Impulse #89

"... Godspeed."

Todd Dezago Writer
Carlo Barberi Penciller
Terry Austin Inker
Janice Chiang Letterer
Tom McCraw Colorist
Digital Chameleon Separator
Joey Cavalieri Editor
Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo

This issue's cover: One's a crowd, courtesy of Carlo Barberi and Wayne Faucher! This is a beautiful, bittersweet cover. Dozens of Impulses, each one with a different expression. (Can you find the Impulse that's picking his nose?) It's almost like Barberi took this opportunity to draw all the Impulses he'd never get to draw again. And right in the middle of this pack is the real Impulse, angrily demanding to know why no one likes Impulse. I guess the better question is why didn't more people like Impulse? I'll try to answer that at the end of this review.

Our story picks up where we left off last issue, with Bart and Carol making a daring escape from the Doocers in the 63rd century. Carol literally shoves Bart into the time machine, then assures him that futuristic technology is very user friendly. All she has to do is push "reset," and they'll travel back to 2002 and Manchester, Alabama ... or rather, Bart's new home in Denver, Colorado.

When Bart steps out of the time machine, he finds a lot of damage has been done to his new house and front yard. Joan Garrick sees Bart has arrived, and she quickly tells him that he needs to find Jay and stop him. She explains that Jay's old enemy, Rival, had been posing as her doctor, and when Jay found out, he began battling Rival, causing all the destruction around them. Bart asks if she's worried Rival will kill Jay, but Joan says she's never seen Jay this angry before, and she's worried the opposite might happen.

We then go back in time by six minutes, to when Rival first revealed himself to Jay. The former Professor Edward Clariss, now a being of pure energy, grabs Jay by the throat and admits to Jay that he had planned on exacting revenge on him by slowly killing his wife through a long and painful "treatment process." But now that his plan has been discovered, he immediately rushes over to the Garrick house to kill Joan. Jay follows Rival, and begins battling him in the front yard. By the time Joan comes out to see what's going on, Jay has his hands around Rival's throat and is shouting at him for threatening his wife. Joan is able to piece together what's happened, and upon seeing the look of murderous rage in her husband's eyes, she tries to calm him down. But Jay shouts at her to get back inside, giving Rival an opening to punch him and escape. Joan offers to call Wally West or the JSA, but Jay refuses and takes off after Rival. And that's when Bart's time machine suddenly appeared in the front yard.

Bart immediately heads out to find Jay, following the path of destruction from his battle with Rival. It doesn't take Bart too long to catch up, and he immediately grabs Jay's arms from behind, begging him to stop. This gives Rival another opening to escape, and Jay immediately throws Bart off him. He explains that he's not just trying to stop Rival, but also trying to protect nearby innocent bystanders. Unlike the heroic speedsters, Rival doesn't harmless vibrate his molecules through objects or try to sidestep people. He just runs right through everything and everyone, not worrying about what he destroys or who he kills. As Jay tells this to Bart, he manages to pull a man out of Rival's path before resuming his chase.

Bart follows them to the Sahara Desert, where the high-speed chase has turned the sand into glass. Bart finds Jay beating Rival to a bloody pulp, and he tries again to stop him, but gets punched in the face for his efforts. Jay insists its different this time, as Rival has violated his family's life. Bart reminds Jay that he's a good guy and that he's supposed to be teaching Bart how to be a better hero. He asks Jay what he would do if their roles were reversed. Jay looks at his fist, covered in Rival's purple blood, and he slowly realizes that Bart is right.

Rival slowly gathers himself up, looks at Impulse, and says he and his teammates never planned for "the boy." He explains that his scheme to lure Jay Garrick to Denver was just part of a much larger plan for the Rogues to attack Wally West. They wanted to keep all of Wally's allies away, so they somehow contacted Rival, who had been trapped in the Speed Force by Jay years ago. Rival needed a body to enter the real world, so he began luring in Max Mercury. As he talks, Rival allows his purple energy to subside for a minute, showing the battered body of Max underneath.

Bart jumps on Rival demanding to know what Rival's done to Max and if he's hurt him, he'll tear him apart and scatter the pieces all over the planet. Rival explains that he has essentially changed places with Max. He's using Max's body as a host, while Max's essence is now trapped in the Speed Force. Rival also warns Bart that if he were to kill him, then Max would be lost forever. Bart considers this for a moment, then manages to calm down enough to start discussing some solutions with Jay.

They start running back home across the Atlantic, with Jay dragging Rival behind him. Jay says they can stash Rival in a holding cell at S.T.A.R. Labs, then they should go help Wally battle the Rogues. Bart also suggests enlisting the aid of Dr. Morlo to find a way to get Max back in his body. Jay thanks Bart for stopping him from doing something he'd regret, and he apologizes for not being a good teacher. Bart says Max always said a good teacher needs to know when to learn from his students. He then returns the conversation to Rival's fate, suggesting they could use the time capsule he recently acquired.

At the mention of a time machine, Rival somehow breaks free of Jay's grip and heads off toward Denver. Assuming Rival was going after Joan, both Jay and Bart immediately vibrate through the house's wall. But they find Joan and Carol peacefully sharing a glass of lemonade. Bart then sees Rival getting into his time capsule. Bart and Jay just manage to get outside as the time capsule rises up in the air, offering Rival enough time to tell Jay he'll kill him next time they meet, and torment Bart with another glimpse of Max's face and a vow that they have unfinished business. After Rival disappears, Bart asks Jay if there's a way to track him. Jay can't think of anything right now, and he suggests they just head inside right now to relax after an exhausting day.

The next day, Bart runs Carol back to Manchester, Alabama (after they've found some normal clothes for her). On the way, Carol asks Bart to stop in Kansas so they can talk for a bit. She says that before she went away to the future, she was so happy to finally be in a relationship with Bart. And during her adventures with Bart's mom, she worried that she might not see Bart again. Carol tells Bart that she always wants him in her life, and she doesn't want to lose him, but as hard as it might be for him to hear, she suggests they take their relationship slow. Bart is just happy to have Carol back and is more than happy to follow her lead on this. Besides, he realizes they'd have to take it slow, now that he lives in Denver. They share a warm hug and continue their journey, with Carol assuring Bart that no matter where he goes, he's going to have lots of friends.

Sometime later, back in Denver, Bart is playing a Superman video game when Jay and Joan get back from an appointment with some real doctors. They've found that she does have a form of leukemia, but it's highly treatable. They're also happy to learn that Rival wasn't able to cause too much harm during his stint as their "doctor." Bart gives Joan a big hug, then Jay joins him in his video games while Joan prepares dinner. And in the final panel of Impulse, Dox the dog turns to the reader and thinks, "Thanks to everyone out there who've been such a big part of our family!! See ya in the funny papers!"



It seems like Todd Dezago had a lot of loose ends to tie up and not quite enough time to do it. The side story of Max detecting a disturbance in the Speed Force began in issue #80. So it was good to finally find out what that was all about. Although it seems highly improbable that the Rogues would have had the ability to contact Rival in the Speed Force to arrange for him to take out Max and distract Jay without letting any of the other Speed Force entities such as Barry Allen or Johnny Quick know what was happening. And if these Rogues had so meticulously planned out this grand scheme against Wally, then why didn't they also plan for Impulse? It is nice to occasionally know why certain heroes are unable to help out, but it said excuses have to make sense. Besides, if Wally really was in such peril, then why didn't Jay and Bart go back to help him after Rival escaped?

So much of this issue revolved around watching Jay lose his cool and nearly kill Rival. Sadly, I had little to no emotional investment in this. I don't know who Rival is, and even though Jay has always been around, he hasn't exactly been a big part of Impulse. Right after Bart moved in with Jay, World Without Young Justice happened, followed by a two-issue epilogue and another issue detailing an adventure in the future. So all things considered, we did not get to see one minute of Bart living with the Garricks before this issue.

One other loose end that had to be tied up was bringing Carol back home. The only thing worse than taking her to the future would have been leaving her there. And as sad as it was, it really was the right decision to have Bart and Carol depart as friends. This may have been some incredible foresight by Dezago, knowing that with Impulse's own series being canceled, there was no way that Carol would even be mentioned in any other comic. And I'm sad to say that this was exactly what happened. This was the final appearance of Carol Bucklen in all of DC comics. Although we'll be able to follow Bart's adventures for a few more years, we'll never see Carol, Helen, or any of our friends from Manchester, Alabama, ever again. This is sad for many reasons, including the dropped plot line of Evil Eye discovering Bart's secret identity. He clearly wrote a note to Bart and snuck it into his box of mementos, but Dezago never had time to follow up on it.

Speaking of unfollowed plot lines, don't expect a satisfying conclusion to Max's story arc. It's almost as frustrating as watching Bart and Jay stand idly by as Rival very slowly escaped, not even considering having Bart create a scout to go back five seconds to stop him. I'm also deeply saddened that Dezago didn't have a chance to bring back Inertia. Bart's greatest enemy will eventually return, but ... it won't be very good.

Now I guess it's time to talk about why Impulse got canceled. First and foremost, I think Impulse was a victim of the times. Blame it on 9/11, general shifts in early 2000s culture, changing leadership at DC, whatever, but by 2002, there just wasn't much of a market for light, funny comics like Superboy, Impulse and even Young Justice. At least that's what the higher-ups at DC felt. It's true that Impulse's sales numbers had been on a steady decline since Mark Waid and Humberto Ramos left the book, but how much of that is the fault of the book's creators?

