The Flash: Bart Allen Got Screwed Out of Being The Fastest Man Alive - CBR - Comic Book Resources

Starting with Jay Garrick during the Golden Age, there have been several heroes in the DC Universe to step up and take on the mantle of the Flash. Among the shortest-lived runs of any of the Scarlet Speedsters was Bart Allen, who briefly inherited the role after the disappearance of Wally West during the 2005 crossover event Infinite Crisis.

With the relaunched series starring Bart as the Flash only lasting for thirteen issues before its cancellation and protagonist meeting a particularly tragic fate, Bart's time as the Fastest Man Alive is a moment in the character's history often left unaddressed, outside of occasional ridicule. And given how much of a beloved superhero Bart is in his own right, the Scarlet Speedster certainly deserved better.

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Created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo in 1994's The Flash #91 (vol. 2), Bart Allen was Barry Allen's grandson born in the 30th century sometime before the founding of the Legion of Super-Heroes to Barry's son Don. While chronologically only a toddler, Bart's accelerated metabolism due to his familial connection to the Speed Force caused him to rapidly to the age of twelve before his aging was stabilized by Wally. Not interested in becoming the Kid-Flash, Bart created the superhero mantle of Impulse as a part of Young Justice before eventually changing his mind to take on the Kid-Flash persona and co-found the latest iteration of the Teen Titans. After Wally and his family were absorbed by the Speed Force as the Flashes fought Superboy-Prime during Infinite Crisis, Bart initially claimed to have lost his speed as he returned to Earth aged to adulthood by the ordeal.

Bart was eventually revealed to be lying through his connection to the Speed Force had become noticeably unstable following the crossover event. As his friends needed his help, Bart reluctantly took on the mantle of the Flash and moved to Los Angeles where he enrolled in the Los Angeles Police Academy to study forensic science. While serving as a probationary member on the Justice League, Bart would learn that his old foe Inertia had united the Rogues against him while his connection to the Speed Force steadily began to fail him. This would culminate in Bart losing his speed leading the Rogues to beat him to death in the moment that Wally and his family returned to Earth.

While Bart would eventually be resurrected during Final Crisis and, later, be freed from imprisonment inside of the Speed Force and reintroduced into the DC Rebirth era during "Flash War," he was once again a relative teenager and back to his previous superhero persona as Impulse. While a welcome return to form for the fans, it also felt like a bit of a step backward for the character, who had earned his stripes as a Flash just as Wally had in succeeding Barry after Crisis on Infinite Earths. And in taking the action from Keystone and Central City to Los Angeles, Bart brought a much-need change in scenery to the title and one rooted in a real-world setting.

Bart Allen back as Impulse is far better than no Bart Allen at all but the character's all-too-brief turn as the Flash after Infinite Crisis is a moment in his history that should be celebrated and further explored rather than unceremoniously brushed the carpet. The character certainly belongs running alongside his old Young Justice teammates but even Bart tends to dismiss his activities as the Flash and the experiences he endured. Given how his Flash tenure ended, this is definitely understandable but the moment is one that should be revisited and given its overdue credit.

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Sam Stone is a 10th level pop culture guru living just outside of Washington, DC who knows an unreasonable amount about The Beatles. You can read his work in the pages of Image+, follow him on Twitter @samstoneshow, and listen to his podcast Geek Out Show on iTunes and Google Play.