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Bart Allen

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Flash
Bart Allen as the Flash. Variant cover of The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #1 (2006). Art by Andy & Joe Kubert.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceas Impulse:
Flash vol. 2, #91
(June 1994)
as Kid Flash:
Teen Titans vol. 3, #4
(December 2003)
as Flash:
The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #2
(June 2006)
Created byMark Waid
Mike Wieringo
In-story information
Alter egoBartholomew "Bart" Allen II
Team affiliationsYoung Justice
Teen Titans
Notable aliasesImpulse, Kid Flash
AbilitiesSuper speed, photographic memory, Speed Force clones, complete self-molecular control

Bartholomew "Bart" Allen II is a fictional character, a superhero in the DC Comics Universe. He is the fourth Flash, though he has also gone by Impulse and Kid Flash. His first cameo appearance was in The Flash vol. 2, #91. His first full appearance was in issue #92. He starred in two ongoing series of his own, Impulse (1995-2002) and The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive (2006-2007), and was a member of the superhero teams Young Justice and Teen Titans.

Born in the 30th century to Meloni Thawne and Don Allen, Bart is related to a number of superheroes and supervillains. His father Don is one of the Tornado Twins and his paternal grandfather is Barry Allen, the second Flash. His paternal grandmother, Iris West Allen, is also the adoptive aunt of the third Flash, Wally West, and therefore Bart is his cousin. He is also the cousin of XS, a Legionnaire and daughter of Dawn Allen. On his mother's side, he is a descendant of supervillains Professor Zoom and Cobalt Blue as well as the half brother of Owen Mercer, the new Captain Boomerang. In addition to these relatives, he has a supervillainous clone, Inertia.

Fictional character biography

File:Impulse2.jpg
Bart "Impulse" Allen, on the cover to Impulse #2. Art by Humberto Ramos.

Impulse

Suffering from a hyper-accelerated metabolism, Bart Allen was aging at a faster rate than that of any human being thus causing him to appear the age of twelve when he was chronologically only two years old. To prevent him from developing mental health problems he was raised in a virtual reality machine which created a simulated world that kept pace with his own scale of time. When it became clear that this method was not helping, his grandmother, Iris Allen, took him back in time to the present where The Flash, Wally West, tracked him down in a race across the world. By forcing Bart into an extreme burst of speed, Wally managed to shock his hyper-metabolism back to normal.[1] Because he had spent the majority of his childhood in a simulated world, Bart had no concept of danger and was prone to leaping before he looked. The youth proved to be more trouble than Wally could handle, and he was palmed off onto retired superhero speedster Max Mercury, who moved Bart to Manchester, Alabama. As retconned in Impulse #50, Batman named him "Impulse" as a warning, not as a compliment.

Bart joined the Titans[2] early in his career before going on to become one of the founding members (along with Robin and Superboy) of the superhero team Young Justice. For a time, Impulse became the owner of a spaceship granted to him by a rich sultan in appreciation for having helped save his castle. The team used this ship to reunite Doiby Dickles with his queen and restore the rightful rulership of Myrg. Impulse stayed with Young Justice for an extensive period of time during which he developed the ability to make speed-force energy duplicates. This allowed him to be in multiple places at once. The newly acquired power proved useful until one of the duplicates was killed during the "Our Worlds at War" storyline when half the team was lost on Apokolips. Bart quit Young Justice temporarily as the death of his duplicate led him to come to terms with his own mortality.

Following Max Mercury's disappearance, Bart was taken in by Jay Garrick, the first Flash, and his wife Joan. After the breakup of Young Justice, Bart joined some of his former teammates in a new line-up of the Teen Titans.[3]

Kid Flash

File:Impulsekidflash.jpg
Bart becomes Kid Flash. Art by Mike McKone.

