| Bart Allen | |
|---|---|
.png) Bart Allen as Impulse as he appeared on the cover of the trade paperback Impulse: Reckless Youth (April 1997). Art by Mike Wieringo. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | As Impulse: Cameo appearance: The Flash #91 (June 1994) Full appearance: The Flash #92 (July 1994) As Kid Flash: Teen Titans #4 (December 2003) As Flash: The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #1 (May 2006) |
| Created by | Mark Waid (writer) Mike Wieringo (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Bartholomew Henry Allen II Bar Torr (New 52 era) |
| Species | Metahuman |
| Team affiliations | Young Justice Teen Titans Legion of Super-Heroes Black Lantern Corps White Lantern Corps Justice League |
| Partnerships | Speedster partners: Wally West Barry Allen Jay Garrick Max Mercury Other hero partners: Tim Drake Conner Kent Cassie Sandsmark Amethyst Arrowette Naomi McDuffie Kaldur'ahm Miss Martian |
| Notable aliases | Impulse Kid Flash Flash |
| Abilities | See list
|
Bartholomew Henry "Bart" Allen II is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. A speedster, he first appeared under the alias Impulse and later became the second Kid Flash and the fourth Flash. Created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo, Bart first made a cameo in The Flash (vol. 2) #91 in 1994 before his full debut in issue #92.[1] He has since been featured as the lead character in Impulse (1995–2002) and The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive (2006–2007). Bart also appears in the series Young Justice and Teen Titans as a member of both superhero teams.[2]
As first conceived by writers, Bart was born in the 30th century to Meloni Thawne and Don Allen, and is part of a complex family tree of superheroes and supervillains. His father, Don, is one of the Tornado Twins and his paternal grandfather is Barry Allen, the second Flash. His paternal grandmother, Iris West, is also the adoptive aunt of the third Flash, Wally West (Bart's first cousin once removed). Additionally, Bart is the first cousin of XS, a Legionnaire and daughter of Dawn Allen. On his mother's side, he is a descendant of supervillains Professor Zoom and Cobalt Blue as well as the half-brother of Owen Mercer, the second Captain Boomerang. In addition to these relatives, he had a supervillain clone known as Inertia.
For most of his superhero career, Bart was the teenage sidekick to Wally West. After West's apparent death in the Infinite Crisis crossover event in 2006, Allen grew up and became the Flash. His tenure as the Flash was brief and concluded with his death in issue 13 of The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive. Allen was subsequently absent for nearly two years after his apparent death, but resurfaced—young again—as Kid Flash, in 2009's Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds. During DC's The New 52 era, Bart Allen was reintroduced in Teen Titans as the alias of an amnesiac revolutionary from the future named Bar Torr; the character was later written out of comics, and his tenure erased from continuity by the subsequent DC Rebirth initiative. The original Bart Allen was brought back as part of DC Rebirth's Wonder Comics Young Justice series.
Outside of comics, Bart has been portrayed by Kyle Gallner in the live-action television series Smallville. Jason Marsden voiced the character in the animated series Young Justice. Jordan Fisher portrays a variation of the character as the future son of Barry Allen and Iris West-Allen starting in the seventh season of The CW Arrowverse television series The Flash as a recurring character.
- ^ Markstein, Don. "Impulse". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- ^ Jimenez, Phil (2008). "The Flash". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley. pp. 124–127. ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1. OCLC 213309017.