The Flash #139

The Black Flash: Part 1 The Late Wally West

Mark Millar • Writer
Pop Mhan • Penciller
Chris Ivy • Inker
Gaspar • Letterer
Tom McCraw • Colorist
L.A. Williams • Asst. Editor
Paul Kupperberg • Editor

The cover by Steve Lightle shows Linda Park being struck by lightning, much to the horror of her boyfriend, Wally West. The attempt at shock and sentiment is there, but it misses the mark in my book. It's just too busy and cluttered of an image, with an odd color palette and sloppy pencils.

Our story begins four hours to the death of the Flash, with Max Mercury trying to take a group photo of Jay Garrick, Jesse Quick, Wally, Linda, and Impulse. The occasion is the wedding anniversary of Bart's grandparents, Barry and Iris Allen, and on this emotional day, Iris decided to interrupted her self-imposed exile for a picnic with friends and family. Max wants to preserve the moment on his "Pauloroid" camera, but Bart got distracted by some ants.

As you can see, Bart has finally given up on trying to keep his head shaved. But even with his heightened metabolism, it'll still take a while to get his hair back to what it used to be. Max persuades Bart to try to hold still for one pico-second so he can take another picture, which Bart also ruins when he finds a quarter. Linda asks Max if Bart has worn down the patience of the Zen Master of Speed, but Max says Bart is actually making great progress, despite all appearances.

Bart then rushes Linda back inside to play some video games before he has to return to school, while Wally tries to convince Iris to come to more get-togethers. But Iris is worried she'll one day drink too much wine and accidentally reveal secrets from the future that could have untold consequences. Linda then gets a call from the station about Captain Cold offering an exclusive interview. So she takes off, confirming her dinner plans with Wally. As everyone leaves, a sudden downpour hits, which only seems to worry Wally. Jay is too busy asking when Wally's going to finally marry Linda, and Max seems oddly transfixed by the group photo he took.

Three hours to the death of the Flash, the original Flash is tracking down some criminals on motorcycles in Japantown, San Francisco. The current Flash unexpectedly joins Jay, just as it begins to snow even more unexpectedly. The two speedsters make quick work of the crooks, and Wally reveals his motivation behind tracking down Jay. His recent race across the cosmos gave Wally a new perspective on life, and he has decided to propose to Linda that night. Wally asks Jay how he's able to juggle being a superhero and a husband, and Jay basically tells him to not live his life in fear and do the best he can.

Two hours to the death of the Flash, Wally goes on a worldwide patrol, helping people wherever he can, while also noticing odd weather patterns everywhere: monsoons in Nevada, snow in Rio de Janeiro, and high temperatures in the Yukon. So Flash finally decides to take a serious look into this odd weather, and gets to work on the computers in the JLA Watchtower. With the help of Oracle, Wally is able to pinpoint the source of the disturbances — just outside of Mogadishu, Somalia. Using the satellites to zoom in on the scene, Wally sees none other than the Weather Wizard at the heart of all this.

One hour to the death of the Flash, Max Mercury interrupts Jesse Chambers at QuickStart Enterprises. As usual, Jesse is quite busy and a bit annoyed, but Max insists she look at the picture he took of Wally earlier that day. At first, Jesse thinks there's just a black smudge on the print behind Wally, but Max shows her the last photographs taken of her father, Johnny Quick, and of Barry Allen, and both speedsters had identical black streaks behind them. Max believes this is a sign that Wally's going to die tonight. He explains that the Indians taught him about the Slow Lightning or Black Flash, the personification of death for all speedsters, and Max says he even saw it once when he had a near-death experience. Ever the avid student of the Speed Force, Jesse readily believes Max and cancels all her meetings so she can help him save Wally.

At the death of the Flash, Wally breaks the Weather Wizard's nose and prepares to snap his wand in half. But Weather Wizard explains he wasn't hurting anyone — he was only trying to grow some vegetation in the desert. He acknowledges his experiment caused some strange weather around the globe, but he knows it wasn't anything big enough to kill people, something he's vowed never to do again since his trip to the underworld. Weather Wizard then convinces Flash to put on the finishing touches of his experiment by using his wand to think of sunny thoughts. Sure enough, when Flash uses the wand, the weather calms down, and a huge field of wheat springs up in what was once a desert.

So Wally rushes back to Keystone City for his important dinner date with Linda. But Jesse and Max intercept him along the way. Wally's a bit mad about being late, so Max pulls out the photo to explain. However, the black blur behind Wally has disappeared, leading Max to believe that whatever they interrupted Wally from saved his life. Wally says he was supposed to meet with Linda 30 seconds ago, and everyone silently realizes that whatever was supposed to kill Wally is likely to put Linda in danger.

We see Linda waiting for Wally in the rain. There's a flash of lightning, and Linda sees the face of the Black Flash. Wally, Max and Jesse race there as fast as they can, but they're too late. All that remains of Linda is a smoking section of pavement where she stood, and Wally falls to his knees shouting her name.


And thus begins one of the bigger, more interesting chapters in Wally's career. It is interesting to note that Grant Morrison has stepped away from the title for whatever reason, making this solely a Mark Millar story. And he certainly has turned on the drama. I mean, Linda Park just died! But the story is far from perfect. I felt the Weather Wizard stuff was a worthless diversion, and the timing of the countdown was way off. Wally was supposed to die/meet with Linda at 8 p.m., and the story began four hours earlier, at 4 p.m. So there shouldn't have been any talk of rushing Bart back to school — he should have already been done for the day. And later, Wally finds out Weather Wizard is causing the disturbances at about 6 p.m., but takes almost two hours to confront him. Did he decide to catch a movie on the way?

And I was very glad that Pop Mhan drew Impulse with short hair, but he and Millar really made Impulse look and act like someone half his age. I know he's easily distracted, but playing with ants? And later, he's seen making sick faces behind Wally kissing Linda. C'mon, Bart's 14, not 7! And come to think of it, why was everyone wearing their superhero uniforms at the picnic anyway? And where was Jay's wife, Joan? All these little complaints combined with the lackluster art really put a damper one what should have been an amazing, exciting issue.

I only have the digital version of this comic, so there's no letters to the editor or ads this time. Next time, we'll return to the main series with Impulse #39.

