Dark Nights: Death Metal The Last Stories of the DC Universe #1

Together

Written by: Joshua Williamson, James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder

Art by: Travis Moore

Colors by: Tamra Bonvillain

Letters by: Andworld Design

Our cover by Tula Lotay with Dee Cunniffe is a bleak, rather ugly image of some of the most famous former Teen Titans surveying the wreckage of Dark Nights: Death Metal Obnoxious Title. Wally is dressed in his weird, blue Metron suit here, but he’s not in the inside story. That’s a tiny continuity complaint within a larger series (and company, frankly) that has turned its back on the very idea of a shared-universe continuity. How did all of our favorite characters get to this point from the last time we saw them? Nobody knows and nobody cares. Scott Snyder’s bloated “metal” story will not be diminished!

The main story of this comic bookends six separate stories about various heroes spending what may be their last day on Earth, in preparation of their final battle against the Batman Who Laughs. They’re all fairly forgettable vignettes, except for the Superman story told by Impulse creator Mark Waid and one of my favorite artists of all time, Francis Manapul. And that story is enough to justify the cost of picking up this comic. Impulse, however, is not involved in that story, but only the framework of the comic, so let’s get started.

We begin on what once was Themyscria, but now has become The Hellscape after the destruction caused by the Batman Who Laughs. Donna Troy is sitting on the beach feeling sorry for herself, until Beast Boy arrives and shows her that almost every former Teen Titan has gathered together for one last time. As Beast Boy and Donna work their way through the crowd, we’re given glimpses (reminders? memories?) of previous incarnations of the Teen Titans, including Bart Allen’s first stint as Kid Flash and the disastrous Bar Torr era of the New 52.

Wally West arrives fashionably late, and for a moment, everyone think Donna is going to fight him. But they just hug instead, while Bart awkwardly says that he should have told everyone he saw Wally before he left the Speed Force. But nobody responds to Bart because nobody cares — just as the three writers of this story don’t care about how Bart left the Speed Force or what happened to the rest of the Flash family. But we do get plenty of speeches on hope and perseverance (I’m looking at you, Joshua Williamson) before closing with a heroic shot of dozens of characters charging off to fight a vast, vague, nearly invincible force.

I guess the main point of this issue was simply to remind readers that all these characters used to exist and do things. Now, many of them do exist, but they’re not really doing anything. Like Arrowette, for example. She’s here, standing around silently, waiting for a giant action sequence that may or may not include her in the background of one or two massive group shots. We may as well be looking at statues in the Flash Museum.

I wish I felt something for this event. Back in the day, DC used to integrate their big events into the individual monthly titles. Even lame events like Genesis were reflected in the regular issues of Impulse. I wish Brian Michael Bendis’ Young Justice tied into this Death Metal nonsense. While investigating the major reality shift they all experienced, our heroes could have stumbled across this dumb, but significant continuity-altering crisis. At least that way, I would have actually been invested in this story, instead of merely saying, “Look, somebody drew Impulse in a comic book!” Let’s close with the new ads:

Future State: Wonder Woman. An Amazon warrior for a new age!

Future State: Superman of Metropolis. The son of Superman is the all-new Man of Steel!

DC Nation spotlight on Batman Black & White.

Next time: More Death Metal! Yay …

DC Cybernetic Summer #1

The Speedster Games

Joshua Williamson – Writer

David Lafuente – Artist

Luis Guerrero – Colorist

Steve Wands – Letterer

Andrew Marino – Editor

Our cover is by Dan Mora and Tamra Bonvillain, and it's not too bad. Nothing special, but not egregious in any way. Just a goofy pose of all the main characters who are featured in this anthology. I was really happy to see Red Tornado get some love, but sadly, Impulse doesn't show up in his story. The only character we care about is the robotic Flash on the left side of the cover. And by "care," I mean that Impulse makes a tiny cameo in his short story.

The robotic Flash is called Mercury Flash, and he's from Earth-44. He and all the other Flashes from the multiverse have gathered on Earth-0 on the hottest day of the year to have one minute of festivities and races. And the big event is Mercury vs. the Barry Allen of Earth-0. Mercury is a very serious and angry robot, who literally says, "I'm not here to make friends." But during the race, Barry gives an inspiring speech about the magic of friendship or something like that, and his words get through to Mercury. The robot actually has a chance to cheat and win, but he chooses not to, resulting in a nice big, happy tie. I guess.

