Impulse #45 (February, 1999)
"The Christmas Impulse!"
Writer - William Messner-Loebs
Penciller - Craig Rousseau
Inker - Barb Kaalberg
Letterer - Janice Chiang
Colorist - Tom McCraw
Separations - Jamison
Assistant Editor - L.A. Williams
Editor - Paul Kupperberg
Cover Price: $2.25
Day 6 - Twelve Days of Christmas on Infinite Earths - Impulse - Let's Go!
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We open up with Max Mercury killing time while he heals up after having been shot on Halloween. The monotony is cripplingly boring. Luckily, after a while he is visited by... Impulse with boobs? What? Oh, it's actually Impulse's mother, Meloni... from the future! She really does just look like a female Bart, though.
The pair chat a bit in Interlac until the notice that a crime is currently taking place at the bank... the, get this, Green Cigarette and his gang are currently robbing the joint. Max is worried that Bart will get wind of this and head over straight away.
... and he does! However, before he do a whole lot, his speed powers trigger an earthquake, which causes the bank to start coming apart. At this point, civilians and villains alike look out for each other's best interests and safety... it's as though they'd been affected by the Christmas Impulse! Why, the baddies even decide to reform... and the bank manager refuses to press charges! Whaaaa?
Once that's all set, Bart returns home... and reunites with his mother. We learn that Meloni is planning on staying at Max's (daughter's) pad for the next three weeks... which doesn't really make anyone all that happy. There's a bit of a to-do, which ends with Bart running off...
... to the Janitor's closet at school. Hmm, okay. Anyhoo, the Guidance Counselor pops his head in and Bart sorta-kinda lets it slip that he might just be Impulse... and his uncle Max Crandall is actually Max Mercury. Ya'd figure this would be a no brainer... I mean, look at Bart and Impulse's ridiculous hair for starters... and there really aren't all that many older fellas around named Max, right?
Luckily, this Guidance Counselor, Jasper Pierson doesn't have the brains God gave a peanut... as he calls Max to tell him that Bart "seems to believe" he's Impulse... hmm...
Max and the family all head up to the school for a role-playing session with the helpful Pierson. He wants them to all facilitate Bart's delusions of heroics... and talk to him as though he really was Impulse. Not really sure what good this might do the boy... even in theory... but, okey dokey... it'll move the story forward... in theory.
The main thing that comes out of this is that Bart is blaming himself for Max getting shot over Halloween. Max gives him the skinny on what actually went down that night. He did (literally) catch a bullet that was fired... but did not account for the possibility that their might be a second bullet in the muzzle. That's the bullet that shot him. It's not Bart's fault at all. What's really crazy here is that Pierson is still clueless... even after Meloni goes off in Interlac... yeesh.
Before the Bart family can get all group-huggy, the Green Cigarette enters. He wishes to hand over all of the profits he'd made from his life of crime over the past thirty-years... and so, hands over a check for $50. Ya see, he never said he was all that great at being a criminal! Nyuk.
The issue ends with Bart and Max walking home. Along the way, Max gives Bart a hug... when asked if it was due to a Christmas Impulse, Max grumbles. The End.
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Ehhh...
Often while I read (or reread) the issues I'm going to be discussing here, I get all excited about what I'm going to talk about. I make little notes, and bullet point some of the things I want to make sure to include... sadly, this issue did not inspire me to do so.
This is in the fallout of Max Mercury being shot... we took a look at that issue back in October for our #boohauntedblog Halloween special... and that issue was... maybe a little less "ehhh" than this one... but still pretty blah.
Really, not a whole lot goes down here... Impulse's mother shows up... looking like Impulse-with-boobs. The Green Cigarette sees the error of his ways and decides to reform... and we get some weird role-play with the school guidance counselor... none of which, to me, was all that entertaining. The art, is an acquired taste... and usually I'm down with Rousseau's work on this title... but here, it's really not all that great. The faces look especially off, leaving the characters with almost ape-like visages. Really quite unpleasant to look at.
