Warning: SPOILERS for The Flash #790Even though Kid Flash is an essential part of the Impulse, so it's no wonder he never felt fully connected with the Kid Flash name.
Bart Allen crashed into the Flash's world in the 1990s: the grandson of the original Flash, Barry Allen, and Iris West-Allen, Bart is a native of the 31st century and only returned to the "present" in order to get the current Flash, Wally West, to help slow down his hyperactive metabolism. Though it would seem like, by introducing a young speedster during Wally's early years as the Flash, Bart Allen was meant to be the next Kid Flash, he proved to be too much for Wally to handle. Instead, Bart took on the codename Impulse and trained under the speedster Max Mercury. It was only much later, after ing the Teen Titans, that Bart would choose to take on the Kid Flash legacy.
But even now, Bart seems to think working as Kid Flash was a betrayal of his own character. In a brief exchange with the current Kid Flash, Wallace "Ace" West, in The Flash #790 by Jeremy Adams, Roger Cruz, Matt Banning, Wellington Dias, Luis Guerrero, and Rob Leigh, Bart insists he isn't jealous of Ace's current role. When he steals Kid Flash's thunder during a trafficking bust, Ace thinks it's because Bart secretly still wants to be Kid Flash. Impulse has the perfect response: "I've been Kid Flash. Thankless. Besides, the yellow really doesn't do anything for my complexion."
Bart Allen Was Always More Suited to Impulse Than to Kid Flash
It makes perfect sense that Bart Allen would describe the Kid Flash role as "thankless": he only took on the role during his Teen Titans era after Deathstroke shot him in the knee, and he rarely got along with Wally West as the Flash, despite still caring for each other. Bart has always been much more suited to the Impulse role, which not only describes his brash and obviously impulsive personality, but also suits his independent nature. Bart has never liked other people bossing him around, but he does like working with others, which is why—despite him insisting he'd rather not have the Kid Flash name—it's a true joy for Flash Family fans to see Impulse once again working with other speedsters.
As the "One Minute War" Flash event continues, readers will likely see Bart Allen as Impulse—along with Ace West as Kid Flash—reunite with even more Flash Family characters. Bart fans can only hope that will include Max Mercury, but whether or not they get the reunion they deserve, at least Bart is once again happy taking the spotlight as Impulse, not Kid Flash.
Check out The Flash #790, available now from DC Comics!
