View Full Version : How popular was Impulse?
Walter West
08-14-2006, 11:34 PM
Hello gang, first time posting, but I read fairly often. I stopped following comics when Superman was killed by Doomsday, but recently I have been getting back into them and I have been acquiring the Flash books as I was a big Barry Allen fan and then Wally West.
I see they are redoing The Flash, and I have to ask if anybody knows how popular or unpopular Impulse was. True he had his own series and it went 80-some issues, but do people think he'll be strong enough to carry the Flash mantle? Does he have the popularity?
Armless Penguin
08-14-2006, 11:41 PM
I can't testify to how popular he was with the general public, but I really enjoyed Bart as a character, especially when he interacted with his peers a la Young Justice. That's not to say anything about his current incarnation, however.
Agentum
08-14-2006, 11:55 PM
I never liked him, he was a brat to me.
But then again i was not 11 years old when he hd his own book.
I'm happy hes grown up.
Kid Lantern
08-15-2006, 02:52 AM
never met him till teen titans, when he quickly became kid flash
Forsaken_One
08-15-2006, 03:12 AM
Impulse was popular enough for his comic to last 89 issues and a team he figured prominantly in to last 55 issues.
On the other hand, he wasn't popular enough for his comic to last 90+ issues and the team he was on wasn't popular enough to reach 56+ issues.
david r
08-15-2006, 07:33 AM
When Mark Waid made Bart Allen become Impulse (in the mid 90s), the character became hot. At least with DC fans.
Then Impulse got his own series, written by Mark Waid, and it was a hot title for awhile. But as time went by, and Waid left Impulse, his popularity waned. And really, Impulse just faded from most fan's radar.
gentlesatirist
08-15-2006, 07:44 AM
...the character's durability and the lengthy run of his title, you'd have to say Impulse was one of DC's most successful new characters of the last 15 years.
- FE
Wickliffe OH
caats19
08-15-2006, 09:16 AM
i'd say that he was a good creation. and so far the flash hasn't been all that great, but hopefully he'll get his personality back. i think he should be fine. he's been due to be the next flash for a looong time. i remember that stuff when wally sorta died, and they were fighting cobra and stuff. and for a second it seemed like bart WAS the next flash, before wally came back
Jack Zodiac
08-15-2006, 08:27 PM
I loved Bart as Impulse, but when he became Kid Flash I was a little annoyed by the quickened maturity he got after getting shot in the knee and taking on his cousin's mantle. It was like that arc where Young Justice was on Apokolips and one of his Speed Force scouts died and he felt that death. So, now, I feel it's justifiable that he's grown up so quickly.
Plus, a lot of people keep forgetting that he was immature because of something very much like that. His mind was accelerated to match his body, which was developing too fast, so there's one more reason I can understand his maturity rate.
Still, Impulse was a great character for his time, and fit right in with the other kids in Young Justice. I'm glad they've all grown up a lot, though. I'd find it a little dull if they were all still kids.
TROUBLEZ
08-15-2006, 11:38 PM
I liked Impulse when he was first introduced and when he got his own series. The art by Humberto Ramos and the writing by Waid fit perfectly. Then Ramos left, and eventually so did Waid so that's why I stopped getting the comic. I wish Wally was still The Flash though. :(
Gozwald73
08-16-2006, 01:01 AM
I loved Bart as Impulse, but when he became Kid Flash I was a little annoyed by the quickened maturity he got after getting shot in the knee and taking on his cousin's mantle. It was like that arc where Young Justice was on Apokolips and one of his Speed Force scouts died and he felt that death. So, now, I feel it's justifiable that he's grown up so quickly.
Plus, a lot of people keep forgetting that he was immature because of something very much like that. His mind was accelerated to match his body, which was developing too fast, so there's one more reason I can understand his maturity rate.
Still, Impulse was a great character for his time, and fit right in with the other kids in Young Justice. I'm glad they've all grown up a lot, though. I'd find it a little dull if they were all still kids.
Yup I thought Bart was great as Impulse and I miss Wally as Flash. The whole concept of a "Kid-Flash" makes my skin crawl though. Eeww. What's next, "Embryonic-Bat-Super-Aqua-Wonder-Girl"? Sheesh.
Lonewalker
08-16-2006, 09:52 AM
It was a great character concept back in its time, and it really fit well. I was a fan, and I bought up till issue 50-something, I believe. The art also complemented the comedic side of the character.
Kid Flash was great as well. Heck, I wish I had the ability to read books that fast. I’d read all sorts of books and quench this undying thirst for knowledge. Truly awesome.
