Tag Archives: Impulse

This Week: Impulse in Smallville (in print!) plus Digital Flashbacks for Wally West & Bart Allen

Smallville Season 11 #9 Cover by Scott Kolins

The print edition of Smallville Season 11 #9, the first part of a story guest-starring Impulse (Bart Allen), arrives in stores today. If you’ve been reading online, this contains the same story as the digital edition Smallville Season 11 #25-27. (Confused yet?) Written by Bryan Q. Miller; art by Jorge Jimenez with a cover by Scott Kolins.

Also in digital back-issues at ComiXology, we have four new issues from the 1990s:

Flash #90: Wally West has realized that his whole trial has been manipulated by Abra Kadabra…too late to stop an injunction against using his powers within city limits. Now he has to stop Kadabra and clear his own name while on the run from the law. (Mark Waid, Mike Wieringo)

Flash #91: Determined to never leave anyone behind again, Wally West adds Johnny Quick’s speed formula to his own super-speed…and finds himself trapped in a single moment of time. (Mark Waid, Mike Wieringo.) This issue was included in the Flash: The Greatest Stories Ever Told trade paperback collection.

Impulse #45: “Bart’s mom comes back from the future to see her time-lost son, but not everybody is imbued with the spirit of the Christmas season. The odds of there being peace in Manchester are slim!” (William Messner-Loebs, Craig Rousseau)

Impulse #46: As the Flash family of the late 20th century prepares to embark on the time-spanning mission in “Chain Lightning,” Impulse imagines meeting his grandfather Barry Allen…and how different his life might be with this living legend as his mentor instead of Max Mercury. (William Messner-Loebs, Craig Rousseau)

Impulse #46

This Week: Gorilla Warfare in Flash #15, Flashbacks to the New Trial of the Flash & Impulse

Flash #15

Flash #15 is out today (preview).

“Gorilla Warfare” rages on! In THE FLASH #15, Barry Allen must go to extreme measures to defeat Grodd while the Gorillas take over the Gem Cities. With his body out of commission, The Flash uses the Speed Mind to glimpse the future, and things are not looking good for him and the Rogues! Can Barry think of a way out of this situation? Or are the Gem Cities doomed forever? From the creative team of Francis Manapul, Brian Buccellato, Marcus To, and Ryan Winn, THE FLASH #15 races into stores this Wednesday.

Smallville Season 11 is on break this week (DC’s digital firsts are generally three chapters each month) and will be back next week, along with the print edition of the first three chapters of “Haunted” guest-starring Impulse.

Meanwhile, ComiXology’s digital re-releases continue:

Flash #88-89: Wally West is sued for negligence by a woman who was horribly injured during the battle with Razer, and the shock sends him into a frenzy of crimefighting. How do you fight a lawsuit when you blame yourself? Can even the fastest man alive save everyone? Flash on ComiXology

Impulse #43: Gamal runs a convenience store in Manchester, Alabama, but in his home country, he was a brilliant scientist and inventor. Now he’s being pursued by foreign agents intent on weaponizing his inventions.

Impulse #44: School bully Evil Eye steals his dad’s super-villain costume for Halloween. What could possibly go wrong? Impulse on ComiXology.

Speed Reading: Notpocalypse Edition

Sorry I haven’t had time to keep this round-up column going lately. I’ve picked a few highlights since the last round-up, focusing on the more recent ones:

Sterling Gates talks about that Kid Flash series that was announced in 2009 but never actually launched, saying “I don’t think it ever made it past the initial pitch and a couple written scenes.”

The FLASHPOINT: KID FLASH LOST mini I wrote in 2011 was sort of the tone we were planning on for that series: serious stories with humor in the mix. Woulda been a belter, too, with Bart, Max Mercury, and Xs returning to Blue Valley, Nebraska to fight villainy…and other super speedsters.

Comic Book Legends Revealed brings us a Christmas story with the Three Dimwits — who were basically the Three Stooges, inserted wholesale into the Golden Age Flash comics by Gardner Fox.

Mark Waid & Impulse DrawingNewsarama tells the story of how Mike Wieringo’s first Impulse drawing made its way back to Mark Waid.