Green Lantern Secret Files and Origins #1

Guy Talk

Ron Marz Writer
Lee Moder Pencils
Dan Davis Inks
Tom McCraw Colors
Chris Eliopoulos Letters
Dana Kurtin Hostess
Kevin Dooley Bartender

The cover is by Gil Kane, Kevin Nolan and Digital Chameleon. It shows the three biggest Green Lanterns — Alan Scott, Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner. It's an OK image, but not a particularly striking one. The first inside page is a much cooler shot of just Hal and Kyle, and it looks like it could have been drawn by Todd Nauck, but I'm not sure.

Like all the other Secret Files and Origins issues, this 64-page issue is full of all sorts of goodies: Profiles Pages for each Green Lantern and their major villains, a couple of backup stories, a timeline and an "interview." The only extra of any note is the Profile Page for the last Guardian, Ganthet, which is drawn by Craig Rousseau. But all we're worried about here is the 26-page main story, which features a very quick shot of Impulse.

Our story puts us in Guy Gardner's bar, Warriors, just as he's cleaning up. Even though it's past closing time, the former Green Lantern can't resist the urge to tell the whole story of all the Green Lanterns. He starts with Alan Scott, then moves on to Hal Jordan, himself, John Stewart, and finally the current and only Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner. And he's the only one we're interested in.

Kyle's story begins with Hal's fall into madness and transformation into Parallax. When Parallax destroyed the Guardians and Oa, one of them, Ganthet, managed to survive and create one last ring. Ganthet tried to give the ring to Guy, but he had felt unappreciated by the Green Lantern Corps and turned him down. So Ganthet gave the ring to Kyle Rayner, who established himself as the new Green Lantern. He helped stand up to Parallax in Zero Hour, and later joined the New Teen Titans with Impulse, Arsenal, Terra, Damage, and Donna Troy, who was his girlfriend for a bit.

Kyle then graduated to the Justice League of America not long after the Titans disbanded. With the JLA, Kyle fights alongside the Flash, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, Batman, Aquaman, Superman and Martian Manhunter. Guy Gardner finishes his story by telling how Hal Jordan redeemed himself during Final Night and died reigniting the sun. Guy then reveals a new painting of all five Green Lanterns, which he calls "Five Regular Guys."


So there you have it. Not a lot to say here, since this isn't a Green Lantern blog, but I was very happy to see that not everyone has forgotten about Impulse's short stay on the Titans. And it is nice to see Impulse next to that group and not be drawn like he had 200 extra pounds of muscle.

There aren't any editor's notes or letters, but there are a few new ads:

Thirst no more. Coca-Cola.

Imagine you're Batman and you've been thrown into a world of broken bones and twisted minds. Welcome to the nightmare. Legends of the Dark Knight action figures.

We're giving away 100,000 special edition Daytona USA Deluxe PC racing games. After all, the object of racing is to win, isn't it? Skittles.

Even the most powerful man alive is still just a man. Superman For All Seasons. Written by Jeph Loeb. Illustrated by Tim Sale. This is one of the better Superman stories that everybody needs to read.

Fruitopia Peachberry Quencher. If you fold A to B you get an image of the bottle.

Crunch it while you can! Oops! All Berries.

Watch This Space once again has nothing interesting to say. Just some fun Batman costumes for Halloween.

JNCO shoes and a new comic book series.

Milk. Where's your mustache? With Sarah Michelle Gellar, star of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. But this ad didn't seem to have the rights to mention the show, and only referred to "the undead" instead of vampires.

Next time, Impulse will make another guest appearance in The Flash #139.

Impulse #38

Rising Waters

A WGBS Report.
A Paul Kupperberg production.
Bill Messner-Loebs / Writer
Craig Rousseau / Cameraman
Barbara Kaalberg / Lighting
Tom McCraw / Color Technician
Chris Eliopoulos / Text Graphics
L.A. Williams / Assistant Editor

Our cover by Craig Rousseau and Wayne Faucher shows a still-bald Impulse having some fun with the flooding in Manchester. Cowabunga was still cool in 1998, right? This is a very fun and light-hearted cover, but as Impulse will quickly learn inside, a massive flood hitting his hometown isn't all fun and games.

Our story begins with Dave Trimble reporting live from Manchester, Alabama, which is frantically trying to protect itself from the incoming flood. The whole town has come out to stack sandbags along the Warrior River, led by Impulse and Max Mercury, who have worked nonstop for two days. Trimble reports that the Justice League is busy battling monsters in San Francisco, and we even see a clip of Superman, Flash and Martian Manhunter in action.

After delivering his report, Trimble opts to stay behind and help out, although the mayor of Manchester is a bit perturbed that he referred to their city as a "sleepy Southern village." Trimble tries to explain that's just the world of TV, then asks the mayor for an update. He says a couple of nearby towns have already been evacuated, and the water's rising a couple of inches each hour, meaning the sandbags won't hold for much longer. The mayor also has insisted that Max Mercury and Impulse rest 10 minutes every hour, since they've been working so hard. It's on one of these breaks where Max reveals how tired he is by almost calling Impulse Bart. And Bart learns that his hyper metabolism won't let him stay bald for too long. Luckily, though, he came prepared and give himself a quick buzz.

Max realizes they need a new plan, because all they're doing right now is wearing themselves out. Bart then gets a great idea to build a dam and turn the river into a lake, but Max points out that said lake would put the towns north of Manchester under water. Bart wishes there was a nearby place that really needed water, but then he realized there is such a place. And without telling Max this plan, he takes off and runs on the river fast enough to create a waterspout. He then drags the waterspout with him to the desert of Texas to let the dry sands soak up the water.

Pleased by the success of his plan, Impulse makes 200 trips before before becoming exhausted and soaked. Max comes to check on him, and Bart says, "Hero ... going splorch ..." Max says he proud of Bart for having a plan and trying hard, but he reports that his efforts have only lowered the waterline about 2 inches, and now the Texas desert is getting more water than it can handle. So the two speedsters return to Manchester to resume their sandbagging duties.

School counselor Jasper Pierson makes himself useful by blowing whistles to keep people on track, even though Evil Eye thinks he's a dweeb. Preston and Carol are shocked to see the recently acquitted toxic waste dumpers have stayed behind to help out, and are even working side-by-side with the cops who arrested them, the prosecutor and the judge. Evil Eye is also shocked to see the dumpers' lawyer is also here, speculating he must have been paid to stay in town. Carol tells him that's a horrible thing to say, and he should be glad to see people put aside their differences to help out. But Evil Eye insists it doesn't matter anyway, saying only the greatest superhero ever could save them now, but who'd want to waste their time on such a junky little town. At these words, Roland suddenly gets an idea and rushes off, saying he has to call his grandmother.

