Impulse #67

Friends Like These ...

Todd Dezago – Words
Ethan Van Sciver – Pencils
Andrew Hennessy – Inks
Janice Chiang – Letters
Jason Scott Jones & Tom McCraw – Colors
Jamison – Separations
L.A. Williams – Editor
Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo

This issue's cover is by Ethan Van Sciver and Wayne Faucher! And it is a bright, fun happy cover to celebrate the happy ending of Mercury Falling. Max deservedly takes the lead, surrounded by Wonder Woman, Superman, Green Lantern, Plastic Man, the Star-Spangled Kid, Jesse Quick, Jay Garrick, and, of course, Impulse. Jesse Quick has a new costume now — so new, in fact, that the costume she wears inside this issue is different than her costume on the cover.

Our story begins with Max enjoying his restored powers by gleefully taking his daughter, Helen, on a tour around America. They visit Mount Rushmore, the Grand Canyon and the Statue of Liberty with Max praising Bart all the way. Helen eventually grows nauseous after this whirlwind tour, so they head home ... where a surprise party is waiting for Max! The guest list is a veritable who's who of the DC Universe. In addition to everybody on the cover, we have Jay's wife, Joan; Plastic Man's pal, Woozy Winks; Star-Spangled Kid's stepdad, S.T.R.I.P.E.; Zatanna; Wildcat; Aquaman; Martian Manhunter; and Dr. Morlo.

Max asks Helen if this party was her idea, and she says Bart also helped plan it. Wonder Woman delivers a brief statement, congratulating Max on cheating death at the finish line. Martian Manhunter, however, admonishes Max for not letting the JLA know about the situation and leaving it all up to Impulse. Max says he would have called, but everything happened so fast. Morlo steps in, saying he did try to call Wally West, but he got no answer. Jay explains that Wally is currently missing, but he's not too worried, assuming Wally is just out on some case right now and should eventually come back just fine.

Green Lantern tells Max that he can't believe that Impulse actually came through on this situation. Max quietly walks away in disgust, leaving Kyle to try to stammer out some sort of apology. J'onn tells him to be more forgiving of Bart's impulsive nature, but Kyle insists that Bart's powers often get him into trouble. J'onn draws a parallel to the recent Circle of Fire ordeal, where Kyle's power ring tapped into his subconscious and nearly destroyed everything. This finally shuts up Green Lantern.

Max joins a conversation between Morlo and Wildcat, a fellow "old-timer" who still remembers Morlo as an evil mad scientist. Morlo says he is a good guy now ... for the time being. Max insists that Morlo was kidding, and the reformed villain only reluctantly agrees to this. As Max walks away from this awkward moment, Plastic Man teases him that Impulse didn't bring him back in a box. He goes on and on about how irritating and obnoxious Impulse is, as Max angrily storms away.

Jesse then confronts Max, saying she's hurt that he didn't call her when Wally was unavailable. Max struggles to answer this, so Morlo once again steps in, saying they didn't really feel the need to contact any other speedsters once Impulse began to show such improvement. Jesse points out that it was actually Inertia who was showing the improvement, and initially Bart wasn't able to reach the Speed Force. Finally, Max has decided he's had enough with everybody bad-mouthing Impulse. He gets everybody's attention and tells them that while it's great that he's healthy again, they should be celebrating the real triumph of this story — how Bart was able to come through at the end and save his life.

Speaking of Bart, he has finally gathered up his friends — Carol, Preston, Roland, Mike and Wade —and they're all headed over to the party. Bart says lots of his distant relatives and friends of the family will be there to celebrate the fact that Max doesn't have after all. But Preston points out that they all saw how sick and thin Max became. Bart struggles to answer this, until he stumbles on the idea of tapeworms. He says that Max had a tapeworm in his intestines, which ate all his food and made him lose all that weight. But now it's out and the doctors let him keep it in a jar. Everybody seems to buy this lame excuse, except for Carol, who can only roll her eyes.

But most importantly, Bart's friends are happy to have him back. Preston says that Max's sickness made Bart act funny — he got real serious, showed off in school, acted smart and even kind of mean. Preston tells Bart he likes him a lot better this way, and Bart says that's about the nicest thing anybody could have said to him. Bart then starts to lead his friends into the party, but when he opens the door, he sees all the heroes inside are still wearing their uniforms. He quickly slams the door shut and struggles to stammer out another excuse. This time, he turns to Carol for help, whispering that all his "aunts" and "uncles" are still in costume and he wonders if they all live in those outfits.

Luckily, Superman spots Bart outside with his x-ray vision, and he tells everybody they need to put on civilian clothes fast. He asks Zatanna to change all their clothes, but she's been drinking too much Soder Cola and has the hiccups. Her first attempt merely swaps everybody's costumes, and they all shout at her. She gets it right on her second try, and Superman opens the door Bart was barring, while his friends were beginning to wonder if they really were invited to this party. Superman introduces himself as Bart's uncle Kal Ell ... inson ... Man ... ton ... But nobody sticks around to listen to his horribly fake name, and Bart tells Superman he can stop. He also teases him for still having the trademark spit curl in his hair.

Rolly meets Bart's uncle John (Martian Manhunter) and Mike meets Bart's uncle Eel (Plastic Man, whom Bart really doesn't like). Bart then introduces Wade to his uncle Arthur (Aquaman), but he notices that Aquaman has a gold hand. So he quickly shoves a vase over it, which Wade naturally notices immediately and can't help commenting on. Bart says that Arthur's had that vase on his hand for years, and they hardly notice it anymore. Bart then takes great pleasure in introducing his friends to his cousin Diana (Wonder Woman). With wide eyes, Preston asks Diana if she's a movie star or a model, and Wade asks if it's getting warm in here. Courtney and Carol are both disgusted by the boys acting like such ... boys.

Jay Garrick then pulls Max outside to "stretch our legs," which involves throwing on their costumes and running around the world at super speed. Unexpectedly, Jay uses this opportunity to also chastise Max for not asking for help. He tells the Zen Master of the Speed Force to not be too proud to rely on the family of speedsters for help. Max admits that Jay is right and he apologizes. He says that he's had a long life, having run through the end of one century and all the way through another, and he was even thinking for a while that maybe his time was up. But all that changed when Bart brought him to the Speed Force.

The two speedsters save some people from a sinking boat, and Jay says he's glad the unpredictable Speed Force was kind to him. As they stop a robbery in Italy, Max reveals that he and Morlo have run a few more tests, and found that he's only at 93% of what he used to be. But that's good enough for him. The speedsters then rescue a couple of idiot boys who tried to skateboard on the roof, and Jay can tell that something is still bothering Max. He says he feels guilty that while Inertia was impersonating Bart, he was so encouraged by Bart's improvements that he never saw through the deception. Max feels like he betrayed Bart by flooding Inertia with praise, and he hopes that Bart doesn't think that he likes Inertia more than him. Jay tells Max that he shouldn't be worried about Bart not understanding this. He says that they often take Bart for granted because he sees things and does things in ways they can't anticipate, but he always seems to come through. So Jay encourages Max to reach out to Bart and tell him how he feels.

Speaking of Bart, he has now snuck away from the party and is playing with his dog in his room. Carol comes and finds him, saying she needs to leave soon to meet up with Jeff, who she thinks is going to ask her to the dance. But Carol's worried by this sudden sullenness from Bart and she asks him if he's not still Inertia. Bart assures Carol he's the real Bart, and he explains that he's just confused right now. He tells her how Inertia placed him in the perfect virtual reality prison, where he completely forgot about all his friends and family and was able to just have fun with Dox. It had been so long since Bart had lived in the virtual reality that he didn't realize how much he missed Dox.

Also bothering Bart is the idea that while he was in that VR prison, Inertia was living his life and doing everything better and everybody liked him better. Carol cuts him off right there, saying that's not true. She didn't like Inertia and neither did any of Bart's friends. But Bart insists that Inertia was better at following directions, better at being a hero, and overall better at being Bart. Carol says that Bart is a loving and caring person, which is why he was able to break out of Inertia's prison. And it was Bart's love that enabled him to save Max — something that Inertia never could have done. Carol reminds Bart of what Preston said earlier, how Inertia was mean and stuck up ... and not near as cute. Finally, Bart gets to the heart of what's really bothering him. Since Inertia was such a good Impulse, what if Max is now disappointed in Bart? All Carol can say to this is that Bart needs to talk to Max about it.

The party comes to a close, and Helen turns down John's offer to help clean up, letting Max and Bart take care of everything at super speed. Bart asks Max if he can change Ivan's name, and Max says it's his dog and he shouldn't be expected to keep a name given by ... but he can't quite say Inertia. After a brief moment of silence, Max opens up to Bart. He says he's proud of Bart, and not just for taking him to the Speed Force. He's proud of the person Bart is on the inside. Max says that when Bart does stop to think about something, it's always about others. Max admits to Bart that he's guilty that when Inertia showed so much improvement, Max mistakingly believed that he had come through on his promise to Wally to raise Bart responsibly. When Inertia was exposed and Bart came back, Max realized he was wrong. He was successful with Bart a long time ago. Bart has grown into a kind and considerate person with a huge heart. Max tells Bart that he loves him as if he were his own son.

