Young Justice #17

The Now

Brian Michael Bendis and David Walker Script

Scott Godlewski Art

Gabe Eltaeb Colors

Wes Abbott Letters

John Timms and Gabe Eltaeb Cover

Mirka Andolfo Variant Cover

Bixie Mathieu Assistant Editor

Brittany Holzherr Editor

Jamie S. Rich Group Editor

Superboy created by Jerry Siegel.

By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.

Our cover shows the three founding members of Young Justice, contrasted with mirror images of their past selves. Well, sort of. It kind of feels like Timms was working from memory — especially with Superboy. It's a close approximation, but not as accurate as I wish it could be. Yet another example of a great idea hampered by less-than-ideal execution.

Our variant cover (courtesy of dc.fandom.com) is bright, fun, unique and joyful. This series has had a lot of ups and downs, but the variant covers have almost always been incredible. There are so many talented creators out there who want to tell fun, delightful stories with these characters. I just wish this series could capture some of that joy.

Our story finally catches us up to Action Comics #1021. Young Justice is in Metropolis, helping the Justice League clean up after that big, underwhelming battle with the Legion of Doom. A family that owns a food truck stopped by to give the heroes free food and water, but Tim obnoxiously tells his team to not eat anything until after they've cleaned up everything. He reasons that there are still some kids out in this dangerous area, to which Bart replies, "Yeah, us!"

Wonder Girl has an inconsequential conversation with Wonder Woman, while Bart geeks out with Tim about how cool Conner was an hour ago (especially since, you know, he was the only one who actually did anything). Bart describes Conner's deeds as drop-kicking the Legion of Doom "Darth-Vader-head" headquarters into the water. He also reveals that he filmed the whole thing on Tim's phone. That's right. Instead of doing anything useful, Impulse used his super speed to steal Tim's phone and make a video of Superboy punching Lex Luthor, all while moving too fast for anyone to see him.

Conner is surprisingly touched by this reckless, idiotic gesture, and he wraps Bart up in a big hug, telling him to never stop being the best friend a friend can be. Batman then pulls Tim aside, calling him Robin, leaving Conner and Bart to a few moments of awkward silence. It's hard to tell if Batman actually said anything, or if he and Tim were just too far away for us (the readers) to hear. Regardless, that exchange is interrupted by Barry Allen asking Bart if he's Kid Flash.

At long last, Bart is reunited with his grandfather, and it's incredibly awkward and disappointing. Bart, who has normally been a big hugger in this series, doesn't seem too thrilled about being embraced by Barry here. He also insists on having their conversation at super speed, using his teammates as an excuse. And, frankly, it's hard to blame Bart for his reluctance to talk to Barry. The Flash offers absolutely nothing in this joke of a conversation. Bart tries to tell him about his quest to solve the mystery of changing realities and memories, but Barry just brushes all that aside and talks about how Bart needs to live more in "the now" and appreciate the time he can spend with his friends. Never mind that Bart and Conner are currently homeless and most likely from a different dimension. Let's just go with high school yearbook slogans.

Bart again tries to describe the massive conundrum he's currently in (I mean, he just had a full-blown panic attack last night!) but Barry again brushes him off, saying he's currently dealing with some stuff that has his head spinning. Barry then unceremoniously ends the conversation, saying he needs to get back to his "whole deal," but he encourages Bart to come find him later. He repeats his "live in the now" message, then takes off, leaving Bart to complain to his friends about how stupid that advice is — especially since the time-traveling, dimension-hopping Bart doesn't even know what "the now" is.

Naomi is the first to head off (and again, there was no sign of Amethyst anywhere — I just love it when Bendis forgets which characters he's using). Bart admits to Tim and Conner that he is doing alright, considering he went from drowning in an existential crisis to almost being killed by Brainiac in the span of a few hours. Superman congratulates Young Justice for an outstanding job done, then he flies away with Superboy. Then everybody else takes off, too, with Teen Lantern creating a large, flying surfboard to carry Jinny Hex's truck, with Bart riding on top. Where are they going? Who knows!