Overall... if you're looking for a good Christmas story... look elsewhere. If you're looking for a good Impulse story... look elsewhere. I'd say this one is for completionists (of Christmas or Impulse comics) only. Not worth tracking down.
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Green Lantern (vol.3) #59 (February, 1995)
"Green Christmas"
Writer - Ron Marz
Pencils - Darryl Banks
Inks - Romeo Tanghal
Color - Steve Mattsson
Letters - Albert De Guzman
Assistant Editor - Eddie Berganza
Editor - Kevin Dooley
Cover Price: $1.50
Hey, it's the fifth day of the Twelve Days of Christmas on Infinite Earths! Yesterday we checked in on Hal Jordan as he celebrated Christmas... guess it's only fair we give Kyle some time. Let's check out a very lonely Titan-ic Christmas Eve.
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It's Christmas Eve (I've been starting a lot of pieces like that lately) and Kyle is arriving at Titans HQ. This is from that odd time where Green Lantern was a member of the Titans rather than the Justice League... might sound strange, and it is... but, dude really dodged a bullet, staying away from what might be the worst Justice League team line-up of all time! Anyhoo, Impulse bum-rushes him and they play fight... until Roy shows up to ruin everybody's fun.
He reads Kyle the riot act for being late... ya see, nobody wants to have monitor-duty on Christmas Eve, so it's based on seniority... and wouldn'tcha know it, Kyle's at the bottom of the totem pole. The lecture wraps up while they walk through the halls of the headquarters, and ends with them on a first name basis.
Green Lantern's real name is overheard by some new New Titans... Damage, Impulse, and... the fake-Terra. They all share their civilian identities before the kids leave Kyle by his lonesome.
Well, not completely... Kyle runs into the person he's relieving at the monitors... Donna Troy. She's wrapping gifts for her son, Robert... and mentions that she and EX-husband, *grumble* Terry Long have decided to put their differences aside for the Holiday. We'll talk about how that all went down pretty soon...
Donna leaves, and Kyle's left to his own devices. He doodles some very 90's doodles... including a NIN logo, Donna Troy in a manga style, and writes the word "NOT!" as well. He then falls asleep...
What follows is actually quite interesting... the ring taps into his memories, and projects the likeness of the original woman in a refrigerator, his former squeeze, Alex! I forgot about this scene... it's really quite well done. Kyle is furious at his ring, and demands it stay out of his head. He decides it's time to "get some air" and leaves the monitors just as Doctor Polaris shows up on the screen.
Kyle flies over the streets of New York City, and comes across a bell-ringer Santa getting held up by some thugs. It doesn't take all that long for Kyle to wrap'em up... but notices that his ring is just about out of juice. He leaves the baddies with Santa, and heads off for a recharge.
After "In Brightest Day"ing, Kyle leaves home and runs into Doctor Polaris as he wrecks havoc on Rockefeller Center. Of particular interest here, Kyle is unsure how he could know if his ring is ever "fully" charged. I like that dude's still learning the ropes here... I feel like in current comics, he'd have just figured it all out right from the start. It's nice to see a little bit of self-doubt... especially in a Green Lantern, whose whole thing is predicated on will-power.
We get a very short tussle between Kyle and Polaris... in which Polaris uses his powers to move the statue of Prometheus. Kyle simply blasts him... and that's all she wrote. Kind of anticlimactic, no? Of note, after getting walloped, Doc doesn't seem to remember what he'd done.
We wrap up with Kyle returning to Titans HQ. He is soon joined by Donna Troy, who just put Robert to bed so that Santa may visit. She's got a gift for Kyle... it's mistletoe... the story ends with them sharing a kiss.
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Decent enough issue, from such a weird time in both Green Lantern and Titans history. This comes from such a... horrendous time for the Titans... I like to think that New Titans quietly drifted away into cancellation shortly after the Titans Hunt, and the next few years didn't happen. I've never been able to read straight through... my New Titans rereads usually begin to peter out just after #100. It really became difficult to read... but, I suppose that's a discussion for another day.
