While the Reboot Legion’s first time travel story is over, XS hangs around the Flash titles for a bit.
This is where I first knew her: while outside of the Zero Hour the Reboot issues were not published in Italy, the Flash titles were so this was my first introduction to the Legion’s favorite speedster.
Impulse #9 (1995)
by Mark Waid & Humberto Ramos
This is the only series where I really like Humberto Ramos. I typically hate his style, but his energy 100% matches Impulse.
Impulse’s mentor Max Mercury has been missing for weeks. Impulse is incredibly bored by the lack of their constant banter…
…until he runs into his cousin.
Literally.
As a reminder from his origin, Impulse actually grew up in the 30th century; he’s a bit rusty on his Interlac though.
With Max Mercury missing, Impulse is in such a bad mood that he’s making Brainiac 5 look sociable by comparison.
Credit where it’s due; while I don’t like Ramos, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have considerable talent: the closeup on XS manages to say SO much without a single line of dialogue.
Granted, I don’t recall him doing something like this in any other series I’ve seen him draw, but still.
I’m still glad he wasn’t drawing the Legion.
Brainiac 5 and Cosmic Boy look fine here; the others, not so much in my opinion.
Because she’s a descendant of the Flash, it stands to reason that the Flash Museum would be her first destination.
Impulse never cared for his Flash legacy… at least until they decided to make him boring once he becomes Kid Flash… but he DOES take pride in his own legacy.
Interesting bit of Legion lore: the Reboot uniform was apparently based on Impulse’s!!!
Which is intriguing, when you consider that it didn’t originate as a superhero costume… it’s what he was wearing when he was growing up in a lab without control of his powers.
I can see three reasons for this:
1) R.J.Brande modeled the Legion uniform on the one worn by the heir of a 20th century hero that had been mistreated by the authorities
2) the costume is already multi-purpose and can work with a multitude of superpowers
3) I’m overthinking this and it’s a throwaway line
First order of business is giving XS civilian clothes. Not really sure why Impulse thinks they wouldn’t fit her, they’re drawn roughly the same size.
He probably wanted to avoid catching super-cooties.
How hard can it be to learn English if you already speak Interlac? All you need to do is change the alphabet.
Case in point, Jenni is picking up words with the expected speed.
Unsurprisingly, the only problem was Impulse’s total lack of patience.
She’s introduced to Impulse’s civilian supporting characters.
I think it’s notable that there isn’t a single person commenting on Jenni being Impulse’s cousin considering he’s white and she’s biracial.
Of course SHE wouldn’t even think about that, and most likely neither would Impulse.
Would that would a likely topic of discussion in 1995 Alabama?
At least they have a very good reason for instantly believing they are related.
Yeah for some reason, Jenni didn’t connect the fact that the Flash Museum doesn’t mention Impulse’s civilian identity to the concept of it being a secret.
Impulse is definitely lashing out at her because he’s upset at Mex Mercury disappearing.
The fact that he’s like 14 years old doesn’t help.
To blow off some steam, Impulse goes after a motorcycle thief that he had seen before…
…and he would plummet to his death by falling off a cliff (!!!) if his cousin didn’t save him.
Did I mention that Impulse is fourteen? And has the worst imaginable case of ADHD on top of that?
Despite her being much more reasonable and mature (probably literally, although Impulse’s biological age is complicated), the two cousins hit it off perfectly.
Unfortunately, Impulse hit something else.
Specifically, he just hit a Flash plotline.
And then ninjas attack.
I don’t think it’s an Alabama thing.
The Flash v2 #108 (1995)
by Mark Waid & Oscar Jimenez
The only relevance is the repeat of the cliffhanger from Impulse #9…
…but I absolutelyHAVE to mention one of my favorite moments from the Waid run.
The way Wally West reacts by the possibility of having a discussion about marriage.
No joke, “Ninjas attack. Thank God” will live forever rent-free in my head.