Look, if Brian Michael Bendis couldn't think of anything interesting for Bart and Barry to talk about, then he should have let Joshua Williamson handle their reunion. Of course, Williamson would have given us a 20-page sermon on the inspirational qualities of hope and family, but at least we wouldn't have had to wait two years for this garbage. And yes, this issue is garbage. After saving Superboy from an alternate world and learning that reality has somehow shifted around them, Young Justice decided to meet with the Justice League to explore this massive, urgent mystery. When they got to the Hall of Justice, Metropolis was under attack, so they joined in the fight and helped with cleanup. But when all that's over? Everybody just leaves! There was barely an effort made to discuss the huge mystery we've been teasing out for 16 issues!

I think this is what happens when you can't keep your separate stories in sync. Bendis was writing Superman, Action Comics and Young Justice all at the same time, but they somehow drifted months apart. By the time Young Justice caught up to that battle in Metropolis, Superman and the Justice League have already moved on to bigger and better things. Superman had already had his separate adventures with just Superboy, so he couldn't sit and talk with all of Young Justice. It's like Bendis had painted himself into a corner, forcing him to write this issue in which nothing is said and nothing is accomplished. 

Well, for better and worse, we only have three more issues of this series. Let's close with the new house ads:

Get ready for new dark knights! Dark Nights: Death Metal Legends of the Dark Knights. Yes, that's the name of the comic. It's the most obnoxiously titled event I've ever seen. And guess what? We'll get a small taste of it on this blog. Whoopee.

Cosmic chills and supernatural thrills! Starting this fall in Superman, Action Comics and Legion of Super-Heroes, all written by Brian Michael Bendis. Maybe Young Justice could have been included in that list. But Bendis really messed things up. And that is a rant for another day.

DC Nation spotlight on Teen Wonders. Bendis himself introduces this new segment, which highlights real teenagers who have made a positive impact on their community. Sadly, I don't think this feature lasted too long.

Next time, Impulse will finally reunite with the Flash family (for reals) in The Flash #759.

DC Cybernetic Summer #1

The Speedster Games

Joshua Williamson – Writer

David Lafuente – Artist

Luis Guerrero – Colorist

Steve Wands – Letterer

Andrew Marino – Editor

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

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

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

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

Young Justice #16

 The Emancipation of Bartholomew Allen

Brian Michael Bendis and David Walker Writers

Scott Godlewski Art

Gabe Eltaeb Colors

Wes Abbott Letters

John Timms and Gabe Eltaeb Cover

Darko Lafuente and German Garcia Variant Cover

Bixie Mathieu Assistant Editor

Brittany Holzherr Editor

Jamie S. Rich Group Editor

Superboy created by Jerry Siegel.

By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.

This is the most Impulses we've had on a cover since Impulse #89! It is a really fun, trippy cover that finally screams "IMPULSE!" for the first time in years. It is very fun and exciting. But I still see room for improvement — mainly in the little images at the top. Reliving the past adventures of this current iteration of Young Justice? Boring! Use that space to show something specific and unique to Bart's (now convoluted) past. What we got isn't bad. But it had the potential to be something utterly amazing.

Our variant cover (courtesy of dc.fandom.com) is a cute, light-hearted pizza break for our young heroes. Everyone is small and adorable and happy and uplifting. It's everything a variant cover should do.

Our story begins with a recap page that uses the same old splash page that closed out issue #12. Here's the text:

"Drake, Superboy, Impulse, Wonder Girl, Jinny Hex, Amethyst, Naomi, and Teen Lantern have come together just in time to confront S.T.A.R. Labs ... the evil science corporation that sent Conner away in the first place.

"Conner and the gang are able to shut down S.T.A.R. Labs once and for all. Meanwhile, there are so many questions as to where the team has been and how they even remember each other."

I find it odd that they would use an image with the Wonder Twins and Dial H for Hero and then not even mention them in the recap. I think it's just lazy editing, which is a shame, since we have three editors on this book. Also, are we to believe that single facility in New Mexico was the entirety of S.T.A.R. Labs? Did Bendis just completely retcon what was once the premier science organization (and mostly a force for good) in the DC Universe? Remember when DC used to care about continuity?