On the other end, we've got Kyle wrapping up his first year as Green Lantern. A pretty exciting time for the character and the title... there were so many story possibilities on the horizon... surely, we'd be seeing Hal/Parallax at some point... and seeing Kyle meet all of the DC heavy-hitters was pretty entertaining.
Here we learn that not only are Donna and Terry divorced... but she's just about ready to move on with our man Kyle... I guess that's moving up in the world, right? I don't recall how I felt about their potentially knockin' boots... it seemed like one of them "blink and you miss it" kinda things. I don't remember them being an item for all that long... but I could be mistaken.
Roy is kind of a jerk here... and these Titan tots are really quite lame. Damage, the fake Terra, and Impulse before they de-aged him for Young Justice. Yeesh. I guess it's not so bad compared to the spike-haired Supergirl, emaciated Starfire, and Beast Boy would could only change into that creepy winged baboon thing that they replaced... but still, yeesh. What a sad state of affairs for (what's left of the) New Titans.
Where this issue shines is in its depiction of Kyle as a super-hero in training. He doesn't have all the answers just yet, and he's still very much playing it all by ear. He doesn't appear to have complete control over the ring... and isn't even clear on how long to charge it. I really like that... it provides Kyle with almost a "point of view" quality, where he's kind of our set of eyes into the greater DC Universe. I'm cool with Kyle being unsure and even doubtful... it was these qualities that attracted me to the book and this character.
The baddie here... ehh, Dr. Polaris doesn't really do all that much. Pretty much just an excuse to throw in a quick fighty scene to break up the monotony... nothing great, but nothing offensively bad either.
Overall... this issue is such a strange time capsule... but I gotta say, it's definitely not must-reading.
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Green Lantern (vol.3) #36 (February, 1993)
"The Ghost of Christmas Light"
Writer - Gerard Jones with Joe Filice
Penciller - Gene Ha
Inker - Romeo Tanghal
Letterer - Albert DeGuzman
Colorist - Anthony Tollin
Assistant Editor - Eddie Berganza
Editor - Kevin Dooley
When I picked this issue for today's discussion I really had no idea that it picks up with Hal's day immediately following the Superman (vol.2) #76 we talked about yesterday. Let's check in with Hal and see how he spends Christmas Eve...
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It's Christmas Eve and we open with Hal and his on-again off-again, Carol Ferris passing the Northern Lights as they begin their descent. This was a time in which Hal tried running his own air-cab company. Carol is tagging along on Hal's family Christmas, because he didn't want her to be alone. In the Northern Lights we see the familiar visage of our old friend Dr. Light... the male one... who did some really lousy stuff to Sue Dibney.
They land and are immediately met by Hal's brother's family. The kids are excited to have Uncle Hal take them up for barrel rolls, and Jim Jordan mocks Hal's gray temples... remember those? Jim's wife, the nosey Sue catches up with Carol, and mistakenly refers to her as Hal's girlfriend. Carol is quick to correct her, as she's decided they're gonna keep it casual for the time being.
What follows is a fairly uncomfortable car ride through town... well, at least for "Aunt" Carol, who is getting the third-degree from Sue. Sue's "thing" during the Silver Age was that she was, well... a pain in the ass. It's nice seeing this carried on into the Chromium Age.
They arrive at the third Jordan brother Jack's house. Inside Uncles Jeremiah and Titus Jordan are debating the merits of crime-fighters. I really like this... I think many of us know which relatives are going to try and bend our ear for some political clap trap during a family get together... this scene was well done. I really like that everyone outside of the immediate debate are vacating the area so they don't wind up involved. Of particular note, they are discussing the recent death of Superman. Hal is interested to hear how people outside of his normal "social circle" have taken the news, and seems perplexed that it has somehow become a political issue. C'mon Hal... everything ultimately becomes a political issue.
