SUPERBOY #3

[superfangirl1]

Comments

[bluefall]

... I miss the real Bart.

[jlbarnett]

if you think about what DC did with him he's an actual teenanger in a teenage body now.

Think about it. He ages fast so when he's about two he's got the body of a teen. THen he's sent out of the main DC universe as he and the other Flashes hold Superboy-Prime captive for about a decade. So now he's got the body of an adult but he's only been alive for about 12 years. He lives as an adult till he's killed. But when Brainiac 5 brings him back they leave him the age he was physically before the fight with Superboy-Prime. So things line up now.

[dreamreaver]

Doesn't change the fact that the personality shown there is not the one that the writers of Impulse carefully and lovingly cultivated over the years...only to see it ruined by editorial meddling.

[brilliantnova]

this or his hair

[arbre_rieur]

Long before the character's Teen Titan days, there was an interesting interview with his creator, Mark Waid, where Waid said that the day Bart becomes Kid Flash is the day the character will be ruined. Funny in hindsight.

[minervasolo.livejournal.com]

Nor a personality that reflects he lived for over a year as an adult - I'm not a huge fan of FMA, but I did like the way it approached Bart's need to rapidly mature. He's paid rent, and taxes, been to bars, had an adult relationship, died...

This Bart is essentially a brattier Kid Flash Wally. His personality is 'teenage boy lol'; it doesn't match his established characterisation in Impulse nor the expected characterisation considering what's happened to him since.

[turtlefu]

What is his established characterization in Impulse? I always read him as pretty immature in that too.

[icon_uk]

Less immature, more... inexperienced in the ways of the real world.

More literal minded than the average teenager, genuinely impulsive, rather incautious.

[bluefall]

Also, very enthusiastic, curious, and... I think the word I want is "gentle." Very friendly but in a particular sweet, caring way that says "I look for baby birds to rescue" rather than merely "I generally get along with people."

Also his thought bubbles were entirely pictures, which doesn't sound like a personality trait when you say it out loud but did do quite a bit to define the kind of person he was all the same.

[icon_uk]

Yeah, but there was always an element of... thoughtlessness to him too. And I don't mean in the actively unpleasant thoughtless way like selfishness, but a genuine lack of thought and consideration of consequences.

As the name "Impulse" implies, and I think was quoted in story "he moves from inspiration to deed without passing through the stage other men call 'thought'".

[bluefall]

It's true, but that is the one trait that I'd be cool with him losing, at least to a reasonable degree, because part of the general thrust of his series was him growing up and learning to think things through a little. It's the kindness, the spontaneity, the sheer delight in life and the utterly literal thinking that I really miss.

[jlbarnett]

no reason he doesn't still do stuff like look for baby birds to rescue. He's basically only shown interacting with people who he's very close to these days, who all do the same sort of ribbing he's doing there.

Plus, part of the reason that his thought ballows were in pictures were that it frequently showed him being confused about what he was dealing with. He no longer has reason to be that way,

[fifthie]

I feel the same way about Kon-El.

[fifthie]

Just look at this boring mini-Clark.

Just look at him.