The Flash #235

The Fast Life Part 3 of 4: Bart

Mark Waid & John Rogers – Writers
Doug Braithwaite – Artist
Jared K. Fletcher – Letterer
Alex Sinclair – Colorist
Rachel Gluckstern – Assoc. Editor
Joan Hilty – Editor

Our cover by Daniel Acuna shows Wally and Linda trudging past the Flash Museum, which has been buried in a sandstorm. The large statue out in front had been dedicated to Bart Allen, but then Superman-Prime destroyed it. I'd like to believe that the museum quickly built a new statue, but this time used it represent Barry, Bart and Wally. But that's just me. I don't particularly like this cover. The background is fine, but the characters in the foreground look very strange.

So! Mark Waid is back on The Flash! Unfortunately, this second run is not his best work. And he admitted as much, saying he probably just ran out of things to say with the Flash, after writing him for eight years. Waid also says that the editors withdrew many of the promises they made him before the second run started, and the initial artist left before the first issue, so the whole project was pretty much doomed from the outset. Anyway, none of that really matters because we won't be reviewing any of the main story here — just the backup feature.

Our flashback story details an adventure Wally had with a young Impulse on another world inhabited by aliens with horse-like faces. Wally admonishes Bart to be on his best behavior, to which Bart promises to be "best bestest like I'm a pretty princess." They're suddenly greeted by S'Kidds'Kakoth, who has recently acquired super speed, dressed himself as Kid Flash, and is offering to be Wally's "kickstand" named S'Kidd-Flash. Wally is a bit flattered by this polite enthusiasm, and he tells Bart he could learn a thing or two from S'Kidd-Flash. But Bart still sees Wally as an idiot.

S'Kidd is shocked to see Bart not wearing the classic Kid Flash uniform, and he asks if he's wearing a "jumpsuit of shame." Bart prepares to likely say something rude, but S'Kidd suddenly remembers why he came rushing toward the Flash in the first place — his mentor, the scientist Gorflack, is in mortal danger. S'Kidd explains that an alien army invaded their planet generations ago, but was defeated with the help of Jay Garrick. All of those aliens are gone now, except for one, who has taken Gorflack hostage to demand he find a way to send him back home.

Wally chews out S'Kidd for not telling him this right off the bat, and S'Kidd apologizes for being too excited. But Wally believes they still have a chance to save Gorflack, although they'll need a good plan. He turns to Impulse, but sees Bart has already zoomed off to rescue the scientist. Wally sighs and says they'll follow the same plan as always: Bart runs ahead without thinking, and occasionally things explode. S'Kidd-Flash is surprised that Impulse didn't wait for Flash's command, and Wally says Impulse doesn't wait for the next heartbeat.

Gorflack, meanwhile, is trying to explain to the alien that he didn't actually bring the Flash to this planet. His machine just gave Flash the "key to the door," but Flash did all the traveling himself. Impulse suddenly rushes in and takes the alien's gun away, chiding him for playing with guns in the house. Bart then becomes distracted by the gun, calling it a "cool anime-sized blaster." He wonders if it has an "alt-fire" setting for grenades or flamethrowers. Wally comes running in and warns Bart not to touch the gun, but he's too late. Bart accidentally fires the weapon, destroying Gorflack's machine.

Wally is sadly not surprised to see that Bart has caused another explosion, and S'Kidd notes that the blast is causing some sort of a chain reaction. S'Kidd pulls Gorflack to safety, who explains that his machine was channeling raw Speed Force, and if they don't stop this chain reaction, the very fabric of the universe could vibrate into chaos. Impulse tries to pull the alien away, but he knocks Bart down, believing this could be his ticket home.

Bart notices the alien's gun has begun to vibrate and spark with lightning, which he believes means it has been "jazzed up with Speed Force." So Impulse throws the gun back at the alien, who begins to disappear into one of the whirlwinds caused by the explosion, saying he can see his home. And just like that, everything is back to normal. Wally is worried that Impulse just killed that alien, but Gorflack's computers indicate that the alien's gun actually harnessed the Speed Force to send him back home.

S'Kidd apologizes to Wally once more for wasting valuable time when Flash first appeared. Wally tells him not to be too hard on himself, saying it took him a while to get the hang of being a superhero. But S'Kidd says Impulse has shown him that action is the "soul of courage" and that Bart is Wally's true successor. As they talk, Bart is playing with a random helmet he found in the lab, saying there are "probe-y" things in his brain and asking if he can keep it.




It is nice to see Impulse again. But this backup story just didn't have enough room to breathe. S'Kidd-Flash was an interesting character, but he really didn't get a chance to do anything. And the ending of this story just ... kinda happened. I also wasn't a huge fan of the art. Was it perhaps too realistic? Kind of an uncanny valley thing? Whatever it was, it just felt off. However, this was a nice little taste — a brief reminder of who Bart was back in 1995.

Well, we have now reviewed every appearance of Bart Allen up through the publication date of February 2008. But Bart is dead, and all the memorials and flashbacks have largely subsided. So our next issue isn't until June, with a random flashback of Impulse in Action Comics #864.