Seeing all those alternate Flashes in the crowd was a lot of fun. But the story of the race was dreadfully dull. Perhaps my biggest complaint with Williamson is his propensity for long-winded "inspirational" speeches about hope, friendship and family. Gag. Hopefully next time all the Flashes get together, they'll actually do something interesting.

Next time, we'll return to Young Justice #17.

DC Universe: Rebirth #1

The Clock is Ticking Across the DC Universe!

Geoff Johns Writer

Chapter 1 – Lost
Gary Frank and Ethan Van Sciver Artists
Brad Anderson and Jason Wright Colorists

Chapter 2 – Legacy
Gary Frank Artist
Brad Anderson Colorist

Chapter 3 – Love
Ivan Reis Penciller
Joe Prado and Reis Inkers
Hi-Fi Colorist

Chapter 4 – Life
Phil Jimenez and Gary Frank Pencillers
Matt Santorelli and Frank Inkers
Gabe Eltaeb and Brad Anderson Colorists

Epilogue
Gary Frank and Ivan Reis Pencillers
Frank and Joe Prado Inkers
Brad Anderson and Hi-Fi Colorists
Special thanks to Mike Cotton, Brian Cunningham and Amedeo Turturro

Nick J. Napolitano Letterer
Cover Frank and Anderson
Variant Cover Reis, Prado and Alex Sinclair
Assistant Editor Andrew Marino
Group Editor Eddie Berganza
Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel Family.

Whew! That's a lot of credits! This is definitely a comic by committee, but this is one of the few times that works. Anyway, our main cover (if you scroll up to it) is an enchanting wraparound, showing all of DC's heavy-hitters reaching out to a mysterious hand. Of course, all these heavy-hitters were characters who would go on to be featured prominently in the post-Rebirth world (Shazam had to wait a while, but he finally did get his own series). And the mysterious hand was a source of some nice debate, thanks to the expertly ambiguous coloring of Brad Anderson. On top of it all, I love Gary Frank's style. So this is a fantastic cover.

The variant cover is a little less straightforward for me. I guess it's saying that the Golden and Silver Age stories are set and confined, but the Modern Age is able to break free from the usual constraints of continuity. Because that's what this story did. It didn't destroy the New 52 continuity, but it did open the door to let the pre-New 52 continuity mix in with the current stories. Mostly, this was fun and exciting, but sometimes confusing and frustrating. But that's a debate for another day.

The digital copy of this comic offers the black-and-white for the variant, but not the main. That might be because a black-and-white rendering of that would reveal the mysterious hand. This is still good, though. Ivan Reis is also a great artist, and he fortunately chose to highlight some other characters that got big play after Rebirth — Jon Kent, Damian Wayne and Wallace West.

Wallace is probably the greatest mistake of the New 52. Initially, DC only had Barry and the fake Bart, with no mention of any other speedster. When cries for Wally West grew too loud, DC short-sightedly decided to bring in Wally as an African-American teenager, who was completely different from the original Wally in almost every way imaginable. So the cries continued, and DC was finally forced to acknowledge that this black Wally was a different character. But they couldn't get rid of him because, you know, killing off a diverse character you just brought in is in poor taste. Anyway, DC finally decided to bring back the original, real Wally West, for better and worse, in this exciting, reality-warping event.

Our story reveals that Wally has been trapped in Speed Force limbo since Flashpoint, just like the original Bart Allen. But unlike Bart, Wally has now found a way to contact the real world — albeit sloppily and randomly. He spends the whole issue reaching out to people who don't remember him or have any idea what's going on. This gives the readers a chance to review the current state of the DC Universe moving forward, while also providing the heart-breaking moment of Wally's wife, Linda, having absolutely no memory of her husband. Not only has reality been altered, but 10 years of time has been stolen. Wally isn't the Flash anymore — he's Kid Flash again. And he's the only one who remembers the old continuity that Flashpoint had supposedly erased.