Unfortunately, Max's speech went a bit long for Bart's attention span. But Bart did hear enough to resolve his issues and he happily tells Max that he loves him, too. He then scoops up his dog to go meet up with Carol again. Bart zips over to Manchester Park, where he quickly finds Carol. Sadly, the poor girl is in tears. Turns out, Jeff didn't want to ask her out to the dance, and instead dumped her so he can take Kristin Donovan to the dance. Sobbing, Carol tells Bart that Jeff said she was "too intellectual" for him. Bart says, "Y'mean, he broke up with you 'cause he's dumb ... ? And isn't Kristin Donovan that cheerleader who kept going outside to check when her computer told her she had mail ... ?" This cheers Carol up, and she asks Bart how his talk with Max went. Bart says everything's great there, and he's decided to rename Ivan to Dox.


Well, we have quite a bit to unload here, so let's dive right in. This issue was the perfect epilogue to Mercury Falling. A big, cameo-filled party, a couple of nice conversations to resolve a few lingering issues, and the planting of a few seeds for a Bart-Carol romance. I really liked how Max's heart-to-heart with Bart went. While Max needed to get a lot off his chest, Bart really didn't need to hear all of it. He just needed to know that Max wasn't disappointed in him. And once he realized that, he bounced back to his regular, happily distracted self. There was no need for another big, emotional hug here — we've already been through that. Just a quick reassurance that everybody's OK, and then move on.

The guest list was nearly perfect. Most of the people here had already appeared in Impulse before, and those who hadn't were still tangentially connected to Bart and Max through Young Justice. But despite the enormous cast of characters crammed into this house, I still feel like some people were missing. Most notably was Bart's grandma, Iris Allen. She wrote about Bart's battle with Inertia, and was kidnapped by Inertia when he first appeared. So even though she likes to live a life of solitude, it seems like she should have been here to celebrate this victory. I also wish Bart would have invited Young Justice to this party. It would have been so cool to have them meet Bart's "regular" friends.

Impulsive Reactions begins with a note from Joey Cavalieri, the Flash editor, saying that he's now going to be the editor of Impulse. He doesn't say anything about L.A. Williams, which I found very odd, since L.A. always had such a strong connection to the readers, and usually when a creator or editor leaves the book, some sort of explanation is given. So I did some digging, and sadly discovered that L.A. Williams did not leave DC on the best of terms. I don't want to get bogged down in all the "he said, she said" messy details, but I will link to this blog post from frequent Impulse letter writer Michael Bregman. Regardless of who was right and who was wrong, this was a tragic development. L.A. Williams clearly poured his heart into this book and, in my opinion, made it as good as it ever could be. It's a shame to see a relationship break down in such a messy way.

CGundam writes that he's been reading Impulse since day one, and he feels like the comic is nowhere near as cool as it was 45 issues ago. He says Bart looks and acts like a 12-year-old. CGundam says Bart and his friends should be out joy-riding with their parents' cars and not telling ghost stories around a campfire like Cub Scouts. CGundam says he kept reading the series after the Mark Waid-Humberto Ramos run, and almost quit because the story and art went downhill. But he stayed on once Todd Dezago and Ethan Van Sciver came on, although he really wants Bart to look and act like a 15-year-old now.

Dodger says Impulse appears even younger than 12, and he also wants Bart to "be" 15. Dodger says the only place to Bart "the way he should be" is in Young Justice.

JKane has enjoyed all the runs of Impulse, noting how each creative team has brought something to the table to make this a rare book, a comic with a heart, a book where you actually care about the cast. JKane says that Bart has progressed greatly under the current team's reign. And if he seems a bit young, it's because that is simply Bart's personality. JKane says those who want a mature teenager should read Robin. He also says he's sad to see Ethan Van Sciver leave, but is excited to see Carlo Barberi's take on Impulse.

Da Caped Crusader loves the way Impulse is being portrayed now, especially how Bart's innocence is shown.

Joey Cavalieri ends the column with a longer note, saying he and Todd Dezago have been discussing this age issue. While Bart's innocence makes him seem younger, his VR-raised nonchalance makes him seem older. Joey says they're going to address this issue directly in the upcoming stories. He also officially confirms that Ethan Van Sciver is leaving Impulse, and his first project is a Flash graphic novel with Geoff Johns. Carlo Barberi will become the new regular artist with issue #70. Until then, Eric Battle will draw a two-part epilogue to the Green Lantern event, Circle of Fire.

Whew! That's a lot of changes to process. Ultimately, we'll just have to see how everything shook out when we get there. Until then, let's check out the ads.

Nautica Jeans Company. Not only was this the back cover ad, but Bart, Carol and Preston all wore clothing clearly marked with the Nautica logo throughout the issue. On one hand, it is kind of nice and realistic to see some brand-name clothes on our characters. On the other hand, it is odd that three characters all just happen to be wearing that same brand on the same day. The blatant advertisement also has a way of pulling you out of the story.

They're not just best friends. They're blood brothers. The Little Vampire.

Do you have what it takes to face the wall? Pokémon Puzzle League for Nintendo 64.

New Mini Oreo. Tastes so good you'll take 'em everywhere.

A well rounded woman: stays active, keeps away from creeps, eats healthy and never forgets where she came from. Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness for PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and Sega Dreamcast.

Gotta have sweet? Gotta find words! Juicy Fruit chewing gum word hunt.

Want to be a Pokémon Master? Master this! ThinkChip Battle Stadium.

Look out below! It's Captain Underpants in a box! And read the latest spine-tingling adventure of Ricky Ricotta's Giant Robot. OK, if you don't like Captain Underpants, then something is wrong with you.

Chills and thrills to go! Scooby-Doo's Creepiest Capers, Beetlejuice, The Scarecrow, Gremlins and The Goonies.

Superhero Superhits. 14 re-recorded theme songs from some of the most popular cartoon shows today.

Animorphs for PlayStation and PC CD-ROM.

Look for these musical encounters of the Scooby-Doo kind! Shack Tracks, Witch's Ghost and Alien Invaders.

Dear Family, You are all invited to Family Game Night. Boggle, Scrabble, Life, Payday, Yahtzee, Monopoly, Sorry and Clue.

Find new marshmallow mummies here. Froot Loops.

OK, now that we've thoroughly examined this issue, let's talk about Mercury Falling as a whole. For years, the only Impulse trade paperback was Reckless Youth, which collected the first handful of Impulse issues from The Flash and his own series. In 2009, DC decided to collect Mercury Falling, but I don't like how they did it. They put together issues #62 through #67, which is the complete Mercury Falling story, but they chose #67's cover as the cover of the trade. I don't like this at all because it minimizes Impulse's involvement and implies that the JLA are involved in this story. Fans of these characters would probably be disappointed to see they only have a small cameo at the very end of the story.

Even worse, though, is how DC replaced the Impulse logo at the top with The Flash logo. Officially, this trade paperback is The Flash: Mercury Falling. Even though the Flash has nothing to do with this story! Impulse's face is on the spine of the book, but the words say The Flash, Mercury Falling, Dezago, Van Sciver. And the back cover isn't much better. Although it does show Impulse, he's almost considered an afterthought in the text, which fails to even mention that this trade contains issues #62 through #67 of the Impulse series.

The text says, Flash Fact: Being a hero runs in the family!

For much of his decades-hopping career, Max Mercury was the best there was: a zen master of the Speed Force! Yet the very energy that gives him — and all speedsters — their powers, is threatening to tear him to pieces!

Only his super-fast protégé, Bart Allen — the impetuous Impulse — can venture into the Speed Force to reverse Max's condition. Though at times immature and inexperienced, Bart is trying his hardest to live up to the proud Flash family tradition. Now he must race against time — and his own shortcomings — to save the closest thing to a father he has ever known!

Flash Fact! Comics superstar artist Ethan Van Sciver (The Flash: Rebirth) and writer Todd Dezago (Young Justice) bring Impulse up to speed and out for broke with this startling chapter of the Flash legacy!

Well, there's not much more to say about this trade. There aren't any special notes or features inside. Just the issues, which are thankfully divided with the textless covers. The paper is the cheaper, newspaper-like kind, and at least my copy of this trade is very cheaply bound — all the pages separated from the spine during my first reading. So ... yeah. It's good to have this story collected, but it really, really bugs me that DC tried to hide the fact that this was an Impulse story. It's almost like they were trying to trick Flash fans into buying this.

All in all, Mercury Falling was an incredible story that is the highpoint of the Impulse series. As sad as it is to see Ethan Van Sciver and L.A. Williams leave, I'm glad they were able to go out on top. This story encapsulated everything that Impulse is about from an emotional standpoint, an artistic style and a sense of heroism. This is actually one of the few Impulse stories where it's jut Bart saving the day by himself (a nice result from having the Flash "missing"). As I've said before, Dezago did an excellent job of building on the groundwork laid by Waid and William Messner-Loebs to expand the characters of Impulse, Max Mercury and Inertia. And I don't know if this story would have had the same impact without a devoted editor like L.A. Williams or a talented artist like Ethan Van Sciver.

Believe it or not, we have finally finished all the comics with a publication date from the year 2000. So next time will be our big Year in Review with some awards to hand out!

Impulse #66

Deathrace — Mercury Falling: The Conclusion!

Writer – Todd Dezago
Pencils – Ethan Van Sciver
Inks – Barbara Kaalberg
Letters – Janice Chiang
Colors – Jason Scott Jones
Separations – Jamison
Editor – L.A. Williams
Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo

Ethan Van Sciver, Wayne Faucher, and Patrick Martin brought you this month's cover and seven years' bad luck. It might be unlucky, but it sure is an awesome cover. In front of the haunting sight of Max's skeleton, Impulse and Inertia battle their mirror images. Van Sciver did an excellent job of portraying the ferocity in Inertia's eyes, and the emotion in Impulse's. And, most importantly, this cover promises to deliver the showdown we've waited months for.

