This is the 25th Year in Review for this blog, and there's no better way to celebrate this milestone than with the return of Bart Allen! And it was only natural for Bart to come back during what was undoubtedly the biggest year for superheroes yet. In 2018, six of the 10 highest grossing films were based on superheroes. Avengers: Infinity War led the way with an astonishing $2 billion, followed by Black Panther, Incredibles 2, Aquaman, Venom and Deadpool 2. Rounding out the list were Ant-Man and the Wasp and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Not only were these films profitable, but some of them were critically acclaimed. Spider-Verse won the Academy Award for Best Animated Film and Infinity Award was nominated for an Oscar. Black Panther won three Oscars and was nominated for four more, including Best Picture (which it lost to Green Book).
Amidst all that excitement, it was actually another quiet year for Bart. We wrapped up the story with the Titans of Tomorrow and the Super Sons, then we had to endure months of teases and preludes of the Flash War before Bart finally made his triumphant return — for exactly one splash page before disappearing for the next five months. But hey, he actually finally came back! So let's celebrate!
Best Story
1994: Flash #92
1995: Impulse #6
1996: Impulse #10
1997: Impulse #24
1998: World Without Grown-Ups
1999: Impulse #50
2000: Impulse #66
2001: Young Justice #31
2002: Young Justice #45
2003: Young Justice #55
2004: Teen Titans/Legion Special
2005: Teen Titans #19
2006: Infinite Crisis #4
2007: The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #13
2008: Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge
2009: Legion of 3 Worlds #4
2010: Blackest Night #8
2011: Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost #3
2012: Young Justice: Invasion – Bloodlines
2013: Young Justice: Invasion – Intervention
2014: Multiversity: The Just #1
2015: DC Sneak Peek: Teen Titans
2016: Rebirth #1
2017: Teen Titans #15
2018: The Flash #50
1995: Impulse #6
1996: Impulse #10
1997: Impulse #24
1998: World Without Grown-Ups
1999: Impulse #50
2000: Impulse #66
2001: Young Justice #31
2002: Young Justice #45
2003: Young Justice #55
2004: Teen Titans/Legion Special
2005: Teen Titans #19
2006: Infinite Crisis #4
2007: The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #13
2008: Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge
2009: Legion of 3 Worlds #4
2010: Blackest Night #8
2011: Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost #3
2012: Young Justice: Invasion – Bloodlines
2013: Young Justice: Invasion – Intervention
2014: Multiversity: The Just #1
2015: DC Sneak Peek: Teen Titans
2016: Rebirth #1
2017: Teen Titans #15
2018: The Flash #50
There was only one possible winner this year. Granted, The Flash #50 barely offered any explanation for Bart's return — Wally somehow just happened to break the "Force Barrier" — and Bart didn't get to do anything other than run through the streets on one page. But he did come back. And that's the important thing.
Best Writer
1994: Mark Waid
1995: Mark Waid
1996: Mark Waid
1997: Mark Waid
1998: William Messner-Loebs
1999: Todd Dezago
2000: Todd Dezago
2001: Peter David
2002: Todd Dezago
2003: Peter David
2004: Geoff Johns
2005: Geoff Johns
2006: Geoff Johns
2007: Marc Guggenheim
2008: Geoff Johns
2009: Geoff Johns
2010: Geoff Johns
2011: J.T. Krul
2012: Peter David
2013: Peter David
2014: Scott Lobdell
2015: Will Pfeifer
2016: Geoff Johns
2017: Joshua Williamson
2018: Joshua Williamson
Williamson wasn't allowed to do anything with Impulse other than bring him back. But he did convey the right amount of excitement with this event. And as torturous as it was to be teased with statues of Bart and Max in the museum, it was a nice reminder that someone at DC still cared about those characters and missed them, too.
Best Artist
1995: Humberto Ramos
1996: Humberto Ramos
1997: Humberto Ramos
1998: Craig Rousseau
1999: Todd Nauck
2000: Ethan Van Sciver
2001: Todd Nauck
2002: Carlo Barberi
2003: Todd Nauck
2004: Tom Grummett
2005: Mike McKone
2006: Todd Nauck
2007: Tony Daniel
2008: Scott Kolins
2009: George Pérez
2010: Ivan Reis
2011: Francis Manapul
2012: Jorge Jiménez
2013: Jorge Jiménez
2014: Tyler Kirkham
2015: Kenneth Rocafort
2016: Jorge Jiménez
2017: Jorge Jiménez
2018: Howard Porter
Porter isn't my favorite artist — sometimes he makes his characters too chunky and scraggly for my liking. But his page of Impulse's return — complete with a hidden reference to Mike Wieringo — was full of so much love and joy, it played up this stupendous moment perfectly.
