Year in Review: 2019

I know I said 2018 was the biggest year yet for superheroes. But 2019 surpassed that in every way. Avengers: Endgame became the highest-grossing film of all time at more than $2.7 billion. And there were three other superhero movies that passed the billion-dollar mark — Spider-Man: Far From Home, Captain Marvel and Joker. DC's r-rated, non-DCEU Joker was the big surprise, not only in the box office, but at the Academy Awards, coming away with two Oscars — Best Original Score and Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix. 

There were two other superhero movies in 2019 that didn't quite live up to the incredible standard set by these others. DC's other film, Shazam!, was a delightful romp that I quite enjoyed, but it didn't really find an audience. And for Marvel, Dark Phoenix was meant to be the swan song for Fox's X-Men franchise, but it felt like everyone gave up halfway through, as the Disney-Fox deal was finalized. Speaking of Disney, their box office domination was almost absolute in 2019. In addition to their Marvel blockbusters, Disney had five other sequels or remakes earn at least a billion dollars — The Lion King, Frozen II, The Rise of Skywalker, Toy Story 4 and Aladdin. Hopefully that gave them enough money before the pandemic of 2020 hit.

Let's see ... what else happened in 2019? Oh, nothing much. Just the biggest year for Bart Allen in almost 20 years! He returned to the world of animation as Kid Flash on Young Justice: Outsiders, via the DC Universe app. And, much more significantly, he became a founding member of the rebooted Young Justice series in the comics — not as Kid Flash, but as the original Impulse once again! It was quite exciting.

Best Story: Young Justice #1

After appearing on a glorious splash page in Flash #50 in July 2018, we didn't get a single glimpse of Bart until January 2019. There was a tease in Action Comics #1006 on the 2nd, then the Young Justice: Outsiders premiere on the 4th, which unfortunately made clear that Bart would not be a big part of this season. But then, finally, Young Justice #1 dropped on January 9, and boy was it something. It was loud, it was bright, it was colorful. It screamed from the mountaintops that Young Justice is back and Impulse is at the center of it. That issue was a loooong time coming, and it appropriately matched the level of excitement it needed. And, frankly, there wasn't any other issue or episode that came close. Bart had a ton of appearances in 2019, but nothing as big as this. His cameos in The Flash were forgettable, and his role on Outsiders was inconsequential. And, sadly, none of the subsequent issues of Young Justice were as good as the debut.

Best Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

This was another no-brainer award. I don't know if Joshua Williamson was not allowed or was simply unwilling to use Impulse, but he really didn't. So the vast majority of Bart's appearances this year fell under the massive Bendis umbrella. DC gave him a large corner of their universe to work with, and he made sure to frequently have his revamped Young Justice make cameos in his other titles — even if that didn't fit in his established continuity. Regardless, Bendis did do a very good job with Impulse this year. Although he never explained anything, he nailed Bart's personality and power set. And even though I started to sour on Young Justice around issue #10, the series was a lot of fun.

Best Artist: Patrick Gleason

Sadly, Gleason quickly bolted for Marvel after only a handful of Young Justice issues. But the work he did  was fantastic. In interviews, he spoke of how he saw Impulse as the heart of the team, and it showed every time he drew him. Gleason also was innovative in choosing to rarely — if ever — drawing Bart in a traditional running pose, opting instead for chaotic and random jumping, ducking and basically dancing. And that choice perfectly fits Bart's personality. He doesn't just run fast, he moves fast. Also, Gleason became the first artist since Humberto Ramos to redesign Impulse's look. He has a new costume, buck teeth (meh), new hair, new eyes (I miss the yellow), new everything. But, there is no mistaking that this is Impulse. And more important than how he looks, is how he feels ... if that makes any sense. Anyway, no other artist came close this year to matching Gleason's accomplishments.

Best Supporting Character: Eduardo Dorado Jr.

Poor Superboy is once again the runner-up in this category — a position he's in almost every year. Yes, Bart's reunion with Kon was by far the most emotional of this year. But Bendis oddly interrupted that glorious hug with a whole separate issue that neither of them appeared in. And after that hug, what have Bart and Kon actually done? Those 11 issues went by way too fast for any normal conservation or introspection. So that brings up Kid Flash's newest best friend, Eduardo. There is a very strong implication that the two of them are boyfriends — which would be a very interesting direction to explore — but there was no confirmation. (It's a little strange, considering how the third season of Young Justice didn't shy away from LGBTQ characters, but oh well.) At the very least, Bart and Eduardo are great friends who care a lot about each other. They were constantly at each others' side and deeply worried about each others' safety during battle. And that's more than I can say about Bart and Kon.

Best Villain: Granny Goodness

This was a tough one. Technically, the Dark Lord Opal was the main villain for the start of the Young Justice comic, but he never really felt like much of a threat, and was quickly, unceremoniously defeated. After that, Young Justice bounced around the multiverse for a little bit, before finally getting into a fight with their Earth-3 counterparts. But once again, they hardly provided a challenge and were easily beaten. So that leaves us with the main villain of Young Justice: Outsiders. And that was Granny Goodness. Bart didn't get to help defeat her at the end, but she did cause him and his teammates the most pain and torture they felt all year, so that gives ol' Granny the win.

Before I can move on to 2020, there is one final Impulse appearance I must record: the cover of Flash Forward #4.

The wonderful Doc Shaner snuck in a Bart and Wally straight from Mike Wieringo's Flash #97. But Bart didn't appear in the issue, which is fine with me, because that miniseries has two of my least favorite creators on it — Scott Lobdell and Brett Booth. Ugh! Unfortunately, I will have to take a quick look at Flash Forward #5.

But first, we'll start 2020 with Young Justice #12.