Our story picks up right where we left off last issue, with the real Impulse arriving in Dr. Morlo's lab just moments after Inertia has taken Max Mercury to the Speed Force. Helen Claiborne and Carol Bucklen, who discovered that Inertia was impersonating Bart for the past few weeks, also arrived just a bit too late to prevent this tragedy.

Morlo is naturally confused by this, so Bart quickly explains that when he went into the mudbug's dimension, Inertia knocked him out and placed him in a virtual reality prison while he took Bart's place here. Morlo realizes that this explains Bart's sudden change in behavior, and Carol confirms all this, saying she found Inertia's hair dye and journal, which revealed his plan to kill Max at the Speed Force.

We then cut to Inertia and Max making their way to the Speed Force. Max takes the time to praise Impulse once again for the dedication he's shown over the past few weeks, and he reminisces of the day Wally West put Bart in his care and their fight against Savitar and his ninjas. Max says they make a good team and a good family, since Impulse has become the son he's never had. Inertia continues to run stoically during this speech, but his face begins to reveal his anger when Max says, "I love you, Bart."

Back in Morlo's lab, Bart tries to immediately go to the Speed Force to save Max, but Morlo stops him, explaining that Inertia was only able to make that trip after weeks of training. If Bart tries to go there now, he could be lost to the winds of time or torn to shreds. Morlo pulls out a handy chart to illustrate the three aspects of the Speed Force — a portal, or access tunnel; a speed storm; and finally, the Force itself. Morlo says the storm is the most dangerous part of the journey, as it requires complete control of your vibrational frequencies to traverse it. But Bart insists he has to try, and he says he knows he can do it. While he sets up Morlo's equipment, the doctor picks up the phone and tries to contact Wally West.

Meanwhile, Inertia and Max approach the speed storm, and Max notices the look of anger on the boy's face. He asks what's wrong, and Inertia explodes, shouting, "Stop calling me that!!! I'm not him!! I'm not Bart!!" Inertia tosses Max down at the edge of the storm, saying that Max never loved him, only Bart. Thad says he's sick of Bart and is going to kill him. Max is shocked by this revelation, and he struggles to ask what's going on. Thad angrily explains that he accomplished this with his incredible genius. Unlike Bart, Thad says he's focused, efficient, superior and exactly what Bart Allen would be if he were perfect in every way. Thad says he's lived his whole life for this day, spending years of planning and positioning, a little hair coloring, and his special ring with a sharp prick.

Inertia's first encounter with Bart was merely a reconnaissance mission to help him gain a measure of Bart's abilities and use his ring to inject Bart with a nano-virus. The virus, a microscopic device of Thad's own invention, traveled through Bart's body, mapping its every detail — a process that made Bart really sick that one day. Thad continued to watch and prepare from the future, researching Impulse's history to find the perfect event to ambush and replace him, which was Bart's fight with the mudbug. Then, with Inertia's genetic information realigned to avoid detection by scanners, along with his great acting skills, Thaddeus Thawne became Bart Allen.

Inertia admits to Max that he even began to like Bart's life, and he almost decided that he wouldn't kill Max after all. But Thad says he was stupid to let those emotions almost ruin his plan of completely destroying Bart. He puts on his green Inertia uniform, and boasts of how he was able to accomplish so much more than Bart. But before he kills Max, the old man smiles at the clone and asks him to consider what he actually did accomplish. Inertia pauses for just a moment, while Max explains that when Inertia immersed himself into the role of Impulse, he actually became a great hero. Max asks Thad if it felt good to help people, be respected, admired, and to have friends and family that care about him and love him. Max tells Thad that he has changed, and he could be proud of him. He's come so far already, it'd be easy to now cast aside his plots and schemes, and have a good, happy life.

Thad actually considers this. He slowly asks, "Do ... do you really think I could ... ?" Max immediately says, "Of course! You've already taken the first steps! You're already halfway there! You can do it ... and we can help you ... !" Unfortunately, Thad takes offense at the word "we." He grabs Max by the scruff and shouts about how Max meant "Bart" by saying "we." Thad takes this to mean that Max intends to humiliate Thad by making his sworn enemy, Bart, his tutor. Thad tosses Max aside, saying he was ignorant to believe Max's lie that he could fit in. Thad renews his vow to kill Bart. Inertia's ring is also a tracking device, and it tells him that Bart is about to show up right behind him, so Inertia turns and lands a nasty punch on Bart's head the instant he arrives.

Inertia says he doesn't know how Impulse got here, but he says he's glad to see him so he can now kill two birds with one Speed Force. Thad pummels Bart with another thousand punches before he can recover from the first punch. Then Thad pulls off him, saying before he'll kill Bart, he'll make him suffer by watching his mentor be torn limb from limb by the speed storm. Bart courageously tackles Thad, and, with tears in his eyes, says he's not going to kill anyone. This surprises Thad, but he prepares for a fight, while trying to reassert his superiority over Bart once again. But while the two young speedsters duke it out in an intense, emotional battle, Max desperately tries to keep himself from being pulled in to the speed storm.

Impulse does his best in the fight, but Inertia was right. He is stronger and smarter than Bart, and he pummels our poor hero before ultimately ending up on top of him right next to the struggling Max. Bart reaches out and grabs Max's hand, which infuriates Thad. He slaps Bart, saying, "Hey, Stupid ... !? Stay with me here — I'm about to decapitate you ... and all you can think about is that old man?!?!" Max also warns Bart, but Bart refuses to let go of his hand. Inertia prepares to strike the final blow, but he stops to ask Bart one more time why he's doing this.

Bloodied, beaten and broken, Bart's eyes grow wide as he realizes that Thad doesn't understand the concept of love. He simply explains to Thad that he loves Max, which means he's willing to die for him or with him. Bart asks Thad if he's ever felt that way about someone or if anyone's ever felt that way about him. Thad slowly gets off Bart and begins to walk away, softly saying, "No ..." As he watches Bart gather himself up and pull Max closer to him, Thad realizes that his life, dedicated to a centuries-old hatred, passed down through the Thawne line of Cobalt Blue and Reverse-Flash, is empty. Thad realizes he will never have what Bart has, will never know their approval, their pride, their love. His anger roils and churns away inside him, his hatred becomes personal, condemning the "family" he had that condemned him to this sad and solitary, single-minded existence. Inertia shouts, "You lied to me! LIED to me! I hate you!! I hate you allllllll —" And he runs away.

Bart tries to stop Thad, but he can't without letting go of Max. So he turns his attention to Max, saying he has to get him to the Speed Force. Max tells Bart he can't do it since he didn't have the training to handle the speed storm. Max says it'll kill them both, so he urges Bart to leave and save himself. But Bart insists he can do it. He says he's already done a lot of things they thought he couldn't just by getting here. So Bart ignores Max's protests, picks him, puts him over his shoulders, and enters the speed storm, quietly saying he hopes he can do this.

The storm tears at Bart, trying to rip Max from his grip, but Bart holds on. He pushes through wave after wave of incredible force, until he finally reaches the Speed Force — a giant glowing ball surrounded by colorful lightning. Max, who's spent decades trying to reach the Speed Force, is overwhelmed by its beauty and Bart's incredible accomplishment of taking him there. Bart simply says he knew he could do it because he loves him. Max holds Bart's hand as he enters the Speed Force, and the two speedsters are surrounded by cheerful, glorious lightning. After a brief moment, Bart realizes the hand he's holding is no longer frail and shriveled. He asks Max if it worked, and a tall, muscular Max Mercury, looking better than ever, emerges.

As Max and Bart share their most tender embrace, we are shown a quote from Iris allen's "The Life Story of the Flash": "The speedsters draw their energy from an extra dimensional field that lies beyond the speed of light. Neither cognizant nor sentient, it nonetheless serves as a Valhalla to speedsters past, hosting their spirits and using their powers wisely, apparently passing it to those it deems worthy." Today Max Mercury was deemed worthy. And more. He was given back his life by the very force he lives by, that very force that he thought had abandoned him. It never had. It is a wonderful day. A glorious day. A day of accomplishments ... all around.




Wow.

I'm not saying this lightly, but I genuinely think that this is the highest point of the Impulse series. This story is the culmination of everything that's happened in Impulse before this. And while the remaining 23 issues will have some great parts, nothing will compare to the impact of this storyline. Dezago and Van Sciver gave us a powerful story full of emotion and intrigue that raised the bar of Impulse storytelling.

When Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn wrote The Life Story of the Flash, they threw in a quick line about Impulse having an evil twin. Todd Dezago gave life to this idea, presenting us with Inertia, who is much more than your run-of-the-mill evil clone. Inertia is a complex, sympathetic character. He was created as a result of a family feud and raised in isolation and hatred for the sole purpose of causing destruction and mayhem. But when it came time for him to actually kill his rivals, he couldn't  do it. He had experienced a little bit of the love Bart enjoys, and was overcome with the knowledge that he never had and never could have that love. As emotional as it was to watch Bart be so willing to die for Max, and their wonderful moment of rejoicing when Max is healed, my heart broke for poor Thad. And Ethan Van Sciver deserves so much credit for this emotion. He perfectly captured the grief, pain, anger and wonder on Thad's and Bart's faces.