Anyway, our story begins with Impulse actually running away from Superboy. Conner catches up and angrily slams his fist down in the ground, ordering "Bartholomew Allen the Second" to stop running. ("The Second" actually isn't part of Bart's official name, but it sounds funnier that way.) Bart screeches to a halt, saying he almost knocked Conner right off his "cloney tush," then assures his friend that everything is completely and totally fine before taking off again, despite Conner's objections.

Conner catches up again, flying alongside Bart, saying he's just as fast as him. Bart (correctly) says "Nuh-uh," then makes the Roadrunner sound as he keeps running. Conner is able to get in front of Bart again, saying he realizes that Bart is having "some real crazy issues" and he begs Bart to let him help. Bart begins to stutter, saying that Conner's totally misreading this and he just needs to go home. Conner asks if Bart even has a home. Bart ignores this question and resumes his escape, repeatedly telling Conner that he has no idea how glad he is to have him back. Bart promises to call him and meet up with everybody at the Hall of Justice tomorrow, but by this point, he realizes that Conner can't hear him anymore, since he's already in Arizona. Conner is left standing, right in front of S.T.A.R. Labs, meaning Bart intentionally led him around in a big circle.

Superboy gets to fight one "leftover monster" that escaped the FBI before Bart decides to return on his own. Bart concedes that he might be running around so much because whenever he stops, he has to deal with actual stuff. Conner says he's proud of Bart for finding those words, and Bart admits that he used to watch his "Uncle Wally" do the same thing (technically, Wally is Bart's cousin, but why should Bendis, Walker or any of our three editors know that?). Conner admits that he's guilty of the same thing, comparing himself to a shark that has to keep swimming. As Bart agrees with him, he slowly falls to the ground and passes out.

Bart wakes up later that night, resting his head on a blanket next to a campfire. Conner explains that he stole some stuff from S.T.A.R. Labs after he fainted, including a package of Oreo-like cookies called Chocos. Bart apologizes for the "runaround," while he inhales the cookies and admits he's surprised that he actually fainted. Conner accepts Bart's apology, saying they're all dealing with their own stuff, but he does repeat his question: "What happened?" Bart begins his story by cryptically saying he broke the rules.

Going back to the very beginning, Bart says he knows/remembers that he was born in the 31st century to speedsters and sent back to the 21st century to deal with his hypermetabolism. He knows that he looked like this at age two, saying, "I'm not like everyone else. I'm not like anyone else." Between all his time-traveling and dimension-hopping, Bart truthfully has no idea how old he is. He could be 6 years old just as easily as he could be 19. All this is to say that somewhere along the way, Bart lost track of himself.

Our two-page spread shows Bart with his grandma Iris Allen, Superboy-Prime, Cobalt Blue and the Reverse-Flash from the Chain Lightning storyline, the Dominator aliens who sought to experiment on Bart as an infant, Wally, Jay, Max and Jesse after their fight with Kobra, Bart evil grandfather President Thaddeus Thawne, the Teen Titans during Impulse's transition to Kid Flash, and the current group of Young Justice. Oddly, the Barts running in front of this image aren't exactly chronological. It starts with the original Impulse costume, then jumps to the Titans of Tomorrow Bart who came from an alternate future, before showing Bart as Kid Flash and then back in his current Impulse outfit.

Bart confesses that he's only telling this Conner because he might just be the only person to have a chance of relating to him — and that includes all the other Flashes. Both Impulse and Superboy are the most different members of their respective "families" and both of them were essentially erased from history. With that said, Bart finally gets around to telling Conner what he did.

One day (it might have been years ago or just a few days ago), Impulse was battling the Mirror Master. While joking about how he's the best Flash, Bart was blasted by one of Mirror Master's devices and sent to a horrifying place. He was unable to speak and could feel his body begin to disintegrate. As best as Bart could tell, Mirror Master had sent him to a place in between dimensions. Terrified, Bart ran away from that non-place as fast as he could, relieved to find himself in the physical world. 

Unsure of which dimension or timeline he was in, Bart decided to follow "Bart Allen Rule Number One — Find the Hall of Justice." (I would have suggested find the Flash Museum, but we have already litigated Bendis' lack of DC knowledge.) Anyway, in this new world, Bart was able to find the Hall of Justice, but was shocked to see a massive statue in front of it with Impulse, Wonder Girl, Robin and Arrowette on a platform that reads "Our young heroes fallen. Never forget."

