New History of the DC Universe #3

Mark Waid Writer

Dan Jurgens & Doug Mahnke Pencillers

Norm Rapmund & Doug Mahnke Inkers

John Kalisz & David Baron Colorists

Todd Klein Letterer

Chris Samnee & Giovanna Niro Cover Artists

Dan Mora, Ryan Sook, Scott Koblish & Hi-Fi, Frank Quitely, Karl Kerschl Variant Cover Artists

Megen Bellersen, Louis Prandi & Curtis King Jr. Publication Design

Marquis Draper Associate Editor

Brittany Holzherr & Andrew Marino Editors

Superman created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster.

Superboy created by Jerry Siegel.

Supergirl based on the characters created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster.

By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel Family.

Our cover gloriously puts Impulse front and center among all the icons of the '90s. I'm a little sad that Tim Drake wasn't included, but at least Superboy is proudly standing right by his old pal, Bart. And I also have to laugh at the tiny bit of irony by sticking Impulse right next to Blue Beetle, as the two of them were so close during the Young Justice animated show. But that's a different continuity in a different decade. This issue is all about that glorious 20-year span of high Impulse activity. And I'm beyond thrilled that one of my favorite artists, Chris Samnee, got to illustrate this cover.

For the first time in a long time, Bart was included on a variant cover. So I turned to dc.fandom.com to help me out. Here he is as Kid Flash in Ryan Sook's reinterpretation of Superboy's death in Infinite Crisis. Of course, it didn't happen this way, at all — especially since Bart was in the Speed Force at the time of Kon's death, and by the time Bart had returned, he had already grown up to Flash age. Regardless, this is still a tender tribute to a momentous event in DC history.

Impulse also appears in the lower right corner of Scott Koblish's massive wraparound collage. This is part three of four, spanning the entire DC history, grouping notable characters chronologically. It's a really impressive achievement and I think it would be pretty fun to get all four of them as a massive poster. But mostly, I'm just glad that Impulse was prominently included. Few character exemplify the '90s as much as he does.

There's not really a story for this issue. It's just Barry Allen writing the history of Earth's superheroes. He notes that his grandson, Bart Allen, was sent back in time so Wally West could help him control his super-speed. And Bart quickly gained the code name Impulse, which reflected both his powers and his personality. (I'm glad Waid didn't repeat the error he once made by saying Batman named him Impulse. Bart came up with the name himself after Wally complained he was being impulsive.)

Impulse is later seen with Young Justice, as drawn by Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund.

I'm really sad they couldn't bring in Todd Nauck to draw this issue, but I suppose they wanted Jurgens so he could draw Superman battling Doomsday for the 1,000th time. Anyway, we next see Bart as Kid Flash and a member of the Teen Titans. Sadly, he was not mentioned in the recap of Infinite Crisis. But that's OK. He shows up quite a bit in the backup story.

New History of the DC Universe Timeline Part Three

Written by Dave Wielgosz

Based on research by Mark Waid and Dave Wielgosz

Special thanks to John Wells

This literally is just a timeline with brief lines of text for important events and the occasional photo taken directly from the source material. Impulse's debut is accompanied by a panel from Flash #92 drawn by Impulse co-creator Mike Wieringo.

Mostly, I'm impressed with how detailed this timeline is. We get a reference to Savitar from Impulse #11. We see the origins of Arrowette from Impulse #28 by Tom Peyer and Craig Rousseau. And the formation of Young Justice is explained as the result of the battle with Bedlam in JLA: World Without Grown-Ups. We even get to see Impulse's arch-enemy Inertia!

The teenaged Lobo is shown, but Wielgosz's text incorrectly identifies him as "Slobo, a.k.a. Li'l Lobo, a teenage clone of the Main Man." Li'l Lobo was actually the real Lobo, who was magically transformed into a teenager by Klarion the Witch Boy. Slobo was a smaller, defective version of Lobo that was born from his blood after he died on Apokalips. But I don't fault Wielgosz for missing these details — he had a LOT of ground to cover here.

Anyway, the timeline also shows Bart as Kid Flash with the Teen Titans and mentions how he aged to adulthood to become "Flash IV" in Infinite Crisis. The timeline says that Inertia and the Rogues killed adult Bart, then it ends by showing the revived Kid Flash and Superboy from Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds.

This was a pretty fun comic. I think the art could have been stronger, but I'm just happy that DC has finally decided to officially lay out what "counts" and what doesn't in its sprawling continuity. And for most purposes, this history and timeline will be more than enough for everybody. For those nerds like me, I recommend dc.fandom to get the fuller, and more accurate, history.

Next time, we'll conclude this Mark Waid project.