Editor L.A. Williams was fired after issue #67, and the series took a noticeable dive afterward. Dezago's stories seemed crisper and cleaner under Williams. There were fewer plot holes and significant actions taking place off page. But what really plagued the Joey Cavalieri era was the constant stream of editorial mandates. According to Dezago in several interviews, Cavalieri did a great job of fighting for Dezago. It was the people above him (the same people who fired L.A. Williams) who demanded that Impulse get a girlfriend, get new powers and get magic powers. Dezago didn't want to do any of those things, and I think it showed.

Equally problematic were the frequent crossover events, constantly interrupting the flow of Dezago's narrative. Since issue #67, Impulse was involved in Circle of Fire, Our Worlds at War, Last Laugh and World Without Young Justice. Conversely, Impulse's appearances in other books also dropped off. When Geoff Johns took over The Flash, he simply stopped including Impulse in any and all of his stories. And after Our Worlds at War, Impulse quit Young Justice and didn't return until after his own series was canceled. This surely had to hurt sales. I've seen so many letters to the editor of readers saying they became hooked on Impulse through The Flash or Young Justice. Take those books out of the equation and you're going to have a hard time attracting new readers.

I wonder what this book would have looked like had Dezago not been forced to pair up Bart and Carol and give Bart a new power. Both those things happened in the disastrous Dark Tomorrow storyline, where Dezago seemed to think the best course of action for Bart's girlfriend was to stash her far away where we'd never see her again. But even worse was Bart's new power, which was unfathomably powerful. I'll admit it was kind of fun with Bart's scouts constantly calling Bart "boss" against his wishes. And Our Worlds at War and World Without Young Justice did explore some interesting aspects of this power. But at the end of the day, giving Bart the ability to solve virtually any problem instantaneously is not a good idea. Because it becomes a glaring issue whenever Bart fails to utilize this power to save the day — like at the end of this issue.

The final Impulsive Reactions sadly does not have a farewell message from Dezago, Barberi, or any of the other creators. All we get is a brief note from Joey Cavalieri, confirming that this is the final issue of Impulse and saying that he shares the fans' feelings of disappointment and anger.

David A. Steel thanks everyone involved with Impulse. He says after one of the worst days in his life, he received an unexpected pickup by watching two of his favorite characters — Max Mercury and the Phantom Stranger — team up to save the day.

RickShaw1 likes how we got to see Helen again before the end and let Impulse get wild for a bit. He enjoyed Barberi utilizing different styles of art to show the happy, friendlier version of the Justice League. But Rick feels like DC should have given Dezago the chance to write a series of wrap-up stories to end Impulse. Cavalieri says he kept asking for "one more issue" to ensure the book went as far as it did. (I think DC should have let the book reach issue #90. Eighty-nine is an odd number to leave off on.)

Havk felt the last few issues were rushed, pointing specifically to the limited amount of time Bart got to spend with his entire family that was all brought together in place for the one and only time in DC comics history. Cavalieri acknowledges this complaint, but also admits that the pacing at the end was partly intentional. After receiving complaints about dawdling too much on past storylines, they decided to bring some velocity to their final stories about this young speedster.

Corndog7 loved the scene with the cartoony Justice League and Robin's "Bat termites." He also felt the story was rushed, but says it's understandable with the end of the series approaching.

Anthony O'Brien enjoyed the brief family reunion, the surprise appearance of the Phantom Stranger, and Impulse's purple suit, which bore resemblance to the suits of Bart's grandfather and father. Cavalieri ends everything by encouraging readers to follow him on The Flash.

Next time, we'll heed that advice and check out a quick Impulse cameo in The Flash #189.

Impulse #88

Running Out of Time

Todd Dezago Writer
Carlo Barberi Penciller
Terry Austin Inker
Janice Chiang Letterer
Tom McCraw Colorist
Digital Chameleon Separator
Joey Cavalieri Editor
Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo

This issue's cover: Bart gets a good reception, thanks to Carlo Barberi and Wayne Faucher. I'm not the biggest fan of this cover. It's a pretty cheap joke presented in a rather vague and boring manner. It's just a crowd of people pointing at three gigantic TVs sitting in an empty void of nothingness. Surely there were more interesting ways to show what this issue is about. Maybe I'm just grumpy because this is the second-to-last issue of Impulse.

Our story begins in the 63rd century, where Carol Bucklen and Meloni Allen have been captured by an alien race called the Doocers and imprisoned on the eighth moon of Korpor and forced to compete in dangerous challenges on a reality TV show. Today's challenge involves them using hover boards to run away from green alien lions. But the hover boards are running out of juice, and Carol and Meloni have been chased to the edge of a cliff. Just when all hope seems lost, Impulse's scout arrives and takes Carol and Meloni up to higher ground. As the scout ties up the lions, he tries to tell Carol that history has been fixed and it's safe for her to come back to the year 2002. But as he's busy, Carol and Meloni mysteriously vanish.

The scout sadly returns home empty-handed and receives a lecture from the real Bart. But "Scouty" (as Bart calls him) explains that it took him a long time to track down Carol and Meloni, and that he needed to come back to recharge. Bart then realizes that Scouty was followed back home, as a spherical time machine suddenly appears, bearing a message that reads: "Come and visit the glamorous and relaxing 63rd century!! You deserve it!! We'll treat you like a king!!" Without much thought, Bart tells Scouty to get in. With even less thought, Scouty jumps into the time machine, eager to start the next adventure. Bart says he meant for Scouty to merge with him, then complains that he even drives himself crazy, as he climbs into the time machine and disappears with a "FWINK!"

Bart arrives in the 63rd century, and it immediately greeted by a large group of grey aliens. They place a collar around his neck that translates their Gungalac to English, and they lead Bart to a huge celebration feast. Bart politely follows them, but he's too surprised by this star treatment to realize anything sinister happening. Until one of the servant robots drops a tray of food and Bart tries to catch all the food with super speed, but finds he's lost his powers. The aliens explain that Bart's collar not only translates languages, but also has the ability to cut off his connection to the Speed Force when the aliens choose. And to make matters worse, Bart will be unable to vibrate out of the collar, even when his powers are turned on.

Bart is then thrown in his cell, which has a massive video screen as one of the walls. Carol and Meloni appear on the screen, telling Bart that he'll be given a chance to "save" them tomorrow. But Carol gets cut off right when she tries to say that they're being held as slaves. All of this was broadcast to a race of white, fluffy aliens called the Soomars, who are excited that their show has gained a new hero.

We then return to the present day at the Cantele Research Center in Denver, Colorado. Jay and Joan Garrick are meeting with Dr. Lateris, who informs Joan that in order to stop her cancer from spreading, they'll have to perform more surgeries to implant internal combatant devices. Jay is hoping they can find a non-invasive procedure to try, but Joan is tired of the treatments. She says she's had enough and wants to just go back to Keystone City now and spend her last days with her friends and family. Dr. Lateris shouts out, "No! You can't!" before catching himself and saying he strongly recommends that Joan stay in Denver a bit longer so they can run some more tests. Jay, however, starts to grow suspicious.

Back in the 63rd century, Impulse begins his first day on the Doocers' reality show. He is shown an image of Carol chained up and surrounded by bio-mech serpents over the Peril Pits of Xover. Bart's collar turns his powers on, and he circles the moon three times before finally finding Carol 13 seconds later. He easily avoids all the mechanical serpents, but as soon as he reaches Carol's platform, she disappears.

The next six days follow the same pattern. Bart is placed in a new, wacky environment (one is underwater, one is in the Wild West) and each time his mother or girlfriend disappears right before he's able to save them. During another video call with Carol and Meloni, they all lament how even though Bart keeps winning the challenges, the Doocers never deliver them their promised freedom. They realize they're doomed to keep repeating this process as long as the Doocers keep getting good ratings on their show. Bart laments the fact that he hasn't thought up an escape plan yet, but his mom assures him something will turn up.

Meanwhile, three producers are discussing the new Impulse show in the Doocer programming office. The ratings are through the roof, but there is some talk that viewers are beginning to feel the show isn't being fair to Impulse and his family. The president, however, dismisses these concerns and demands the show become bigger, better and more spectacular. Back in Carol and Meloni's cell, Meloni reveals that the reason Bart is never able to save them is because they're never in the same area as him. What Bart is seeing is only holograms of the "damsels in distress." Apparently, everything the Doocers do is with holograms, from the different environments, to the threatening monsters, which are robots covered in dense light projections. And somehow, someway, Meloni was able to steal a hologram projector.

The next day, before the Impulse show can begin, a Doocer comes running into the programming office, warning everyone that somehow they've lost control of all their robots and creatures, which are now stampeding toward them. They consider sending in their guard, but one of them points out that the guard has no experience with something like this, and they'd surely be killed by these rampaging robots. So they decide to send in someone who has consistently defeated these robots — Impulse.

So the Doocers broadcast this massive battle, billing it as the final challenge to free Carol and Meloni.  As Impulse battles various aliens and evil robot clowns, the Doocers begin to debate whether they'll actually be able to make good on their promise of freedom this time. One of them points out that the Soomars are growing restless and angry watching Impulse being jerked around from one stupid gimmick to another.

