Impulse: Bart Saves the Universe (1999) #1

by Christopher J. Priest

This one-shot places the fate of the DC Universe in the hands of DC’s most reckless Impulse! Extant, the villain who nearly destroyed all of DC’s greatest heroes in the pages of ZERO HOUR, has returned, and only Bart Allen stands in his way. Cameo appearances by Batman, three Flashes (Jay Garrick, Barry Allen and Wally West), the JSA and the Linear Men aren’t enough to stop Extant, so this battle hinges on the stable, clear thinking of Impulse. Better start packing now.

Genres: Comics

Comic

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Formerly (before 1993) known as James or Jim Owsley.

Christopher James Priest is a critically acclaimed novelist and comic book writer. Priest is the first African-American writer and editor for Marvel and DC Comics. His groundbreaking Black Panther series was lauded by Entertainment Weekly and The Village Voice and will serve as the basis for the 2018 Marvel Cinematic Universe adaption.

Besides Black Panther, Priest has written comics for Conan, Steel, Green Lantern, The Crew and edited The Amazing Spider-Man. He also co-created Quantum & Woody along with Mark Bright and co-founded Milestone Media.

After a decade long hiatus he is currently writing comic books again and recently concluded a stint writing the comic book Deathstroke (2016-2019).

In addition to being a writer, Christopher J. Priest is also a baptist minister.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Priest does some nice humor work and adds a palpable degree of tragedy. Extant tricks the Linear Men into creating a timeline where Hal Jordan never becomes GL, thus never becoming Parallax, and thus never stopping Extant during Zero Hour. Bart, being a time anomaly, isn't affected by the changed timeline, but has to give up a chance to know his grandpa Barry - who never became the Flash in this reality - to put things right.

The blond jokes were pretty funny, and Priest never does tell us why Max Mercury shot his horse.

[Jdetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plenty of fun! We don't really get to see inside Impulse's head here much, but this is so darn fun it doesn't matter.