Bart Allen
Bartholemew Henry "Bart" Allen II is a
fictional character in the
DC Comics Universe. He originally went by the code name
Impulse and later became the second
Kid Flash, before becoming the fourth
Flash. He first appeared in
The Flash (2nd series) #91 in a cameo appearance. His first full appearance was in issue #92.
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Bart "Impulse" Allen, on the cover to Impulse #2. Art by Humberto Ramos. |
Bart is the son of Don Allen, one of the
Tornado Twins, and
Meloni Thawne, a descendant of Professor Zoom, the
Reverse-Flash. Bart is also
XS' cousin, and the half-brother of
Owen Mercer (the second
Captain Boomerang).
Impulse
Suffering from greatly accelerated aging, Bart appeared to be 12 when he was actually two years old. He was raised in a
virtual reality machine, leaving him ill-equipped to deal with reality until he was rescued by his grandmother, Iris Allen. Eventually, Iris took him back in time to the present, where the current Flash
Wally West tracked him down in a race across the world. Wally finally caught Impulse and helped him to control his "hyper-metabolism". However, while the two had to work together during the
Terminal Velocity arc, it was apparent that Bart rubbed Wally the wrong way. The impulsiveness of youth that even Wally himself had displayed was too much to handle, and Bart was pawned off onto retired superhero
Max Mercury, also a speedster.
Bart was one of the founding members of the superhero team
Young Justice, and as revealed in
Impulse #50, Batman named him "Impulse" as a warning, not as a compliment. Following Max's disappearance, Bart was taken in by
Jay Garrick, the first Flash, and his wife Joan.
Kid Flash
Following the breakup of Young Justice, Bart joined the new
Teen Titans. He soon had his kneecap blown out by
Deathstroke (who was at the time possessed by
Jericho) and replaced with an artificial one. While recovering, Bart read every single book in the
San Francisco Public Library and reinvented himself as the new
Kid Flash. Even with the artificial kneecap, he can still run close to light speed.
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. At first, he appeared to be working with the Titans of Tomorrow, but was secretly spying on those Titans on the behalf of the resistance group formed by the
Cyborg of this alternate future,
Titans East. In this future, Bart had a romantic relationship with
Rose Wilson, the Ravager.
Infinite Crisis
After
Superboy-Prime attacked Conner Kent (
Superboy) in Smallville and injured or killed many Teen Titans, Bart joined with
Flashes Wally West and Jay Garrick to stop the rampage of Superboy-Prime by running him at top speed into the
Speed Force. Jay reached his limit before entering the Speed Force and Wally turned into energy and vanished, leaving Bart alone with Superboy-Prime. Barry Allen,
Johnny Quick and Max Mercury, all of whom had previously been absorbed into the Speed Force, appeared and aided Bart. After taking Superboy-Prime into the Speed Force, Barry told Bart that "Wally is waiting for you". After they disappeared, Jay claimed that the Speed Force was gone.
Bart later reappeared, several years older, in Tokyo wearing his grandfather's costume. He later helped the heroes against the army of escaped supervillians in the
Battle of Metropolis. Bart then explained to the nearby
Wonder Girl that his grandfather's uniform was the only thing that could survive the trip back from where he had been, and that he was the only one there "who could still run". Bart then unleashed his anger against Superboy-Prime for killing Conner Kent, pummeling him at super-speed and forcing Superboy to retreat from the battle. When the crisis was over, Bart explained to Jay that he spent years in an unknown dimension where he grew older. Bart confirmed that the Speed Force was destroyed and that he used up the residual speed locked in his body fighting in Metropolis. He gave Barry's costume to Jay and said that Jay was once again the fastest man alive.
One Year Later
In
Teen Titans (3rd series) #34, Bart is referred to by
Robin as "kind of retired". In
The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #1, he is living with a roommate,
Griffin "The Griff" Grey, and assembling cars on a
scab basis for a newly automated, high-tech plant in
Keystone City. Bart has nightmares about the
Speed Force, such as when he and
Jay Garrick were 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 Bart suspects them to be lethal. Despite the risk, Bart attempts to use his powers to save Griff when a bomb is set off at the plant. With Bart unable to control his powers, it is Jay Garrick as the Flash who rescues Griff, and sees Bart use the Speed Force.
Bart confesses to the Garricks that he is still connected to the Speed Force and his suspicions of its effects; despite Jay's assertion that being the Flash is Bart's "path", Bart wishes to live a normal life. Griff, on the other hand, finds himself changed and filled with a greenish aura, which gives him the ability to leap into the air and catch a falling reporter. Griff's aura is similar to the one seen around Bart when he taps into the Speed Force. After previously brushing off
S.T.A.R. Labs scientists who wish to investigate the supposed disappearance of the Speed Force, Bart offers to work with them on the condition that their ultimate goal will be to separate him from the Speed Force. S.T.A.R. presents him with a new Flash uniform, recreated by duplicating the molecular structure of the tattered remains of Barry Allen's costume, and Bart claims it, still adamant about not taking up the mantle but unable to leave the uniform behind. However, when S.T.A.R.'s Keystone location is blown up, Bart puts on the uniform and speeds off to help.
As with most speedsters, Bart's primary power is speed, however he possesses some abilities other speedsters do not. He has the ability to produce "scouts", Speed Force avatars he could send through the timestream, but has infrequently used it since the death of one put him in a coma during the
World War III storyline that crossed over between the Impulse, Superboy and Young Justice titles.
Bart is resistant to alterations in the time stream, possibly due to an oddity of his origin; his parents met only in post-
Zero Hour continuity, but he actually arrived before the event. Bart's photographic memory allows him to recall everything from his speed-reading (which includes every book in the San Francisco Public Library), allowing him to spout encyclopedic information concerning the situation at hand as well as quotes from
Mark Twain, whom he likes.
Since
Infinite Crisis, Bart's connection to the Speed Force has been more difficult to control. When he taps into the Speed Force, Bart appears to have electricity crackling around him.
An episode of
Smallville entitled "
Run" featured a speedster played by
Kyle Gallner named Bart Allen. He is portrayed as a self-centered teenager who uses his powers for personal gain, although by the end of the episode, he was showing signs of changing his ways. It should be noted that Bart also carries around identification of
Jay Garrick,
Barry Allen, and
Wally West, three Flashes in the main
DC Universe.
In the original
Kids WB! pitch for the
Justice League animated series
Robin (Tim Drake), 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]
*
Crimson Lightning - An online index to the comic book adventures of the Flash.
*
The Flash: Those Who Ride The Lightning - Fan site with information about the super-speed characters of the DC Universe.