Suddenly, a Doocer reports that Meloni is missing and the real Carol is in the cage Impulse is racing toward, not a hologram. Fearing this to be an escape plan, the Doocers turn off Bart's collar. Carol's cage is guarded by the green lions from earlier, but Bart is still able to defeat them without his speed by using a carefully timed jump to cause the two lions to collide into each other. Rushing to protect their ratings, the Doocers send in their guard to arrest the powerless Impulse before he can get Carol out of the cage. As Bart is led away, he tells the Doocers he will no longer act as their "pet hero." And to the Soomars, Bart tells them to not let other people tell them what to watch, buy or like. "You're free to choose for yourselves! Tell them what you want — and make them listen!"

Bart turns to assure Carol that he'll find a way to save her, but she suddenly disappears. One of the guards then reveals herself to be Carol, and she blasts the other guard with an electric shock. And in the programming office, one of the Doocers reveals herself to be Meloni, who holds all the executives at bay with a large rifle. Carol leads Bart to a hidden time machine, and Meloni calls them up, saying she's neutralized their collars and she's going to stay behind to make sure the Doocers don't follow them. Bart starts to protest this, but Meloni says, "We always find a way, don't we Sunshine ... ? I'll be fine." And with that, Bart and Carol leave the 63rd century.

Back in 2002, Jay returns to Dr. Lateris' office. He angrily says that when he first learned Joan had cancer, he didn't take the time to thoroughly look at the doctor that came so highly recommended. But now he has, discovering that Dr. Lateris has seemingly appeared out of nowhere with a falsified resumé. As Jay demands to know why this fraud has been treating his wife, the doctor transforms into a being of purple energy with the same helmet Jay wears and an upside-down lightning bolt on his chest. Jay instantly recognizes his age-old nemesis, Rival.


This issue probably would have been better served split into two or three separate issues. We barely got to see the different trials the reality show put Impulse through, we didn't see how Meloni stole that hologram projector or how she and Carol escaped their cell and strategically put themselves in the right place at the right time, and the Jay Garrick story is feeling very rushed. I guess that's what happens when you only have one more issue to wrap everything up with. I also don't know if this was a deadlines thing or what, but this is the fifth consecutive issue with a different inker. Most of them did a decent job, but Terry Austin had a very different, inconsistent style. In some cases, it almost didn't even look like Carlo Barberi's pencils anymore.

Putting all those frustrations aside, I thought this issue made an interesting commentary on the entertainment industry. When characters are constantly put through one gimmick after another, fans start to get frustrated. And when the producers ignore fans' complaints and assume they know the fans' desires better than they do, then things start to fall apart. But on the other hand, fans have the responsibility to let the producers know what they want. They need to vote with both their voices and their wallets. And this is an evergreen lesson that constantly needs to be repeated.

Impulsive Reactions begins with Joey Cavalieri publicly announcing that Impulse will cease publication with the next issue.

Jeffrey says there aren't enough books out there that younger kids can read. Most comics are too violent or complicated for 5- to 10-year-olds, and Jeffrey has enjoyed being able to read Impulse with his nieces and nephews. He says DC is making a big mistake by cancelling Impulse and Superboy, since both books had the potential to develop lifelong fans starting at a young age.

Kryptonotes has been a fan since the first issue and is really sad to see Impulse get the axe. Kryptonotes did like seeing Bart in the Kid Flash uniform in World Without Young Justice, and offers the suggestion of starting a new Kid Flash series, carrying over Dezago and Barberi. Kryptonotes thinks it could be a good series if it focuses on Bart's new relationship with Jay, and manages to avoid "crossover hell."

Morgan the Raider thinks Bart living with the Garricks would make for some great stories, if we get the chance to see some.

Real Life Superman complains that his local comic shop had stopped ordering Impulse because of low sales.

Josiah Power notes how weird it is for a store to not order all the titles involved in the World Without Young Justice crossover.

Corndog7 liked the gag with Bedlam's hammer, and he laughed at Wally's old costume fitting Bart like a glove, noting that Wally must have also had big feet as a kid.

BartAllen12 hopes the news of Impulse's cancellation was just a dream. He says it's a shame that the series will end after Bart went through so much development.

Next issue: Impulse: The conclusion! (I hate to write that!)

Impulse #87

Crisis on Impulse's Earth Part Two

Magically brought to you by:
Todd Dezago Writer
Carlo Barberi Penciller
Greg Adams Inker
Janice Chiang Letterer
Tom McCraw Colorist
Digital Chameleon Separations
Joey Cavalieri Editor
Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo

Our cover by Carlo Barberi and Wayne Faucher shows Impulse running past ... comic book panels(?) ... showing all the chaos he's caused with Bedlam's powers. It is pretty funny, but I'm incredibly distracted by that random green-and-yellow beachball right in front of Bart. Where did it come from? Why is it there? Is it covering up a mistake Barberi made? Or is it even a beach ball at all? Maybe it's an umbrella that Bart is opening while he stands ... next to the panel showing a hurricane. Either way, it just doesn't work for me.

Our story begins with the Phantom Stranger talking to Max Mercury, using his crystal ball to show Max (and the readers) exactly how Bart got his new powers and what he's done with them. This two-page recap shows some new details, such as Impulse's scout leaping above the comatose Matthew Stuart in his hospital bed to intercept the Bedlam energy, and the super-powered Impulse fighting Captain Cold.

After finishing his story, the Phantom Stranger once again pleads his case to the powers-that-be, the Quintessence — Zeus, Highfather, Shazam and Ganthet. Shazam once again turns him down, saying the Quintessence does its best to not interfere with mankind. Max steps forward, saying that Bart is simply not capable of wielding the most powerful magic in the universe.

We then check in with Bart, who's hanging out with Dox, Carol and Preston at his castle. Preston loves Bart's new costume with the lightning bolt, and Bart says he considered putting a lightning bolt on his forehead. Carol says that would have been copyright infringement, and Preston, calling her Hermione, tells her to shut up. Bart then gets serious, saying he needs to focus on fixing some of the problems he's inadvertently caused, such as the weather calamities, the water wars, the ruined petroleum industry and the dog rebellion.

Carol has been keeping track of everything on a notebook, and regretfully informs Bart of even more problems he's caused. A lot of farmers have been put out of work since Bart banned asparagus. By saving the whales, the food chain has been messed up. By fixing the hole in the ozone layer, a new ice age has been triggered. And before Carol can explain the side effects of a world without mosquitos, Bart angrily interrupts her. With his eyes glowing purple, he menacingly threatens to make Carol and her notebook disappear. Bart quickly calms down, says he was just kidding, and walks away, while Preston and Carol hold each other in fear.

A short while later, Bart is approached by his dad and his Aunt Dawn. They tell Bart they're thrilled to be living with him, but they're worried about the time stream. In their future, they died fighting the Dominators, and now they wonder if their removal from that battle has inadvertently doomed mankind to that hostile alien race. Bart's grandpa, Barry, also has a similar concern. He died in the past, fighting the Anti-Monitor. So he asks Bart if his magic fixed the problems that would have been caused by this change in history, or if they're just waiting for those problems to catch up with them. Bart hasn't considered any of these things, and he quickly becomes emotional. With glowing purple eyes, he shouts at his family to leave him alone. Max and the Phantom Stranger observe that when Bart becomes confused, the Bedlam magic "asserts" itself.

Bart then angrily creates a dozen purple scouts, simply telling them to "fix it all." Barry kindly asks Bart to calm down, saying they just want to help. But Bart's eyes are still glowing, and he insists his scouts are going to fix everything. The scouts then all return at the same time, and Bart sadly falls to his knees, realizing he's created too many problems with too many timelines to follow. As tears roll down his cheeks, Barry puts a hand on Bart's shoulder, suggesting they talk to some of the other magical heroes. Bart does not like the sound of that, though, insinuating that they just want to take his magic away. He puts Barry, Don and Dawn in purple bubbles, then angrily turns on Carol. He shouts at her for ruining everything by thinking about the consequences. But before he does anything to her, the Phantom Stranger and Max show up and teleport Bart away.

Instead of taking Bart back to Limbo, the Phantom Stranger brings him to the Speed Force, explaining that his magicks won't be able to harm anyone or any other reality from here. Bart protests that he wouldn't hurt anyone, but the Phantom Stranger points out that his irresponsible use of his powers has irrevocable consequences. Max tells Bart he knows he's just trying to fix things, but he's really just making things worse. He tells Bart that he shouldn't have these powers, since they're too much for anyone to handle. Bart sadly says that Max doesn't think he's good enough, then, with glowing eyes, he angrily accuses them of trying to steal his powers. He turns and attacks Phantom Stranger and Max with a blast of purple energy. Phantom Stranger is able to counter this attack, and he warns Bart to surrender the powers or have them forcibly taken, which could leave him injured ... or worse.

Max can't counter Bart's spell, but he is able to outrun it, reasoning with Bart all the while. Max warns Bart that if he continues using this magic, he'll become a villain, responsible for wars, disasters and death. Max tells Bart he knows him to be kind, considerate and caring, devoting his life to helping people and doing the right thing. He reminds Bart that he comes from a long line of heroes, and they're all so proud of him. Max tells Bart he's proud of him, too, at which Bart starts to come to his senses. Bart realizes this isn't him, and he begins to ask for help. But the Bedlam magic forms into a vicious version of Impulse, which yells at Bart to obliterate Max and the Phantom Stranger.