Shortly after Bart joined the Teen Titans, he was shot in the knee by Deathstroke (who at the time was possessed by Jericho) and received an prosthetic one. While recovering, Bart read every single book in the San Francisco Public Library and reinvented himself as the new Kid Flash. Once healed, the artificial knee did not affect his ability to run at speeds approximating that of light.[4]

In the "Titans Tomorrow" storyline, Bart assumed the mantle of the Flash after the current Flash died in a "Crisis". In this alternate future he was able to steal the speed of others, a power he used on his past self. This reality shows a grown Bart posing as a member of the so-called Titans of Tomorrow. However he is reality a spy working on the behalf of Titans East, a resistance group led by the future Cyborg. Additionally, the future Bart is romantically involved with Rose Wilson, The Ravager.[5]

Infinite Crisis

Main article: Infinite Crisis
File:Bartflash.jpg
Bart Allen attacks Superboy-Prime wearing Barry Allen's suit, art from Infinite Crisis #7 by Phil Jimenez.

During the Infinite Crisis Superboy-Prime attacked Conner Kent (Superboy) and injured or killed several Teen Titans, thus prompting Bart to stop his rampage. He accomplishes this by running him at top speed into the Speed Force with the help of veteran speedsters Wally West and Jay Garrick. The feat took its toll on Garrick, who reached his limit before entering the Speed Force, and West, who turned into energy and vanished, leaving Bart alone in the fight against an armored Superboy-Prime. Luckily for the young speedster, Barry Allen, Johnny Quick and Max Mercury, all of whom had been previously absorbed into the Speed Force, appeared and aided him.[6]

Bart spent four years in an alternate reality's Keystone City, with the ghosts of Max and Barry, his cousin Wally, and an alternate version of Jay Garrick. There Superboy-Prime managed to escape from his prison, and the alternate Jay failed to stop him. The speedsters rallied together to return to their dimension so they could warn everyone about Superboy-Prime, knowing that none of them could get there before Superboy-Prime. At Barry's suggestion, Bart absorbed the Speed Force in order to arrive first, taking Wally's Flash ring and Barry's costume to help him survive his journey.[7]

Bart reappeared in Tokyo wearing his grandfather's costume to aid in the Battle of Metropolis, and unleashed his anger against Superboy-Prime for killing Conner Kent, pummeling him at super-speed and forcing Superboy-Prime to retreat from the battle. When the crisis was over, Bart explains to Jay where he has been, and that the Speed Force is destroyed; Bart has used up the residual speed locked in his body fighting in Metropolis. He gave Barry's costume to Jay and said that Jay is once again the fastest man alive.[8]

The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive (2006-2007)

In Teen Titans Vol. 3, #34, Robin refers to Bart as "kind of retired". He suffers from partial amnesia about the time he spent on the alternate Earth during the Crisis. Bart and his roommate, Griffin Grey, assemble cars on a scab basis for a newly automated, high-tech plant in Keystone City.[9] Bart has nightmares about the Speed Force, such as when he and Jay Garrick are separated during Infinite Crisis, and glimpses of Barry's death in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Lying to everyone that the Speed Force is gone, Bart is still able to tap into it, though the effects are far more difficult to control and potentially lethal. Despite the risk, Bart attempts, unsuccessfully, to use his powers to save Griffin when a bomb is set off at the plant, and is seen doing so by Jay.[9]

Bart tells the Garricks about the existence of the Speed Force and his desire to divest himself of his powers, even asking S.T.A.R. Labs to remove his link with the Speed Force. S.T.A.R. recreates the material used to make Barry's Flash uniform but in the modern design worn by Wally. Bart is initially unwilling to wear this, but eventually uses the uniform. When S.T.A.R.'s Keystone location is blown up, Bart dons the uniform to rescue Valerie Perez.[10] Because of Bart's feelings for the young scientist, he allows Valerie to examine him. She continues to work alongside him due to her gratitude over him rescuing him from a riot at her high school. Their relationship continues after Valerie is fired from S.T.A.R. Labs, and she is discovered to be the daughter of Manfred Mota.[11] In the end, Bart and Valerie's relationship proves short lived, as Valerie struggles to come to terms with Bart's life as a superhero. [12]