Uncle Titus (or maybe Jeremiah) calls over to Hal and tells him to be careful... that Green Lantern character is back, and is hanging about in Hal's hometown. C'mon Unc'... a Green Lantern... with graying temples... in the same city as your nephew... with graying temples... Anyhoo, Sue and Carol are still talking, discussing Sue's belief that her husband Jim is (or was) Green Lantern. Carol is about to spill the beans about Hal... but luckily he stops her. I mean, really Carol... what's your problem? Just giving out a man's secret identity like that. Not cool.
After a contentious squabble, Hal is pulled away. Ya see, it's his turn to play Santa Claus! He does some fancy verbal footwork, and convinces his brother to don the beard and bells while he takes care of the camcordering. All throughout the issue we've seen Dr. Light's ugly mug showing up in various light sources... here, perhaps the funniest of all, his face appears superimposed over the angel atop the Christmas Tree!
We check in with Dr. Light, wherever the hell he is... we learn that he had died in an issue of Suicide Squad... and has been transformed into, whatever the hell he currently is... kind of a being of light itself... but still with a physical form. He was attracted to the Jordan house due to Hal's green light.
Back with the fam, Hal and Carol argue again... Carol is stressed out by all the pressure on her to... I dunno, grow up... having people dependent on her, people wanting her to make babies, it's all just too much for the former Star Sapphire. Hal kind of humors her until he hears his brother, Santa Claus enter the living room. He leaves Carol on the porch to start filming.
Inside, the kids are going wild for Santa... and it looks like, for a brief moment, Carol might just be enjoying herself. Hal is doing his best Ansel Adams-with-a-camcorder, when suddenly... the Christmas tree attacks! Well, the string of lights on the Christmas tree, that is...
Suddenly, and as if by magic... Green Lantern is on the scene. Curiously, Hal has gone missing... c'mon Jeremiah (or Titus) notice things! One of Hal's nephews goes to pull the plug... but gets friggin' shot by a laser for his troubles. This causes Sue to go into a blind rage as she starts beating up the Christmas lights... it's really quite a scene. With the distraction in place, Hal is able to fire off a shot to sever the power cord.
Crisis averted? Nah, not yet... Dr. Light is now in the real world. He blasts Hal with a yellow blast of energy... then just takes Lantern to pummel-town. He is able to split into a number of Dr. Lights... and each one has two fists with which he can punch Hal up real good.
Hal tries to reason with the baddie... asks why he's here. Light tells him he's there for his green light... and so, Hal's all "okay"... and lets him look into the power battery... which either explodes or sucks the poor fool in... the art isn't clear.
With the coast clear, Hal helps Jim outside with the rest of the family. Jim, brain surgeon that he is, ponders if perhaps he is unconsciously Green Lantern... oi.
After making sure everybody is okay, we rejoin Hal and Carol as they talk in private... the issue draws to an end with Carol... get this... proposing marriage. Ruh roh.
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I've often seen this era of Green Lantern written off as "skippable" or of no consequence... and while there is certainly an argument for that, that shouldn't be the blanket statement for the latter Gerard Jones era. This issue right here was some pretty good stuff.
The Dr. Light stuff I could take or leave, but I really enjoyed visiting with the Jordan clan. Weird seeing Silver Age concepts like Hal's nosey sister-in-law thinking her husband is Green Lantern popping up... that stuff was silly way back when, but somehow it fits in and doesn't seem too terribly out of place here in the moody 90's.
Speaking of moody... the art was kind of ehhh. This Gene Ha isn't quite the Top 10 Gene Ha yet, but his work is perfectly serviceable here. Not spectacular... and certainly not helped by the muddy coloring, but didn't really hurt the overall package.
Quite the change of heart for ol Carol here, no? I guess nobody is immune to being overcome by the Christmas spirit. During this time, she is still recovering from having the Star Sapphire persona "permanently" removed from her psyche... just another step by DC in endowing a measure of progression unto their characters. We also see Hal getting some "old" jokes here too. Silly Jordans, don't you know he's not old... just possessed by a giant yellow fear bug!
Overall, a decent enough issue with enough Christmas in it to be enjoyable. A nice slice of life piece... with enough superheroics to keep the action fans pleased. Won't rock your socks but it's worth checking out.
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