Bart Allen

Overview: Young Justice is a drama-heavy show about teen heroes. It ran two seasons, was then cancelled, was picked up by a different studio, ran for two more seasons, and then basically cancelled again. Rather than following the canon established in the comics, it's set in it's own universe that takes heavy inspiration from them (which was a good idea, because comic writers change their mind about what counts as canon every five seconds). Most people agree that the first two seasons were pretty good, the last two seasons have more mixed opinions. Bart appears in season 2 as a major character, and is present in all the following seasons.

Bart plot: Bart is a time traveler from the future, who has come back in time to stop the death of the Flash (Barry Allen) and the apocalyspse he grew up in brought upon by the alien species "the Reach". When he arrives in the past, he lies and says he's just a silly little tourist from the future who is so sad and upset that his time machine broke upon arrival. Like his comic self he can vibrate through solid objects, and- despite the conditions he grew up in- he is extremely upbeat and one of the funniest characters in the show (in my humble opinion). Also, instead of immediately murdering one of the guys who will bring about the apocalypse (Blue Beetle), he does the most Flash thing ever and befriends him- which, of course, lead to everyone shipping the two. I didn't really watch past season 2, but from what I can gather the show creator gave him a new love interest so that everyone would stop shipping him with Blue Beetle, he joins Beast Boy's team of outsiders, some other guys arrive from the future and he starts going on secret missions with them, he gets kidnapped in the middle of space and used as a battery to power a ship because apparently he can never have anything good ever, and then everyone lives happily ever after.

Overview: Unlike other comics at the time, Impulse was less drama and more comedy- kinda like a sitcom in the form of a comic book, as his creator Mark Waid put it. It was new, it was innovative, and the staff at DC hated it. According to an interview Waid did that has since posted to Youtube, DC wanted to cancel the comic but couldn't because it kept bringing in money. Overall the comic ran from 1995 to 2002, and had a total of #89 issues.

Plot: The majority of the comic takes place in a fictionalized Manchester Alabama, where Bart is sent to live with his fellow speedster and new mentor, Max Mercury. There, Bart, who has spent his entire life in virtual reality, must face the real world for the first time. He makes friends, fights bullies and villains, learns about compassion, annoys just about every adult he meets, deals with a family who never asked for him, discovers he has an evil twin, and grows up into a proper hero. Despite it's more lighthearted nature, the comics have plenty of drama and heart-wrenching moments.

My opinions: This and the OG Young Justice are my favorite comic depictions of Bart no contest. After those comics ended the writers had him take up the mantle of Kid Flash (which was the obvious idea but maybe not the right one- especially because Bart never looked up to Wally like that) and then the Flash (I hear it ended poorly) before finally reverting him back to Impulse. Nowadays I don't think modern Flash writers really know what to do with him, most of the time he's either a background character or they make him act too childish, negating all the growth he went through in the 90's. Also, maybe it's just something that was commonplace with DC in the 80's/90's because Young Justice did this too, but I really like how flawed all the characters are, and how real they feel because of it. Max and Bart don't get along at first, because Max likes to meditate and think things through while Bart always does the first thing that comes to mind. Rather than one of these characters being in the right, the authors make it clear that both of them are flawed human beings. Bart is genuinely the most annoying kid any adult has ever met, and his recklessness puts both himself and others in mortal danger- especially because he doesn't understand what danger is at first. Meanwhile, Max (and the rest of the Flash family) always belittle Bart, which Bart calls him out on. Max isn't a good mentor, and Bart isn't a good student, but the glue that holds this comic together (to me at least) is that despite the fact they're such dysfunctional people they love and would literally die for the other.