Conner interrupts Bart's story here to basically say that going to the future is no big deal for them. Bart concedes this, but says that at that time, at that place, it was too much for him to handle. He had a panic attack and passed out. He later woke up heavily sedated and strapped to a chair in Arkham Asylum. His attending doctor was an elderly Harley Quinn, who unconvincingly told Bart he has nothing to worry about since he's in the children's wing. She also explains that they sedated Bart because he was talking gibberish too fast for them to hear. Harley was confused by her new patient, who looked and acted just like Bart Allen. But she explained that he couldn't be Bart Allen because he famously disappeared under mysterious circumstances 40 years ago. 

Superboy asks Bart how he escaped, and Bart admits that a part of him still thinks he never actually left Arkham. But does explain that he tapped into his hypermetabolism, burned the drugs out of his system, and escaped the asylum. He ran fast enough to travel back in time, but was shocked to see that everything had shifted. He couldn't find Young Justice anywhere, so he kept running back and forth in time to try to find his friends.

This what Bart meant when he said he broke the rules. He knew this reckless time-traveling and dimension-hopping was dangerous, but he was too angry and distraught to care. He reasoned that the "rules have been broken on us" so he kept running until he came to this world and found everybody. But now Bart admits he doesn't know what to do.

Once he finishes his story, Tim emerges from the shadows, explaining that he went all the way home and took his first shower in a week before he finally realized what Conner instantly knew — there were massive holes in Bart's story. Conner called Tim after Bart passed out, but it's unclear how much of Bart's story Tim heard. Tim does, however, say this campfire reminds him of a dream he had where they were all kids camping in a cave. But Conner remembers that really happened. Bart apologizes for breaking everything, but Tim says they should consult the Justice League and get to the bottom of this mystery before they blame Bart for anything.

Impulse fans have waited almost 10 years for this comic. The last time we had a full-length comic book that was all about Bart Allen was Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost. And no, those Bar Torr stories during New 52 do not count! The real Bart has been either a cameo or a side character for the past decade. So it was incredibly refreshing to finally get a story all about Bart. But was it any good, though? That's what I'm still trying to decide.

Conner and Tim both noted there were holes in Bart's original story. I note there are still a lot of holes in his expanded story. Does Bart remember being an adult and wearing the Flash costume? Does he remember being "resurrected" as Kid Flash? How about sacrificing himself in the Speed Force to help his grandpa Barry undo Flashpoint? And what about Bart's return when Wally broke the Force Barrier? We don't know what Bart does and doesn't know. And, sadly, I think it's because the creators of this comic were too lazy to come up with any concrete answers. These questions were raised back in issue #1. It's issue #16 now. It's time to provide some answers. You can't keep perpetually promising to solve the mystery. At some point, you need to explain everything.

This issue didn't explain anything. All we know is that at some point, Mirror Master sent Bart in-between dimensions. And he then went running and running until he ended up here. We don't know what he saw or experienced during all this running, aside from that episode with Harley Quinn. Bart suspects his actions have altered reality, but we have no way of knowing whether that's true. So, ultimately, after all that touchy, feely, heart-to-heart conversations and frustratingly inconsistent splash pages, we're back to where we started. Nothing was learned. No progress was made. All we were left with was the vague promise that the Justice League might know something, but we already saw how that "meeting" turned out. 

It's really frustrating that Bendis didn't let Joshua Williamson do anything with Impulse all because he wanted to be the one who had Bart say, "I don't know what happened." Well, it's time for me to stop lamenting at the missed opportunity of this comic and wrap things up with the house ads.

The Flash and Plastic Man are used to illustrate this month's reminder to maintain social distance.

The latest chapter in the Dark Knight Universe saga! Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child.

DC Nation interview with Tom Taylor on DCeased: Dead Planet.

Next time, we'll take a quick look at the light-hearted DC Cybernetic Summer#1.

