Impulse #89

"... Godspeed."

Todd Dezago Writer
Carlo Barberi Penciller
Terry Austin Inker
Janice Chiang Letterer
Tom McCraw Colorist
Digital Chameleon Separator
Joey Cavalieri Editor
Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo

This issue's cover: One's a crowd, courtesy of Carlo Barberi and Wayne Faucher! This is a beautiful, bittersweet cover. Dozens of Impulses, each one with a different expression. (Can you find the Impulse that's picking his nose?) It's almost like Barberi took this opportunity to draw all the Impulses he'd never get to draw again. And right in the middle of this pack is the real Impulse, angrily demanding to know why no one likes Impulse. I guess the better question is why didn't more people like Impulse? I'll try to answer that at the end of this review.

Our story picks up where we left off last issue, with Bart and Carol making a daring escape from the Doocers in the 63rd century. Carol literally shoves Bart into the time machine, then assures him that futuristic technology is very user friendly. All she has to do is push "reset," and they'll travel back to 2002 and Manchester, Alabama ... or rather, Bart's new home in Denver, Colorado.

When Bart steps out of the time machine, he finds a lot of damage has been done to his new house and front yard. Joan Garrick sees Bart has arrived, and she quickly tells him that he needs to find Jay and stop him. She explains that Jay's old enemy, Rival, had been posing as her doctor, and when Jay found out, he began battling Rival, causing all the destruction around them. Bart asks if she's worried Rival will kill Jay, but Joan says she's never seen Jay this angry before, and she's worried the opposite might happen.

We then go back in time by six minutes, to when Rival first revealed himself to Jay. The former Professor Edward Clariss, now a being of pure energy, grabs Jay by the throat and admits to Jay that he had planned on exacting revenge on him by slowly killing his wife through a long and painful "treatment process." But now that his plan has been discovered, he immediately rushes over to the Garrick house to kill Joan. Jay follows Rival, and begins battling him in the front yard. By the time Joan comes out to see what's going on, Jay has his hands around Rival's throat and is shouting at him for threatening his wife. Joan is able to piece together what's happened, and upon seeing the look of murderous rage in her husband's eyes, she tries to calm him down. But Jay shouts at her to get back inside, giving Rival an opening to punch him and escape. Joan offers to call Wally West or the JSA, but Jay refuses and takes off after Rival. And that's when Bart's time machine suddenly appeared in the front yard.

Bart immediately heads out to find Jay, following the path of destruction from his battle with Rival. It doesn't take Bart too long to catch up, and he immediately grabs Jay's arms from behind, begging him to stop. This gives Rival another opening to escape, and Jay immediately throws Bart off him. He explains that he's not just trying to stop Rival, but also trying to protect nearby innocent bystanders. Unlike the heroic speedsters, Rival doesn't harmless vibrate his molecules through objects or try to sidestep people. He just runs right through everything and everyone, not worrying about what he destroys or who he kills. As Jay tells this to Bart, he manages to pull a man out of Rival's path before resuming his chase.

Bart follows them to the Sahara Desert, where the high-speed chase has turned the sand into glass. Bart finds Jay beating Rival to a bloody pulp, and he tries again to stop him, but gets punched in the face for his efforts. Jay insists its different this time, as Rival has violated his family's life. Bart reminds Jay that he's a good guy and that he's supposed to be teaching Bart how to be a better hero. He asks Jay what he would do if their roles were reversed. Jay looks at his fist, covered in Rival's purple blood, and he slowly realizes that Bart is right.

Rival slowly gathers himself up, looks at Impulse, and says he and his teammates never planned for "the boy." He explains that his scheme to lure Jay Garrick to Denver was just part of a much larger plan for the Rogues to attack Wally West. They wanted to keep all of Wally's allies away, so they somehow contacted Rival, who had been trapped in the Speed Force by Jay years ago. Rival needed a body to enter the real world, so he began luring in Max Mercury. As he talks, Rival allows his purple energy to subside for a minute, showing the battered body of Max underneath.

Bart jumps on Rival demanding to know what Rival's done to Max and if he's hurt him, he'll tear him apart and scatter the pieces all over the planet. Rival explains that he has essentially changed places with Max. He's using Max's body as a host, while Max's essence is now trapped in the Speed Force. Rival also warns Bart that if he were to kill him, then Max would be lost forever. Bart considers this for a moment, then manages to calm down enough to start discussing some solutions with Jay.