The Phantom Stranger pulls out a glass container, similar to the device the Bedlam magic was encased in when Matthew Stuart first acquired it. Phantom Stranger urges Bart to surrender his powers, explaining that if he does, then everything will go back to the way it was before and everyone will forget any of this ever happened. Bart doesn't like the idea of losing Max, Carol, his dad, his aunt and his grandpa again, and this internal struggle causes Bedlam to briefly take control again.

Max and the Phantom Stranger keep encouraging Bart to fight back, and as he does, a wave of purple energy freezes the two of them in time. Bart did this intentionally, saying he needed to do one last thing before giving up these powers forever. He creates a scout, which leaves the Speed Force, quickly returns, places something in the Phantom Stranger's pocket, then merges back with Bart. Bart writes a note on his hand, telling him to look in the Stranger's pocket, then he unfreezes time, surrendering his power to the Phantom Stranger. All the purple Bedlam magic flows into the glass container, and Max begins to fade away.

As the Phantom Stranger closes the talisman, he and Bart appear in an empty field. Bart, now in his regular red Impulse uniform, wonders who the Phantom Stranger is and how they got to this field. The Phantom Stranger declines to tell Bart what happened, but as he puts the talisman away, he discovers a notebook in his cloak. Bart sees the note on his hand and he realizes that the notebook is his, which he takes and quickly runs away with, leaving a confused Phantom Stranger behind.

Bart then flips through the notebook, recognizing Carol's handwriting. He's confused about the notes on talking dogs and flying cars, but then he finds a reference to the future and realizes that this must be where Carol is. Bart creates a scout, has it note the time and place in notebook, then sends it off to find his girlfriend.


I'm happy with the conclusion of this story. In what is sadly Max Mercury's final major interaction with Bart, he literally saved all reality. Hard to top that. I really liked the concept of a well-intentioned, yet misguided ultimate power threatening reality. It would have been fun to spend some more time in Impulse's world, perhaps even as a DC-wide crossover. In any case, it would have been nice to see more of the problems Bart caused, rather than simply be told about them.

I'm not sure whether the Quintessence granted the Phantom Stranger permission to interfere or if he just went off on his own. If the latter is true, then what was the point of including the Quintessence at all? I'm also not sure how the Phantom Stranger conveniently acquired a talisman that could contain the Bedlam magic. But I did like Bart's struggle at the end, and how he was not only able to overpower Bedlam, but also come up with a clever plan to allow himself to find Carol after reality had been reset. This issue also had some really nice art, beside one bizarre flashback page, where colorist Tom McCraw inexplicably failed to recognize Empress and just left her completely white.

Once again, we're missing the Impulsive Reactions. So let's check out the new ads:

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Put skid marks on your tongue. Tang with a $10 rebate for MX Superbly on PlayStation 2 or GameCube.

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Justice League toys and sweepstakes at Subway.

So much fun it's spooky! Scooby-Doo Lunchables.

Next time, we begin September 2002, where Impulse will appear on the cover only of Young Justice #47.

Impulse #86

Crisis on Impulse's Earth

Todd Dezago Writer
Carlo Barberi Penciller
Rich Faber Inker
Janice Chiang Letterer
Tom McCraw Colorist
Digital Chameleon Separator
Joey Cavalieri Editor
Impulse created by Mark Waid & Mike Wieringo

Our cover by Carlo Barberi and Wayne Faucher shows the Flash, Batman, Superman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman standing back in awe and amazement of Impulse, who really is the most powerful hero in the universe ... well, at least he is for this issue. It's a simple, yet bold cover. As humorous as it is intriguing.

Our story begins with Wonder Woman (in her invisible plane) meeting Batman and Robin in the middle of the desert to answer a distress call from the Martian Manhunter. These heroes look a bit more colorful than usual, and they soon find three member of the Justice League being attacked by equally colorful threats. Martian Manhunter is surrounded by five floating fire-spitting heads. Green Lantern is being pounded into the ground by an enormous yellow wooden baseball bat. And the Flash (who's new costume coincidentally looks like his current Rebirth outfit) is trapped inside a green gelatinous creature. And overseeing all this mayhem are three odd-shaped heads of red, blue and green.

Wonder Woman tries to pull Flash out of the goo monster with her magic golden lasso, but the goo slides down the lasso and envelops her, as well. Batman and Robin have a long conversation about how they should rescue Green Lantern, with Robin suggesting they finally use the Bat-termites he's been carrying in his utility belt. But Batman says it'll take too long for the termites to eat through the giant bat, so he instead throws a batarang at one of the fire-spouting creatures attacking the Martian Manhunter. The batarang redirected the creature's fire blast toward the giant bat, but as it burns, huge, flaming splinters brake off and just happen to land around Batman and Robin, trapping them in a cage of fire.

Superman shows up and begins battling the three-headed creature that has claimed responsibility for these attacks. However, the creature says it knows Superman is vulnerable to magic, and traps him in a magical pink bubble. Wonder Woman tells Flash they're doomed, but he reminds her the Justice League still has one more powerful member. As he wonders where their greatest and strongest teammate is, a purple streak suddenly zooms in. The fire around Batman and Robin is put out, the gelatinous creature holding Wonder Woman and Flash is liquified, the giant yellow bat is cut in half with a huge axe, and Superman's bubble is burst. Everybody realizes these rescues could only have been performed by Impulse, the greatest Justice Leaguer of all time!

Impulse apologizes for being late, saying he was saving a trainload of orphans from the forces of evil. Flash warns Impulse about the devilish floating heads, but Bart's confident he can handle it with his magical powers. He easily avoids the heads' attack, appearing above them in midair, where he zaps them with a blast of purple magic. This reveals the heads to actually be Mr. Mxyzptlk. Superman reminds Impulse that the only way to defeat this "mischievous menace" is to trick him into saying his name backwards. So Impulse decides to transform Mxyzptlk into a comic book, which includes three backwards panels of Mxy saying his name and disappearing. Bart then breaks the fourth wall, encouraging kids to hold those panels up to a mirror to make the fifth dimensional imp disappear.

With the day saved, Impulse returns to his home in Manchester, Alabama, which has been given quite a makeover. All the buildings have been replaced with futuristic castles, and an enormous billboard says, "Welcome to Manchester, Alabama — Home of Impulse, the greatest and most powerful hero in the universe!!" Bart's home is a massive castle, complete with a courtyard featuring a golden fountain of himself and tons of video games. Preston, Rolly, Mike and Wade are all there, and they all know Impulse is Bart. They ask him to play some video games with them, but he says he's got some important business to attend to.

Bart heads inside, where he finds Helen having a cup of coffee and a conversation with Dox the dog, who is now wearing clothes and enjoying his new ability of speech. Bart tells them how he saved the Justice League and asks what they have for a snack. Carol suddenly gives Bart a big hug, calling him silly because he now has the ability to whip up any snack he wants. They briefly talk about Bart's new powers, providing a quick recap of World Without Young Justice, for whoever didn't read it. Bart says he's happy to have the ability to fix all the things that were wrong in his life and make everybody happy. And what makes Bart most happy is to finally be surrounded by his friends and family he's so often separated from. Living in Bart's castle are his parents, Don and Meloni Allen; his grandparents, Barry and Iris Allen (who is still caring for the Weather Wizard's infant son); his cousin, Jenni Ognats and her mom, Dawn; Jay and Joan Garrick; and Max Mercury.

But from a dark and mysterious place, the Phantom Stranger watches Bart prepare snacks for his family on a crystal ball. The Phantom Stranger recognizes the presence of Barry Allen and his children is a huge mistake, and he beseeches an unseen council to intervene and realign the balance of power. He argues that Bart is too young to understand the nature of this evil, ancient power and its ability to corrupt, but the council refuses to act impulsively, saying they will wait to see what the fates hold in store for this scenario.

Later, Bart is hanging out with Carol, rejoicing in his ability to make the world a better place. She congratulates him for saving the rainforests, the whales and the comic book industry, as well as creating flying cars that run on water, feeding the hungry and housing the homeless. But, Carol is sad to report that Bart's changes have caused a few problems. When Bart made the cars run on water, all the millions of people working in the petroleum industry suddenly lost their jobs. And the flying cars now produce a lot steam, which is throwing off the weather patterns around the world. And when Bart made Dox smart enough to talk, he granted this ability to all dogs, many of which are now rebelling against humans, demanding equal rights. When Bart joined the Justice League, he thought they were too serious, so he made them happier and more fun, neglecting to change the villains, who are now smarter and more diabolical by comparison. Not to mention the wars being waged because the flying cars have created a water shortage in some countries.

Carol tells Bart that there are always repercussions to whatever he does, so Bart starts to wave his arm in the air, saying he'll make sure everyone has enough water and he'll fix the weather. Carol grabs his arm, fearing this will cause more problems. Suddenly, an angry, purple image of Impulse appears and knocks Carol to the ground. Bart profusely apologizes, although his eyes are still glowing purple. Carol is OK, but she suggests that Bart refrain from using his magic for a little while.

Max watched that whole encounter from behind a tree and he realizes that this is all wrong. Bart has not only altered historical events, but he's also changed the laws of nature and physics. So Max heads to his room and prepares to attempt to exit this reality. He connects to the Speed Force through meditation, then runs in a circle, adjusting his vibrational frequency until finally, he crashes through the walls of this reality and ends up in a dark place of nothingness. Max is soon greeted by the Phantom Stranger, who welcomes him to Limbo. The Phantom Stranger tells Max he is right to be concerned, saying reality is on the brink of catastrophe. Max says if anyone can help him stop Bart, it's the Phantom Stranger.