Young Justice #15

Warlords Finale

Brian Michael Bendis and David Walker Writers

John Timms (p. 1-15), and Scott Godlewski (p. 16-22) Art

Gabe Eltaeb Colors

Wes Abbott Letters

Timms and Eltaeb Cover

Ben Caldwell Variant Cover

Bixie Mathieu Assistant Editor

Brittany Holzherr Editor

Jamie S. Rich Group Editor

Superboy created by Jerry Siegel.

By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.

Our main cover is a simple, candid shot of Superboy. And it looks pretty nice. It causes me to reflect on the cyclical nature of fashion. When Superboy was introduced in the '90s, he was designed to be the epitome of cool teen style. But after a few years, that look became decidedly uncool, and he even had to devote an entire issue to changing his wardrobe. Twenty years later, though, and that old look suddenly works again.

As usual, I snagged this variant cover from dc.fandom.com. It's a bleak, depressing and even distressing vision of Young Justice. I don't care for it one bit. I'm actually glad Impulse is so small here — I couldn't have bared to see a closeup of an angry, almost evil Bart. But variant covers are the place to experiment. Sometimes they turn out great, other times ... not so much.

Our story begins with Superboy finally confronting the villain who has turned his life upside down — Dr. Glory of S.T.A.R. Labs. Conner starts shouting at her, then suddenly realizes that he is just one of 16 teenaged heroes staring down this scientist. Teen Lantern proudly proclaims them as Young Justice, and Impulse is a little sad that she stole his line. Conner is overjoyed to see his friends came to rescue him, and he shares a heartfelt hug with Tim. Everyone else, meanwhile, debates which authorities they should call in to properly arrest Dr. Glory. The Justice League is still away and busy, but some of our heroes like the idea of contacting the FBI and Lois Lane.

Dr. Glory tries to take advantage of this interruption to escape, but Impulse promptly tackles her. Dr. Glory calls him the "most annoying of all," then is suddenly hit by a taser arrow from Arrowette, who unfortunately shot it before she saw Impulse move. With the scientist unconscious, Conner worries about not receiving the answers he was promised. Fortunately, Bart discovered a few things during his reconnaissance last issue.

Bart explains that he had already been investigating the mystery of their missing memories before they even met up in Young Justice #1, and now he has what he calls the "final pieces." Bart's initially hesitant to reveal all he knows in front of the whole group, but everybody is eager for some answers. So Bart begins by saying when he first felt his memories becoming "mushy," he started talking to the other Flashes about it and they thought the Speed Force might help him fill in some gaps. (This is either a massive continuity mistake or a complete lie, since we still have not seen Bart interact with any of the Flashes since Wally broke the Force Barrier way back in Flash #50.)

Conner asks if Bart went time-traveling, but he says he didn't. Tim asks if he "broke" the multiverse. Bart also denies this, but ominously says he think something else did. In front of a vague two-page spread that seems to suggest Bart's traveling to parallel worlds, Bart talks about the nature of reality-altering crises that superheroes often prevent. But from what Bart has seen, it's apparent that some crises were not prevented, causing time shifts, reality bends and even reboots. 

At this point, Bart asks if there are any questions, but he only gets blank stares. So he continues: "Once upon a time, there was the Earth and on it was Young Justice." One day, Superboy stumbled upon S.T.A.R. Labs' illegal dimensional experiments in the middle of the desert. So Dr. Glory retaliated by sending Conner to Gemworld, which was dealing with its own reality-bending issues at the time. While Superboy was on Gemworld, Impulse believes Earth experienced at least one world-changing crisis, which resulted in the erasure of Superboy's existence from Earth.

This doesn't really explain why some people remember Conner and others don't, but Tim does tell the others about his experience with Zatanna that helped him remember the whole team. As Conner begins to process the idea that he's not even from this reality, Dr. Glory starts to wake up. Superboy shouts at her for a bit, and even makes it look like he might kill her, but in the end, he says his friends' willingness to rescue him shows him that he's OK.

Just then, the FBI bursts through the door and arrests Dr. Glory. Our heroes go back outside and help round up all the remaining monsters. Tim gets to finally kiss Stephanie. Bart gives Jinny Hex the number of Doctor Fate, telling her to call him yesterday. He also gives Naomi all the information S.T.A.R. Labs had about her and her homeworld. He explains that he also shared that information with the Hall of Justice and FBI, feeling it's too dangerous for them to keep that knowledge to themselves. Naomi says she doesn't know what to do with this information, to which Bart says she will know when the time comes. Naomi asks if he really knows that or if he's just being a cutie. Bart replies: "Well, I am always being a cutie."