Eventually, Barry does remember Wally and pulls him out of the Speed Force before he completely fades away. This creates an awkward situation with Barry as the Flash and Wallace as Kid Flash, and Wally caught in the middle. He's not quite the Flash, but not Kid Flash anymore. I don't know, I guess it worked for the most part. But the biggest takeaway from this issue was the heavy implication that Doctor Manhattan from the Watchmen comic was responsible for DC's shifting continuity.




I'm not going into deep detail here, since Bart only showed up in one panel (unfortunately drawn by Ethan Van Sciver), but this was a huge, fantastic step for DC to take. The New 52 was an initial success, but fundamentally flawed, leading to the DCYou and now Rebirth. There were some good stories there, but in our corner, the Teen Titans/Bart Allen world, everything was a complete mess. Rebirth opened the door for the return of the classic Flash family of old — Jay Garrick, Jesse Quick, Max Mercury and of course, our lovable Bart. Granted, it still took a few years for DC to actually take advantage of this, but at least that door has been opened. The New 52 was meant to be a springboard of creativity by wiping the slate clean. But it ended up being too confining and confusing (mainly because the slate wasn't entirely wiped clean and all the creators couldn't get on the same page). Rebirth offered more freedom, which is also a double-edged sword. But good, for the most part. I think.

Much like the New 52, Rebirth also reset the numbering on all its titles, with the exception of Detective Comics and Action Comics, which returned to their legacy numbering to make a push for issue #1000. Rebirth also boasted a slew of titles that shipped twice a month for the low price of $2.99 each. Naturally, these big changes demanded a bunch of ads to show off all the new stuff.

Wally West uncovers a secret that will destroy his friends! Titans #1.

Hunted by the fastest men alive! The Flash #1.

Batman vs. Gotham. Batman #1.

Now they're Damian Wayne's ... Teen Titans #1.

The biggest threat facing Earth's new Green Lanterns is each other! Green Lanterns #1.

How can you fight the man when you are the man? Green Arrow #1.

If you want peace, prepare for war! Aquaman #1.

Everything she knows and trusts will be taken from her. Wonder Woman #1.

Plausibly deniable. Completely certifiable. Suicide Squad #1.

Metropolis has a new man of steel, and his name is Lex Luthor! Action Comics #957.

Man & Son of Steel. Superman #1.

And in case that wasn't enough, there's also a two-page spread of all the heroes of Rebirth and a checklist of all the Rebirth specials that served as prologues to all the various titles. It was an exciting time, and I eagerly jumped into The Flash, Superman, Action Comics and Super Sons (when it eventually came out). Sadly, Bart Allen was nowhere to be seen. For quite a while. And so, that wraps up the year 2016. Next time, we'll still do a Year in Review (for tradition's sake) before beginning a slightly more robust 2017.

DC Universe Presents: Kid Flash #12

When Dinosaurs Walked the Earth (That Would be Today)

Fabian Nicieza – Writer
Jorge Jiménez – Artist
Guy Major – Colorist
Dezi Sienty – Letterer
Ryan Sook – Cover Artist
Darren Shan – Assistant Editor
Wil Moss – Associate Editor
Eddie Berganza – Editor
Special thanks to Scott Lobdell, whose firsthand experience with extinction proved invaluable.

Our cover shows Kid Flash racing down the highway with the three dinosaur people he started tracking down last issue. This setting contradicts the story inside, as all the action there is confined to Chinatown, New York. I also really, really wish Jiménez drew this cover. Sook is ... adequate. Not bad by any means. But Jiménez brings life to Kid Flash — the spark I've been craving since the New 52 began.

DC Universe Presents was an odd series that jumped around every couple of issues (or sometimes just one issue) to feature characters that couldn't quite hold down their own monthly series. Or at least DC thought they couldn't. It's nice that Kid Flash got a moment in this spotlight, but don't expect any answers on his mysterious past here.

Our story begins with Kid Flash breaking the fourth wall and addressing the reader directly. He provides a brief recap on how the Teen Titans escaped the Crucible, ended up on Mystery Island, then  returned to Chinatown, but were followed by three "dino-teens." Kid Flash concludes his recap with a curious line: "Continuity doesn't really matter! Clarity is overrated! Let the fun begin!"