William Messner-Loebs had Max Mercury get shot, which Dezago used as a catalyst to tell the story of Max growing weaker and losing his powers. Messner-Loebs also created Dr. Morlo, an old mad scientist, who really wasn't THAT evil, and perfectly positioned to provide the scientific background for an undertaking such as this. The Speed Force has always been incredibly vague, but I really loved how Morlo laid it out in a simple diagram. The speed storm that could hurl you into a different part of the time stream perfectly explains Max's "time jumping" during the earlier days of his career. He was called to the Speed Force, but turned away from it, and was thrown into the near future by the storm. When he tried to get to the Speed Force again, he couldn't make it through the storm and was flung further into the future. This story didn't explicitly make this point, but it was there. Everything connects so well — I love it!

There are just a couple of little things I wish this story would have shown: Impulse coming back from Inertia's lab, and then getting to the Speed Force. The second one is pretty easy. Bart obviously used Morlo's treadmill, but it still would have been nice to see Morlo fail to contact Wally West, and maybe he, Carol and Helen fail to prevent Bart from taking off into that portal. Bart getting back from Inertia's lab is a bit trickier. While it is conceivable that he simply could have run fast enough to go back in time and come home, it seems more likely that he would have needed to use a time/teleportation hoop like Inertia had previously used. I mean, we don't even know when or where Inertia's lab is. But those are minor details in an otherwise wonderful story. And I'm not using any hyperbole by saying this truly is Impulse at its best.

Impulsive Reactions begins with Bill D. Vader saying Impulse has gone from being a book he'd never read to one of his favorites. He says Mercury Falling is off to a good start, and that Todd Dezago is one of the few writers who can take a serious story about Max and instill some humor into it without taking away from the drama. Bill also calls Ethan Van Sciver superb, praising him for all the detailed visuals in Morlo's lab.

Lt. Jarrod "J-Bone" Alberich, of Pope Air Force Base, N.C., likes the developing relationship between Max and Bart. He does, however, find Morlo's "reformed" status to be a bit suspicious.

Joanne Nott, of Lorain, Ohio, says Impulse #62 is one of the best Impulse stories she's read in a long time. She likes Bart's development into a more competent hero, and says his expressions were right on the money.

Dragonfire remarkably put together all the clues and shared them on the Impulse Message Boards before anyone else. He first quotes The Life Story of the Flash's line about Bart's dark twin. Then he points out how when "Bart" came out of the dimensional gate, he looked surprised and irritated when Max hugged him. Dragonfire says it was suspicious that Bart wouldn't hug Max here, when he did hug him just a few pages earlier. The next clue was when Max told "Bart" not to say anything to Helen, and it almost seemed like "Bart" didn't know what he was talking about. And the final clue came when Bart's dog growled at him, since this was the same dog that licked his face on Christmas morning. All this led Dragonfire to the correct conclusion that the "Bart" that emerged from that portal is not our Bart.

Michael Bregman, of Gan-Yavne, Israel, commented on the development of Max and Bart's relationship, saying they now are more like father and son than anything else. Michael says it's this relationship that makes Mercury Falling such a touching story. He also likes Helen's new boyfriend, Matt, and points out something I missed — Matt wears a hearing aid.

Jeff Carter is happy to see Dezago and Van Sciver back, saying he enjoys their issues even more than the Mark Waid-Humberto Ramos issues. Now for the new ads:

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Next time, we'll enter the final month of 2000, first by finishing the Elseworlds tale, The Secret Society of Super-Heroes.

Impulse #65

Bart's Evil Twin – Mercury Falling Part 4

A Dezago - Van Sciver - Kaalberg & Rollins - Chiang - Jones - Jamison - L.A. collabo
Impulse created by Waid & Wieringo

Van Sciver, Faucher, and Martin raced against time and certain Death to bring you this month's cover. It is a pretty exciting cover, showing a very serious Impulse racing to save the dying Max Mercury, who is now very thin and weak. I don't mind the symbolic image of the grim reaper with a giant hourglass, but I am a bit surprised that Van Sciver didn't draw this as the Black Flash. I'm personally not a huge fan of the Black Flash, but he was seen in the last issue of Impulse, and is more or less supposed to be the symbolization of Death for speedsters, right?

Our story begins with the return of an old villain — the Glory Shredder, who has captured the Green Cigarette and is preparing to execute him right there on the street. Impulse has arrived on the scene, and he wonders if the Glory Shredder could be any more insane. The psychotic ex-military is a bit more verbose than he was when we originally met him, and he now insists on launching into long-winded, rambling speeches before ridding the world of criminal scum. Luckily, this gives Impulse more than enough time to rescue the Green Cigarette, tie him up so he doesn't get away, and dismantle Glory Shredder's gun. Glory Shredder accuses Impulse of being a criminal sympathizer, and he boasts of how he'll still be able to defeat the "commie runt" without his gun. Glory Shredder talks so long, he doesn't notice a dog peeing on his leg. Meanwhile, a crowd gathers, including some old friends we haven't seen in a long time — Jasper Pierson, Gamal, and Green Cigarette's lawyer, Gaspar.

The Glory Shredder finally attacks Impulse, who quickly removes all of the villain's armor, leaving him in just his underwear. (Even though Glory Shredder had a cybernetic hand with bombs in the fingers previously, Van Sciver drew him here with two normal, human hands.) The narrator finally reveals to us that this Impulse isn't really Bart Allen, and hasn't been for weeks now. He has grown his hair out, dyed it brown, studied Bart's habits, speech patterns, and even mastered Bart's expression of insipid innocence. But every now and then, this imposter falls out of character, and allows his true, malicious nature to come through. And this is one of those times.

Even though Glory Shredder is defeated, Thaddeus Thawne, aka Inertia, insists on pummeling him to a pulp. As he does so, he rejoices in the success of his plan. As part of the Allen-Thawne feud spanning millennia, Thad was 'gengineered' to be a far more superior clone of Bart, spliced with pure Thawne DNA. But it wasn't enough to defeat Impulse — Inertia sought to steal Bart's glory, his persona ... his life! And when Bart pushed Morlo's mudbug into an alternate dimension, Thad used this opportunity to place Bart in a virtual reality prison and replace him in the real world. Thad is pulled out his memories by Gaspar, who politely tells him that he's assaulted Glory Shredder quite enough. Thad quickly puts on his best Bart impression, and says he was just making sure the villain was down, since you never know about these big ones.

Thad continues his impression as Bart at school, where he gives a report on Pavlov's dogs and conditioned behavior. Thad is happy he has the excuse of Max's illness to account for Bart's suddenly increased focus. He's confident he's fooled everyone, but Thad doesn't seem to notice that Carol is still suspicious and oddly interested in "Bart's" hands. The time after school presents the biggest challenge for Thad, since he's had a hard time relating to Bart's friends. But he's gotten better at it these past few weeks, and now he's become bold enough to attempt some humor with Preston and Roland (who, by the way, is wearing an awesome Batman shirt).

Thad jokes that Ms. Dalrymple wears so much makeup because what's underneath is worse. Roland's not comfortable with making fun of their teacher's appearance, but Thad presses the issue, saying that when Dalrymple was a baby, her parents had to feed her with a slingshot. This gets Roland laughing, even though he knows it's unkind, but Preston begins to protest. Thad is able to get him to laugh, though, by asking, "Does the name 'Pavlov' ring a bell ... ?" Both Preston and Roland double over laughing at this, and Thad actually feels happy to be accepted by his peers. He decides that maybe Bart's friends aren't that insufferable, but once again, he fails to notice that Carol has remained silent during the entire conversation and refused to join in the laughter.

The greatest threat of Thad being exposed is the experienced speedster Max Mercury. But so far, Thad has been able to fool him, as well, thanks in large part to Max's deteriorating condition. In fact, Max is so thin and frail now, he is unable to join Impulse on patrol. So they've enlisted the help of Oracle to have Max coordinate Impulse's efforts around the world from a computer chair. After saving an elderly couple from a rampaging rhino, "Impulse" is sent to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to battle another familiar foe, White Lightning. Thad joins Robin, Wonder Girl and Secret on a random mission, and he's thrilled to see he's fooled Young Justice, as well.

Max sends Thad to deal with a tornado in Oakley, Kansas, which he quickly neutralizes with a vortex in the opposite direction. Max is shocked that Impulse came up with this solution on his own, and Thad is shocked when he's congratulated by a couple of beautiful women, thanking him for saving their farm. Thad quickly runs away from them, and Max tells him it's OK to allow himself a little "thanks" every now and then. And Thad begins to believe Max might be right. As he runs home, Thad basks in the feeling of having someone else be proud of him — something he's never felt before. The clone realizes that all of Bart's friends and family really care about him, and he feels like he could learn to enjoy being a hero and keep Bart's life. Thad even thinks that maybe, just maybe, he won't go through with his plan to kill Max at the Speed Force.

When Thad gets home, he realizes that Max and Helen have created a much more comfortable and warm environment than the featureless, warehouse-sized computer he had previously only known as his home. Thad is amazed at how Helen is able to act like a mother to Bart even though she's not related to him. And Max impresses Thad by maintaining such a positive and selfless attitude as the Speed Force is literally tearing his body apart. Even though it requires an enormous amount of effort, Max insists on getting out of his chair to give "Bart" a big hug and tell him how proud he's in him, even if Morlo's plan doesn't work. Thad is overwhelmed by this act of love, and he can barely stammer out a thanks.