Black Atom
08-16-2006, 10:06 AM
Yup I thought Bart was great as Impulse and I miss Wally as Flash. The whole concept of a "Kid-Flash" makes my skin crawl though. Eeww. What's next, "Embryonic-Bat-Super-Aqua-Wonder-Girl"? Sheesh.
Yet, you have a Batgirl avatar?
I think Impulse was pretty darn popular--certainly one of the more succesful new creations to come along. He seemed to lose a lot of his personality and popularity when he became Kid Flash, though.
Impulse was incredibly popular... in my heart.
caats19
08-16-2006, 10:20 AM
what was the feeling with people when wally took over? i wasn't really born yet at that point
Jack Zodiac
08-16-2006, 10:34 AM
I'd only started reading comics a few years after the Crisis, so the only Flash I ever really knew was Wally. And back then, we didn't have a public forum to discuss comics with others as easily as we do with the Internet. From what others tell me, though, people didn't see Barry's death too negatively, because he died a true hero, and when Wally took over it seemed only natural because he'd been Kid Flash for so long. The Flash mantle has always been a legacy, and now Bart's just carrying on that legacy.
caats19
08-16-2006, 10:51 AM
i see bart holding the flash title for a long long time. longer than wally
Lonewalker
08-16-2006, 11:16 AM
i see bart holding the flash title for a long long time. longer than wally
Possibly. Perhaps.
I wouldn’t call that one yet. But I do see the probability.
Jack Zodiac
08-16-2006, 11:17 AM
We'll see. Wally lasted a decade less than Barry as The Flash, and Wally was arguably a much more popular character, but I see Bart at least remaining a prominent speedster, even if Wally returns as The Flash.
I'm expecting Wally to return as a Flash while Bart is the Flash. For awhile, anyway. Depends whether DC have the balls to make it stick or not.
Jack Zodiac
08-16-2006, 11:42 AM
They, historically, seem to be a lot ballsier with The Flash than they do with other heroes.
They, historically, seem to be a lot ballsier with The Flash than they do with other heroes.
Which is why I think it has a chance to work.
TROUBLEZ
08-17-2006, 01:04 AM
We'll see. Wally lasted a decade less than Barry as The Flash, and Wally was arguably a much more popular character, but I see Bart at least remaining a prominent speedster, even if Wally returns as The Flash.
If Wally had not had as much comic time as Barry and was popular why did DC retire him and give the mantle to Bart? Were the sales low? Did they run out of ideas for Wally?
Francis
08-17-2006, 05:22 AM
...the character's durability and the lengthy run of his title, you'd have to say Impulse was one of DC's most successful new characters of the last 15 years.
- FE
Wickliffe OH
Beaten only by Batgirl. Yet although the bodies live, we have neither of them in current comic books. Sometimes I wonder what DC are playing at. The rest of the time I'm pretty sure they don't know either.
For me, I didn't like impulse in his own title - he was a little more than one note joke that was quite entertaining for about three issues, and then wore thin. On the other hand, I loved him in Young Justice because he was one of a cast - and there were other characters to provide other elements.
Gozwald73
08-17-2006, 05:30 AM
Yet, you have a Batgirl avatar?
I think Impulse was pretty darn popular--certainly one of the more succesful new creations to come along. He seemed to lose a lot of his personality and popularity when he became Kid Flash, though.
Point Taken
:o
Alan2099
08-17-2006, 06:49 AM
I loved the guy until he became Kid Flash, then he was just shoe horned into being a character he wasn't and it all fell apart.
amirab
08-18-2006, 03:27 PM
I only know about Impulse when he was in the Teen Titans series.
Agentum
08-18-2006, 03:42 PM
somehow i don't think this change of Flash is going to be as good as the last one, Wally was kid Flash for a long long time and thats was why he was accepted by the readers as the new Flash.
Almost all other tries to replace the hero with a younger version (GL, GA etc.) failed misserable and made the older character come back and reclaim the title again, DC should have learnt that by now.
LukeRed5
08-18-2006, 03:49 PM
I liked Bart a lot as a character and I liked how he matured from Impulse to Kid Flash. I'm not crazy about the rapid aging and I don't like the current writers of Flash. However, the story of the Flash and Bart in the hands of a good writer can evolve into something special. I think Waid and Johns did that with Wally and I think down the road someone will do the same with Bart.
Patriot07
08-19-2006, 08:30 AM
i'd say that he was a good creation. and so far the flash hasn't been all that great, but hopefully he'll get his personality back. i think he should be fine. he's been due to be the next flash for a looong time. i remember that stuff when wally sorta died, and they were fighting cobra and stuff. and for a second it seemed like bart WAS the next flash, before wally came back
He won't get his personality back. They're too busy making him Wally-lite.
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