We then cut to Kid Flash chasing the pterodactyl girl across the rooftops. She eventually becomes entangled in a clothesline, which gives Kid Flash the opportunity to question her. She introduces herself as Dac, saying she came to this world with her friends Teryx and Steg in search of adventure. Suddenly, Teryx attacks Kid Flash from behind with his ridiculously long tail. Kid Flash easily breaks free, then cockily puts Teryx in his place.

Dac calms them down, but Kid Flash decides it's time for the dino-teens to go home. Problem is, they don't know where Steg is. Kid Flash searches the neighborhood, eventually finding Steg causing a commotion in a Chinese restaurant. The establishment decorates its walls with chameleons and other lizards in aquariums, which Steg believes is an outrage to his "brothers and cousins." Kid Flash rescues a couple of police officers from Steg's rampage, but unfortunately the cops are quick to remind Kid Flash of his debacle with the house fire and the time he stole the Statue of Liberty's plaque.

Things get even worse when Steg starts spreading a strange powder that makes all the lizards mutate and grow into dinosaurs. Kid Flash is forced to flee from these dinosaurs, and makes a point to let the police officers know that this isn't his fault. Dac and Teryx catch up, and Kid Flash learns that Dac is in love with Steg, despite his psychotic tendencies, and poor Teryx is the nice boy that Dac won't give the time of day. So Kid Flash asks Dac to talk some sense into Steg, while he and Teryx chase down the newly transformed dinosaurs.

Kid Flash and Teryx make a good team, quickly tying up all the dinosaurs. But when they regroup with Dac and Steg on a rooftop, Dac reveals that she and Steg lied to Teryx. They always intended to come to this world to seek revenge against the mammals. Steg tosses a pouch off the roof, which, when ripped, will release mutagenic mists on the street below, according to Teryx. And to hasten this process, Steg launches several projectile barbs from his tail at the falling pouch.

Teryx and Kid Flash dive to catch all the barbs, and they succeed, but it turns out the pouch was empty. Naturally, Steg and Dac used that diversion to escape, and Teryx warns Kid Flash that Steg still holds enough mutagenic compound to harm countless innocents. Kid Flash manages to persuade Teryx to allow him and the Titans to help take down Dac and Steg, then he turns to the reader and announces this story will continue in Teen Titans #12.




It's a good thing Kid Flash warned us that this story is essentially not in continuity. The timing doesn't make any sense, and it's downright criminal that we didn't see any of these dinosaur people when we were on Mystery Island. But if you took Kid Flash's advice to not worry about such things, you'd actually have a lot of fun with this issue. Nicieza writes a terrific Kid Flash. He's fun, witty, energetic, and cleverly says his ideas out loud while he's doing them. And Jiménez was simply tremendous. This version of Kid Flash never looked better. And Teryx had a really cool design, too. I so wish we had this creative team with this style of storytelling on the Teen Titans series. I'm so tired of the super-serious story weighed down by way too many unanswered questions and gratuitous violence. Oh well. At least we got a brief respite here.

We have a new house ad for the Geoff Johns run on The Flash with Scott Kolins and Howard Porter.

Next time, we're going to follow Kid Flash's advice and pick up Teen Titans #12.

Adventures in the DC Universe #13

Sometime in New York City

Club ADCU presents:
Steve Vance – Vocals
John Delaney – Lead Guitar
Ron Boyd – Rhythm Guitar
Gene D'Angelo – Lighting Technician
Tim Harkins – Sound Mixer
Frank Berrios – Doorman
KC Carlson – Bouncer

Sound check!! This month's cover features Impulse, the Martian Manhunter and Green Arrow by the artists formerly known as John Delaney and Ron Boyd! This is a pretty fun cover, which shows us that although Impulse can play multiple instruments simultaneously, he really doesn't have that great of a singing voice. And while Impulse does have a fun adventure with Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow only appears in a backup story without Impulse.