They start running back home across the Atlantic, with Jay dragging Rival behind him. Jay says they can stash Rival in a holding cell at S.T.A.R. Labs, then they should go help Wally battle the Rogues. Bart also suggests enlisting the aid of Dr. Morlo to find a way to get Max back in his body. Jay thanks Bart for stopping him from doing something he'd regret, and he apologizes for not being a good teacher. Bart says Max always said a good teacher needs to know when to learn from his students. He then returns the conversation to Rival's fate, suggesting they could use the time capsule he recently acquired.

At the mention of a time machine, Rival somehow breaks free of Jay's grip and heads off toward Denver. Assuming Rival was going after Joan, both Jay and Bart immediately vibrate through the house's wall. But they find Joan and Carol peacefully sharing a glass of lemonade. Bart then sees Rival getting into his time capsule. Bart and Jay just manage to get outside as the time capsule rises up in the air, offering Rival enough time to tell Jay he'll kill him next time they meet, and torment Bart with another glimpse of Max's face and a vow that they have unfinished business. After Rival disappears, Bart asks Jay if there's a way to track him. Jay can't think of anything right now, and he suggests they just head inside right now to relax after an exhausting day.

The next day, Bart runs Carol back to Manchester, Alabama (after they've found some normal clothes for her). On the way, Carol asks Bart to stop in Kansas so they can talk for a bit. She says that before she went away to the future, she was so happy to finally be in a relationship with Bart. And during her adventures with Bart's mom, she worried that she might not see Bart again. Carol tells Bart that she always wants him in her life, and she doesn't want to lose him, but as hard as it might be for him to hear, she suggests they take their relationship slow. Bart is just happy to have Carol back and is more than happy to follow her lead on this. Besides, he realizes they'd have to take it slow, now that he lives in Denver. They share a warm hug and continue their journey, with Carol assuring Bart that no matter where he goes, he's going to have lots of friends.

Sometime later, back in Denver, Bart is playing a Superman video game when Jay and Joan get back from an appointment with some real doctors. They've found that she does have a form of leukemia, but it's highly treatable. They're also happy to learn that Rival wasn't able to cause too much harm during his stint as their "doctor." Bart gives Joan a big hug, then Jay joins him in his video games while Joan prepares dinner. And in the final panel of Impulse, Dox the dog turns to the reader and thinks, "Thanks to everyone out there who've been such a big part of our family!! See ya in the funny papers!"



It seems like Todd Dezago had a lot of loose ends to tie up and not quite enough time to do it. The side story of Max detecting a disturbance in the Speed Force began in issue #80. So it was good to finally find out what that was all about. Although it seems highly improbable that the Rogues would have had the ability to contact Rival in the Speed Force to arrange for him to take out Max and distract Jay without letting any of the other Speed Force entities such as Barry Allen or Johnny Quick know what was happening. And if these Rogues had so meticulously planned out this grand scheme against Wally, then why didn't they also plan for Impulse? It is nice to occasionally know why certain heroes are unable to help out, but it said excuses have to make sense. Besides, if Wally really was in such peril, then why didn't Jay and Bart go back to help him after Rival escaped?

So much of this issue revolved around watching Jay lose his cool and nearly kill Rival. Sadly, I had little to no emotional investment in this. I don't know who Rival is, and even though Jay has always been around, he hasn't exactly been a big part of Impulse. Right after Bart moved in with Jay, World Without Young Justice happened, followed by a two-issue epilogue and another issue detailing an adventure in the future. So all things considered, we did not get to see one minute of Bart living with the Garricks before this issue.

One other loose end that had to be tied up was bringing Carol back home. The only thing worse than taking her to the future would have been leaving her there. And as sad as it was, it really was the right decision to have Bart and Carol depart as friends. This may have been some incredible foresight by Dezago, knowing that with Impulse's own series being canceled, there was no way that Carol would even be mentioned in any other comic. And I'm sad to say that this was exactly what happened. This was the final appearance of Carol Bucklen in all of DC comics. Although we'll be able to follow Bart's adventures for a few more years, we'll never see Carol, Helen, or any of our friends from Manchester, Alabama, ever again. This is sad for many reasons, including the dropped plot line of Evil Eye discovering Bart's secret identity. He clearly wrote a note to Bart and snuck it into his box of mementos, but Dezago never had time to follow up on it.

