Impulse (comic series)

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Impulse is the title of a comic series that was published between 1995 and 2002 by the US comic publisher DC Comics .

In terms of genre, Impulse presented humorous stories that were a mixture of science fiction / fantasy and adventure comics. The plot mostly revolved around the experiences of the teenager Bart Allen, who as the grandson of the superhero Flash (alias Barry Allen) inherited his ability to move at "super speed", which causes all kinds of problems and entanglements. The series starts shortly after Bart, nicknamed Impulse by Batman because of the thoughtless and impulsive way he uses his powers , was moved from the future of the 30th century to the end of the 20th century. Impulse is a story told in the Flash series, which Impulse was a spin-off series. Bart Allen also made his first appearance in the DC Universe in US Flash # 91 (June 1994) .

prehistory

Bartholemew Henry "Bart" Allen is the hyperactive grandson of Barry Allen. He was born in the 30th century and the son of Don, Barry's son, and Meloni Thawne, daughter of the President of the Earth (30th century). His accelerated metabolism caused him to age rapidly, so that by the age of two he was already physically looking twelve. To protect him, he was raised in a virtual reality that keeps pace with its own passage of time. When it became clear that this was not going to help either, his grandmother Iris Allen sent him back to the present, where the reigning Red Lightning Wally West ran a race around the world with a beard. By forcing Bart into extreme speed for the first time, Wally was able to reduce Bart's hypermetabolism to normal levels. Since Bart spent most of his life in a virtual world, he is inexperienced in reality, cannot assess dangers and acts without thinking. Wally West was overwhelmed by Bart and placed him in the care of his friend Max Mercury , who like Bart and Wally has the ability to move at "super speed".

action

After the character Impulse was introduced in a story of the Flash series, the title character of which has been Bart's cousin Wally West and no longer Barry Allen since 1987, issue # 1 of the Impulse series established its own status quo for this series. In that issue, Bart and his mentor Max Mercury move to a sleepy small town in the American Midwest. In the following, the series describes on the one hand how Bart goes to school as a normal boy, where he has to deal with school thugs, geek and educators of the most varied stripes and regularly causes chaos with his strength and his carefree manner, and on the other hand, like Max Mercury instructs him in his second identity as a "junior superhero" impulses in the use of his powers.

In the further course of the series it gets impulses with various villains, such as the would-be villain Evil Eyes, a basically harmless boy from his neighborhood, with the murderous Joker and finally with his evil twin Inertia (in the German version as "Ratio "translated) to do, who, unlike Bart Allen, always acts with great thoughtfulness and calculation.

As revealed in US Impulse # 50, Batman involuntarily gave Bart his name - it was meant as a warning, not a compliment.

Other appearances by Bart Allen

Kyle Gallner plays Bart Allen aka Impulse in Smallville

Bart Allen was a founding member of the now disbanded youth hero group Young Justice and then joined the Teen Titans as Kid Flash in 2003 (US Teen Titans Vol.3 # 4). He also made regular appearances in the Flash comic series (Wally West). When Bart after Infinite Crisis to year from a teen to a twentysomething aged, he took the place of the 2006 third Red Flash Wally West one, when he temporarily disappeared (US-The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive # 2).

In the television series Smallville , Clark Kent (played by Tom Welling ) and Bart Allen (played by Kyle Gallner ) met in the episode Flash! (4th season, original title: Run ) for the first time when Bart is forced to steal valuables (such as wallets) as a petty crook. There are other encounters u. a. in Justice League (6th season, original title: Justice ), act in the impulse and other heroes under the leadership of Green Arrow as a superhero group.

publication

Impulse was published by DC between April 1995 and October 2002. In total, the series, which appeared on a monthly basis, reached 89 issues, as well as six special issues: One special issue numbered # 1,000,000 (November 1998), two so-called Annuals (1996 and 1997) and the three One Shots Impulse Plus (1997), Impulse / Atom: Double Shot (1998) and Bart Saves the Universe (1999).

The US issues # 50 to # 60 (July 1999 to May 2000) of Impulse were published in 2000 and 2001 by Dino Verlag in Stuttgart in a translated version as a second story in the back of issues # 1–7 and 9 of the Young Justice series. In addition, US Impulse / Atom: Double Shot (February 1998) in JLA special volume # 9 was published in April 1999 by the same publisher for German publication.

Authors and draughtsmen

The lead authors of Impulse were Mark Waid (# 1-6, 8-17, 19-21, 23-27), William Messner-Loebs (# 29-41, 42-49) and Todd Dezago (# 50-89). The authors Martin Pasko (# 7, 18), Tom Peyer (# 19, 28), Ruben Diaz (# 22, 27), Brian Augustyn (# 25), Jason Hernandez-Rosenblatt (# 41), Shon were also guest authors C. Bury (# 55), Dwayne McDuffie (# 60), Geoff Johns (# 61) and Dan Jurgens ( Impulse / Atom: Double Shot ) each have one or two issues of the series.

Impulse's regular draftsmen were Humberto Ramos (# 1–6, 8–13, 16, 19, 23–25), followed by Craig Rousseau (# 21, 22, 26–40, 42–49), Ethan Van Sciver (# 41, 50-52, 54-57, 62, 63, 65, 66), and Carlo Barberi (# 67-78, 80-89). In addition, guest artists from time to time took on the design of individual issues of the series. These included Nick Gnazzo (# 7), Sal Buscema (# 26–27), Anthony Williams (# 14–15, 18), Aluir Amancio (# 79), Walt Simonson (# 52), Angel Uncueta (# 53), Jamal Igle (# 58), Anthony Castrillo (# 59), Eric Battle (# 60, 61, 64) and M. Shindo (# 61). The Inker Wayne Faucher , Terry Austin and Barbara Kaalberg took care of the revision of the pencil drawings with Indian ink .

literature

  • Beatty Scott et al. a .: The DC Comics Encyclopedia . Panini Verlags GmbH, Stuttgart March 2005, 1st edition, p. 169 (Kid Flash II)

Web links