DC Histories: Bart Allen (Impulse / Kid Flash II / Flash IV)

Welcome back to another DC History. We’re well into the New 52 at this point, but there’s still much that can be gained by examining how we got here. Only by looking back at what came before can we understand where we’re going.

This week, we’re looking at Bart Allen, one of the younger members of the Flash Famiy. Powered by the mystical Speed Force, the Flashes are known for their ability to move at light speed and beyond. Bart is no exception to this rule. At various points in his superhero career he’s gone by names Impulse, Kid Flash and there was even a brief year when he was the full-on Flash. We’ll cover all of that and more. Hang on tight because this DC History is going to be a continuity marathon.

Created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo, Bart Allen first showed up in 1994. Born and raised in the 30th Century, Bart was the grandson of Barry Allen, the second person to use the name ‘Flash’ in the DCU. Barry and his wife Iris had spent time in the far future because Iris was born in that era. Don’t ask. Anyway, while in the future, Barry and Iris had twins. It was Don Allen, son of Barry, who was Bart’s father. Raised by himself in an isolation chamber, Bart’s young metabolism raged out of control, making him grow at a startling speed.

Bart’s grandmother, Iris, removed him from governmental control and whisked him back to the late 20th Century where she hoped her nephew, Wally, could train Bart in the use of his powers. Wally, who had taken over the role of the Flash after his uncle Barry died, quickly found himself in over his head with the teenager. Bart barely listened to direction, thought everything was a game, and generally became a thorn in his mentor’s side. Wally had to call in reinforcements to help teach his new apprentice.

Flanked by speedster veterans Max Mercury, Jay Garrick, Jesse Quick, and her father Johnny Quick, Wally helped Bart reset his metabolism to normal and learn to take superheroing seriously.

With this page of Salvador Larroca and Jose Marzan Jr. art, I fell in love with the Flash Family. Everyone looked strong and determined but that hint of a smile in Jay and Johnny’s faces meant that they were looking forward to getting to know Bart. They were a tough but accepting group who weren’t afraid of adding a new member to their club. A whole rich legacy was behind this character and I, for one, was dying to find out more about it. This one image made me a fan of the Flash Family for life.

Realizing that Bart couldn’t use his real name while helping save people, Wally tried to brainstorm a bit. It was quickly decided that ‘Impulse’ was a great name for the young man with little self control. Bart did offer to use Wally’s old sidekick name ‘Kid Flash,’ then quickly made fun of Wally for liking that name.

When Wally and Bart finished their first adventure, they both realized that living together wouldn’t be the best idea. They were too similar. Also, Wally was living with his girlfriend Linda and having a teenager around would cramp their style. So, they asked Max Mercury, a speedster who’d been around since the 1800s, to look after Bart and teach him how to slow down a bit. Max and Bart moved to Alabama where they told everyone they were uncle and nephew. Their odd couple pairing worked and Max became like a father to Bart.

With his trademark big hair and big feet, Bart was a very popular character shortly after his introduction. He was so popular in fact that he joined the then-current incarnation of the New Titans alongside other young heroes like the new Green Lantern Kyle Rayner and Supergirl. He even joined the Justice League for an issue, but it was only the Justice League Task Force so it’s hard to say if that really counts or not.

After Bart’s stint with the Titans and the League ended, he slowly began meeting up with other popular heroes his own age. His first meeting with Superboy resulted in a race to see who was the fastest. Unfortunately, the race ended almost as quickly as it began and a winner wasn’t decided upon.

Impulse also met Tim Drake, the third Robin, around this same time. Reader response to these meetings was very positive. So, while the Teen Titans were off doing their own thing, Bart, Tim, and Superboy began hanging out together as friends. Of course, whenever super beings hang out together, trouble tends to follow. When the three teen heroes responded to a distress call, they found the media already on the scene. When asked who they were, Bart accidentally coined the name Young Justice.

Bart remained with Young Justice for years. Even when things grew serious and the roster of Young Justice expanded to incorporate seemingly every young hero in the DCU, Bart remained best friends with Tim and Superboy.

Eventually, Young Justice broke up when Donna Troy, the hero formerly known as Wonder Girl, was killed. Devastated by her death, the current group of Titans crumbled as well. After everything shook out, Bart, Tim and Superboy found themselves in a new group of Teen Titans. In their very first mission, the Titans went up against Deathstroke, a Titans enemy since the 1980s. In their first battle, Bart took a shotgun blast to the knee. Realizing that he had been taking his role of hero too frivolously, Bart speed through the healing process, read the entire contents of the San Francisco Public Library, and renamed himself ‘Kid Flash.’