Meanwhile, Griffin, who gains superspeed after the bomb at the plant explodes, becomes more unbalanced and ages unnaturally.[11] Griffin nearly kills Bart and then kidnaps Jay Garrick, but Bart rescues him. Griffin destroys Keystone's bridge in order to stage a rescue himself, but Bart, making a public return as the Flash, foils Griffin's plans. Hit by an energy blast during the fight, Bart finally remembers his time on the alternate Earth during the Crisis and why the Speed Force is inside him, but he is unable to save his friend, who dies learning that the "new" Flash and Bart are the very same person.[7]

However, when Inertia resurfaces, kidnapping Valerie on behalf of Mota and leaving behind a fake Dear John Letter, the increasing pressure leads Bart to leave Keystone City for Los Angeles. Inertia later lets Valerie escape in order to take her hostage in Las Vegas, where Valerie is chained near a photon cannon set to target the Speed Force. Reunited with Valerie, Bart exerts more control over the Speed Force, outracing the photon ray and freeing his girlfriend. They reunite, and Bart shares his future plans with Jay: with Valerie's blessing he will stay in Los Angeles and follow in Barry's footsteps by studying forensics at the local police academy.[13]

Soon after donning the Flash identity, Bart is considered for Justice League membership and gets particular support from Batman, who feels he is more than ready for the position.

Robin contacts Bart and asks him to return to the Teen Titans. However, after fighting Steppenwolf with the newly reformed Justice League, Bart tries to join the League rather than rejoin the Titans.

When Bart confronts Captain Cold at his apartment, Zoom appears and attacks Bart. Zoom apparently was enlisted by Bart's grandmother, Iris. It's later revealed that Iris only came to the past to warn her grandson about the Rogues (consisting of Abra Kadabra, Mirror Master, Heat Wave, the Pied Piper,the Trickster, Weather Wizard, and Captain Cold), led by Inertia, teaming up. Together they are trying to build a machine that will stop time. As their plan begins to come to fruition, Bart is arrested for the fight with Steppenwolf, a New God.

Death

Bart reveals himself as the Flash in order to fight the Rogues. During the battle, it is revealed that the machine built by Inertia actually drains the Speed Force from an individual instead of freezing time. Using it on the Flash, Bart's powers are stripped away from him, leaving him surrounded by the Rogues and leading to the appearance of the Black Flash. Bart fights the Rogues before chasing after Inertia. After catching and beating Inertia, Bart again fights the Rogues. Panicked, Captain Cold, Heatwave, and Weather Wizard strike him down fatally.

Mourners hold a candlelight vigil at the Flash Museum.[14] Outside of Titans Tower in San Francisco, a memorial statue of Bart in his Kid Flash uniform was placed next to the statue of Superboy.[15]

As Wally West's return to New Earth coincided exactly with Bart's death, later Inertia alleged that Bart's loss of powers was a direct consequence of Wally absorbing the newly released Speed Force. However, no further blame was put on Wally, who avenged his protege by freezing Inertia's body in time but leaving his mind active. Inertia is forever on display in a new area of the Flash Museum, dedicated to Bart's life, and will now spend forever looking at statues honouring Bart's heroic legacy as Impulse and Kid Flash.[16]

Marc Guggenheim, writer of the story arc in which Bart dies, has stated that this was an editorial decision, and that he was instructed that his five-issue run would have to end with Bart's death and the involvement of the Rogues[17].

Funeral

Keystone City held a funeral for Bart, in which Jay Garrick, Cyborg, Wonder Girl and Robin give euologies. At the end of his own speech, Robin plays a video Bart made soon after he had taken on the mantle of Kid Flash. In it Bart relays to his friends that no matter what happens to him, he will always be proud of having been a part of the Flash Legacy and how happy he was being a member of the Teen Titans.[18] Shortly after the Keystone Funeral, a more private funeral is held for Bart at Titans Tower, where they have erected a golden statue of Bart as Kid Flash beside the statue of Superboy.