Tim gathers all 16 of our heroes together and says they should make Young Justice a real thing — not with an official clubhouse or anything, but a group that stays in touch and call for help. "Or just for a hug," Bart adds. The Wonder Twins promise to do what they can to make Young Justice a sanctioned organization of the Justice League, to which Tim proudly proclaims Young Justice League.

Cissie hugs Bart, and others show off their gadgets and exchange phone numbers. Bart plays with the Wonder Twins' pet monkey, Gleek. As everybody starts to head off one by one, Conner asks the Twins if they can arrange a meeting with him and Superman. They tell him to stop by tomorrow morning, and Conner asks if anyone else wants to join him. Everybody who we saw in Action Comics #1020 says they'll be there. And with that, everybody takes off ... except for Impulse.

After hesitating for just a bit, Bart starts to run, but suddenly stops and begins to cry. Superboy had been waiting for him, saying he noticed a few holes in Bart's story. He asks what happened to Bart, where he has been and what he has seen.

I've recently been rewatching Lost with my wife (her first time). As fun as it is, I constantly have that reminder that more than half of their big mysteries will never be solved. And some of the questions that took five or six seasons to answer turned out to be rather disappointing. Brian Michael Bendis approached this series with the same philosophy as the creators of Lost. He bragged about issue #1 containing more than 40 unanswered questions. But each issue that passed by without addressing some of the biggest questions became more and more frustrating. And when we finally do get to an issue like this that promises "Superboy's truth revealed!", all I can say is, "That's it?"

Seriously. Strip down Bart's explanation. All you end up with is there may have been a crisis or crises that erased Superboy from reality. Was it Convergence? Rebirth? Who knows! Why do some of our heroes remember Superboy and others don't? Who cares! Except for the fact that Bendis kept hammering us with that question, until he decided to completely drop it at the end. I mean, I liked Robin going to Zatanna to restore his memories, but nobody else did that. Oh well. It's time to move on to that tantalizing tease of Impulse's story — something we've literally been waiting years for!

And speaking of Impulse (this is a blog about him, after all), I do have to say I was pleasantly surprised to see that he was the one providing all the answers for a change. This plays into my favorite quality that Bendis gave him — a secret level of maturity. It seems like he's constantly playing the part of the goofy, lovable sidekick, but when no one's looking, he's the one investigating the mysteries, finding clues and responsibly putting Jinny in contact with Doctor Fate. We still don't have a confirmation if Bart remembers everything — his time as Impulse, Kid Flash, Flash and Kid Flash again — but it really feels like he does. Bart always was kind of a toddler in a teen's body, but now he might be an adult in a teen's body.

Finally, I have to mention the art. I'm sad Timms wasn't able to finish the whole issue himself, but Godlewski does draw a good Impulse. The goggle are a bit bug-eyed, but everything else is good — especially that emotional breakdown of Bart at the end. Once he saw Superboy come back for him, he couldn't hold back the tears anymore. Really nice stuff. And now we wrap up with the new house ads:

Celebrate 80 years of brightest days and blackest nights! Green Lantern 80th Anniversary 100-page Super Spectacular.

DC Nation spotlight on The Joker War.

Next: The emancipation of Bartholomew Allen!

DCeased: Hope at World's End #3

Chapter Three

Writer Tom Taylor

Artist Carmine Di Giandomenico

Colorist Rex Lokus

Letterer Saida Temofonte

Cover Artist Carmine Di Giandomenico and Rex Lokus

Editor Ben Abernathy

Our cover isn't really a unique cover — it's just one of the pages of this digital comic with all the captions deleted. Still, though, it is a haunting image that gives you a good idea of what's going on. A virus that has spread to every screen — phone, computer, TV, etc. — turning everyone into a bloodthirsty zombie if they see it. And as if that wasn't enough, the virus also spreads through contact with blood — you know, like the old-fashioned way. Anyway, this story takes place on an alternate Earth that is very similar to the regular DC continuity, but with a few key differences. As you see, Wally West is wearing his stupid post-Rebirth Flash outfit, but he has not yet become the even more stupid Wally/Metron thing from Flash Forward.