This was a pretty interesting thought experiment. What would Impulse do if he had unlimited powers? And I think this issue perfectly answered that question. Impulse would spend his time going on fun, wacky adventures with a light, happy version of the Justice League, battling goofy villains like Mr. Mxyzptlk. Then he'd bring back his entire family, which we've never had all together in one place before. And, naturally, Bart would genuinely try to fix all the world's problems, but would fail to think through all the consequences of each of his actions.

I really like Impulse's new purple uniform. And, as sad as it is, I did like seeing that flash of evil Bedlam energy emerging from Bart. There has to be consequences for such enormous power. I also think it was fitting that Max would be the first to try to take action against Bart. His connection to the Speed Force is so strong, he has the ability to recognize the damage Bart is causing and actually do something about it. The Phantom Stranger is one of DC's most powerful and vague heroes, and his involvement here also feels fitting. Unlike the previous Bedlam attacks, there is no real effort by any heroes to stop Impulse. Partly because most of what Impulse is doing is good, and partly because Impulse has turned most of the heroes into happy-go-lucky idiots. I wish we could have seen the rest of Young Justice in this issue, but we did at least see how Impulse turned Robin from a brilliant detective into a Burt Ward-esque moron. So yeah, I think this situation definitely requires some "divine" intervention.

Sadly, this issue does not have a letters column, so we'll just head straight to the new ads:

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Got bobblehead fever? Major League Baseball bobbleheads in marked boxes of Post cereals.

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Rice Krispies, Cocoa Rice Krispies and Rice Krispies Treats. (The last one was an amazing achievement in the world of cereal.)

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Where? www.owlsightings.com.

Next time, we'll begin comics with an August 2002 publication date, first by wrapping up our other genie-themed story in JSA #37.

Impulse #85

World Without Young Justice Part 2: Glimpses of You

Todd Dezago Writer
Carlo Barberi Penciller
Walden Wong Inker
Janice Chiang Letterer
Tom McCraw Colorist
Digital Chameleon Separator
Joey Cavalieri Editor
Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo

This issue's cover: A reflection of things past, in more ways than one, thanks to Humberto Ramos and Wayne Faucher! It's also a reflection of things to come, as Bart Allen will officially become Kid Flash before too long. This is a good cover, but not particularly great. Bart looks fine enough, but the image doesn't really jump out at me. Maybe the biggest problem is the computer-generated water, which becomes more distracting the more I look at it.

Our story begins at the abandoned Funland amusement park, where we hear a big "WHAM!" followed by the appearance of several of Impulse's scouts, racing off in all directions. We see that the real Impulse is being held in a purple box that is repeatedly whacked with a giant hammer. Each time the hammer hits, a scout pops out of Impulse. Bart is very discombobulated, and it takes him a moment to full take in his surroundings — a vast purple expanse filled with toys, video games and junk food. Bart is unable to vibrate through the purple box, nor can he prevent more scouts from being produced. As he looks around, he finally spots the culprit behind this: Bedlam.

Matthew Stuart is pleased that Impulse finally remembers him, as he believes he was completely forgotten for the past two years he spent in a coma. (Even though it has been two years since their first fight, Impulse, Robin and Superboy haven't aged a day since.) Matthew explains to Bart that he now possesses all the power of Bedlam, free of the genie's influence. And this time, he's prepared a better plan to destroy Young Justice. When he learned about Impulse's new power, he decided to exploit it to change history and create a new reality without Young Justice. Matthew's already created a thousand Impulse scouts, and has placed them all under his control.

Bart tries to point out that Young Justice didn't forget about Matthew — they just left him in the care of the D.E.O., who assured them Matthew would be OK. But Matthew has turned his attention away from Impulse and toward his TVs to monitor the progress of the scouts, which are retrieving seemingly insignificant items from the past to reshape reality. Matthew is also happy to watch the other members of Young Justice change — Secret becoming Billy, Wonder Girl becoming a glutton, and Empress and Arrowette giving in to their dark tendencies. Matthew doesn't seem to understand exactly how these changes occurred, but he's happy with them all the same. He does admit, however, that getting rid of his arch enemies — Impulse, Robin and Superboy — has been a little trickier.

We then see that Matthew doesn't quite have complete control over Impulse's scouts. One of them was sent back to steal Impulse's first costume, but he was worried about altering his own history and instead retrieved a Kid Flash costume from Wally West. Matthew chews out the scout for being stupid, gives him a blast of power to make him more obedient, then tosses the Kid Flash outfit onto a big pile of junk.

Meanwhile, an increasingly frustrated Bart laments the fact that he's not smart like Robin, Wonder Girl or even Superboy. As the hammer continues to pound more scouts out of him, Bart begins ramming the side of the cube in desperation. Eventually, he manages to knock the cube over and take it away from the giant hammer. Now free to think clearly, Bart can only come up with one option — to create a scout on his own. But he hasn't done that (willingly) since he was on Apokolips. But Bart manages to fight through his fear and create a scout outside his prison cube. He tells the scout to find out how Bedlam got these powers and everything that he's doing with them. The scout obeys and disappears with a "zwiiipop."

Impulse's scout returns less than two seconds later and slides through the cube to merge with Bart, showing him what he learned. Bart is treated to a brief history of Bedlam, starting with when he first corrupted Matthew Stuart and Impulse defeated him by constantly saying "reset." The genie then burrowed into Red Tornado before lashing out in Young Justice 80-Page Giant #1. That adventure ended with Red Tornado convincing Bedlam to turn himself into a human infant. But what nobody realized was that the power of Bedlam found its way back to its last vessel — the comatose Matthew Stuart. Matt eventually woke up, once again possessing near-infinite power, but this time without the genie controlling him.

Matt turns his attention from his monitors to mock Impulse and yell at him some more. He works himself up into a little rage, reliving his last defeat, and he reaches through the cube prison to punch Bart in the face. Bart doesn't understand how Matt could do that, and he impatiently explains that he designed the magical prison to only keep Impulse in. He places the cube back under the giant hammer, then returns to his monitors to admire the reality-altering efforts of Impulse's scouts.

As Bart tries to think of an escape plan, his thoughts turn to Wally, and his eye catches the old Kid Flash costume. Acting on a theory, Bart creates another scout and has him him fetch the costume. Conveniently, Wally's old uniform fits Bart like a glove. Next, Bart asks the scout to come into the cube to serve as the "Impulse" being held captive. To Bart's delight, he finds that he's able to leave the cube since he's now "Kid Flash." He tells the scout to stay in the cube for a while, as he heads off to get the rest of Young Justice. Praising himself for coming up with such a genius plan, Bart races off into the night. As he begins to wonder how he'll be able to recognize his altered teammates, he apparently recognizes someone who causes him to stop and shout out, "... YOU?!?"


I enjoyed this issue. It's great to have Bedlam back, and it's even better to have Impulse at the center of a big crossover. I was always wary of Bart's ability to create time-traveling scouts, and it makes perfect sense that one of his greatest villains would exploit this ability. It was also fun to watch Bart work out an escape, and I like to think that Bart's subconscious sparked the escape by guiding the scout to take a Kid Flash uniform instead of an Impulse uniform.

I do wonder why Matt showed up in his hospital gown last issue but was wearing his Bedlam outfit in this issue. I also wish that we could have seen some of the specific changes that Bedlam caused with Impulse's scouts. Maybe it was a specific artifact that they took that changed Wonder Girl's powers. Maybe show how the absence of Superboy led to Arrowette giving in to her dark side. And I think there was room to briefly show these things in this issue. There seemed to be quite a bit of repetition that could have been trimmed down.

And although I do enjoy the abrupt nature of this storyline, I think the last issue of Impulse could have helped set this up a little bit. After Max disappeared, the logical thing for Bart to do would have been to create a scout to go back to the time of Max's disappearance to try to see what happened. Naturally, Bart would have been hesitant to create his first scout since Apokolips, and it would have been nice if we had a quick conversation about this. I also don't think it would have been too much to throw in one of Bart's scouts running by in the background toward the end of the issue.

Impulsive Reactions begins with Retri asking when Impulse is going to get a serious villain to fight.

Havk provides a quick rundown of Impulse's "Rogues Gallery." White Lightning hasn't provided much of a threat, as Bart is always able to snap out of her trances. Havk suggests putting her on a team of villains. Evil Eye is no longer a villain. Glory Shredder can be easily defeated if Bart just takes away all his guns. Green Cigarette might die in a week due to lung cancer, according to Havk. Morlo is no longer a villain. Keller only has robots and isn't much of a threat. "The fog guy" was easily defeated by Inertia. So, Havk, concludes, the only serious foe Bart has is Inertia, who outsmarted Impulse in the long run and very easily could have defeated Bart and Max, but stopped himself. Havk also sees a bright side in Max's disappearance — maybe now Bart won't have to deal with his "hand-me-down" villains.

Morgan the Raider points out that the Impulse solicitations in Previews have indicated that Max is "hitting the road." Morgan is fine with Jay Garrick becoming Bart's new guardian, but only for the short term, saying Max should never leave this book.

