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 Born in the 30th Century, Bart Allen is the
grandson of Barry Allen, the original Flash, son of Don Allen and Meloni Thawne. Thus in
one sense he is the last of both feuding families -- though he actually descends from the
20th-Century Allens; the 21st-Century Allens will begin with him! Bart inherited the family line's super-speed, but as happens so often, it didn't develop quite right. His entire metabolism was accelerated, so that he was growing at a fantastic rate, so the scientists who had "appropriated" him placed him in a virtual reality environment, sped up to keep pace with his own scale of time. Over roughly three years, he developed to the apparent age of about 14. Eventually his family learned where he was, and realized that the scientists' efforts were not helping. Barry's widow, Iris, took him back in time to the late 20th Century to consult her nephew, Wally West (then the Flash). Wally knew from experience the practicalities of super-speed in the field, unlike the scientists who had only observed it in the laboratory. In a frantic chase around the world, Wally forced Bart into an extreme burst of speed that shocked his system into normalcy -- he retained his speed, but his accelerated growth rate dropped to normal. Having spent what he perceived as nearly 14 years of life in a virtual reality in which nothing could harm him, Bart has no concept of danger or caution. Wally calls it the "single synapse theory" - he leaps from idea to action without the mediation of thought. (You may notice that his thought balloons generally contain images rather than words.) This rashness gained him the name Impulse, and caused the Flash a great deal of frustration. Since Wally didn't have the patience to deal with Bart, he was handed over to the Zen Guru of Speed himself, Max Mercury, for training. Bart now lives with his "uncle" Max in Manchester, Alabama, where he is slowly learning both to live in early 21st-Century reality and to be an effective superhero. One last note: Having come here from 1,000 years in the future, Bart is a time anomaly. Though his parents only met in post-Zero Hour continuity, he arrived in the 20th Century before the event hit. He has since displayed immunity to time alterations. For instance, he weathered Extant's manipulations of the timeline (Impulse: Bart Saves the Universe) and remembered Linda Park despite her being removed from history (Impulse #1,000,000, Flash #152). Bio by Kelson Vibber
RELATIONS WITH THE CORE MEMBERS: Superman - Impulse
frustrates Superman, but he's willing to work with him when necessary.
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Impulse, JLA and all other characters and stories on this page are a copyright of DC Comics. Used without permission.