Back on sandbagging duty, Impulse and Max meet Dave Trimble, whom Max accuses of implying that he's Impulse's sidekick. Trimble remarks on how sensitive everyone is, and says Max should be glad he doesn't have to worry about super villains right now. This gives Max an idea, and he asks Trimble to give him a direct link to the station. We then see that Roland, who has a Buzz Lightyear in his room, didn't go to call his grandma after all. Instead, he wrote an email to Charles Runk, aka the Chunk. Roland begged his hero to come save his town, and offered his entire college savings — $2,000 — plus free yard work.

Max then gets on TV with a special message for super villains. He speaks of how desperate Manchester is right now, and says he'll offer temporary immunity from arrest to all criminals who come out to help fight the flood. His message is heard by Dr. Morlo, the Transparent Weapon, the Glory Shredder, White Lightning and her mom, and many others. The mayor is furious with Max for offering such a deal, but Max gives him a phone number that confirms he does indeed have such authority. We don't know who was on the other end of that phone, but it was someone pretty big to get the mayor to shut up so quick. Impulse, however, is also mad at Max, saying he can't invite "thieves and monsters and ... carpetbaggers and murderers" into his town. But Max points out that all those people already live here, and he's just making them earn their keep. But Impulse still isn't convinced, believing asking for help from your enemies makes you look weak and stupid.

The first villains to show up are Gerald Dunsany's secret agents. They introduce themselves as Olson and Johnson and tell Max he never saw them there. They're immediately followed by the Transparent Weapon, the Song of Justice, the Spazz, and several other villains I don't recognize — I think one of them may have been the clown Impulse, Max and Jesse Quick fought during Genesis. Impulse points out the Transparent Weapon, and Evil Eye goes out of his way to say he's never seen him before. Dr. Augustus Morlo soon arrives, as well as a new villain called the Green Cigarette, a constantly coughing man whose head is an eternal green flame.

Impulse keeps a wary eye on the villains, and Carol wonders why the Transparent Weapon thinks being invisible will help him stack sandbags faster. The Song of Justice comes up with an inventive solution — using her harp to create huge water people to stack sandbags. Dr. Morlo has created a chemical atomic destabilizer that will break the water down to its basic, gaseous elements. Impulse takes the large purple tablet to drop in the middle of the river, while the Green Cigarette contributes by drying people's shoes. When Morlo's tablet dissolves, it turns a big chunk of water into oxygen and hydrogen, and creates a fairly large explosion that knocks Impulse off his feet. White Lightning dives in after him, and Impulse calls her Moonshine. She corrects him, then is shocked when the invisible hand of the Transparent Weapon pulls her out.

As Helen Claiborne works alongside her dad, David, Impulse regroups with Max and wonders how he'll ever be able to fight the two villains who saved his life. Max explains that most criminals start out with a little decency, but they changed when life threw them a curveball. Bart thinks this is bogus. To him, right is right and wrong is wrong. Bart says that Max traveled through time for years and he never became a criminal, but Max asks, "Whatever gave you that idea?"

But Bart and Manchester have more immediate concerns. Despite the town's best efforts, the water continues to rise and the sandbag wall begins to break down. The mayor is just about to give the evacuation order, when a helicopter for Runk Enterprises Ltd. arrives. The Chunk himself emerges, but the mayor knows Manchester can't afford his usual fee — he charged $1 billion to clean up the Gulf War. He starts to negotiate with the hero, but Chunk says his fee has already been paid, giving a nod to Roland, and adding that he's a sucker for yard work. Chunk lets Roland help him as he sucks up all the extra water and dumps it on a planet of water several dimensions away. Chunk knows that someday, someone will be willing to pay handsomely for that water, and he asks Roland if he can clip his hedges into swans with a wink.

In the end, David Trimble gives a final report on how heroes and villains came together to combat the natural disaster. And Trimble is careful to refer to Manchester as a "tiny bustling dynamo of a town" instead of a "sleepy Southern village." During the cleanup, the clerk from Pete's overhears Olson and Johnson discuss some high-tech, possibly illegal equipment, and the humble, foreign clerk reveals a keen scientific mind as he joins their conversation. But when he's met only by death stares, he takes the hint pretty quickly and backs away.


This was a great issue for several reasons. First was all the cameos! Anyone who was anyone in the world of Impulse got to show up here, which was fantastic. And I love how Messner-Loebs found an unbeatable problem for our hero — a rather simple, common natural disaster. But a natural disaster so large, it accomplished what many disasters are able to do, which is unite people. In the face of such all-encompassing calamity, people are able to put aside petty differences and come together for their fellow man. And this provided an excellent lesson for Impulse to learn: The world isn't always a simple black-and-white. All in all, I think this single issue is the perfect embodiment of Messner-Loebs' run on Impulse. The focus was on Impulse learning a lesson on humanity rather than saving the day in the traditional way. And these life lessons are taught with plenty of sweet humor. Plus, Messner-Loebs got to use Chunk, one of his creations from his run on The Flash. And, as promised, Messner-Loebs did clarify that White Lightning's name is not Moonshine. He didn't explain why Impulse thought it was, but whatever. At least the mistake was acknowledged and corrected.

After 37 issues with a nameless letter column, assistant editor L.A. Williams comes in and slaps a name on it on his first try — Impulsive Reactions, which I believe was one of the many suggestions over the years. L.A. also introduces The Big Salute Box, to thank Paul Kupperberg for hiring him, and This School Rocks Box, to give Fordham University a shoutout.

Zenobia Simmons, of New York, wasn't a normal DC reader, but was recommended Impulse and loved the artwork, characters and storyline enough to keep reading.

Debbie Wilson, of Bronx, New York, calls Impulse the perfect Generation X hero — someone who's totally into his life but not too caught up in it to prevent him from doing good. Debbie did, however, have a problem with Impulse #34, believing a simple fly-swat shouldn't be strong enough to propel the characters into an alternate future.