Corndog7 mentions a message board where Todd Dezago apparently revealed that DC had given him permission to kill Max Mercury, but he chose not to ... yet. Corndog7 naturally became very worried by the word "yet" and has good reason to believe Max has been killed off for good now.

Rupert Giles believes Max is fine, citing issues of The Flash that mentioned Max being alive in the future.

Imp also brings up the time the Legionnaires visited Impulse, and they talked about having met Max in the future, as well.

Andy Oliver, of Upminster, England, liked Impulse #80 for getting back to single-issue stories after months of crossovers. He says Impulse works best on a more human level, which issue #80 demonstrated. Andy was surprised when Carol was sent away, but he liked the character development it granted Bart. He says White Lightning should become very old very fast, but for some reason, he enjoys her. Andy asks for more recurring villains, suggesting some forgotten Flash rogues, such as Colonel Computron or the Turtle. Now for the new ads:

There's a name for heroes who don't complete their mission ... lunch. Dinotopia: The Timestone Pirates for Game Boy Advance.

Now appearing in Lucky Charms, star-in-moon marshmallows.

United in the name of justice ... driven to protect mankind. Justice League Adventures.

 Make your own fun. Lunchables Pizza.

Next time, we head to Robin #101 for Part 3 of World Without Young Justice.

Impulse #84

In the Line of Fire

Todd Dezago Writer
Carlo Barberi Penciller
Juan Vlasco Inker
Janice Chiang Letterer
Tom McCraw Colorist
Digital Chameleon Separator
Joey Cavalieri Editor
Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo

This issue's cover: Carlo Barberi and Wayne Faucher and the Flash! This is an homage to Jay Garrick's first appearance in 1940's Flash Comics #1. And although it is well drawn, I'm not sure why Jay is so young here. Since the message is that Bart's new mentor is going to be Jay, I think Barberi should have drawn Jay the way he looks now — old. Also, if you look closely, you'll notice the woman's shadow is on a brick wall that does not match the computer-generated brick wall around here. But most important is Bart's face. He doesn't look too happy about this. And he shouldn't be. In fact, I'm not happy about this, either. But I'll try to save my thoughts till the end.

Our story begins one week after Max Mercury was mysteriously pulled into the Speed Force against his will. And at the moment, Bart is angrily running away from Wally West.

We then head back seven minutes ago, to see what has angered Bart. It all started at an impromptu family meeting at the home of Jay and Joan Garrick in Keystone City. Wally is there with his wife, Linda, and so is Bart's grandma, Iris, who is now apparently taking care of the Weather Wizard's infant son (don't ask). Bart and Helen are also there, but they've been asked to wait in the other room because the Garricks didn't want to add to their stress. The Garricks tell the others that Joan has been diagnosed with a rare case of acute leukemia. And apparently there's only one doctor in the world, Dr. Lateris at the Cantele Institute in Denver, that can provide Joan the treatments she needs. So the Garricks have decided to move to Colorado, hoping Joan will be better in a few months.

Wally regretfully says he was hoping that Jay and Joan could become Bart's new guardians, since they have yet to find a trace of Max and Bart still needs an experienced speedster to watch over him. Jay kindly turns Wally down, saying he and Joan will be too busy with the move and her treatments. But Joan refuses to use that as an excuse. She sees that Bart needs help, and she insists on helping him.

So Wally calls in Helen and Bart. Predictably, Bart is not happy with the news. He says he loves Jay and Joan, but he is not going to leave Helen or his home in Manchester. Bart insists that Max will come back soon and until then, he'll be fine living with Helen. Wally tries to tell Bart that he needs super-speed supervision, but Bart deeply resents that Wally made this decision without letting him have any input. Iris tries to calm Bart down, but he won't hear it and runs away. Jay offers to go after Bart, but Wally says it's his responsibility.

That brings us back to the opening scene, and now Wally has caught up with Bart. Running alongside him, Wally criticizes the teen for immaturely running away from a conversation. Bart says that wasn't a conversation, but an order. Wally says maybe they could have a conversation if Bart was less impulsive. Bart says he's already heard that lecture from Max, telling Wally, "For someone who's s'posed to be so fast, you're not very good at keeping up, are you?" He yells at Wally for never trying to talk with him, but always talking at him.

Their argument is put on hold, though, as the two speedsters come across the scene of an accident. A truck has crashed into a tree, and on the other side of the road, a car with a family inside has gone off into a lake. The driver of the truck is alright and is trying to help the sinking family. Bart and Wally quickly form a plan and work quite well together, with Wally diving down and bringing up the family members one a time and Bart taking them to shore, where the truck driver starts giving them CPR.

In no time at all, the family is saved and an ambulance and police car have shown up. Bart praises the truck driver for saving the family's young boy by giving him mouth-to-mouth, but Wally smells alcohol on the man's breath. He quickly checks the truck and finds two empty bottles of whiskey. The man admits he had been drinking and caused the accident. The police take him away, which Bart thinks isn't fair, since he saved the the kid's life. Wally says he was a nice guy who tried to do the right thing after the fact, and he can only hope the court takes that into account.

The speedsters continue their cross-country run, with Wally saying he didn't want to have to decide where Bart lives. Bart tells Wally he's not the boss of him, and when Wally starts to say he knows how Bart feels, Bart asks him if he really knows what it's like to be bossed around. Wally was so wrapped up in the argument that he didn't notice Bart had led him to his childhood home in Blue Valley, Nebraska. Bart tells Wally that he had heard stories from his grandma about how Wally was a lot like Bart as a kid, and how he was constantly bullied by his dad.

This does help Wally remember that feeling of helplessness, and he finally apologizes to Bart for not giving him enough credit and making unfair decisions about him. But he still thinks the best plan is for Bart to live with Jay and Joan. Bart remembers Max suggesting he and Bart move away to give Helen more space to be with her boyfriend, Matt Ringer. (In a bizarre artistic mistake, Bart's memory shows Max talking to his mom, Meloni, instead of himself.) So Bart agrees to move in with Jay and Joan until Max gets back. Wally thanks Bart and says he hopes they can have more healthy conversations in the future. As they run back home, Wally asks Bart where he got the line "For someone who's supposed to be so fast, you're not very good at keeping up, are you?" Bart admits Superboy said it once to him, and he liked being able to use it on Wally.

So Bart returns to Manchester, Alabama, to give his farewells to Preston, Mike, Wade and Rolly. They're all devastated to lose another friend so soon after Carol's sudden departure. Bart tries to assure them that he'll be back as soon as his uncle returns, but they don't think that'll happen anytime soon. Rolly presents Bart with a box filled with some comics and other mementos. Evil Eye suddenly shows up on his bike, and Preston tries to send him away before he says anything rude. But Evil Eye says he just wants to say goodbye to Bart, too. He pats Bart on the back while slipping a paper into his box, saying they've gotten to know quite a bit about each other over the years.

Bart then walks home with Preston, who bemoans that the three musketeers — him, Bart and Carol — are now completely broken up. Bart starts to say that he'll be able to come back and see Preston whenever he wants, but then he remembers with his secret identity, he wouldn't be able to quickly travel from Colorado to Alabama whenever he likes. He ponders over Preston's words that as the three musketeers they had no secrets between them, so he starts to tell Preston that he's Impulse. But he can't quite get the words out and just lets his friend walk away.

Later, Helen is tearfully making sure Bart has all his things packed and reminding him that he's responsible for Dox — not Joan and Jay. As she begins to cry, Bart grabs her a box of tissues and promises to occasionally zip back for a hug. They share a tender embrace, with Bart saying he'll come back as soon as Max does. Bart then shows up at the doorstep of the Garricks' new home in Denver, dressed in his best clothes. With a big smile on his face, he says, "Hi, Uncle Jay, Aunt Joan — I'm home!" Joan warmly says, "Yes, Dear ... you certainly are."


Ugh.

I hate this. I absolutely hate this. We've spent so much time building up the supporting cast in Manchester, Alabama. And now we're just throwing it all away for no good reason. And what makes this even worse is how it was handled. Wally was unfathomably rude in this whole thing. After hearing that Joan Garrick had cancer, he should not have even mentioned his original plan of sending Bart to live with the Garricks. He should have immediately begun to look for an alternative. Helen's been doing a great job of raising Bart, and who's to say that she'd want to stop doing that if and when she got married? She could move in with Matt and Mike, and Bart and Mike would essentially become brothers in one big family full of potentially interesting dynamics. And since Bart still could use some guidance from a veteran speedster, then Jay, Wally and Jesse could take turns coming down to give Bart some training on the weekends. It's not like Bart demands constant supervision. Hasn't he proven that he's become a little bit more responsible now? And why didn't Helen or anybody else stand up for Bart here? He's getting a terrible in this, and I think I'm more angry about it than Bart was!

Impulsive Reactions begins with Joey Cavalieri saying he just got off the phone with Todd Dezago after discussing the plot for the upcoming issues of Impulse. I wonder if he knew at this point the series was close to cancellation.

Brentac says that he loved Impulse #81 even though "a whole lot of nothing happened." He welcomed a break from the main plot line and called Captain Saturn awesome, although he admitted he didn't want to see him again.

Speedy Smurph suggests that Inertia could come back holding Carol's hand, either in reality or a nightmare of Bart's. Speedy says Carlo Barberi is the best artist on Impulse and Tom McCraw is the best colorist. He also thought Captain Saturn was funny, but annoying.