Our story begins with Wally telling Linda Park to bar the doors while he embarks on a one-man mission to destroy every screen in Keystone City. While he's out and about, Batman calls him up and tells him to stop. Wally tells him off and Batman hangs up, neglecting to mention that both Nightwing and Robin have already succumbed to the virus. Wally gets back to work, almost moving at light speed, but he's still not fast enough. That's when we cut to one of the most remarkable scenes we've had in years.

Bart Allen is living with Max Mercury!!! It's so sweet and wonderful! Anyway, Bart is lucky that Max is distracting him from starting his video game by asking about the neighbors' screaming, which Bart assumed was just Mr. Peterson's frustration with putting up shelves. Wally then races in and destroys the TV, much to Bart's dismay, right in the nick of time.

Wally then explains everything in less than a picosecond, annoyed that Bart kept interrupting with his "expert zombie knowledge." Max and Bart suit up, and a quarter of a second later, they're joined by another blast from the past, Jesse Quick!

Max, Bart and Jesse get to work smashing screens and stopping the spread in Keystone, while Wally looks for a safe place to evacuate Keystone's population to. He rescues the Pied Piper in Central City, Arsenal in New York and Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn in Gotham. But Wally quickly realizes that this is futile — the virus has likely spread across the entire Earth by now. So Max suggests they find another Earth.

The four speedster then head to the Flash Museum to fire up the Tandem Cosmic Treadmill, which Jay Garrick and Barry Allen had once used to open a hole in space. Since Wally and Bart are the fastest, Max suggests they power the treadmill, while he and Jesse evacuate 200,000 people through the portal. Bart doesn't like the idea of just running in a straight line while Max is out there battling zombies, and he argues that he should be out on the streets since he's faster. But Max puts his foot down. Wally reminds them to make sure that none of the survivors are infected and don't have any devices on them. And with that, he and Bart begin running (with Bart casting a worried glance over his shoulder at Max).

Max kindly makes sure Linda is the first one through, then he and Jesse spend the next 12 minutes ushering 146,000 people to a parallel Earth. Having to maintain such a high speed for such a long time takes quite a toll on Bart, but he manages to keep running until Jesse reports that they've saved the last survivor. Bart then collapses and is shot off the treadmill at such a high speed that he bounces off the floor and crashes through the wall, finally coming to a stop in the middle of a horde of zombies outside the museum.

Max orders Wally to keep running so the portal doesn't close, while he goes after Bart. The injured and exhausted teen can only weakly call out to Max, while Wally comes dangerously close to collapsing as well. But somehow, Max finds the energy to pick up Bart and Wally and get them all through the portal before it closes.

Wally starts to congratulate Max, but the Zen Master of Speed says there's no time. Bart's the first to notice the cut on his mentor's arm, to which Max merely apologizes for not being as fast as he once was. He tells the others they have to "end" him. Bart tries to stand and beg, but Jesse holds him back. Max kneels down and touches Bart's cheek, saying, "Goodbye, Bart. I love you. Be good." And all Bart can do is cry.

However, Wally is able to think fast enough to come up with the most appropriate solution. Rather than letting the virus consume Max, Wally helps him run into the Speed Force, finally reaching the destiny that eluded him for so long.

I'm not going to lie. I got choked up there at the end. This was the emotional, heartwarming farewell that Bart and Max never got. It took 20 years, and a slightly gimmicky digital-only comic to do it, but DC finally gave us this necessary and beautiful moment. Everything else about this comic is just window dressing. The virus was unique and threatening and Wally's character was spot-on (especially standing up to Batman, which I have always loved about Wally). The art was very solid, being both horrific and emotional when it needed to be. But the best, most satisfying component of this comic book was the perfect portrayal of the Bart-Max relationship — something we haven't seen since the old Impulse series. And it was wonderful.

The one house ad we got shows Batman and Robin standing six feet apart, asking people to maintain social distance.

Next time, we'll finally get back to Young Justice #15.

