Year in Review: 2023

Another year has already come and gone. Superhero fatigue may be setting in, but that didn't stop the film studios. Marvel produced four films: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Marvels and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. All of them were fairly decent, but Spider-Verse was by far the best. DC countered with four films of their own (the most they've ever produced in a single year): Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. The Shazam sequel and Blue Beetle were nice, little movies, but The Flash was offensively bad. I don't think I've ever been angrier with a superhero film. (I still haven't seen the Aquaman sequel yet, so I'll reserve judgment on that.) As I said earlier, a little bit of superhero fatigue may have set in with general audiences. Only Guardians and Spider-Verse appeared on the top 10 box office list (Barbie was No. 1).

But what about Bart? Well, thanks to Jeremy Adams, we actually got a bit more Bart than I was expecting. Impulse was a part of the One-Minute War, which lasted quite a while. Unfortunately, Bart didn't have too much to do after that. New Flash writer Si Spurrier has used Bart ... a tiny bit. And he's made a couple of quick cameos in the Beast World event, but that's it. Yet another quiet year for our guy, which is a shame since this is the 30th year of Bart Allen stories.

Best Story: The Flash #800

Spurrier's run has just begun, and it's quite intriguing, but Impulse's involvement in it has been quite minimal. Beast World is really fun, but Bart's role in it is even smaller. So that leaves us with Adams' run. One-Minute War started strong and had some memorable moments. But the longer it went, the worse it became, ultimately falling apart for a unsatisfying, inconsequential ending. The brightest spot of the year came with a short story in the anniversary issue. It was a delightful blast from the past, reminding the world of how wonderful Impulse stories can be.

Best Writer: Mark Waid

For the first time since 1997, and the fifth time overall, Impulse's creator is the best writer of the year. And it was all for one small, silly story. But the story had heart and was true to Bart's character — something Spurrier hasn't been able to grasp yet. Adams' story was too clunky and frustrating, but he did have a few gems scattered throughout — especially Bart and Max running off into the sunset. But at the end of the day, you just can't beat the best, and when it comes to Impulse stories, no one is better than Waid.

Best Artist: Todd Nauck

Nauck claims this award for the second year in a row and the sixth time total. And once again, he wins for doing very little work. But what can I say? He's my favorite artist! I always wanted him on a solo Impulse run, and this short story gave me a tiny taste of what that could have looked like. Roger Cruz did some solid work on the One-Minute War, especially when compared to those horrible covers by Taurin Clarke. But nothing could beat Nauck's wonderful trip of nostalgia.

Best Supporting Character: Kid Flash

Bart did some nice moments with Max — both under Adams and Spurrier — but those moments were few and far between. Their beautiful run into the sunset would have been the perfect ending for both of them. But then they were denied that, and Max was promptly trapped in a hellish nightmare realm, while Bart was busy playing with sticks in the park. Seriously. Still, though, those were meaningful moments and I feel a little guilty about passing on Max this year. But that's because Bart's relationship with Wallace West was so unexpectedly entertaining. The two made the perfect pair with Bart getting to act like a big brother for the first time in his life. It was so natural and successful, I'm a little stunned that when Wallace got his own series (Speed Force) he was paired with Avery Ho instead of Bart. Maybe nobody realized Spurrier was bringing Bart back. Oh well. Just one more missed opportunity for my boy!

Best Villain: The Fraction

I feel like I'm cheating a little bit by naming an entire group of villains instead of an individual. But I really didn't have any other options here. Spurrier's story is still going, so I couldn't even tell you exactly who or what is responsible for Max's latest disappearance. So that leaves me with the Fraction. I guess I could single out Miss Murder, who seemed to be the perfect antagonist for Impulse to defeat. But Bart didn't really beat her, and she ultimately didn't do that much, despite hanging around for most of the One-Minute War. The Fraction was a really neat concept — an invading alien force that used their connection to the Speed Force to conquer an entire planet in a matter of seconds. Unfortunately, Adams couldn't come up with any unique members within the Fraction besides Miss Murder (which is why he kept using her throughout the story). Everyone else was bland and completely indistinguishable from the rest, and yes, that does include that one guy who was secretly a speedster. Such a waste of potential. However, the Fraction were quite a formidable force and even an embarrassingly large team of speedsters and time-travelers weren't enough to actually beat them. The best our heroes could manage was to redirect the Fraction to another planet, where their reign of dominance presumably remains unchecked.

So that wraps up 30 years of Impulse stories! Considering all the nonsense poor Bart has been through — aging up, aging down, "dying" and being brought back, and disappearing from all media for months at a time — I'm actually a little surprised that he's still around. Just when I think DC is finally going to say, "No more Bart Allen!" someone brings him back for a cute little supporting role. And as long as that keeps happening, I'll keep this blog going.

Next time, we'll return to Spurrier's mysterious story with The Flash #5.