Best Supporting Character
1995: Max Mercury
1996: XS
1997: Carol Bucklen
1998: Superboy
1999: Max Mercury
2000: Max Mercury
2001: Carol Bucklen
2002: Max Mercury
2003: Jay Garrick
2004: Beast Boy
2005: Future Bart
2006: Jay Garrick
2007: Robin
2008: Brainiac 5
2009: Brainiac 5
2010: Superboy
2011: Barry Allen
2012: Blue Beetle
2013: Blue Beetle
2014: Solstice
2015: Red Robin
2016: Wally West
2017: Future Conner
2018: Wally West
Wally didn't intentionally bring Bart back — he was trying to bring his kids back. And I don't blame him at all. But it does seem like he and Iris did remember Bart and the others — to an extent — although they never mentioned any of them by name. Barry ... well, if we're being charitable, we could say he was being overly cautious ... but it really came off as him not caring about all these stranded family members. Anyway, regardless of Wally's intention, he did bring Bart back to life. Which I guess makes up for Wally accidentally stealing adult Bart's powers and causing his death ... or one of his deaths ... except he didn't really die thanks to Brainiac 5 ... whatever! You know what I mean!
Best Villain
1995: Kobra
1996: Savitar
1997: Pres. Thawne
1998: Bedlam
1999: Inertia
2000: Inertia
2001: Pres. Thawne
2002: Bedlam
2003: Deathstroke
2004: Deathstroke
2005: Dr. Light
2006: Superboy-Prime
2007: Inertia
2008: Inertia
2009: Superboy-Prime
2010: Nekron
2011: Brainiac
2012: Harvest
2013: Black Beetle
2014: Shira Torr
2015: Harvest
2016: Durlans
2017: Savior
2018: Zoom
Hunter Zolomon wasn't really an antagonist working against Bart in the traditional sense. I mean, nobody was working for or against Bart in 2018. But Hunter's insane scheme to harness the Strength Force and the Sage Force did set the Flash War in motion, thus providing Wally the opportunity to inadvertently save Bart. So, I guess in a way, I should thank Zoom. But he was unquestionably the bad guy of the story, seeking to cause death and destruction everywhere he went.
Well, that's it for 2018. Before I begin 2019, here's a very quick look at a couple of minor Impulse appearances I missed over the years.
In Superboy #42 from 1997, Superboy was once again stressing out over the prospect of not being able to grow up and had a dream where Robin and Impulse were adult members of the Justice League, along with several of the old Ravers. I'm pretty bummed out that I missed this fun comic, despite the brevity of Dream Adult Impulse. Ironically, all of Superboy's friends have stayed perpetual teenagers through the years, except for that one year where Bart was an adult.
Also in 1997, a corpse of Impulse was seen on the cover of JLA #14. This was only a dream of sorts, and the Impulse corpse is not seen inside the issue. But it is cool to see that Wally could be haunted by Bart's death way back then.
Our last missed Impulse comes from The Flash #243 in 2008. Wally's twins were having trouble with their powers, so he took them to the Speed Force, where he was briefly greeted by the images of Barry, Jay and Bart. Interestingly, Bart is presented as Impulse, even though this story takes place after he died as the Flash and before he came back as Kid Flash. I guess Bart's "true self" is Impulse. Which makes it so fitting and comforting that he finally returned as his original self (more or less).
I'm quite positive I missed a few other little Bart Allen cameos, but I'm fairly certain I got all the big ones. But if I find any more, I'll probably add them in brief quick hits like this. We're now entering a strange moment for this blog. The stories will now be only one year old or less. I'm not quite sure how it'll go. I think I'll be waiting a bit longer between reviews, but I hope they'll still be fun all the same.
In Superboy #42 from 1997, Superboy was once again stressing out over the prospect of not being able to grow up and had a dream where Robin and Impulse were adult members of the Justice League, along with several of the old Ravers. I'm pretty bummed out that I missed this fun comic, despite the brevity of Dream Adult Impulse. Ironically, all of Superboy's friends have stayed perpetual teenagers through the years, except for that one year where Bart was an adult.
Also in 1997, a corpse of Impulse was seen on the cover of JLA #14. This was only a dream of sorts, and the Impulse corpse is not seen inside the issue. But it is cool to see that Wally could be haunted by Bart's death way back then.
Our last missed Impulse comes from The Flash #243 in 2008. Wally's twins were having trouble with their powers, so he took them to the Speed Force, where he was briefly greeted by the images of Barry, Jay and Bart. Interestingly, Bart is presented as Impulse, even though this story takes place after he died as the Flash and before he came back as Kid Flash. I guess Bart's "true self" is Impulse. Which makes it so fitting and comforting that he finally returned as his original self (more or less).
I'm quite positive I missed a few other little Bart Allen cameos, but I'm fairly certain I got all the big ones. But if I find any more, I'll probably add them in brief quick hits like this. We're now entering a strange moment for this blog. The stories will now be only one year old or less. I'm not quite sure how it'll go. I think I'll be waiting a bit longer between reviews, but I hope they'll still be fun all the same.
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