Our story begins with Bart, Preston and Carol walking home from school. Preston is oddly reading the newspaper, but it contains an exciting story about a local band, the Impulsives, opening for the hit band, Sediment, in New York that very night. The band used to be called The Pulse, but decided to rename themselves in honor of Manchester's superhero. Preston wishes he didn't have to do homework and could go to New York, something he's sure Impulse would be able to do.

Bart sadly trudges home, feeling trapped by Max. But as he starts his homework, Max says he and Helen are going out to dinner and a movie and shouldn't be back till 11:30. Ask Max leaves, he warns Bart not to use super speed on his homework so the sparks from his pencil won't burn the house the down. Bart promises to be good, secretly thinking of Max as a sucker. As soon as Max is gone, Impulse makes his way toward New York City.

Impulse heads straight to the Impulsives' backstage room, and is warmly welcomed by the band. He thinks it's cool they use his name, but can't help but notice they seem a bit bummed out right before their big break. The band tells Impulse they've received an anonymous tip their manager, Theo, is involved with the mob and is stealing from them. They were hoping to use the concert to sign with a major label, but now they're worried their manager will cheat them on the contracts. But they have hired a private detective who'll meet them after the show.

Impulse says he'd like to help, but he can't stick around for too long. Just then, another band manager named Richard shows up. He says he's dropped all his clients so he can focus exclusively on the Impulsives once they fire Theo. Richard is also very excited at the potential synergy they could get with the real Impulse. He says they could start advertising Primo shoes, but Impulse says he doesn't wear that brand and doesn't want to give kids the impression they can be as fast as him if they buy the right shoes. Luckily, Impulse is able to duck out of the conversation once the concert starts.

The Impulsives put on a great show, and Impulse happily rocked out and crowd-surfed the night away. But after the show, the band comes out to see Theo has been shot and rushed out in an ambulance. The Impulsive then meet with their private detective, John Jones. After hearing the story from the band, Jones pulls Impulse aside and reveals himself to be Martian Manhunter. Impulse is very excited to work with him, but Martian Manhunter is focused on the task at hand.

After briefly recounting Impulse's history for those who don't know it, Martian Manhunter also deduces that Impulse's presence here on a school night without Max Mercury nearby, means that Bart is in New York without Max's permission or knowledge. Bart admits J'onn is right, and agrees to follow his instructions exactly so he won't call Max on him. So the two heroes team up to solve the case before Max gets home in 44 minutes.

They then learn that Theo is alive and beginning to wake up. As the band travels to the hospital, Bart and J'onn rush ahead, believing Theo's assailants will want to finish the job when they learn he survived the attack. J'onn heads to Theo's room, telling Impulse to watch over the band. Impulse doesn't like being bossed around, but he agrees.

Bart impatiently waits for the band, which is followed close behind by Richard, eagerly looking for a way to help out. But Richard's presence is an unwanted one, and he's soon removed by the police. Impulse surreptitiously frisks Richard at super speed and finds he doesn't have a gun. So even though J'onn told Bart to keep an eye on the band, he decides to follow Richard while the band goes in to visit Theo.

Turns out Bart's hunch was right, as Richard is fired on by mobsters in the hospital parking lot. Impulse catches all the bullets, and "Theo" gets up from his hospital bed and turns into Martian Manhunter. He helps Impulse stop the mobsters, then explains everything to everyone. Apparently Theo was never the mob's target. Richard, who had lost all his clients was desperate for money, got involved with the mob and tried to become the Impulsives' new manager by framing Theo.

Theo new someone was setting him up, so he hired John Jones to investigate. Martian Manhunter then went to the concert disguised as Theo to gather evidence, but was shot by the mob who believed Richard was already the band's manager. Martian Manhunter then quickly convinced the police and doctors to help carry on the ruse until the gunmen were found. The real Theo then arrives and is happily reunited with the Impulsives and talk of a contract with a major label.

Impulse quickly says his goodbyes and abruptly runs home, plopping promptly in his chair at 11:28 p.m. But then he realizes that he ran right past Max and Helen in the living room. Max then explains that the movie was terrible, so they left after 20 minutes. He tells Bart to get to work on his vocabulary homework, beginning with the word "grounded."