Jennifer Continua, of Ellwood City, Penn., praises the covers of Impulse and asks for either a Max Mercury miniseries or an appearance in the Legends of the DCU series. L.A. says there are no plans for Max in Legends of the DCU, but Max will continue to appear in Impulse, The Flash and the upcoming Flash Giant. Now for the ads:

Penny Hardaway says: "It takes one heck of a game to get me ... this bent out of shape!" It's the new Penny 1-on-1 Hoop Game! Basically just a cardboard cutout of Penny Hardaway in select boxes of Post cereal. You were supposed to use a real penny as a basketball and flick the cardboard Hardaway back to shoot. This ad was not licensed by the NBA, so Penny's wearing a plain white uniform instead of his usual Orlando Magic duds. And sadly, this ad was made around the same time the real Penny was bent out of shape, of sorts. The 1997-98 season was the last year he made the All-Star team and suffered a career-altering injury that limited him to just 19 games and 16.4 points per game.

Give history a wedgie. Rascal 3-D Action Adventure Game for PlayStation.

Guess why Alpha-Bits just got frosted? We fell into a birthday cake? Went mountain climbing in Tibet? Took a cruise to Alaska? Somebody forgot to close the fridge door? Polar beer licked us? We just taste awesome, why else?!!

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

Are you dangerously cheesy? A Cheetos "quiz" that's basically rigged to give kids a perfect score of the King of Cool.

New great taste, more golden color. Cap'n Crunch.

Find Ernie lost in time. Play the instant win game from Keebler to win a trip for four to Orlando.

Next time, Impulse will make a very quick cameo in Green Lantern Secret Files and Origins #1.

Young Justice: The Secret #1

Writer – Todd Dezago
Pencils – Todd Nauck
Inks – Lary Stucker
Colors – Jason Wright
Seps – Digital Chameleon
Letters – Ken Lopez
Assoc. Editor – Dana Kurtin
Editor – Eddie Berganza

Our cover by Leonard Kirk is a simple, yet effective image. I really like the colors and even the fonts used. It's a very clean, minimalist look, and I truly do enjoy it despite a couple of complaints. My first complaint is that Todd Nauck, who drew the inside pages, did not get to draw the cover, giving readers a taste of what's to come. My second complaint is that this cover buries the lede. This monumental issue is the first official adventure of Robin, Superboy and Impulse, and nowhere on the cover is this idea conveyed.

I do know that this issue was part of DC's Girlfrenzy! event, which put the spotlight on its female characters. But I think it's rather odd that one of those Girlfrenzy! issues tied in to a series that didn't exist yet and focused on a completely brand new character. And who is that mysterious girl on the purple cover? Well, it's kind of a secret ... or should I say The Secret?

This special standalone issue can be pretty tough to find. Luckily, it is available digitally, but not by itself. It's collected with two other rare Young Justice standalones in DC Comics Presents: Young Justice #2 with this cover:

Oddly, this was originally the cover for Young Justice #18 (drawn by Nauck), which is not included in this 100-page Spectacular. I guess the marketing team felt this was the best cover that showed (most of) the team. But I'm getting way ahead of myself! Young Justice hasn't even been formed yet! So let's take a look at how it got started.

Our story begins with Robin being interrogated by person or persons unknown. Apparently the Boy Wonder and his "friends" have participated in quite the event and have managed to anger all the wrong people. So Robin tells his story, saying it started the night before when he noticed a military convoy slinking through Gotham in the middle of the night. The next night, Robin heard on the news about a major evacuation in upstate New York, so he decided to go check it out. To Robin's surprise, Superboy and Impulse also arrived on the scene — Superboy saying he saw it on CNN, Impulse on MTV News.

The three young heroes soon attracted the attention of the U.S. Army and the D.E.O. (Department of Extranormal Operations). Robin tentatively offered to help, and the D.E.O.'s Dr. Charles reluctantly agreed. He told the boys the D.E.O. was in the process of transferring a dangerous gaseous subject from their downstate location to their Wabe Facility in the Adirondacks. But a mishap occurred, creating the smallest of fissures in the subject's containment unit, and she was free. Charles told the boys the creature killed several of his men and escaped into the wilderness. He said they evacuated the neighboring town to protect it from the creature that is more deadly than any disease — more lethal than any virus — and angry.

We then cut to Superboy's interrogation, where he explains that the head army guy, Lutwidge, did not share Dr. Charles' faith in the young heroes. So Lutwidge gave the boys two hours, saying he'd call in an air strike after that, whether they were still in the town or not. So Superboy, Robin and Impulse rushed into the deserted town, which Superboy described as emptier than a showing of The Postman (one of the biggest movie flops of 1997). Impulse volunteered to canvas the whole area in a couple of seconds, but Robin asked, "And then what?"

When Impulse wasn't able to come up with an answer, Robin lectures the group, saying they need to form a plan like the Justice League would. In his interview, Superboy says he volunteered to do a quick flyover, but really it was Robin's idea, and he really had to twist Superboy's arm to get him to do it. Robin wanted Superboy to fly, since that would be stealthier than letting the Tasmanian devil that is Impulse out in the open. In the meantime, Robin told Impulse to go to the D.E.O. compound, which Impulse did ... before realizing he didn't stick around long enough to hear the rest of Robin's instructions. After he came back and learned what he needed to do, Superboy joked that if and when they join the Justice League, they'll be Impulse's parents rather than teammates. The Robin and Superboy teased each other about which one of them would be the mom.

We then cut to Impulse's interrogation, where Bart is already bored of telling the story. He's slouching in his chair and asking if he can go. But a stern voice orders him to sit up, and reminds him of the severity of the situation. So Impulse obediently continues the story, saying Robin sent him off to retrieve a containment unit, which Impulse did ... only he missed the part where the D.E.O. worker said the canister was defective.

After Impulse smugly delivered the containment unit, Superboy returned from his scouting mission, saying he's found the perfect spot for them to survey the town. After flying Robin and Impulse up to the top of the hill, Robin diagrammed a plan of attack in the dirt. Finally, Impulse was given the go-ahead to canvass the town as fast as he could. And sure enough, he found the gaseous monster in the cemetery.

After spotting the creature, Robin and Superboy flew down to join Impulse, who whipped up a quick vortex to suck up the creature, while Superboy manned the containment unit, keeping it steady with his tactile telekinesis. In his interview, Robin explains that he was counting on Superboy's invulnerability and Impulse's speed to protect them from the poison. Luckily, everything went according to plan, and the subject was soon captured in the canister.

Robin, Superboy and Impulse all tell their interviewers they didn't notice anything strange about the subject once it was captured, but in fact, they did. The monster transformed into the girl on the cover, begging the boys to free her. She told them that she's been a ward of the D.E.O. for as long as she can remember, constantly being observed and resented for her powers. She said she was able to escape her room, and witnessed the D.E.O. performing horrible experiments on other children with powers. And when she was discovered, the D.E.O. prepared to send her to the Wabe, a place the girl knew subjects don't return from.