Of course, Thad realizes that he was never able to fool Bart's nameless dog. But now he's finally figured out a way to make the animal act more friendly around him by constantly feeding it dog treats and trying to avoid entertaining negative thoughts and schemes in its presence. Helen suggests that he finally name the dog since he's had it since Christmas (and it's now, what, June?). So Thad dubs the dog Ivan. Max laughs at this play on Ivan the Terrible with Ivan the Terrier, but Thad says he actually chose the name in honor of the behaviorist Ivan Pavlov. "Clever, no?" Thad asks, but Helen and Max are quite perplexed to hear such words coming from Bart.

Shortly, Max and Thad throw on their uniforms and head to Morlo's to run one more test before making "the jump." Helen wishes them luck and says she'll be there in a few minutes to watch them leave. Carol, meanwhile, has been hiding in the shadows waiting for Impulse to leave. Once he's gone, she knocks on the door, and gives Helen a cover story about needing to take back a book she lent Bart. Helen lets her in, and Carol eagerly heads to Bart's room, hoping to find out why he's been acting so suspiciously lately.

In Morlo's lab, Thad passes the final test with flying colors, and Dr. Morlo begins to set things up for the jump to the Speed Force. During a break in the action, Max almost collapses, and Thad is shocked by how scared he became for Max's welfare, and he wonders if he actually cares for him. Max tells Thad again that even when they get to the Speed Force, there's no guarantee it'll be able to revive him. But he wants the boy to understand that they've still succeeded in the long term with their mentorship. Max says that he's finally become everything they were working toward, and now he looks on him like a son. Thad is thrilled to hear this kind of love being directed at him. It's everything he's been working toward! It's all his! Max loves him! But then, Max calls him Bart, and that completely kills the moment for Thad. In one instant, with that one word, Thad's villainous upbringing returns, and the look of love and admiration on his face quickly turns to one of scorn and disdain.

Back in Bart's room (decorated with posters of Superman and the Afterlife Avenger), Carol is shocked to see how neat and tidy it is. The first clue she finds is a family picture of Bart, Helen and Max. Carol realizes why Bart's hands caught her attention during school — he's not wearing his Impulse ring anymore. (In case you were wondering, like I was, Bart was wearing his Impulse ring during all the concurrent Young Justice issues. So I guess his trip to Australia happened before he was replaced by Inertia.)

We return to Morlo's lab, where the former mad scientist has set up the speed portal and he warns the speedsters that their window is only a few minutes. Max begins to have some last-second doubts, saying once again that he can't ask Bart to attempt such a dangerous task. But Thad angrily insists they have to leave now. Meanwhile, Carol finds her second clue, hair dye (chestnut brown for blond hair). This is followed by the discovery of something even more shocking — a holographic recording of Inertia detailing his plans to kill Max Mercury at the Speed Force and then obliterate all of Bart's friends and family. Carol rushes downstairs, tells Helen that Bart's really Inertia in disguise, and they rush off, hoping to stop him before it's too late.

But it is too late. With the speed portal open, Thad gets a running start on a treadmill, achieves the right vibrational frequency, and pulls Max into the portal with him. Helen and Carol come rushing in just a second later, shouting at Morlo to not let them go. But before Morlo can answer them, the real Bart Allen suddenly arrives, demanding to know where Max and Inertia are.


This was such an awesome issue! Inertia really is the perfect villain for Impulse. He fits the classic trope of an evil clone and continues the legacy of the Allen-Thawne feud. But with this issue, he suddenly became a sympathetic character, and I love it! Inertia had this incredible plan to conquer Bart Allen by completely taking over his life and systematically eliminating his friends and family. But after spending a few weeks of living in a warm and loving environment, Thaddeus has begun to doubt his life's mission of revenge and mayhem. This added level of complexity makes Inertia an even greater character than before and adds a greater degree of depth to this amazing story.

However, I did have a few nits. The return of Glory Shredder was welcome, but Dezago and Van Sciver didn't quite capture the same personality and design of the character originally introduced by William Messner-Loebs and Craig Rousseau. I guess you could make the argument that Glory Shredder already was quite unstable and is constantly going through slight personality changes as well as cybernetic upgrades. I guess. I'm also slightly torn on Van Sciver's art in this issue. His pencils were incredibly impressive as always, but here he became very ambitious with his panel layouts. There were a bunch of beautiful two-page spreads, but some of them were quite confusing. This necessitated the use of lots of little annoying arrows and editor's notes to tell you what to read next. I'm all for experimentation and spiffy-looking layouts, but that shouldn't come at a cost of readability.

Impulsive Reactions begins with L.A. Williams welcoming new colorist Jason Scott Jones, who actually started as the new official colorist last issue, but L.A. forgot to update the credits. He says it was because he was trapped in a virtual reality prison, and it was his evil clone, N.Y.C. Williams who made the mistake.

Maurice, of Brooklyn, N.Y., says he's been an art teacher for 30 years, and he considers Mshindo a true diamond in the rough, hoping he'll get more opportunities to grow to his full potential.

Daniel Placio admits he isn't a regular reader of Impulse, but he did pick up Impulse #61 for the Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. guest appearance. He liked the "Up To Speed" box at the beginning of each issue for new/casual readers like him, and he was happy to see the Gentleman Ghost.

Datalore was happy to have another untold tale from Max's past — an adventure with the Seven Soldiers of Victory. Datalore also asks for a miniseries focusing on Max Mercury.

Electric Peter Tork liked how Bart got annoyed with all the girls asking about Robin, how he inadvertently destroyed the Kid Flash sign, and the Star-Spangled Kid's scene in the gentlemen's club. Tork enjoyed the writing so much, he mistakingly assumed it was Todd Dezago. However, he was able to tell the art was not quite as good as Ethan Van Sciver's.

Sea Change was happy that issue #61 made a point to show Max sweating to illustrate how bad and shocking his condition is.

Daniel Rosenberg, of Raleigh, N.C., simply says Impulse is one of the great reasons why comics are a great hobby.

Mark Katzoff liked that the "Sidekick Swap" taught both Max and Pat to appreciate what they have. He also hopes the Gentleman Ghost shows up again in Manchester, Alabama.

Peirigill wonders if Impulse would stop being fun if he learned to focus and plan. L.A. says he might still be fun, but for those looking for a more serious speedster can check out The Flash. (Once this series ends with Impulse #89, we'll see what a more serious Bart Allen looks like.) Now for the ads:

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Next time, we'll take a quick look at an alternate version of Bart in an Elsewords story called JLA: The Secret Society of Super-Heroes Book One.

Impulse #64

Virtual Heroes – Mercury Falling Part 3

Todd Dezago – Writer
Eric Battle – Guest Penciller
John Stokes & Prentis Rollins – Inkers
Janice Chiang – Letterer
Rick Taylor – Colors
Jamison – Separations
L.A. Williams – Editor
Impulse created by Mark Waid & Mike Wieringo

Ethan Van Sciver, Wayne Faucher, and Patrick Martin racked up the high score on this issue's cover! And I am so happy that we get an homage to Nintendo 64 with Impulse #64. He's the most video game-crazy superhero of all time, so it's only fitting that he'd get to play off one of the of the biggest video game systems of the time and its annoying propensity to include the number 64 in about a third of its titles. The cover itself is very fun, showing Impulse and a weird green guy hanging from a rope while firing a big laser gun, about to be eaten by a rather weird-looking dinosaur. The background lists the scores for each explosion, and is rendered in a fun pixel effect. But I'm glad the whole thing wasn't pixelated, since that could have turned out poorly. Now, let's find out what this has to do with Mercury Falling.

Our story begins with Bart waking up to a strange world full of mythical creatures, unusual colors and the weird green guy from the cover.

Bart recognizes the green guy as his old friend, Dox. Bart gives Dox a big hug, saying he's missed him, but Dox says they were together yesterday, so Bart must have been having a wild dream and is just slow to wake up this morning. Dox reminds Bart that they're on a mission to save the prince, even though Bart feels he's no hero. As he breakfasts off some blue fruit from a tree, we notice that his clothes are different in almost every panel.

Bart and Dox are suddenly attacked by some Skybots sent by the Dark Wizard. They both manage to avoid the laser blasts, but Dox is surprised that Bart still doesn't seem to remember any of this. So he kindly reminds him that the Dark Wizard is protecting his castle with a Time-Spasm, which has brought out monsters from the past, present and future. Bart says he remembers Dox and having had adventures with him in the past, but he still feels like he's been away for a while. Bart comes across a mirror that has a very sinister-looking reflection in it. Bart tries to ask Dox about this, but they're suddenly attacked by a big blue Tyrannosaurus rex.

Our young hero runs away as fast as he can, or so he says, since it doesn't seem like he's running any faster than anyone else would. Eventually Bart and Dox are chased off a cliff by the T-rex, who stops and wonders aloud what he was supposed to tell that kid. Bart falls into a river, but emerges unharmed. He asks Dox why he didn't fly them off the cliff, and Dox explains that he can only hover a little bit over solid objects. Bart and Dox then arrive at a village full of tons of odd people — blue elves, a snowman, Frankenstein's monster and Dracula, one of the green veggie kids from Sir Real's virtual reality, and even Roland is there. Everybody praises Bart as a hero, much to his astonishment.

One old blue elf announces himself as the Teller, and he tells Bart the history of their kingdom of Nosirp. They were ruled by a good king, but he eventually fell ill and was on death's doorstep (in the Teller's story, death is represented by the Black Flash). The prince was reluctantly put in command, but the Dark Wizard seized on this moment of weakness to kidnap the prince and demand the king surrender his kingdom to him. The Teller says that all this was foretold in the legends long ago. But the legends also spoke of a hero with great hair and big feet.