The backup story features Green Arrow, but no Impulse, so we'll skip it. Overall, I enjoyed this story. The art wasn't too bad, and it's always great to team up Impulse with a new, super-serious hero. Steve Vance had a good grasp on Impulse's personality, as well as his relationship with his friends and family. And while the goofiness of the story was spot on, the detective elements really fell flat. Once Martian Manhunter explains everything at the end, his role in the whole thing becomes quite questionable. Why did he need to disguise himself as Theo to look for evidence? And when he was shot, why didn't he just let the bullet pass through him, turn into his martian form, and catch the bad guys? Perhaps he intentionally drug things out to teach Bart a lesson.

None of the letters to the editor mention Impulse, but a lot of them do express excitement in an upcoming Flash story for the series. So let's take a look at the new ads this month.

Laugh your butt off! Disney's Hercules now on video! I was a little sad this movie didn't follow the original myth of Hercules closer, but it did have great music and the voice of Danny DeVito, who played the Penguin in Batman Returns a few years earlier.

Toon up your drawings! 10 free cartoon kits in marked boxes of Post cereal. I had a few of these in 1998. They were tracing pads with various body parts and facial expressions of Warner Brothers' top cartoon characters.

My hot shot had gone cold. Then the Cap'n and some crunchberries gave me a hand!! Apparently Cap'n Crunch's expert basketball advice is to pretend the hoop is your mouth and the ball is a crunchberry.

A 14-carrot movie! The Bugs Bunny Road runner Movie. This was a direct-to-video feature of classic Warner Bros. cartoons interspersed with scenes of Bugs relaxing at his mansion and reliving those moments. But the new footage painfully stood out from the cartoons with its different animation style and voice actors.

Enter the Get Tooned Cartoon Network Sweepstakes for a chance to star in your very own cartoon! There sure were a lot of contests in late '90s, especially in the books with a younger audience.

Next time, we'll take a look at a book not intended for a younger audience — Lobo #50.

Adventures in the DC Universe Annual #1

Something Wicked: Event One!

Hilary J. Bader Writer
Andy Suriano Penciller
Rob Leigh Inker
John Costanza Letterer
Rick Taylor Colorist
Frank Berrios Assit. Editor
Mike Carlin Editor

This whole issue is called Something Wicked This Way Comes, and it features separate stories with Impulse, Mr. Miracle, Rose & Thorn and Superboy, all loosely connected by a prologue and epilogue with Dr. Fate. And I think the cover by John Delaney and Terry Austin illustrates this rather well. This series, Adventures in the DC Universe, was a loose comic-book adaptation of the DC Animated Universe, which at this point only consisted of Batman and Superman. Justice League was still four years away at this point, so in 1997, this was the best way to imagine what many DC characters could look like if they were animated. Around 2000, Impulse was considered as a main character for Justice League, but he was soon replaced by the Flash.

Anyway, Impulse only appears in his individual story (again, no interactions with Superboy!), so I'll only talk about Impulse's bit, especially since the overarching Dr. Fate stuff is a very loose connection at best.

Our story begins with Bart bored and home alone. We do hear Helen's voice as the outgoing message on the answering machine, which is a nice touch. It was rather easy for writers to forget that she existed. Anyway, Max, in location unknown, calls Bart to warn him not to use his super speed for anything since he feels a disturbance in the Speed Force. But Bart doesn't pay attention to the message and assumes Max was simply lecturing him to do his chores. So he quickly does the dishes, makes his bed and takes out the trash, leaving only the task of returning his library books — to Lima, Peru. I have no idea why Bart wanted to check out books from Peru. I guess he only did it because he could.

Anyway, Bart throws on his Impulse uniform and heads down to South America. He has a very strange trip, finally realizing that Max was trying to tell him about this very scenario. Suddenly, Bart is jolted by a burst of energy and collapses in the middle of a remote jungle. Bart says he's never been knocked out of the Speed Force before, which I'm pretty sure is not how it works. At least how Mark Waid has presented the Speed Force so far. It's rather difficult just to get into the Speed Force, and even more difficult to leave it. But whatever.