The Flash #754

The Flash Age Part Five

Joshua Williamson Writer

Rafa Sandoval Penciller

Jordi Tarragona Inker

Arif Prianto (pages 1-10) Hi-Fi (pages 11-20) Colorists

Steve Wands Letterer

Sandoval, Tarragona, Hi-Fi Cover

Rafael Grampa Variant Cover

Marquis Draper Assistant Editor

Mike Cotton Editor

Alex R. Carr Group Editor

Our cover shows the new villain Paradox battling the Flash. It's a perfectly decent cover, but it doesn't change the fact that Paradox is rather vague and stupid-looking. Naturally, this battle is taking place on the rubble of the Flash Museum, which is the only reason we're here.

In order to stop Paradox, Flash has turned to an unlikely ally, the Reverse-Flash, Eobard Thawne himself, who has built his own Flash Museum in the 25th century. And in the background of this museum, we can see a statue that sort of looks like Impulse. Mostly. Well, at least it looked enough like him for me to make this post.

And that's it. Yet another month without any tangible Impulse appearances — a fact that was worsened by the delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Fortunately, DC didn't lose too much time and got back on a regular schedule fairly quickly. And they even made some fun house ads for the occasion.

Stronger together by staying apart. Be like Batman. Stay in your Batcave.

The greatest names in comics pay tribute to Batman's greatest villain! The Joker 80th Anniversary 100-page Super Spectacular.

DC Nation Spotlight on Catwoman, who is also celebrating her 80th anniversary.

Next time, we'll get to do something rather interesting and unique in DCeased: Hope at World's End #3.

Action Comics #1021

Metropolis Doom! Conclusion

Brian Michael Bendis Writer

John Romita Jr. Penciller

Klaus Janson Inker

Brad Anderson Colorist

Dave Sharpe Letterer

John Romita Jr., Klaus Janson, Brad Anderson Cover

Lucio Parillo Variant Cover

Brittany Holzherr Associate Editor

Jamie S. Rich Editor

Superman created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster.

Superboy created by Jerry Siegel

By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.

Our cover shows Superman flying through the air with Young Justice right behind him (even those who can't fly are oddly running in midair), while the Man of Steel boldly proclaims that this looks like a job for our lovable teenage heroes. Despite the execution (everyone is so creepy looking!), this cover does portray a thrilling sentiment. Young Justice gets to save the day in Action Comics?! Amazing! Unfortunately, nothing remotely close to that happens in this issue. Between Action and Flash, we're getting a lot of misleading covers right now.

Last time we were here, Impulse, Young Justice and most of the Justice League were knocked out by Brainiac's bomb. It sure made for a couple of dramatic-looking scenes, but conveniently, nobody was really hurt too bad and they all simultaneously recovered in just a couple of minutes. (I always say speedsters should get up long before everybody else, but Bendis doesn't seem to agree.) Anyway, all the heroes are back up on their feet, ready to finally have a proper fight with the Legion of Doom, when Leviathan suddenly shows up and teleports all the villains away.

Leviathan gives a long, boring speech that ultimately says nothing, then starts to leave. Flash asks if he'll help clean up the mess caused by the Legion of Doom, but Leviathan snarkily responds: "What would that teach you?" Impulse says that retort sounded a lot like his dad, which is a very bizarre comment coming from a boy who's father died before he was born (at least in the original continuity). Impulse then apologizes for letting himself get knocked out, accurately noting how unprofessional it was. He then inaccurately refers to Justice League as "Old Justice" (I am 100% convinced Bendis doesn't know there was an actual Old Justice in the original continuity).

And that's that. This massively hyped-up, yet incredibly underwhelming story is now over. Bart and Barry didn't say a single word to each other, even though this is probably their first encounter since Flashpoint. Impulse and Young Justice really didn't do anything in this story, but neither did the Justice League or even Superman himself. Everybody just stood around yelling at each other until the all-powerful Leviathan decided he was sick and tired of Luthor and decided to end it all. This was an awful story with even worse art. And to make matter worse, this comic was released on my birthday! (Granted, it's still not as bad as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which also came out on my birthday.)

Next time, we'll take another quick look at another Impulse cameo in The Flash #754.