This convinces Bart that he really is a hero, and he enthusiastically launches into the quest to save the prince, journeying through various levels of great peril. Bart began the day in pajamas, robes and loincloths, then transitioned to more ordinary clothes and sports jerseys. But now his clothes resemble the outfits of Indiana Jones and Adam Strange. At one point, Bart is grabbed by a giant robot, and he cries out, "Dox! I'm got!" So Dox frees him by tricking some spaceships into destroying the robot's head. Bart tells Dox that he loves having adventures with him and he never wants to leave. But the friends' sweet moment is interrupted by the return of the blue T-rex. Bart and Dox quickly escape to a nearby cave before the dinosaur can deliver his message. Too big to fit inside, the T-rex moans that he's going to be in so much trouble.

Bart and Dox find themselves in Crystal Quarry, surrounded by angry-looking reflections of Bart. Suddenly, all the reflections come to life, and Bart and Dox are attacked by an endless horde of glass "Barts" all wearing one of Bart's previous outfits from this adventure. Bart is so preoccupied with this army, he doesn't notice the giant reflection of Inertia looming over him. Finally, Bart manages to take out all the glass clones by grabbing the laser gun from the "Adam Strange" reflection and blasting its laser off all the crystals in the cave, shattering everything in sight.

Sometime later, Bart and Dox finally make it to the castle and down into its dungeon. But Bart is shocked to see the prison is nothing more than a bed in the middle of the room, with the prince fast asleep on it under a headboard of the Flash logo. Bart rushes over to the bed, and is even more surprised to see the prince looks just like him. He asks where the Dark Wizard is, and the prince says there is no wizard. So Bart asks who's holding the prince here, but the prince answers with, "I think the question, Bart ... is who's holding you here?" Bart claims that no one's holding him here, since this is where he lives. The blue T-rex has finally caught up to Bart, and he asks Bart if he's sure this is where he's supposed to be.

The prince asks Bart how long he's been here, and Bart says he's been here his whole life. He and Dox grew up together because Bart was placed in here because he was aging so fast. Bart then starts to say he later went to live with someone else, but he can't quite complete the thought. The prince begins to fade away, telling Bart once again that he has to think about who's holding him here. Once the prince is gone, Bart asks Dox if he knows anything, but he only remembers having adventures with Bart. Dox does, however, ask Bart if he remembers anything else.

Bart struggles with this for a moment, insisting that he has always been here with Dox, and they came here to save the prince because the king is sick. Suddenly, Bart realizes that the king is Max Mercury being attended to by Dr. Morlo but with the Black Flash looming over him. Bart begins shouting that he has to get out of here to save Max and lightning begins to surround him. Dox reminds Bart of the reflection in the Crystal Quarry, and Bart finally puts it all together, shouting out Inertia's name as he puts on his Impulse uniform.

Once Bart becomes Impulse, the whole world begins shaking in what Dox describes as a reality quake. He says now that the dreamer, Bart, realizes he's in a virtual reality program, everything has begun to break down and the program has created a black hole to suck down everything that's not real. Impulse realizes this means Dox, as well, and he grabs onto his buddy's hand, promising to not let go. Dox tells him to let go since he's just make-believe, but Bart refuses. The poor kid begins crying and screaming that he won't choose between his best friend and the real world. Dox pleads with Bart to go save Max, but Bart decides to save both. Using his super speed, Bart rescues Dox from the black hole and leads him into the bright light of reality.

Bart wakes up on a bed with a blanket on his lap. He turns to tell Dox that he knew he could save him, but Dox isn't there. Bart realizes that Dox was right all along, and he sheds a final tear for his friend.

But Bart doesn't allow himself to be consumed by grief. He hops off the bed and explores his surroundings, running into Craydl, which confirmed his suspicion that he was in Inertia's lab the whole time. Craydl is shocked to see Impulse awake, saying that Inertia had claimed Bart would never want to leave the VR world. Bart instantly breaks down Craydl into a pile of goo, saying he doesn't have time to dance with him. Impulse immediately begins his journey home, saying Inertia has made a big mistake, and if he's done anything to hurt Max ...




It's Inertia! Of course, you probably already knew that since you've either read this story before, or you put the clues together while we were going along. I was a bit slow to this the first time I read Mercury Falling because I hadn't previously read Inertia's first appearance. So I had no idea who the character was or anything, and it was a huge surprise to me! Anyway, this issue was quite a bit of fun. Finally, after 64 issues, we got to see what life was like for Bart in the virtual reality world. I'm really surprised that Mark Waid never thought to show us this world. Regardless, I am very happy with what we got here. Just pure wackiness, giving us the opportunity to see Bart in tons of different costumes fighting dinosaurs, robots and more. The character of Dox is an extremely odd character. He's practically impossible to describe, and he really came out of nowhere. Since we never had any description of Bart's VR life, we never had a mention of Dox before. But I quickly grew to love his friendship with Bart, and I was surprised at how emotional I got at the end, where Dox essentially died in Bart's arms, despite his best efforts to save him.

Sadly, I do have to complain about the art in this issue. Ethan Van Sciver took four issues off, returned for two, and then had to take another break. I really wish he could have been as fast and consistent as Todd Nauck. Eric Battle's art isn't awful by any means, but it is a bit messy and inconsistent. But, if Van Sciver absolutely had to skip an issue of Mercury Falling, this was the right choice.

Impulsive Reactions begins with Bart Allen saying that he works at a comic shop and notices many people tend to skip the issues without Todd Dezago, and he urges the creators to have fewer fill-ins.

Michael Bregman, of Gan-Yavne, Israel, said he didn't have many expectations for Impulse #60 since it was done by fill-in creators. But Michael quickly fell in love with Dwayne McDuffie's funny and clever script, and Eric Battle's "classic Impulse artwork." Michael liked Pocket Pal and how Impulse beat him, and he's a big fan of Bart's puppy.

Terrance Griep Jr. initially thought Battle would be misplaced on Impulse, but he loved his work on the title. Terrance also says McDuffie always brings a verisimilitude to his characters that is often lost these days. But the real work, Terrance says, was done by the "mean genius" who brought these creators together.

Martin Gray says issue #60 was a wonderful way to celebrate five years, providing everything he wanted in an Impulse tale: clever use of super-speed, a fun villain, subplots and supporting characters all in a self-contained piece. Martin would like to see Pocket Pal again, perhaps accompanied by Chunk. He also liked McDuffie and Battle so much, he suggests they become the next regular creative team.

Sof' Boy said he was suffering from a massive headache, so he tried to relieve the pain by reading Impulse #60, which his friend have given him. Sof' Boy was laughing out loud from the second page on, and he hopes to see more of McDuffie and Battle.

Brett Wood, from Somewhere in Ohio, said he was supercharged to see Battle's artwork, which gave the issue the feel of a fast video game like Sonic the Hedgehog. He also loved how Impulse kept messing up Pocket Pal's name on purpose, showing that he really is a hyper, sometimes annoying young kid.

Kristian Greene, of Falls Church, Va., loved the humor and watching Bart emulate the actions of his greatest idol. Kristian felt that McDuffie and Battle twisted an entertaining story into a wonderful lesson.

La Tonya Raines, of Apex, N.C., loved the cover, the interactions between Ayana and Bart, and Pocket Pal, saying it was great to have a cool new black character.

Dragonfire loved the logos at the Talladega Super Speedway — Zesti-Cola, Soder Cola and LexCorp — sadly, no Wayne Industries.

Michael Hutchison, of Roseville, Minn., called issue #60 a humor-paced story with an interesting (if far-fetched) villain. He says he might like McDuffie more than Dezago. But Michael does complain about how this issue handled Max and Helen, saying they needed to have been more supportive of Bart.

Sonicblum, of Queens, N.Y., simply says Impulse #60 "had it going' on" and was a hilarious issue by the guest writer.

Angie de Blieck Jr., of North Haledon, N.J., noted that McDuffie made great use of Impulse's supporting characters — something other fill-in writers might try to gloss over. Angie says the big surprise was Battle's artwork, which is normally hard to look at in Aquaman, but was more natural and easy to follow here.

Kimberly Anne praised McDuffie for nailing Bart's personality, and says she's off to buy more Impulse and Wint-O-Greens.

Hasan Johnson correctly named L.A.'s quotes from BDP's By Any Means Necessary album and the movie Greased Lightning. Now for the new ads (if DC would have been on top of it, they would have made all the ads for the Nintendo 64):

Bomber Man 64: The Second Attack! Also for Game Boy Color.

Meet a parrot who won't settle for another lousy cracker. The Real Macaw.

Batman Beyond fruit snacks with a free CD Rom offer.

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards with a crossword puzzle.

Bio Ploids for PCs. 10 PCs a day for 100 days. ePloids.com.

The face of terror. Kirby 64 (again).

Next time, we'll begin comics with an October 2000 publishing date, starting with a very brief Impulse cameo in Green Lantern: Circle of Fire #1.

Impulse #63

Mercury Fallin Part 2: Training!