The boys held a quick conference to discuss this latest development, and Superboy was reluctant to trust her, believing the monster could be disguising itself. But Robin remembered how Dr. Charles inadvertently referred to the subject as "she." Robin also pointed out how odd it was that so few of the soldiers were wearing HAZMAT suits if they were supposed to be tracking a dangerous and poisonous creature. As the young heroes talked, the girl escaped the defective containment unit, but didn't leave. She explained that she wanted to gain their trust.

The girl apologized for initially appearing as a monster, explaining she was scared of Dr. Charles. She said the scientist would claim to mix her with oxygen to calm her down, but would really use potassium chloride to render her inert. Impulse asked what "inert" means, and Superboy tactlessly said it means "dead." This caused the girl to break into tears, and Robin tried to comfort her, but found his hand passed right through her shoulder.

Impulse tells the interviewers that after capturing the subject, they promptly handed the cylinder over to Dr. Charles. As soon as doing so, he hooked up the container to a machine and told the boys he was going to suffuse the subject with oxygen. Impulse asked him if this was to render it inert, but Charles explained it was to make it unconscious. But once the machine pumped in the oxygen, it created a huge explosion. Impulse and Superboy were able to save the people closest to the blast, and Dr. Charles was unable to explain what happened.

What really happened was Robin popped a couple of his smoke capsules in the canister, while the girl hid safely in a water bottle. After convincing the D.E.O. and Army the "subject" had exploded, the heroes returned to the cemetery, where the girl rejoiced in her freedom. Impulse asked her what her name is, but she said she didn't know, and hoped to learn it as she explored the world. As she took off, Robin told Superboy and Impulse she can only remain free as long as she stays "dead." So they vow to keep it among themselves — a Secret. And in their interrogations, each boy officially says the subject was killed in the explosion.

We then cut to the JLA Watchtower on the moon, where Superman, Max Mercury, Flash and Batman (via video conference) discuss their proteges' predicament. Flash suggests they report to the D.E.O. that the boys have been debriefed and their stories are consistent — the subject's death was accidental and the D.E.O. can't be held responsible for it. Superman asks whether they should be suspicious, and Max says he trusts Robin and Superboy, so he's satisfied. Batman says he doesn't trust the D.E.O., but he does trust the kids, and says they must have a good reason if they're somehow unable to tell the whole truth. After all, Batman reminds them, they all have their little secrets.


So there you have it — the first official adventure of Robin, Superboy and Impulse! They've met each other individually, and in big groups, but never have they had a whole mission all to themselves like this. The fans had been clamoring for this exact team-up for years, and as this issue shows, those fans were right to clamor. Todd Dezago proved that these three characters make the perfect combination in terms of power-set, personality, and comedy. And it helps so much to have the wonderful art of Todd Nauck. Like Humberto Ramos, he has the perfect style for this type of story — something cartoony enough to allow for the goofiest of jokes, but also grounded and detailed enough to incorporate action scenes and serious moments. We have begun an exciting new chapter in Impulse's history.

This issue is also notable for being the first appearance of Secret. She will later become a major character in the upcoming Young Justice series. Sadly, she only appeared in one episode of the Young Justice animated series, but I guess one episode is better than none. That episode is called "Secrets," but I recommend reading a few issues of the comic book series first so you can find out who Secret really is.

I'm a bit disappointed this issue doesn't include any kind of editor's note to hype up Young Justice or something. However, we do get this fun house ad for JLA: World Without Grown-Ups #1, drawn by a familiar name — Humberto Ramos.

Other ads include:

1080º Snowboarding for Nintendo 64.

No points to collect. The Coca-Cola card.

Yabba Dabba Doom. The Dark Knight now on Cartoon Network. Batman: The Animated Series, aka the greatest superhero cartoon ever.

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Get in touch with your dark side. Batman & Robin for PlayStation.

A contest through Spree candy to win a trip for four to Hollywood, Disneyland and a camcorder.

The Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art.

JNCO "Crimescene" 50-inch bottom jeans.

Destroy all expectations. Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. Rent it now!

Next time, we'll return to the main series — where Impulse is still bald! — in Impulse #38.

The Flash #138

The Human Race: Part 3 Home Run

Grant Morrison & Mark Millar ... Writers
Ron Wagner ... Penciller
John Nyberg ... Inker
Gaspar ... Letterer
Tom McCraw ... Colorist
L.A. Williams ... Asst. Editor
Paul Kupperberg ... Editor

The cover by Steve Lightle is rather vague and doesn't represent the story inside very well, in my opinion. I'm not sure what's supposed to going on with the Flash, but that furry little creature dying on the ground is Krakkl, a being composed of radio waves. So he's not supposed to be furry, but more staticy. Altogether, this cover confuses and depresses me.

Our story begins with Linda Park broadcasting a message across the world. Her boyfriend, Wally West, is trapped in a race through space and time, and he needs every the help of every man, woman and child to add to his speed by running along with him. Linda is connected to Wally through a headset, and after she makes the initial announcement, he comes in to confirm what she's said and offer words of encouragement to all the planet's racers. Even the inmates of Keystone Prison are let out into the yard to run, and the Justice League makes an appearance in New York to run alongside everyone else.

We then find out why Wally made this unusual request. Apparently he has been forced into a race by a couple of cosmic gamblers — all powerful beings set on destroying the loser's home world. Flash is racing against Krakkl, from the radio wave planet of Kwyzz. Fearing he will eventually lose, and trusting Wally, Krakkl reveals to him that he's been cheating by collecting the kinetic energy of his planet. But Krakkl knows he and his people can't keep running forever, so he teaches Wally his trick, in hopes that he'll figure out a way to outwit the cosmic gamblers.

The gigantic gamblers grant Wally and Krakkl a small break to eat some food. Flash uses this opportunity to open a new wager with the gamblers, betting that he can make it back to Earth faster than they can teleport there. Unable to pass up a bet, the gamblers agree, although they set the stakes. If Wally beats them to Earth, they will spare the planet, but destroy Kwyzz. Krakkl is understandably upset by this proposition, but Wally asks him to trust him.

