Piper in Countdown #42.