Todd Dezago Writer
Ethan Van Sciver Penciller
John Stokes Inker
Janice Chiang Letterer
Rick Taylor Colorist
Jamison Separations
L.A. Williams Editor
Impulse created by Waid & Wieringo

Cover by Ethan Van Sciver, Wayne Faucher, and Patrick Martin. This is a pretty awesome cover. Impulse looks simply fantastic. Even though he still has ridiculously big feet, and goofy big hair, Van Sciver somehow found a way to make him look focused, cool, angry and even a little bit dangerous. This is a new attitude for Impulse, which is exactly what this issue is all about — as well as the Fog Prince, ominously looming in the background, and the continued efforts by Morlo to save Max.

Our story begins with a very focused and serious Impulse running through Alberta, Canada. He barely breaks stride to save a snowshoer from an avalanche and doesn't even wait around to hear the man thank him.

At home, Bart shocks Helen by not only hanging up his jacket, but cleaning his room and doing his homework without even being asked. Helen overcomes her shock and praises herself for being able to teach the boy how to be responsible — just as she bet Max back in Impulse #52. The next day at school, Bart earns his first-ever A+ in social studies, much to the surprise of his teacher, Mr. Daniels. All of Bart's friends are thrilled for his success, and he explains to them that he aced the test by simply taking the time to consider the possibilities of each multiple choice question and then choose the best answer. But Preston and Wade laugh off Bart's response as an attempt to impersonate Mr. Snodgrass.

After school, Bart throws on his Impulse uniform and immediately rushes to Dr. Morlo's lab, where Max is laid out on a table just like on the cover. Sadly, Morlo does not have good news for Bart, reporting that Max's condition continues to deteriorate at an alarming rate. Morlo explains that when Max was shot on Halloween, then attacked by Kalibak on the Fourth of July, a chain reaction was set off in his body, which ultimately led to him finally losing connection to the Speed Force. (Quick note: Bart's test was dated June 2, 2000, which means the Kalibak attack happened almost one year ago.)

Max gets up from the table and tells Morlo and Bart to stop planning his funeral. Bart rushes over to help Max, and he instinctively turns Bart away. But he sees the look on Bart's face and he thanks the boy for his help, and assures him that everything's going to be all right. Morlo then introduces Bart to the next test that he and Max have devised to make sure Bart can safely take Max to the Speed Force. In place of the gyro-sphere, which the mudbug destroyed, Morlo has set up a big ring in the floor for Bart to run around. And this time, Bart has a dummy to represent Max, which he also needs to vibrate at the same frequency he's vibrating at. So Bart starts the test, repeatedly saying, "I can do it." Max and Morlo are both surprised by the improvement Bart has shown during these tests, and Morlo attributes this to Bart's love for Max.

Meanwhile, at the beautiful state capitol building in Montgomery, Alabama, the Fog Prince makes his triumphant return. The teenage criminal has upped his game since his last attempt at stealing an action figure. He has now created a bunch of fog monsters to hold all the government workers and tourists hostage. This includes Governor Don Siegelman, who actually was the governor of Alabama at the time. (Currently, Siegelman is in jail for bribery, conspiracy and obstruction. Awkward.) The Fog Prince explains to the governor that he's doing this to attract the attention of Impulse, so that when the speedster arrives, he can exact revenge for being humiliated in their previous encounter.

Some 160 miles away in Manchester, Max is shocked by Bart's progress report from school, in which every single teacher is praising Bart for demonstrating remarkable improvement in behavior and attention over the past few weeks. (The report card lists Bart's name as Bartholomew Allen II. I still haven't seen anything mention a middle name for Bart.) Helen tells Max that she thinks this sudden improvement in Bart is due to Max's condition. (Even though Max told Bart not to tell Helen, it seems like Max did tell her in private.) She believes that in Bart's mind, if he accomplishes everything that Max has been trying to teach him, then that might keep Max from dying. Helen then has a tender heart-to-heart with her father, telling him that she always thought there'd be more time for her to fully express her love to him. With tears in their eyes, they share an emotional hug.

Bart is hanging with his friends and his dog just outside the window, and he sees this tender scene, which momentarily distracts him. Mike calls Bart back to the group, and Bart says he just has a lot on his mind lately. Wade, who claims to be an observant writer, says that Bart never has anything on his mind — he just does things without thinking, and that's what his friends love about him. Preston adds that while they're happy Bart's excelling at school now, they're worried that he's forgotten how to have fun. He asks what happened to that wild, impulsive Bart Allen they all know and love.

Bart sadly responds that his uncle is sick, probably with cancer, which is why he's been so quiet lately. Preston apologizes and Wade expresses remorse, and Bart thanks them. He then tries to pet his dog, but once again, the dog avoids him. Preston wonders if the dog is mad that Bart hasn't named him yet (I mean, he got the darn dog on Christmas, and it's already June and it still doesn't have a name!), but Bart says the dog just smells the ammonia he has on his hands from cleaning the floor earlier. Preston suggests they all head down to Comics Corral to pick up the new issue of the Afterlife Avenger, but Bart tells them to go ahead without him since he wants to stay with Max right now.

Everybody takes off, except for Carol, who insists on finding out what's really going on. So Bart throws on his Impulse uniform again and takes Carol with him to Morlo's lab. On the way there, Carol berates Bart for not telling her earlier about Max. She reminds him that she knows what it's like to lose a parent, but Bart coldly asks her to change the subject. So Carol brings up Bart's obvious lie about the ammonia and his dog. So Bart tells her that the dog was actually smelling slime-spore-stuff from the lobster-monster ... but he fails to mention that he battled the mudbug several weeks ago.

Morlo is initially against the sudden arrival of Carol, but Max vouches her, saying she knows and keeps the family's secrets. Carol tells Max she's so sorry to learn of his condition, but Max tells her to cheer up, saying they think they're close to curing him. Morlo shares his optimism for once, citing Bart's amazing newfound control of his powers. But before they can get back to testing, they're interrupted by a special news report on the TV. Dave Trimble of WGBS News reports that the Fog Prince has taken the governor hostage and has named only one demand: that Impulse come out to face him. Before Max can say anything, Bart zips off to Montgomery.

When Impulse arrives at the capitol building, he receives an earful from the Fog Prince, who chews him out for making him look stupid. The Fog Prince then sends a fog monster after Impulse, but the speedster quickly runs away. This only makes the Fog Prince angrier, so he decides to turn up his fog to show the "speedy little snot-rag" that he means business. But he finds out he's lost control of his fog monsters, which are suddenly evaporating, freeing the governor and all the other hostages. Impulse returns to calmly tell the Fog Prince that he got rid of the fog. The wannabe villain kind of goes ballistic and charges at Impulse. But he's taken out in one punch, chained up and left for the police.

Bart arrives back in Morlo's lab seconds later, explaining that since fog is created by humidity in the air, which is caused by warm front and cold front colliding, he used his speed to generate a warm front of air around the area to evaporate all the humidity. Morlo, Carol and Max are completely stunned by this highly scientific explanation coming from Bart, who simply says he was just thinking "What would the Flash do?" Morlo then prepares Bart's next test, while Max tells his ward he had no idea Bart knew so much about weather. Bart says he didn't either, and guesses that's he's learning now. Carol, however, doesn't seem too pleased by this.


This was a pretty awesome issue. The emotion is handled so well — now spilling over to Helen and Bart's friends. And I love the idea that this traumatic experience has brought out an unprecedented level of focus from Bart. But Dezago never let this story become too heavy with all this serious stuff, using the naturally goofy Fog Prince to supply most of the humor. Of course, the greatest aspect of this issue comes through a second reading after you've already finished the full Mercury Falling story. There's a twist here, that I won't spoil just yet, but there a lot of hints laid out in this issue. And I'm not too proud to admit I totally missed all these clues the first time I read this.

Impulsive Reactions begins with L.A. Williams thanking Governor Don Segilman, press secretary Carrie Kurlander, her aide Ashley Davis and assistant Jada Dawkins, photographer Jason Harris and Bob Kovachek of New Channel 13 in Albany, N.Y., for sharing his meteorological knowledge.

Mr. E. writes that it's cool to see a superhero based in the South as opposed to all the others in the Northeast or West Coast.

Joe Torcivia, of Westbury, N.Y., says Todd Dezago has done the best out of the other Impulse writers at realizing the "chaotic element" of Bart Allen and using it in innovative ways to defeat the Joker, "Silver Fog Jr." and "The Composite Young Justice-er." He likes the notion of the series taking place in a quiet town, free from regular appearances of supervillains. Case in point, Joe praises Impulse #59 for not feeling pressured to throw in a villain. Instead, it played out like a delightfully humorous Archie-like story.

Cheryl Hogan, of Queens, N.Y., loved how Bart went out of his way to cheer up Cissie, but she does wonder how Cissie was able to attend Bart's school for the day. L.A. says that she obtained a visitor pass.

Zach calls Impulse the funniest character in the DCU, and he says issue #59 displayed Bart's greatest traits. He hopes for appearances from Inertia, Flash and Young Justice, saying Bart's great on his own, but at his comical best when teamed with another hero.

Mart called issue #59 a pleasant read, but lamented the lack of conflict in the story. He also asks how Grandma Iris is doing after her ordeal with Inertia, and L.A. says she's fine, but still living in isolation.

James Ireland, of Flagstaff, Ariz., praises Dezago for utilizing diverse storytelling styles each month. While retaining the same exuberant, lighthearted feel, James says Dezago keeps things unpredictable by not using the same pacing and plotting techniques with every issue. James speaks at length about the relationship between Impulse and Arrowette, ultimately deciding that Arrowette needs to see more of Impulse's thoughtful side that is often held back by other writers for the sake of a few easy laughs. James also loved the Max Mercury story in Impulse #58, and asks for more Max.