Havk thought it was nice to have a one-shot to break up the drama, although he would have preferred to have the story focus on Bart with his friends at school. Havk hearkens back to the Mark Waid days, when Bart was the most popular kid in school.

Richard B. Weston says issue #81 needed a laughter warning. He loved how Captain Saturn was so annoying that he made Impulse look like the grownup by comparison. Richard says Bart should now know how Max feels.

Corndog7 thought it was a very clever and very funny take on the Don Quixote story. Now for the new ads (Bart and his friends were once again dressed in Nautica apparel):

Bubble Tape. How much can you handle?

Ripley's Believe It or Not!

You've never seen a race this twisted before! Shrek Swamp Kart Speedway for Game Boy Advance.

A howling new Scooby-Doo movie! Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf.

Introducing pocket-sized figures of the entire DC Universe! DC Comics Pocket Super Heroes.

An all-new movie is in your future! Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring.

Hey, Kids! Comics! A world without Young Justice!? They first burst onto the scene in an unforgettable tale called JLA: World Without Grown-Ups. This April, the sensational sidekicks star in the crossover called "World Without Young Justice," running through Young Justice #44, Impulse #85, Robin #101, Superboy #99, and wrapping up in May's YJ #45.
Bedlam, the instigator of the team's first adventure, is back ... and this time he's out to prevent Robin, Impulse and Superboy from ever having become a team in the first place! In their place, though, stands ... Young Justice? That's right — but this team is made up of strangely altered versions of Wonder Girl, the Secret and Arrowette! And that's only the beginning ... but you'll have to see for yourself by hitting your local comics shop in April and picking up "World Without Young Justice."

Samurai Jack: The Premiere Movie on videocassette and DVD.

A DC subscription form, only offering Batman: Gotham Adventure, Superboy and Justice League Adventures. Did they know Impulse wouldn't last another year?

Tang Tropical Tremor. Puts hair on your tongue.

Make your own fun. Lunchables Pizza.

Next time, before we begin the big Young Justice crossover, we'll take a look at the evil, mind-controlled Impulse in JSA #35.

Impulse #83

Double Visions Part 2

Todd Dezago Writer
Carlo Barberi Penciller
Juan Vlasco Inker
Janice Chiang Letterer
Tom McCraw Colorist
Digital Chameleon Separator
Joey Cavalieri Editor
Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo

This issue's cover: A new marketing technique demonstrated by Carlo Barberi and Wayne Faucher! We have Impulse in a comic shop, decorated with a few pieces of JLA merchandise, including a poster of Batman, Superman and the Flash. Every single comic in the shop is a replication of this cover, which is a pretty neat effect (although it would have been cooler and a lot harder if some of the comics were other DC titles that came out this month). I think it was really fun to have Impulse breaking the fourth wall in the background, slowly realizing that he's standing behind this issue's villain. I do feel, however, that Shanela is showing a bit too much skin here, especially since she's only supposed to be in the 10th grade.

Our story begins with Impulse already locked in a battle with Shanela. He believes he's wrapped in chains as a horde of monsters is swarming around him, but he's actually standing in an empty high school hallway.

We then cut back to yesterday, when Impulse once again was called to Manchester High to investigate another case of reported hallucinations. Once again, Bart's search comes up empty. Recognizing he doesn't possess any detective skills, Bart considers calling in Robin to help him. But then he remembers that both he and Robin are no longer members of Young Justice, which means, according to his 14-year-old boy logic, he and Robin can't help each other anymore. So Bart runs home to try to get Max to help him out again. But Max is on the phone with Jay Garrick, and he sternly tells Bart he can't help him because he's busy investigating an anomaly in the Speed Force.

As Bart dejectedly leaves Max's office, Helen tells him to take Dox for a walk, pointing out that the dog is Bart's responsibility, but she and Max are usually the ones who end up taking care of him. So Bart acts responsible and takes out his dog. As he ponders over the case of the hallucinating high schoolers, he theorizes that Dox might be able to smell something at the scene of the crime. So Bart leads Dox to the high school, hoping to make him the next Rex the Wonder Dog or Scooby Doo.

On his way, Bart meets Shantay, who asks if she can pet Dox. She says she wishes she could have a dog of her own, but her sister is allergic. Shantay also recognizes Bart as a junior high student, and Bart says he can't wait to get to high school, since it feels like he's been stuck in middle school for years. After Shantay leaves, Bart remembers her always being near the scenes of commotion at the high school, so he decides to follow her, hiding behind cars and telephone poles all the way back to Shantay's house.

Since Bart didn't see anything suspicious, he begins to consider his search a waste of time. But Shanela comes walking by, and Dox suddenly begins barking at her. She shouts at Bart and threatens to call the dog warden to take Dox away. And once again, Bart confuses Shanela with her twin sister, wondering how she suddenly appeared outside after just having walked into her house.

The next day, Shanela tries to be friendly to a group of boys she recently terrorized. She knows that Ashley, the girl she made believe had become a monster, won't be coming back to school for a while, so Shanela asks Ashley's boyfriend, Brandon, if he'd be interested in going out with her. Brandon immediately turns her down, and his friends heap on some more insults for good measure. Shanela quickly grows angry, her eyes glow green, and all the boys believe a giant demon has erupted from the basketball court.

Shantay sees this and comes running. Her eyes glow blue, causing a large cartoon fox to appear and smash the demon with a hammer. All the boys's terror changes to confusion, and they decide to walk away, leaving the twin sisters to yell at each other. But Shanela isn't interested in listening to Shantay's lecture, so she storms off, threatening her sister if she gets in her way again.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Max has begun probing the Speed Force once more. He feels a bit guilty about not telling Jay and Wally the whole story, but he figures it's best to confirm that one of the Speed Force's most devious inhabitants actually has gone missing before he sounds the alarm. As Max becomes intangible and vulnerable, a voice greets him, saying he's been waiting a while, and was beginning to think Max wasn't going to come.

Back at the high school, Shanela is spreading the rumor that all the hallucinating students were on drugs. Shantay again tries to confront her sister, and Impulse suddenly arrives, having heard about the basketball court incident via Wade's sister. Impulse runs into Shantay, not noticing Shanela right around the corner. He talks to Shantay a bit, trying to sound a more confident in his investigation than he really is. Shanela can't hold back for long, though, and she jumps out around the corner, angrily saying all her victims deserved what they got because they were a bunch of conceited jerks. Before Bart can get over the shock of learning Shantay has a twin, Shanela attacks Impulse, giving him the hallucination of monsters and chains we saw at the beginning of this issue.

Shantay shoots "acid" on Impulse's "chains," telling him that the monsters are just illusions. Impulse confirms this by running through a couple of monsters, but as the twins ramp up their psychic battle, Bart can't tells which twin is good and which one is evil. He eventually remembers that the nasty one was afraid of Dox, so he quickly runs home to grab his dog.

Dox immediately plays the hero, charging straight at Shanela. She screams out in terror, begging her sister to take away the dog illusion. But Shantay confesses that is a real dog barking at her. To add to the effect, Impulse brings in seven more dogs  to surround Shanela, who falls to her knees, begging for help. Impulse says he'll take the dogs away if Shanela promises to stop creating illusions at school and making everybody go crazy. Shanela agrees, and Impulse gets rid of the dogs, reminding the teenage girl that he can come back with even more, bigger dogs at any time, and he also has lots of powerful friends.

With the day saved, Bart runs home to tell Max and Helen all about his latest victory. To his surprise, though, Bart finds Helen waiting for him, with tears streaming down her face. She tells him she saw a horrible sight — Max being sucked into the Speed Force. Bart tries to calm her, suggesting this kind of stuff happens to Max all the time. But Helen insists this time was different. This time, Max was screaming.


Now that was an ending. Dezago's been teasing this for quite a while now, and still is withholding a lot of information — a bit too much if you ask me. Sadly, I know how this turns out, and I can say that's going to be the last we see of Max Mercury for a long time. It's also sad to say that this side story was much more interesting and significant than the main story of this issue.

The main story felt like something straight from William Messner-Loebs. An underdeveloped nameless villain defeated in an indirect, inconsequential way. It was nice watching Bart try his hand at being a detective somewhat. But the "villain" he battled barely qualifies as a villain. And she frustratingly didn't face any consequences for her actions. Look at it: Shanela traumatized dozens of her classmates, sent several to the hospital, damaged property ... and all she got was a few dogs barking at her. I much rather would have cut that story in half to give more pages to Max's mission. How about establishing a credible threat so we understand why Max has to attempt this dangerous undertaking?

Impulsive Reactions begins with SNW21 praising Impulse for its creative team and for the quick recaps at the beginning of each issue that are helpful for new readers. SNW21 is also enjoying the subplot of Roland and Evil Eye slowly figuring out that Bart is Impulse, as well as the maturity Bart showed in listening to Mike Ringer talk about his dad.

Havk thinks Bart's return to Impulse was rushed, saying the woman with the heart attack wasn't a strong enough reason. Havk is also tentative with the Roland and Evil Eye stories, saying they're cool, but again feels like they're rushed.

Brentac liked Impulse #80 mainly for Mike's transformed view of his father.

Kolbster1 predicts that Carol will come back at some point, but acknowledges that since she and Bart are still in junior high, their relationship can't really advance past where it already is.

BartAllen12 points out that Bart is young enough to develop crushes on a lot more girls.