Bart is soon surrounded by a native tribe, but he tries to leave them so he can avoid his 20 bolivars fine. But after running a few yards, Bart again collapses in pain. He wonders if it was something he ate, but decides his usual diet of hot dogs, devil dogs and ice cream shouldn't be responsible for this phenomenon. He starts testing his limits, finding that short speed bursts are OK, as is vibrating, but once he tries to actually go somewhere, he crashes.

The leader of the tribe, who wields a staff with a Flash-like lightning bolt on it, finally manages to communicate with Impulse by grabbing his shoulders and vibrating him. Bart asks how he's suddenly able to understand the native's language, and the shaman simply says he understands the forces of existence. He further explains that things are amiss in the speed god's realm, and he advises Impulse to stay with him until it's safe. Bart thinks Max would get a kick out of the concept of a speed god, and he goes with the shaman to his hidden city in the trees.

The shaman then tells Impulse that he believes he was sent by the speed god to protect the city. He shows him a couple of explorers searching for the lost city. Impulse soon learns the men are only motivated by greed and are prepared to kill any natives they come across. So Impulse steals their map as they go to sleep, then presents a plan to the natives. He asks for a bunch of old and broken items, which he disguises as artifacts and lays out in a path to lure the looters away.

Bart's plan works perfectly, and once the looters are free of the city, he boxes them in by the river with a bunch of logs. For added measure, Impulse surreptitiously plants the "artifacts" on one of the guys, causing the other to accuse him of hoarding it all to himself. The two men get into a fight and fall into the river, which carries them over a waterfall.

The shaman thanks Impulse for his help and tells him the disturbance in the realm of the speed god has quieted. He then sends Impulse away by basically telling him never to come back. So Bart zips home and just manages to sneak inside as Max is opening the front door. Bart flips the TV on to a remarkably quick and oddly specific news report of the rescue and arrest of two men in Santo Lodoca, South America. Max tells Bart he's free to speed now if he so desires, but Bart says he just wants to veg out in front of the TV for a while.


Well, that wasn't awful. The art was awful, yes, but the story was OK. I guess we're supposed to assume that whatever Dr. Fate was dealing with in the prologue was somehow related to the disturbance in the Speed Force, but I wish that would have been laid out more clearly. And I also wish Impulse could have been doing something more interesting than protecting a hidden tribe from two idiots. But what really kills this story is the art. I understand the desire to emulate the simplistic Bruce Timm style from the DCAU, but that doesn't excuse the sloppy, almost unbearable artwork in this issue. Alright, let's just move on to the ads now.

Protecting the earth from the scum of the universe. Men in Black: The Series. I do remember this show quite well. It was OK, not great. Certainly not as great as that first movie was, but probably better than that awful second movie.

Take a break with a Kit Kat bar. You could fold this chaotic family barbecue scene together to end up with just one kid peacefully relaxing in a hammock.

Tangent Comics. The only thing you know is the names! Secret Six #1, Doom Patrol #1 and Sea Devils #1.

Built anything cool lately? Get a model kit for a penny! Revell Monogram.

Return to the excitement! Return to the adventure! Return to the Amalgam Age: The DC Comics Collection trade paperback.

Watch This Space talks a lot about the latest San Diego Comic Con, but nothing really applies to Impulse.

See Nick in 3D! Hey Arnold!, The Secret World of Alex Mack, The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, Rugrats and KABLAM! I watched and loved three of those shows (Alex Mack and Shelby Woo were for girls).

This last ad is one of my all-time favorites. It's set up like a comic for Superman: The Animated Series, and starts with Jimmy Olsen telling Perry White that Superman has just been spotted at Burger King. Superman, who's flying by the Daily Planet, turns his head and asks aloud, "I was?" Perry takes a look at Jimmy's photo and points out that his young photographer took a picture of some toys. To which Jimmy quizzically ponders over the word "toys" as if he's never heard of toys before. The comic then shows all five Superman toys that are offered with each Kids Club meal, and I actually had one of them. It was the "flying" Superman that balanced on his chin atop the Daily Planet. It bugged me because the Daily Planet had this spike that wasn't supposed to be there, and Superman's arms were ridiculously out of proportion to balance him.

Next time, Impulse will make another guest appearance in Sovereign Seven #28.