Mike Kravanis said issue #59 reminded him a lot of Dawson's Creek, but strangely enough, he loved it. He said the issue captured teen life exactly the way he wished Legion of Super-Heroes would. Mike praised Anthony Castrillo's art, but says he's not ready to give up Ethan Van Sciver yet. He also asks for guest appearances from the Star-Spangled Kid, Mary Marvel and Inferno.

Latonya Raines, of Apex, N.C., complained that Cissie looked too old to be in junior high, but she did praise the fashion of all the girls in the book. She also thinks it would have been fun to have Roland try on the Impulse suit and be "big man on campus" for a while.

Sina Maria Follis, of Houston, knew exactly how the story was going to play out by page 4, but still enjoyed the issue all the same. Now for the new ads:

The future is gummi. LifeSavers GummiSavers.

It's back! The Oreo Stacking Contest! You could win: a trip to the World Series; a chance to meet Derek Jeter or Ken Griffey Jr.; $20,000 savings bond and other cool prizes.

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If Jeff Gordon were a cereal, this is what he'd look like. Kellogg's Racing Apple Jacks.

Next time, we'll begin comics with a September 2000 publishing date, starting with a quick cameo in Green Lantern #128.

Impulse #62

A Question of Faith

The frenetic first chapter in the startling saga we had to call Mercury Falling
brought to you by
Todd Dezago -- Words
Ethan Van Sciver -- Pencils
Barbara Kaalberg -- Inks
Janice Chiang -- Letters
Rick Taylor -- Colors
L.A. Williams -- Speed Force
Waid & Wieringo -- Creators

Max can't hide the fact that this issue's cover, by Van Sciver, Faucher and Martin, is based on 1965's Detective Comics #345's cover by the legendary Carmine Infantino. That is a very famous cover that has been copied many times, and I think it works quite well for this story — it's all about Impulse trying to protect and save Max Mercury. It's a dark and serious cover for an unusually dark and serious Impulse story we'll be starting. But don't worry, there'll be plenty of room for humor here.

Our story begins in Dr. Morlo's lab, where the former mad scientist has set up a special gyro-sphere for Max to run in. Max has allowed Bart to come along with him for this testing, but he doesn't want Morlo to tell the boy the severity of his condition.

So Morlo quietly tells Max that he has lost his connection to the Speed Force, and now whenever he uses his super speed, Max is worsening his condition. Morlo hypothesizes that if they could get Max near the Speed Force, he might be able to reestablish his connection to it. Otherwise, Morlo thinks Max will only have two months to live at the most. Morlo asks if the Flash could take Max to the Speed Force, but Max says Wally's too busy lately (and an editor's note vaguely tells us to check out the current Flash issues). So Morlo suggests having Impulse do it, but Max staunchly refuses this, saying he could never jeopardize Bart's safety for his own purposes.

Frustrated, Morlo begins yelling at Max, telling him to stop playing the selfless hero for once, because he is dying. Bart overhears this, pictures himself standing at Max's grave, and in a panicked voice, demands to know if Max is really dying. Max struggles to answer him, so Bart sadly turns to the doctor. Morlo kindly explains the situation to Bart, adding in that Max is too proud to ask for help. Morlo asks Bart if he'd be willing to help Max, and Bart readily agrees, asking to start helping immediately.

So they put Bart in the gyro-sphere, and, per Morlo's calculations, he's instructed to vibrate his molecules at a certain frequency, while accelerating to 88 Morlomiles per second. (I don't know what a Morlomile is, but I do appreciate the Back to the Future nod.) Bart gives it his best shot, but he's simply unable to maintain the necessary frequency. Max tells Morlo that they can't ask Bart to do something he's simply incapable of doing, and Morlo sadly realizes Max is right. Bart keeps trying though, but after a while, Max gets him to stop by saying, "Bart. It's okay ..." Bart sadly comes out of the gyro-sphere and gives Max an emotional hug.

Morlo takes Max into the next room to discuss other possibilities, such as looking at ways to slow down the deterioration process. But Bart stays behind, and once the others have left, he says aloud, "I can do it ... I will do it." Demonstrating an unprecedented resolve, Bart rearranges Morlo's computer monitors so he can see them while in the sphere. He hops in, and actually does a really good job — getting up to 87 Morlomiles per second — before he notices that he left the sphere door open. Bart is shot out of the sphere and bounces around the lab like a pinball.

Once Bart stops bouncing, he gathers himself up to see that something he hit has unleashed a huge lobster monster in the lab. (It's this monster's shadow we saw on this cover and in last issue.) Morlo and Max hear the commotion and come running. Morlo explains that the monster, the mudbug, is from another dimension and Bart must have ruptured the containment chamber keeping it there. The mudbug is surprisingly fast, and it takes a swipe at Bart's head with its razor-sharp claws. Bart shouts, "Hey!! Watch it!! That's my hair!!! That's like my trademark or something ..."

The mudbug then takes a swipe at Max, and Bart is shocked to see Max is completely unable to run away. So Bart grabs Max and Morlo and safely places them in the gyro-sphere, while Morlo begs Bart not to hurt the mudbug. So Bart starts to think of the best way to battle this creature, while he tries to dodge its attacks. Bart figures he should do something about those claws, and he pictures placing rubber bands around them. But then this makes Bart think about cooking and eating the mudbug like a lobster, and he decides that's too much thinking.

And sure enough, that really was too much thinking, because it distracted Bart long enough for the mudbug to land a heavy blow on the speedster and send him flying into the wall. When Bart pulls himself up, he sees the mudbug has turned its attention back toward Max, and now has him in its claw, with only the shell of the sphere preventing Max from being sliced in half. But the sphere is cracking, and Max is in incredible pain. Bart slowly comes to his senses, processes the feelings of fear and love that come from seeing his father figure in peril, then charges at the mudbug, shouting, "Get your claws off him, you darned dirty lobster!!!" Bart hits the mudbug at incredible speed and manages to push it back through the inter-dimensional rift. Unfortunately, Bart falls into the rift right behind the monster.

Morlo and Max stare at the rift in disbelief for a moment. They each struggle to find the words to console each other, pointing out that Bart had returned to the sphere in another effort to pass the test. Suddenly, Impulse comes crashing out of the rift. He's a bit disoriented, but otherwise seems fine. Max gives him a big hug, and Morlo reports that the mudbug caused minor damage to his lab. He says he'll handle the cleanup, and sends Max and Bart home, telling Max to get plenty of rest. And once his guests are gone, Morlo seems genuinely sad to have lost his connection to the mudbug.

Bart carries Max home, and Max thanks him for all he did today. But Max asks Bart to keep all this a secret from Helen for now, and Bart agrees. He walks in the front door, sees Helen has Matt Ringer over, so he quickly changes out of his Impulse uniform before Helen's new boyfriend can notice. Bart's dog greets him with some suspicious sniffing and slight growling, and Helen asks what's wrong with him. Bart says he must be smelling the other dog he stopped to pet on the way home, and Max realizes that Bart is smoothly referring to the mudbug without revealing his secret identity to Matt. Helen then escorts her boyfriend home, and Max tells Bart that they're going to have to be more careful now with Matt hanging around more often. As the dog continues to growl at Bart, he says, "Yeah ... that's for sure ... !"


And so begins what is possibly the biggest event to occur exclusively in the pages of Impulse. And what a great way to start! This issue had tons of emotion, some great action and just enough humor to remind us all that this is still Impulse. One great aspect of this issue is that it's the culmination of a storyline that began nearly two years ago in Impulse #44. Max's health has been struggling for a long time now, and he's finally at the point where he can't keep it from Bart. And Bart's reaction to this bad news was so sweet and pure. He wants to do everything he can to help Max, and it breaks his heart that he's failed so far. And, of course, there's a whole other element woven into this story, but I'll save that surprise for when we get to it.

This issue marked the return of Ethan Van Sciver, who took off the past four issues, presumably to get a head start on Mercury Falling. Curiously, though, his usual inker, Prentis Rollins, was replaced by longtime Impulse inker Barbara Kaalberg. Whatever the reason for this, the end result was great. Van Sciver's level of detail and emotional expressions were sorely missed.

Impulse Reactions begins with Wes Wesovich confessing that he fell behind on the series during William Messner-Loebs' run, and he wasn't too impressed with Todd Dezago's new direction. But he was won over with issues #57 and #58, which he felt brought back a sense of the book's different generations.

Zenobia Simmons, of Jersey City, N.J., really enjoyed the day-in-a-life story for Max since it showed him as a real person with heartaches. Zenobia also likes the ongoing story of Max's injuries because it makes him three-dimensional.

Mart praises the fill-in team, especially for the Old West sequence. He also called the backup story "very refreshing," and specifically mentioned Janice Chiang for managing three very distinctive style of lettering in the comic.

Jeff Carter called issue #58 a fun "break" issue, praising Craig Rousseau's cover and the backup feature of Bart being sick. Jeff also laments the shrinking letters page in DC comics. L.A. says the length of the letter columns is beyond his control, but he assures readers that every letter sent to DC is read, even if it's not printed. Now for the new ads:

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Saving the world before bedtime! The Powerpuff Girls. Take home the action on video today!

Where have all the cookies gone? Hershey's Cookies 'n' Creme.

Pokémon The First Movie. For the first time on television!

Next time, the Young Justice vacation continues in Young Justice #22.