NeoSharks predicts that Carol will return as soon as Bart is able to move on and possibly find a new girlfriend.

R3X29YZ4A wonders what happened to all the talk of Bart preparing to become the next Flash.

Tobias Christopher says this may have been Mark Waid's original plan back in 1994, but Impulse has since been passed through too many creators to guarantee that. Referencing Kingdom Come, Tobias says it looks like the next Flash will be Wally West's daughter, and that Bart will merely become an older, more mature Impulse. Now for the new ads:

The quest begins now. Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension.

Where would you go? The Time Machine.

Super Mario World 2 for Game Boy Advance.

Next time, we'll begin May 2002 with a quick cameo in JSA #34.

Impulse #82

Double Visions

Todd Dezago Writer
Carlo Barberi Penciller
Juan Vlasco Inker
Janice Chiang Letterer
Tom McCraw Colorist
Digital Chameleon Separator
Joey Cavalier Editor
Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo

On our cover: A creature feature from Carlo Barberi and Wayne Faucher! I'm not the biggest fan of monsters in general, but these monsters look alright, I guess. I do enjoy the kid/id pun, which gives us a clue to the story inside. And Impulse looks really good here. The girl he's protecting seems a bit off, though.

Our story begins at Manchester High School, where a couple of students are running around, screaming about monsters that no one else can see. Bart, however, is still only 14 years old, and thus, is working on his eighth consecutive year of eighth grade at Manchester Junior High School. Luckily, none of his friends have aged either since 1994, so they all get to enjoy reading comics in secret during study hall. Naturally, Bart is reading his issues at a much faster pace than his friends, prompting Preston to tease Bart for only looking at the pictures.

As Roland hands Bart the next issue of The After-Life Avenger, he asks Bart if he'd like to be a superhero. Bart surprises Roland and Preston by saying it'd be too uncomfortable to be a superhero since you can't go to the bathroom in the middle of a fight with a villain, and when you do try to go to the bathroom, you can't get your uniform off quick enough. Bart then goes on to complain about the stupidity of secret identities. While he sermonizes, he's once again fiddling with Carol's broken heart necklace. Evil Eye sees this and identifies it as the necklace he saw mysteriously disappear from his grandpa's lab.

Wade then sneaks up to his friends, telling them that he was just at the office and overheard news that a bunch of high school students have been freaking out — pulling out their hair, breaking windows and more. Bart promptly asks to be excused for a bathroom break, and Preston notes that Bart does seem to need a lot of bathroom breaks, which would probably make him a lousy superhero.

Bart changes to Impulse and races over to the high school, which is surrounded by police cars, ambulances and firetrucks. Impulse asks an officer what's going on, and he says they believe they may be dealing with a hallucinogenic drug. In the meantime, they're trying to evacuate the school. So Impulse rushes inside, finding one classroom is being blocked off by a boy named Travis, who is wildly swinging a broom at nonexistent goblins. Impulse doesn't know what to make of this, but he has little difficulty taking the broom away from the teen and rushing him outside, where Travis immediately starts to calm down.

The students start to evacuate the building, but a pair of twin girls lingers behind. Shantay asks her sister, Shanela, why she did that to Travis. Shanela initially refuses to talk about it, but at her sister's prodding, she admits she's tired of the way all the cool kids talk down to her and treat her like trash. Shanela then heads into the bathroom, leaving Shantay out in the hall. Impulse quickly spots her and pulls Shantay outside before she has a chance to argue. Impulse then immediately returns to the school to try to find out what was causing the hallucinations. He sees Shanela come out of the bathroom, and he does a double take, believing he had just evacuated her. Not considering that these could be two separate girls, Impulse takes Shanela outside, asking her if she's ever had that "deja voop."

Impulse drops Shanela off in front of a group of her peers, then immediately takes off. A girl named Ashley starts mocking Shanela, calling her the monster everyone was talking about. Shanela's eyes glow green, and everybody starts running away from Ashley, now seeing her as a large green monster. Shantay sees this and pulls her sister away, while the paramedics prepare sedatives for Ashley and her friends.

Meanwhile, Max Mercury is once again meditating in the Speed Force. This time, he has somehow brought golden energy forms of some of the speedsters that have become one with Speed Force, including Johnny Quick, Barry Allen and a woman named Vi. They're discussing a being who has apparently retreated to the outer borders of the Speed Force and must have some devious agenda. The speedster in the Speed Force are confined to that area and are unable to venture into the Speed Storm to hunt down this being. Max says he's the only one who can attempt this mission, but Johnny and Barry warn Max of the dangers involved. Barry is especially worried of who would watch after Bart if something were to happen to Max.

Bart suddenly bursts in through the door to ask for Max's help at the high school. He's stunned at the sight of the Speed Force entities, who quickly disappear once Max assures them he'll discuss his plans with Jay Garrick and Wally West. Before Bart gets a chance to ask Max what that was all about, Max asks him what's going on at the high school. So Bart tells him as they run, also noting that Helen is spending a lot of time with her boyfriend, Matt Ringer. Max says he's considering moving to a new place with Bart to give Helen some space. Bart doesn't have much time to ruminate over this, because they're already at the high school, where a construction worker is trying to replace a broken window but is falling from his cherrypicker.

The worker is falling with the shattered window, and Impulse decides to catch all the pieces of glass before saving the man. Max panics, grabs the worker, and chews out Bart for not saving him first. Bart insists he had time to go back and catch the man, but Max tells him to think next time, since panic attacks like that are hard on his heart. The two speedsters then conduct a thorough examination of the high school, but are unable to find any clues as to what caused the hallucinations. Max says he needs to go see Jay and Wally, and he invites Bart to join him. Bart tells Max to say hi to Jay and Joan for him, but he refuses to see Wally, saying the last thing he needs is for Wally to tease and pick on him. (I'm really surprised by Bart's reaction here, since he has had hardly any involvement with Wally since his wedding to Linda.)

Shantay overheard some of Impulse's conversation with Max Mercury, and is rightfully worried that more superheroes will show up and eventually discover it was her sister who caused the illusions. She goes home and once again yells at Shanela for using her "ventrilopath" abilities for bad, which will surely get them both in trouble. Shanela tries to scare her sister with a monster, but Shantay waves it away, knowing it's just an illusion. She warns Shanela about Impulse getting involved with other superheroes, but Shanela sees this as a challenge.


After last month's bizarre Don Coyote story, I was very happy to return to Manchester and all our side stories. Bart's friends are getting very close to figuring out his secret identity — or maybe they've already figured it out and are just playing along for now. We got a few more hints about Max's new secret mission, and we continued the conversation of Helen and Matt. And on top of all that, we got a new villain that could pose a challenge for Impulse. What good is super speed against psychic projections?

I was a bit frustrated that Dezago made a point to say Bart is still 14 years old. He spent the past year showing Bart mature and grow up a little bit — isn't it time to say he's turned 15 already? And what was with Bart's negative reaction at the mention of Wally? They haven't even talked to each other in ages, and the last time they did, they seemed just fine. I also have to complain a little bit about the art. Barberi is getting better each issue, but in this one, he had a hard time with objects' sizes. Carol's broken heart necklace is now about a third of the size of Bart's thumbnail. It's so tiny, I have no idea how Evil Eye was able to spot it from across the room. And when Roland handed Bart a copy of The After-Life Avenger, the comic was no bigger than a baseball card. Part of this problem, I believe, has to do with Barberi's tendency to draw hands huge and fingers fat.

Impulsive Reactions begins with Joey Cavalieri thanking all the Impulse fans for spreading the word about the book through the DC Message Boards.

Link, the Hero of Hyrule, says he was a Young Justice fan who liked Impulse, but he felt he didn't have enough money to buy Impulse's solo title. But then he got the Impulse trade paperback, Bart Saves the Universe, and the six most recent issues. Now he regrets ever having passed it up.

Retri starts off by calling Impulse the best DC character ever, mainly due to his funky hair. Retri says Impulse #6 is the best issue in the series, and requests an Impulse poster.

StarmansGal says she has the DC Direct figures of Bart and Max, as well as the World Without Grownups figures of Impulse, Robin and Superboy. But she complains that those figurines made the characters way too buff.

Zortnac says you can find the original Impulse promo poster on eBay. Cavalieri apologizes that DC doesn't have any current posters to sell.

MentalGirl says she likes how Impulse is so innocent, saying he doesn't have a mean bone in his "cute little body."

Max Mercury II says he likes Impulse's legacy most of all, calling him the new Kid Flash. He also likes that Impulse is his age.

Katarhal says the one line of dialogue that best sums up Impulse was something he once said to Trickster: "You're confusing me. That's always dangerous." Now for the new ads:

Mini Oreo with Chocolate Creme.

United in the name of justice ... driven to protect mankind. Justice League Adventures.

Ritz Bits Sandwiches graham cracker s'mores.

Monsters, Inc. Scream Team for PlayStation.

Bad guys beware! Teamo Supremo on ABC.

Hey, kids! Comics! talks about Hawkman #1, Superman #600 and Batman #600.

MVP2: Most Vertical Primate on VHS and DVD.

The next level of fruitensity. Jolly Rancher gel snacks.

As if you needed another reason to eat pizza. Tony's Xtreme Fun Stuff.

Next time, we'll conclude our Dark Horse crossover with SpyBoy/Young Justice #3.