Powers and abilities

As with most speedsters, Bart's primary power is speed, along with all the abilities that other speedsters have, such as creating whirlwinds, running on water and vibrating through matter. That last ability will result in 'molecular taffy' if Bart does not concentrate; he also possesses an aura that prevents air friction while running. Bart exceeds in this area somewhat, as he does not need to build up his speed before going at high speeds or vibrating. Before being shot in the knee, he was faster than the current Flash had been at his age. Bart does possess some abilities that other speedsters do not have. He has the ability to produce "scouts," Speed Force avatars that he can send through the timestream, but has used it infrequently since the death of one avatar put him in a coma during the "Our Worlds at War" storyline that crossed over among the Impulse, Superboy, and Young Justice titles. After being forced to use it during the "World Without Young Justice" crossover event, he was able and willing to use them with ease, up until he became Kid Flash.

File:Flashfastestmanalive1.jpg
Bart surrounded by the Speed Force on the regular cover of The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #1. Art by Ken Lashley.

Bart is resistant to alterations in the time stream. His parents met only in post-Zero Hour continuity, but he arrived before the event. Bart has total recall of everything he had ever read, heard or watched (which includes speed-reading every book in the San Francisco Public Library), allowing him to spout encyclopedic information concerning the situation at hand as well as quotations from Mark Twain, of whose work he is fond.[3]

After Infinite Crisis, Bart's connection to the Speed Force is more difficult to control because he now contains the Speed Force and, in essence, is the Speed Force. When he taps into the Speed Force, Bart appears to have electricity crackling around him, and the Speed Force inside him has become so lethal, that he initially wore the Flash suit while running in order to prevent it from killing him.[11] After remembering his experiences on an alternate Earth during a fight with Griffin, he began to gain a measure of control over the Speed Force before it was released from his body just prior to his death.

Flash legacy

Since his first appearance in The Flash vol. 2 #91 Bart had been trained by several speed-endowed heroes such as Jay Garrick, Johnny Quick and Max Mercury. Prior to his reluctance to don the red and yellow, Bart showed a lot of enthusiasm towards his role as the future Flash. However, Wally West had a number of apprehensions about Bart, as shown by Wally's naming Jesse Quick as his successor and his refusal to deliver to Bart his invitation from Cyborg to join the latest incarnation of the Teen Titans. Bart took these insults in stride though, and, after Robin claimed that he will always live in the Flash's shadow, Bart even says that "the Flash will be in mine."[19]

Other versions

Numerous versions of Bart have appeared throughout comics.

Dark Tomorrow

File:Bart-future-darktomorrow.jpg
Bart as an adult Impulse. Art by Humberto Ramos.

Following the death of Max Mercury and Helen Claiborne, Bart went back to the future to be with his mother, while his girlfriend Carol Bucklen came along. Carol began studying the Speed Force to use it for the benefit of humanity. The corrupt President Thawne, Bart's grandfather, took their research and made the Hyperguard, a group of hyper fast soldiers. The adult Carol managed to pull her younger self and Bart into the future. Bart ended up preventing Max's and Helen's death, thus preventing this reality from happening. This reality appeared in Impulse #s 73-75.

Titans Tomorrow

File:Bart-future-titans.jpg
Bart as the new Flash during the Titans Tomorrow storyline. Art by Mike McKone.

Bart was a crucial part of the Titans Tomorrow storyline. Here, Wally West is dead and Bart is the new Flash. The Teen Titans are now fascist like superheroes controlling the world. However, Bart is really a spy for Titans East, a rebel group lead by Cyborg and Bumblebee. He seems to have a romantic relationship with Rose Wilson.