Wally then cues Linda to tell everyone on Earth to start running. Fueled by the kinetic energy of 5 billion running people, the Flash begins his race against the cosmic gambler. Somehow, Wally is able to follow the stream from his headset to Linda's in order to escape the fourth dimension and return to his world. To Wally's surprise, Krakkl joins him in the race, saying that even with his whole world behind him, he's still not fast enough. So Krakkl gives his speed to Wally, sacrificing himself with the hope that Wally will be able to save Kwyzz. But Wally recognizes that he's still not fast enough, even after Krakkl's added speed. So he cues his secret weapon, the five fastest people alive — Superman, Jay Garrick, Impulse, Max Mercury and Jesse Quick.

Their added speed is enough to put Wally over the top, and he soon arrives on Earth with septo-seconds to spare. This is more than enough time for Wally to enact the second phase of his plan: tuning every radio he can to Frequency X, the frequency on which Kwyzz exists. The cosmic gambler soon arrives, recognizes Flash as the winner, and prepares to destroy Kwyzz. But Wally points out he can't do that without destroying Earth as well, since the planet Kwyzz now occupies the same space as Earth. The cosmic gamblers are entities of their word, and they leave without further trouble, as everyone on Earth, including the invisible natives of Kwyzz, celebrate the Flash's victory.

Flash then retells the story to a random fourth grade class — I guess he had been scheduled to talk to them before this whole thing started. I don't know why he chose to speak to a small class of 11 kids rather than address the whole school, but he did. At the end of his visit, the teacher takes a picture of Flash with all the kids on a polaroid camera. But when the photo develops, it shows a mysterious Black Flash standing behind Wally.


This was actually a pretty fun, if abstract issue. It's very Grant Morrison-y, but I think a little bit of Morrison every once in a while is a good thing. And I was surprised with how well I followed the story by only reading the third and final part. I am a little sad that Impulse had such a small role. I also think the order of things should have been adjusted. Flash should have recognized he didn't have enough speed at first, call on the five fastest runners, and still realize he's coming up short. Only after exhausting every available option should Krakkl have come in and sacrificed himself to save the day once and for all.

I only have the digital copy of this issue, so I'll leave you until next time, when we take our first steps toward a most excellent series with Young Justice: The Secret #1.

Impulse #37

Generations of Crime

William Messner-Loebs Writer
Craig Rousseau Penciller
Barbara Kaalberg Inker
Chris Eliopoulos Letterer
Tom McCraw Colorist
L.A. Williams Asst. Editor
Paul Kupperberg Editor
Impulse created by Waid & Wieringo

Our cover by Craig Rousseau and Wayne Faucher shows a rather humorous exchange between Impulse and this month's villain, Glory Shredder. We're seeing more speech bubbles on the cover lately, which I think is a pretty fun thing. And I'm always a fun of the occasional plain white background.

Our story begins with Evil Eye ditching school to serve as lookout while his dad robs a drug store called Pete's. Evil Eye knows there's the chance his dad could get caught again and locked up for 20 years, but as long as he's able to get him some Airflash sneakers, Evil Eye's OK with that risk.

Inside, Evil Eye's dad reveals himself to be the Transparent Weapon, with the ability to make himself invisible. He tries to hold up the store clerk, but he turns out to be a recent immigrant who is thrilled to be see someone with such extraordinary powers. The clerk mistakes the Transparent Weapon for a superhero, and excitedly talks about how he needs to join the Justice League and show off his abilities on Jay Leno, all while Evil Eye's dad is trying to threaten him with a taser. Suddenly, the big buff guy from the cover, the Glory Shredder, shows up and threatens the Transparent Weapon.

Meanwhile, Bart Allen is hanging out with Roland, who's reading the Manchester Courier. The front-page article is about Impulse's recent victory over the Song of Justice, and there are inside articles about the Millennium Giants, the earthquake in Gotham and the destruction of Fairfield. But Roland's most interested in a piece about Charles Runk, aka the Chunk. Like Roland, Chunk is a heavy-set black man, but he's also an ally of the Flash who's a living portal to other dimensions. Roland is inspired by how Chunk uses his powers to help people and make a decent living. But his chat with Bart is interrupted by the sound of gunshots nearby.

We then check in on Max Mercury, who has been talked into trying some yoga with his daughter, Helen Claiborne. Lucky for Max, he doesn't have to sit on his head for too long before the doorbell rings. But when he answers the door, Max becomes face-to-face with his arch-enemy, Dr. Morlo. Morlo casually explains that he escaped prison by hypnotizing the guards, silencing the alarms with time-worms and blowing the locks out with anti-matter. But Morlo says he needs Max's help. His son and grandson live in Manchester, and are both in terrible danger.

So Max invites Morlo inside. But he still doesn't quite trust him, so he warns Helen not to tell him her real name. So she introduces herself as Helitra Busk-Winthrax, aka Moon Girl, strange visitor from another galaxy. She explains that Max found her in a frozen asteroid and is training her to use her awesome moon powers, and now she's fallen in love with Max and hopes to raise a gaggle of little superheroes and heroines with him. At this, Max reluctantly introduces Helen as his idiot daughter, and Morlo says he figured as much.

Max asks Morlo how he found him, and Morlo says it wasn't too difficult. He reminds Max how he sent him mail before their last scuffle, and he's learned that Max is living with a woman who could be his daughter, and a boy who could be his grandson and just happens to be the same age as Impulse. In short, Morlo says he and Max each know each other, and he's only visiting him because the situation is vital. Morlo says he was attacked in his prison cell a week ago by a man called the Glory Shredder.

Back at Pete's, the Glory Shredder has destroyed half the store with "warning shots." The Transparent Weapon tries to turn invisible and sneak away, but he's not quite fast enough. The poor clerk, finally understanding the situation, tries to protect his store by pulling out his small handgun. Glory Shredder mistakes this to be a sign of an inside job, and he turns his massive guns on the clerk. Finally, Impulse arrives to catch all the bullets, which are quite hot.

Impulse then tells Glory Shredder to put the guns away, and he lectures him about not having a plan or thinking. But Glory Shredder says there's so much crime in Manchester because Impulse is a "little wet-eared turncoat" who's protecting the criminals. Impulse calls Glory Shredder immature for resulting to name-calling, and he points out how stupid it is to try to shoot an invisible target. On this, the Glory Shredder agrees, pulling out a handful of fragmentation grenades. Luckily, Impulse is able to take the grenades outside city limits to explode harmlessly.