Speaking of Mark Waid, his run on the Flash was voted #36 in the Top 100 comic runs as selected by Comics Should Be Good readers back in October, the only Flash run to make the list.

Brian Buccellato is writing a revival of The Black Bat, a pulp-era superhero who’s been largely forgotten in favor of that other guy who dresses up as a bat and fights crime. Here are two interviews at Newsarama and at CBR.

Jim Zub breaks down where your $2.99 goes on a typical indie comic. There isn’t much left over for the writer and artist. Follow-up: looking at digital sales.

Jill Pantozzi has resurrected “Hey, That’s My Cape!” at IGN, starting with a piece of advice that sounds simple on its face, but seems to be hard for comics fans to follow through on: Stop reading comics you don’t like. For me, the last straw was Countdown to Final Crisis. From that point on, I resolved to only read comics that looked interesting, not those that I felt obligated to read. I slip up sometimes, but overall I enjoy my comics more than I used to.

Update: CBR has the results of their poll for who fans want to debut in the New 52. A certain missing speedster handily takes the number one spot.

This Week’s Digital Flash: Argus, Arrowette & Smallville

Flash #86 Impulse #41

This week’s Flash comics are all digital, including two re-issues today, and one new chapter in the Impulse story on Smallville on Friday.

Flash v.2 #86: The Flash and Argus go against the alien weapons-dealers, the Combine. (Note: ComiXology’s summaries have been off a few issues lately. They describe this one as having to do with the lawsuit storyline.)

Impulse #41: “Arrowette’s back and she’s asked Impulse to help her solve a string of mysterious thefts in several schools. In order to do so, Bart’s got to accompany her to a dance where he believes he’s uncovered the source of these thefts–and it involves just about everyone in Flash’s Rogues Gallery!”

Smallville Season 11 #26: Continuing “Haunted,” guest-starring Impulse. Read more about this storyline in last week’s article..

Impulse’s Origin Explored in Smallville Season 11 (Preview)

Smallville Season 11 #9 Cover by Scott Kolins

TV Guide has an article about Bart Allen’s return to Smallville, including a preview of the new storyline, “Haunted.” Smallville Season 11 takes place in the TV show continuity, where Bart Allen is a founding member of the Justice League under the code name Impulse, though his origin was left extremely vague. So vague, in fact, that Bart himself doesn’t remember how he got his powers beyond there being an accident and a “flash of light.”

The new arc, “Haunted,” will explore the origins of Bart’s ability to run at super speed. “There’s something that has been haunting Bart for some time, some baggage he’s been carrying,” says writer Bryan Q. Miller of the title. “Everyone in our story is being haunted — physically, metaphorically — by some element of their past.”

Other story elements involve Lex Luthor attempting to recover his own lost memories, and Chloe’s quest to learn about her doppelganger from Earth-2. Miller goes on:

“Haunted” will have more direct connections to the television show than Season 11’s earlier stories. “It’s the first time we are relying heavily on previous Smallville series history,” Miller says. “This arc has many more roots in specific episodes and mythology from the series.”

Check out a view of Bart’s new costume after the cut: Continue reading

This Week’s Digital Speedsters: New Impulse in Smallville, Flash(back) to Razer & More

Smallville Season 11 #9 by Scott Kolins

I haven’t been able to confirm it, but the numbers line up. On Friday, DC will release the digital edition of Smallville Season 11 #25, which I believe is the first part of the story guest-starring Bart Allen/Impulse which will appear in the print edition Smallville Season 11 #9–11. A cover isn’t up yet, so this is the spoiler-blocked version of the print #9 cover.

These digital-first comics are set in the continuity of the Smallville TV show, not the New 52 or old DCU. DC releases three weekly issues at 99 cents each month, then collects them as a single $2.99 print issue the following month. Smallville Season 11 on Comixology.

And in digital reprints from the 1990s, we have…

Flash #85

Flash #85: Part two of Wally West’s battle with Razer, as a Keystone shopping mall is, well, razed to the ground. Something that happens in the background will turn out to have a major impact a few issues down the road. Flash on ComiXology.

Impulse #40: “It’s Manchester High’s annual parent/kid picnic, and this wouldn’t be an Impulse story if something as simple as potato salad and three-legged races didn’t lead to big trouble.” Impulse on ComiXology.

Impulse #40