Speaking of unfollowed plot lines, don't expect a satisfying conclusion to Max's story arc. It's almost as frustrating as watching Bart and Jay stand idly by as Rival very slowly escaped, not even considering having Bart create a scout to go back five seconds to stop him. I'm also deeply saddened that Dezago didn't have a chance to bring back Inertia. Bart's greatest enemy will eventually return, but ... it won't be very good.

Now I guess it's time to talk about why Impulse got canceled. First and foremost, I think Impulse was a victim of the times. Blame it on 9/11, general shifts in early 2000s culture, changing leadership at DC, whatever, but by 2002, there just wasn't much of a market for light, funny comics like Superboy, Impulse and even Young Justice. At least that's what the higher-ups at DC felt. It's true that Impulse's sales numbers had been on a steady decline since Mark Waid and Humberto Ramos left the book, but how much of that is the fault of the book's creators?

Editor L.A. Williams was fired after issue #67, and the series took a noticeable dive afterward. Dezago's stories seemed crisper and cleaner under Williams. There were fewer plot holes and significant actions taking place off page. But what really plagued the Joey Cavalieri era was the constant stream of editorial mandates. According to Dezago in several interviews, Cavalieri did a great job of fighting for Dezago. It was the people above him (the same people who fired L.A. Williams) who demanded that Impulse get a girlfriend, get new powers and get magic powers. Dezago didn't want to do any of those things, and I think it showed.

Equally problematic were the frequent crossover events, constantly interrupting the flow of Dezago's narrative. Since issue #67, Impulse was involved in Circle of Fire, Our Worlds at War, Last Laugh and World Without Young Justice. Conversely, Impulse's appearances in other books also dropped off. When Geoff Johns took over The Flash, he simply stopped including Impulse in any and all of his stories. And after Our Worlds at War, Impulse quit Young Justice and didn't return until after his own series was canceled. This surely had to hurt sales. I've seen so many letters to the editor of readers saying they became hooked on Impulse through The Flash or Young Justice. Take those books out of the equation and you're going to have a hard time attracting new readers.

I wonder what this book would have looked like had Dezago not been forced to pair up Bart and Carol and give Bart a new power. Both those things happened in the disastrous Dark Tomorrow storyline, where Dezago seemed to think the best course of action for Bart's girlfriend was to stash her far away where we'd never see her again. But even worse was Bart's new power, which was unfathomably powerful. I'll admit it was kind of fun with Bart's scouts constantly calling Bart "boss" against his wishes. And Our Worlds at War and World Without Young Justice did explore some interesting aspects of this power. But at the end of the day, giving Bart the ability to solve virtually any problem instantaneously is not a good idea. Because it becomes a glaring issue whenever Bart fails to utilize this power to save the day — like at the end of this issue.

The final Impulsive Reactions sadly does not have a farewell message from Dezago, Barberi, or any of the other creators. All we get is a brief note from Joey Cavalieri, confirming that this is the final issue of Impulse and saying that he shares the fans' feelings of disappointment and anger.

David A. Steel thanks everyone involved with Impulse. He says after one of the worst days in his life, he received an unexpected pickup by watching two of his favorite characters — Max Mercury and the Phantom Stranger — team up to save the day.

RickShaw1 likes how we got to see Helen again before the end and let Impulse get wild for a bit. He enjoyed Barberi utilizing different styles of art to show the happy, friendlier version of the Justice League. But Rick feels like DC should have given Dezago the chance to write a series of wrap-up stories to end Impulse. Cavalieri says he kept asking for "one more issue" to ensure the book went as far as it did. (I think DC should have let the book reach issue #90. Eighty-nine is an odd number to leave off on.)

Havk felt the last few issues were rushed, pointing specifically to the limited amount of time Bart got to spend with his entire family that was all brought together in place for the one and only time in DC comics history. Cavalieri acknowledges this complaint, but also admits that the pacing at the end was partly intentional. After receiving complaints about dawdling too much on past storylines, they decided to bring some velocity to their final stories about this young speedster.

Corndog7 loved the scene with the cartoony Justice League and Robin's "Bat termites." He also felt the story was rushed, but says it's understandable with the end of the series approaching.

Anthony O'Brien enjoyed the brief family reunion, the surprise appearance of the Phantom Stranger, and Impulse's purple suit, which bore resemblance to the suits of Bart's grandfather and father. Cavalieri ends everything by encouraging readers to follow him on The Flash.

Next time, we'll heed that advice and check out a quick Impulse cameo in The Flash #189.