Impulse Control – Part V
Written by Mark Waid & Christopher Cantwell
Art by Vasco Georgiev
Colors by Matt Harris
Letters by Buddy Beaudoin
Cover by Dan Mora
Variant covers by Ramon Pérez; Daniel Bayliss
Editor Chris Rosa
Group editor Paul Kaminski
Our cover shows Wally and Bart falling down into a ... snow cavern? ... with Rocky Davis of the Challengers of the Unknown and his robot friend, Ultivac. This is a rare Dan Mora cover that I don't enjoy. Wally is stuck at an extremely awkward angle, and Bart is far too small for my liking — especially since this is the conclusion of his five-part story. It's not Mora's fault that Christopher Cantwell decided to abruptly cram in a couple of characters from his run on the Challengers of the Unknown series, but I still think Mora could have done a better job here.
Shockingly, we have not one, but two variant covers with Impulse this issue! As always, I have to rely on the good people at dc.fandom.com, since DC no longer includes the variant covers with their digital comics. The first variant, by Ramon Pérez, is a fun depiction of what this story could have been — a wacky adventure through time with Bart and Wally. I love the intricate detail here, but I once again wish Impulse could have been drawn bigger.
Just like Mora a few issues ago, Daniel Bayliss couldn't resist the urge to draw Colossal Boy even though he did not appear in this story. Maybe he showed up in an earlier draft? Or maybe he's just a lot more fun to draw than Cosmic Boy. Regardless, I do applaud Bayliss for putting Impulse front and center for the conclusion of his own story.
And that story picks up at a crucial moment in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Barry Allen is preparing to destroy the Anti-Monitor's cannon before it eliminates every remaining universe, when Bart suddenly shows up. He addresses Barry as Grandpa and announces that he won't let the Flash carry through with his suicidal plan. Barry tries to brush off this strange teenager, but Bart insists that he's a hero and "heroes fix things."
Meanwhile, Darkseid's Legion warns him that if the Flash fails to destroy the anti-matter cannon, then Darkseid's grand plan would fail. But Darkseid patiently explains to his minions that Impulse is going to sacrifice himself in his grandfather's place. And since Bart is a living embodiment of the Speed Force, his death would enable Omega Speed to reign throughout the universe. So Darkseid uses Saturn Girl's mental link to speak directly to Bart's mind, urging him to prove himself to be the hero he professes to be. Bart tries to reason with Barry, saying that since he's faster, he might be able to destroy the cannon without dying. But Barry won't budge.
Instead of going straight to Bart's location, Wally decides to arrive at Darkseid's base to stop him from manipulating Bart. I'm not exactly sure how Wally knew this was happening, but he did. And his arrival is only part of his plan. He sent Whip Whirlwind off to the remains of Challengers Mountain to recruit the one person immune to Omega Energy — Ultivac. The robot and his friend, Rocky Davis, fled from Darkseid and ended up in the past, feeling rather demoralized. Whip admits he's torn between Wally's and Bart's philosophies — Wally worries about causing too much change and disruption, while Bart advocates for heroes to undo every wrong that's ever happened. Ultimately, the three of them decide to shelve the debate and try to stop the pressing, immediate threat.
We cut back to Wally being chased by XS across the fiery surface of Apokolips. Now that Wally is closer to his own time, he's almost at full speed and is now faster than this evil Jenni. She pushes herself past her limits in pursuit of Wally, but ultimately is absorbed by the Omega Force, where Darkseid announces she will burn forever. Wally tries (and fails) to battle Darkseid before he catches a glimpse of Darkseid's monitors, which show Bart fighting Barry. Rather than waiting for his backup to arrive, Wally immediately takes off to stop Bart. Luckily, Whip, Rocky, and Ultivac do arrive just a few seconds later to delay Darkseid's Legion from chasing after Wally.
Wally appears next to Bart just as he knocks down Barry. Wally confesses that he has tried to save Barry this same way before, but it didn't work. Bart argues that he's not going to stand by and let bad stuff happen, and since he's now basically the Speed Force, he's certain they can do this. Suddenly, Darkseid arrives and grabs Wally. (Whip and friends weren't strong enough to contain the lord of Apokolips.) Bart suddenly hears the voice of Jay Garrick speaking through the Speed Force. Jay tells Bart that he is the Speed Force — the thing that binds them together. He urges Bart to be what he's meant to be, and he bashes into Darkseid with enough force to knock him out and free Wally.
Barry, meanwhile, gets up and begins his fateful run. Bart tries to stop him once again, but Wally holds him back, explaining that this is Barry's choice and this is what makes him a hero. Besides, they will eventually see him again. Wally holds Bart and urges him not to watch as Barry runs himself to death, but Bart says he can see Barry in the Speed Force. Bart greets his grandfather there, telling him that he's saved everyone and he's so proud of him.
Whip and company finally arrive right as the cannon begins to explode. Wally worries about entering the time stream again, but Ultivac assures him he can set up a boom tube back to the present. Whip bids farewell to Wally, saying he's going to return to his past. Confident that everything has been restored the way it's supposed to be, Wally happily races forward with Bart, promising to take him to the "whole shebang." By this, I assume Wally was referencing the conclusion of DC KO, but neither of them factored into that final issue.
Well, that's that. I don't think I can call this a complete disappointment, but it certainly didn't live up to my expectations. First of all, Ultivac and Rocky Davis had absolutely no impact on this story. They had no business being here and it's pretty obvious the only reason they were included was because Cantwell wanted them. I'm all for unexpected guest appearances that strengthen the connections throughout the wider DC continuity. But you need to have a reason to include certain characters.
Second, this issue felt a bit rushed, just like the last one. And with so much happening in so little space, Georgiev's art began to suffer in places, just like it did with so many of those Simon Spurrier issues. It took me a ridiculously long amount of time to figure out that Bart had attacked Darkseid in what was supposed to be the triumphant climax of this five-part story. It just left me feeling quite empty.
And empty is the best word to describe how I feel about this whole thing from a bigger picture. Bart Allen is now the living embodiment of the Speed Force. So what has he done with this new development? Umm ... he got to give his grandpa a hug after he died? And Barry still didn't know who Bart was, so it didn't really mean that much to him? Yeah, that's not really getting me excited. I don't know what Bart should do as the Speed Force, but I do wish it was bigger and more interesting than that.
Sadly, this seems like the last Impulse story for the next little bit. The Flash series got a new creative team with issue #31, and so far they don't seem inclined to use Bart. So I'll just keep watching and waiting. And when Bart does return, so will I.