The Titans Tomorrow group has recently returned, where it was revealed that due to Bart's recent death, the future time-line has been altered so these versions of him and Conner are actually clones of the originals, created by the alternate future version of Tim Drake. [20]

Time and Tempest

Another alternate future showcased in The Ray #25-26. Here, Bart, Ray Terrill, and Triumph are "three rich guys with superpowers". Bart was in love with Ray's girlfriend, who Ray treated like dirt. However, Bart realized that he didn't have a chance with her either and ends up knocking Ray out and leaving him, not knowing that hitmen were on their way.

Trade paperback collections

Collected editions featuring Bart Allen from The Flash (vol.2), Impulse, and The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive:

Title Material collected
Original
Impulse: Reckless Youth The Flash (vol.2) #92-94
Impulse #1-6
The Flash: Dead Heat The Flash (vol.2) #108-111
Impulse #9-11
The Flash: The Greatest Stories Ever Told (2007) Flash Comics #86, 104
The Flash (vol. 1) #123, 155, 165, 179
DC Special Series #11
The Flash (vol. 2) #91
The Flash The Fastest Man Alive: Lightning in a Bottle The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #1-6
The Flash The Fastest Man Alive - Full Throttle The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #7-13
DCU Holiday Special

Appearances in other media

In the original Kids WB! pitch for the Justice League animated series, Robin, Impulse, and a teenage female version of Cyborg were to be seen as junior members of the League. It was later decided to avoid their introduction, so as to avoid making Justice League seem like the old Super Friends series. The corresponding short animation is available as a bonus on the season one DVD of Justice League. [1]

Smallville

File:Smallville-run2.jpg
Kyle Gallner as Bart Allen in Smallville's episode Run.

An episode of Smallville entitled "Run" featured a speedster named Bart Allen played by Kyle Gallner. Bart also carries around identification with the names "Jay Garrick", "Barry Allen", and "Wally West", the first three Flashes in the main DC Universe. He was portrayed as a self-centered teenager who used his powers for personal gain, although he showed signs of changing his ways by the end of the episode. As a sort of in-joke, he hits on Chloe Sullivan and tells her that he is from 100 years in the future. At the end of the episode, Clark and Bart have a race; Bart is shown to be much faster than Clark.

Gallner reprised his role in the season six episode "Justice", using the codename Impulse and wearing a costume of sorts for the first time on air. He appears as part of a team led by Green Arrow, who helped give Bart "direction". Along with Aquaman and Cyborg, they form a team to stop Lex Luthor and his LuthorCorp 33.1 project. During missions, he is called "Impulse," a name he did not choose himself, much like in the comics.

References

  1. ^ Flash v2 #92 (July 1994) DC Comics
  2. ^ New Titans #126 (October 1995) DC Comics
  3. ^ a b Teen Titans v3 #1 (Sept 2003) DC Comics
  4. ^ Teen Titans v3 #4 (Dec 2003) DC Comics
  5. ^ Teen Titans v3 #18 (2004) DC Comics
  6. ^ Infinite Crisis #4 (Mar 2006) DC Comics
  7. ^ a b Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #6 (Jan 2007) DC Comics
  8. ^ Infinite Crisis #7 (Jun 2006) DC Comics
  9. ^ a b Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #1 (Aug 2006) DC Comics
  10. ^ Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #2 (Sept 2006) DC Comics
  11. ^ a b c Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #3 (Oct 2006) DC Comics
  12. ^ Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #9 (Apr 2007) DC Comics
  13. ^ Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #8 (Mar 2007) DC Comics
  14. ^ Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #13 (Jun 2007) DC Comics
  15. ^ Teen Titans (vol. 3) #50 (Aug 2007) DC Comics
  16. ^ All-Flash #1 (Jul 2007) DC Comics
  17. ^ Rogers, Vaneta; Brady, Matt (25 July, 2007), Flash Forward (1049 ed.), Comic Shop News, Inc. {{citation}}: Check date values in: |publication-date= (help)
  18. ^ Countdown #43
  19. ^ Teen Titans v3 #5 (Jan 2004) DC Comics
  20. ^ Teen Titans (vol. 3) #51)
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