Meanwhile, Max admits to Morlo that he does know who the Glory Shredder is. He was an old buddy of his during World War II, Sergeant Marvin Tole, who led a special commando unit behind the German lines. But Tole was nearly killed in combat — his body broken and mashed like a turnip. The Nazis found him and used the Ray of Conquest to heal him and supercharge his cells. They tried to give him political reeducation and named him Sergeant Blitzkrieg. But the mind-control didn't take, and Tole soon rejoined the Americans, fighting alongside Max as Sergeant Glory. But after the war, Tole had trouble toning down his violent tendencies, looking for any excuse to launch total war. He renamed himself Glory Shredder, finally pushing Max away with his antisocial behavior. Last Max heard of him, he was working as a mercenary in Bosnia.

Morlo says that Glory Shredder vowed to wipe out his family of criminals, and luckily the prison guards were able to scare him away before he killed Morlo. But Morlo knew it would only be a matter of time before Glory Shredder went after his son and grandson, so he engineered his escape and sought out Max's help. Helen suggests they call the police, but Max knows the Glory Shredder would slaughter the cops. So he presents a plan of patiently monitoring the media and looking for clues. But when he turns on the TV, he immediately finds a news report about Impulse's battle with Glory Shredder.

Meanwhile, Roland, also curious by the shooting at Pete's, has stumbled across Evil Eye, bound and gagged. Roland frees Evil Eye, who quickly tells him about Glory Shredder. But the crazed villain soon pounces on Evil Eye, hoping to lure out his dad by threatening him. Glory Shredder's plan works, as the Transparent Weapon hits him with his taser to protect his son. The taser doesn't do much damage, but Max Mercury soon arrives and begins fighting his old friend, giving the Transparent Weapon and the boys enough time to escape. Glory Shredder is able to get in a few good hits against Max, but Impulse finally returns and creates a vortex around Glory Shredder to take away his oxygen. However, Glory Shredder is able to use his contingency plan. He pulls off one of his fingers, and creates a big, bright explosion.

Impulse and Max wake up to find everybody gone, and Max says this was all his fault. He forgot that Glory Shredder had lost his finger in 1943 and had it replaced with a small plasma grenade. Bart chews him out for forgetting to mention that key detail, and says, "Why is it every time we meet an old friend of yours, we end up fighting for our lives?" Max sadly says the Glory Shredder isn't his friend anymore, but he is happy Morlo's family was able to get away without bloodshed. And Bart notices the snow is finally starting to melt, which has to be a good sign.


This was a pretty nice issue that gave us another fun character from Max's past. And it's nice to see Dr. Morlo start to move away from the role of super villain. William Messner-Loebs once again stepped away from his long-running toxic waste trial storyline, but he did spend quite a bit of time in this issue setting up next issue. However, I am a bit frustrated by his inconsistency with names. He never did give a name to the Transparent Weapon, which makes him tough to refer to. And at one point, he called Evil Eye "Danny," even though his real name is Wilfred and he goes by Eddie when he absolutely has to. Of course, a later issue will give him the middle name of Riodan, but I hardly can use that to excuse his dad calling him Danny.

Paul Kupperberg begins the letter column by saying that after two years, Jason Hernandez-Rosenblatt has finally stopped answering the letters (a job he continued even after officially stepping down as assistant editor on the book). Paul says L.A. Williams will handle this duty next month, but for now, he'll handle it.

Joe Flores III says he's been collecting comics for 20 years, and has kind of enjoyed watching heroes' costumes change. But Max's hasn't changed in a long time, and Joe thinks it's time to give him a new look. He also asks for Impulse to meet Batman.

Ben, from Seattle, enjoys how Impulse is able to repeatedly blurt out his secret identity and still get away with it. He also asks why White Lightning's name changed to Moonshine, and Kupperberg promises that Messner-Loebs will address that in her next appearance.

Matt W somehow got three letters in, one each for issues #32, #33 and #34. Aside from the usual praise and asking for a letter column name, he was really sad to hear Hernandez-Rosenblatt is leaving. But Kupperberg announced that Hernandez-Rosenblatt had written a fill-in issue called the "Return of Arrowette," which they'll be running soon.

Joe Fonseca, of Kitchener, Ontario, says he almost dropped the title with Messner-Loebs took over, since he's dropped every other book he's written. But to Joe's pleasant surprise, Messner-Loebs seems ideally suited for the goofiness of Impulse. He also asks for Impulse to meet Solomon Grundy, Psycho Pirate, the Joker and the Riddler.

Gap Kids. Screen print T $12.50.

Freeze your butt off. Ice Blue color. The limited edition GameBoy Pocket. Get off your keister before this cool offer leaves you behind.

Nickelodeon's 1998 Kids' Choice Awards. Hosted by Rosie O'Donnell. Batman & Robin was nominated for Favorite Movie, Alicia Silverstone (Batgirl) and Uma Thurman (Poison Ivy) were nominated for Favorite Movie Actress, and Jim Carrey (The Riddler in Batman Forever) was nominated for Favorite Movie Actor.

Feeling adventurous? Take advantage of this special trial subscription offer! You could get 12 issues of Impulse for $18, when they normally cost $1.95 each.

Watch This Space talks about new DC-themed Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, and mentions the death of Winslow Mortimer, a DC artist from 1945 to 1956.

Juicier levels, tastier moves, dripping with attitude, the new Yoshi, loose for the first time on Nintendo 64. Yoshi's Story.

Free comic book ... and $3.00 rebate offer by mail when you buy Act II microwave popcorn and the Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero video. I haven't seen that movie in a while, but I do remember being somewhat disappointed in it. It seemed like Bruce Timm and Paul Dini could never recapture the magic of their first Mr. Freeze episode, "Heart of Ice."

Next time, Impulse will finally return to The Flash in issue #138.

Impulse #36

Court Dates

William Messner-Loebs Writer
Craig Rousseau Penciller
Barbara Kaalberg Inker
Chris Eliopoulos Letterer
Tom McCraw Colorist
L.A. Williams Asst. Editor
Paul Kupperberg Editor
Impulse created by Waid & Wieringo

Our cover by Craig Rousseau and Wayne Faucher shows a bald Impulse! His trademark hair, his wonderful, gigantic, hilarious hair is gone! Shaved away by a most impulsive move by Bart! How can we survive with a hairless Impulse?! Oh, and we see Impulse being sworn into court for some reason, but he's humorously distracted by his GameBoy.