Though he mocked the name before, Bart would later explain that he was aware of how the name Kid Flash fit into the Flash Family and its legacy. Wally had once been Kid Flash when he was a sidekick to his uncle Barry and now Bart decided it was time for him to follow a similar path. It was time for him to grow up. Consciously taking the Kid Flash mantle was how he expressed all of this.

With the Teen Titans, Bart continued to cement his place among his peers. During the Infinite Crisis, everything changed.

When a villain named Superboy-Prime hit the scene during Infinite Crisis, no one had any idea how to defeat him. In a desperate plan to lock him up, Bart shoved Superboy-Prime into the Speed Force, the energy source from which all speedsters draw their power. Bart fell into the Speed Force as well, seemingly never to return. However, even this couldn’t hold Superboy-Prime and he returned. Bart soon followed but found himself changed.

Somehow, Bart had been aged into his 20s. He also discovered that he was one of the few remaining speedsters on Earth. After Superboy-Prime was taken care of, Wally and his wife Linda were missing. Realizing that a void had been left in the DCU because of this, Bart accepted the role of Flash, becoming the fourth person to take that role. Bart was now the fastest man alive.

Although Bart’s new series started off very rocky, it eventually stabilized itself and was going pretty well for about half a year. He moved to LA, got himself a brand new supporting cast, and even became taking classes to become a police officer. Then, things took a turn for the worse. For whatever reason, the editorial winds at the DC offices shifted. Suddenly, Bart wasn’t wanted for the role of Flash. Towards that end, an old doppelganger of Bart named Inertia began recruiting the Flash’s rogue gallery. He convinced them to do the unthinkable: to kill the Flash.

Surprisingly, they succeeded.

Bart Allen was dead. There can be no denying that. Wally West eventually returned along with Linda. He took back the role of the Flash once again. The Rogues, realizing that killing Bart had only put a giant target on their backs, tracked down Inertia, killed him, and left a note hoping that this act of good will would be enough to satiate Wally’s taste for revenge.

Meanwhile, Superboy-Prime had broken free from his confinement in which he was placed at the end of his last world shattering escapade. This time, he found himself in the far future of the 31st Century. There he set about destroying the Legion of Super-Heroes and their allies. In order to help combat Prime’s rampage, Brainiac 5, the smartest member of the Legion, found a way to bring Bart back to life.

Honestly, I don’t fully get how this was done. Something to do with lightning rods and time travel and the Speed Force. It really doesn’t matter. The take away from the whole thing was that Bart was once again in the land of the living and he was once again a teen.

At around the same time that Bart returned, his grandfather Barry Allen did as well. Barry, having been gone from the DCU since 1985, had never met his grandson. After his resurrection, Barry had to come to terms with a lot of things like how his nephew Wally West had taken over as the Flash and how his wife had come to terms with his death years earlier. It was all a bit much for Barry to take in. This caused his relationship with his grandson to get lost in the shuffle. It wasn’t until the Blackest Night event that the pair finally got to talk to each other. In the midst of old allies and enemies being resurrected as zombies, and after Barry had become an honorary member of the Blue Lantern Corps, Barry and Bart got a chance to start figuring out their relationship.

Sadly, Bart’s road ran out during Flashpoint. When the machinations of an old Flash villain changed the fundamental makeup of the DCU, Bart found himself lost in time. Spinning between moments, Bart discovered that his body was slowly picking up Speed Force energy from speedsters in various eras. Just as Barry Allen was racing towards the climax of Flashpoint, Bart appeared before him and gave Barry the last boost of energy he needed. With that, Bart’s body crumbled exactly as his grandfather’s had done back in 1985.

It was a heroic second death.

So where is Bart Allen in the New 52? He’s over in the pages of Teen Titans. Since I’ve only read the first three issues of that series, I have no idea what relationship this new Bart has with Barry. Is he still Barry’s grandson from the far future? Is he even related to Barry anymore? I have no clue. Feel free to let me know in the comments section below.

In any case, I’ll always have a soft spot for Impulse. That character was my entry point into the idea of legacy in the DCU, which started my love affair with DC’s publishing history. For that, I’ll always be grateful.

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Jeff Reid may not be as quick as Bart, but he can be as distractible. Watch his mental ping pong in real time on Twitter.