The Flash v2 #109 (1995)
by Mark Waid & Oscar Jimenez
I’m not going to review the Flash storyline since it’s outside of the scope of my retrospective, but to bring you up to speed (pun intended): the ninjas are the minions of supervillain Savitar, a speedster who currently took away the powers of all speedsters except Wally West.
Savitar is also the one who kidnapped Max Mercury, and his rescue takes so much focus that Wally doesn’t even notice XS for a while.
This is an important moment for Wally. He hasn’t met Barry’s children yet, Impulse was too young to really know them, and their grandmother Iris isn’t sharing too much information about the future.
This is to set up the eventual encounter between Wally and the Tornado Twins in a later issue, but it’s out of focus considering the current storyline.
Once Max Mercury shows up… he was being tortured but escaped… Wally needs some assistance to launch an assault on Savitar’s base.
It’s a pity that Wally doesn’t choose Jenni to fight by his side, but his logic is sound.
He doesn’t KNOW her besides a five minute conversation…
…and he already has someone with experience using flight, because (before Savitar took it away) Jesse Quick used her speed to fly. SOMEHOW.
Also, while Wally doesn’t know it, at this point Jesse probably has slightly more experience as a superhero than XS.
Impulse #10 (1995)
by Mark Waid & Humberto Ramos
Impulse has it worse that everyone else when his super-speed is removed, because he’s the ONLY member of the Flash family who has had it since birth.
Which isn’t to say he has it the worst in general, given that Max Mercury is in a coma.
I’m not entirely sure if this is the first time Jenni meets her grandmother Iris.
I would say probably no, considering Iris didn’t escape into the 20th century until after the death of Jenni’s mother.
Most of the issue is about Impulse adjusting to life without super-speed and acting out his justifiable anger.
Ninjas attack. Thank God.
More importantly, now everyone gets their super-speed back because of something happening in the Flash book.
And while Savitar’s henchmen ALSO have speed… it’s no contest.
What’s scarier than someone with Almost-Flash speed? If they have a sword!!!
Impulse also showed up to save his father figure.
Too bad that Jenni gets sidelined AGAIN.
The Flash v2 #111 (1995)
by Mark Waid & Oscar Jimenez
While Jenni doesn’t participate in the fight between Savitar and Flash, she does deliver the message on how to win.
Specifically, giving Savitar so much speed that he disappears into the Speed Force.
And that’s where we’re going to stop for now; next time we’ll have a look at the remaining appearances of XS in the 20th century.
It’s just 2 stories, but they will include the most epic jam session in comics.
Legion significance: 2/10
It will take A LOT of time, but the close relationship between XS and Impulse will play a part.
Silver Age-ness: 2/10
Ninjas attack. Thank God.
Does it stand the test of time?
Impulse: 9/10
The Impulse series is a vibe: if you’re in tune with it, it can be extremely charming. But I can see its uniqueness taking a while to adjust, ESPECIALLY for the Ramos artwork.
I think these issues in particular do a great job at exploring how Impulse feels about Max and about his place in the world, and it’s a challenge considering Impulse is not a character who ever SAYS much… but the way the issues characterize him through his actions and expressions alone is great.
He comes off as a bit of a jerk towards Jenni at first, but he has a lot of excuses for it and once they become friends, they both REALLY sell it.
Flash: N/A
I skipped way too much to give a honest score. In general this is a great storyline, and the culmination of a lot of previous ones. Waid is really building off the whole Speed Force mythos he created. Unfortunately I believe this is the LAST storyline about the Speed Force that actually uses the concept perfectly, as the series drives it into the ground by just how overused and overpowered it becomes. At this point in the series there are drawbacks for using the Speed Force at its peak, whereas later it feels like just an excuse to have the Flash do anything.
Seriously, at one point even his costume becomes made of Speed Force. And I just can’t take the Flash seriously when one of his powers become having PANTS MADE OF SPEED.
It’s also sadly the last time the Flash series truly acknowledges Jenni as part of the Flash family, as her Legion connection vastly overshadows it.