Our story begins with a closeup on Bart's bald head, as the teenage speedster tries to justify his action to Max Mercury. Bart says this will prevent bad guys from grabbing his hair, give him less wind resistance when he runs, and makes him look cool. But Max points out that if Bart and Impulse both went bald at the same time, that would kill his secret identity. But luckily, Max had a wig made for Bart out of the same material as his costume. But Bart misunderstands the purpose of the wig, and tries to wear it as Impulse ... which doesn't work.

We then check in on the defense attorney of the toxic waste dumpers. He's being driven to the trial by his adult daughter, Robbie, who is morally outraged her father is defending such obviously guilty criminals. He tries to explain that everyone deserves the best defense, and the legal world isn't always as black-and-white as Robbie's symphony is. But the attorney's daughter is fixated on the idea of meting out justice, which reminds her dad about how five of his clients have recently been attacked by a revenge-crazed paladin.

Meanwhile, Gerald Dunsany has hired a couple of secret agents to keep a close watch on the trial of his toxic waste dumping goons. Previously, it had been established that Edward Dunsany was working against his son, who had undercut his toxic waste dumping business. But in this issue, Edward is referred to as Gerald's grandfather, which I believe is a mistake. Later issues will re-establish their relationship as father and son.

And so, the trial finally begins with Carol and Preston prepared to fulfill their roles as witnesses. But they're surprised to see Bart is there with them. Even though he wasn't there to see the toxic waste dumpers in action, he still received a last-minute subpoena by the defense. The trial gets off to a rocky start, as the prosecution is led by the inexperienced Assistant District Attorney, who can't keep a hold of his papers, or thoughts. As he bumbles through his opening statement, Bart and Carol become worried about the trial. And Robbie, especially, becomes worried, vowing to do what needs to be done in order to prevent the criminals from getting away scot-free.

Richard MacDonald, the defense attorney, then begins his opening statement. Suddenly, one of his clients his apparently shot. MacDonald shoves his other clients out of the way to protect them, but he is hit as well. Everyone starts running away, and Bart takes advantage of the chaos to turn into Impulse. He tries to grab hold of the bullets raining down on the crowd, but he's suddenly swung around hard into the wall, feeling like the "bullet" he grabbed was more like grabbing a fan.

Robbie MacDonald then appears, wearing a paladin outfit and wielding a harp. She introduces herself as the Song of Justice, and proudly boasts of how her musical powers were able to defeat Impulse. But when she sees her dad unconscious on the ground, she assumes it was the work of the criminals and vows to avenge her father. She uses her harp to create a sonic portal to follow the criminals, and Impulse quickly recovers to chase after her. Gerald Dunsany's secret agents are unsure whether the Song of Justice is working with or against them, and they're unsure of what to do about Impulse. But they check Richard MacDonald, and find he is still alive. Apparently the sonic bullets stun rather than penetrate.

Impulse follows the Song of Justice outside, where all the locals are celebrating a rare snowfall in Alabama. But Bart has very limited experience running in the snow, and when he tries to stop, he slides and slides before finally falling down far away from the Song of Justice. This leaves Robbie to catch up to the toxic waste dumpers and use her harp to make them start beating each other to death. But Dunsany's secret agents arrive in time to stop her by pulling out a couple of guns.

Luckily, Impulse is able to quickly recover again and take the agents' guns before they fire. But Robbie is upset with Impulse, and makes him start to dance. As he dances, Impulse begins to realize how Robbie's harp works. Just as it's amplifying his urge to dance, the harp is amplifying Robbie's need for justice into crazed revenge. So Impulse decides to counteract the harp's high-pitch with some music of his own. By snapping his fingers at super speed, he's able to create enough white noise to cancel out the harp's tune. Soon, Robbie snaps out of her trance, and realizes that her dad was shot and she takes off to help him. Dunsany's agents feel the threat has been neutralized, so they leave, and the toxic waste dumping goons beg Impulse to take them back to jail, where it's safe.

And so, the trial is able to resume some time later. Richard MacDonald is back on his feet, although his arm is now in a sling. He calls Bart to the stand and presents a highly unlikely scenario in which the dumpers were actually trying to take the toxic waste and illegal weapons out of the city. Bart has to admit that technically is a possibility. And even though MacDonald knows it's a horrible story, he sticks with it and provides the best defense he can for the criminals. In the end, to his and everyone else's amazement, the judge lets the dumpers go free.


So William Messner-Loebs returns to his long-running toxic waste dumping story, but did so somewhat awkwardly. Bart never had a reason to be involved in the trial, but I think Messner-Loebs realized too late that he couldn't really tell the story of the trial without having Bart in there. So he just threw him in there, but didn't provide a reason for his inclusion. He also confused the Dunsany's relationship, making this rather complicated story that much harder to follow. And while there were plenty of fun moments in this issue, it was rather odd how Impulse defeated the Song of Justice. The snapping fingers bit was fine, but having Impulse work out the plan with full, complete thought bubbles was something we've never seen before. When Impulse thinks, it's always been in goofy pictograms. Until now, for some reason.

Even though Jason Hernandez-Rosenblatt was officially replaced by L.A. Williams as assistant editor on this issue, Jason did come back to answer the letter column one last time, signing out with "setting the controls for the heart of the sun."

Jennifer Contino, of Ellwood City, Penn., says Impulse is the most original character she's read about since Firestorm. She also asks for a miniseries with Robin, Superboy, Mary Marvel, Wonder Girl and Anarchy or Captain Marvel Jr. Also, a maxiseries for Max Mercury.

Matt Woods suggests "Synapse, Crackles, and Pops" for the letter column name, and asks for a followup on Bart looking into religion.

Ben Varkentine, of Seattle, liked Impulse #32, but he was a bit bugged by the drool on the cover. But overall, Ben is happy with how William Messner-Loebs is following up on Mark Waid's writings, and how Bart is struggling to learn how to think.

Paul Dale Roberts, of Sacramento, Calif., liked how Bart was able to cheer up Professor Snodgrass with his infectious positive energy. And Paul, like most of the letter-writers, also loved the gag about Dr. Morlo's webpage.

Next issue: Dr. Morlo is back ... but this time, he's come seeking Max and Impulse's help! Though Morlo has lived his life as a villain, he wants to save his son, a third-rate super villain, and his grandson, Bart's own schoolmate, Evil Eye, from an even worse fate ... death at the hands of a maniacal and embittered old hero known as the Glory Slasher. (Actually, he's going to be called the Glory Shredder in Impulse #37, just another naming mistake by William Messner-Loebs.)