Kid Flash by Joel Priddy

Dean: I love the ridiculous level of fun Joel’s Bart seems to be having! The yellow sections kinda make the red center look like an old fashioned bathing suit, but the boots are super slick.

Vito: I like the whole thing, but my eyes keep going to that subtle lightning design on the top of the boots. I like how, looking at this, it doesn’t look like anything BUT a Kid Flash costume…the colors are right, the cowl is right…it seems like such a quick fix.

Joel: I’m glad the top of the boots read, Vito! My main interest here was in capturing a sense of youthful enthusiasm. Other than the boots, I didn’t really add anything to the visual lexicon of the Flash family here. I just mix ‘n matched elements from existing costumes (can you find Jesse Quick’s contribution?).

Jessica: Ooh, ooh! Is it the shorts? (Well, the short-like patterning.) I love this. Bart’s always been very much about whimsy, and you really captured that here. I’ll go one further than Vito and say that this doesn’t look like anything but a BART Kid Flash costume. Very nice.

Joel: Bingo! I basically moved the lines from one of Jesse’s french-cut outfits south until they became decent.

Impulse by Slipstream

Dean: Ooooh, that’s a nice mask! Very clever idea, with the fading level of translucency. Love it. Gorgeous simple white stripe, and very cool footgear. I’d lose the tiny yellow strip unless it matches up with some kinda symbol on the chest. Great design.

Joel: One of the reoccurring Bartisms is the fingerless gloves. I’m not sure how much sense they make for a masked superhero, but they’re distinctive, and a lot of the designs we’ve been looking at incorporate them. Slipstream has created some interesting half-fingerless gloves, like an archer’s. I’m not sold on the practicality, but they look great. Groovy shoes. And I hope that Hurtle the Lightspeed Turtle is a permanent addition, Impulse’s own Streaky.

Jessica: I like to think the gloves were inspired by Arrowette, who seems to have gone the way of most of Young Justice. I’m also loving the footgear, and the turtle is inspired.

Dean: Maybe Bart should have a pet turtle.

Impulse by Leanne Hannah

Dean: Ooh, black! I love the clean lightning bolt elements. Very slick!

Joel: Nice color scheme, and nice decorative details. I really dig the black bolts overlapping the red gloves and boots! I’d like to see the color yellow appear somewhere on the costume other than the goggles, to create sense of balance. Even if it’s just the soles of the shoes, or some other really minor element.

Jessica: Here’s another set of boots I covet! I think Bart’s a character who really lends himself to a lot of bells and whistles (admittedly hard to balance with the sleekness a speedster needs), so I’d like to see the intricacies of the boots and gloves extend to the rest of the costume.

Vito: The highest praise I can give to any of these designs, and I’m giving it here. This design is absolutely in the spirit of Mike. I guess I’m mostly looking at the head/face, but this makes me really miss ‘Ringo and I swear his spirit must have guided Darren’s pencil here. Absolutely wonderful.

Dean: Yeah, I’m totally enjoying the ‘Ringo influence here. I especially dig the boots and headgear. Great stuff from Darren, as usual.

Joel: My favorite part is the white belt. It breaks up the vertical white stripe nicely, and makes a subtle reference to the Wally West lightning belt. I wonder, does the chest emblem come off as too Shazam?

Vito: I can see where you’d think that, but look at it again. That lightning is coming from his ears. It looks like chain lightning if you add the goggles.

Jessica: I don’t think it’s too Shazam-y either – for me it evokes the original Impulse costume more than anything. And I too am digging on the boots. The wrist guards, too.

Dean: Oh man, solid wing motif, great seams, and the color choices are smooth and sweet. I also really dig the expandable-looking ribbed sections, and the fingerless gloves. Besides all that, this is just a wicked drawing with great colors. I love it to bits.

Vito: The wings on the hand are definitely a different touch. I’m not sure of the practicality, but it sure looks like fun!

Joel: Now this is the version of Impulse I’d love to see DC do a 52verse story about. I am crazy about this wonderful design. The construction lines of the suit add both visual interest and verisimilitude. And who knew there were any new takes left on the lightning bolt chest emblem? I love the three pairs of wings. I agree, of course, that the hand-wings are entirely goofy and impractical (can you imagine how annoying it would be to have those things hanging off the heel of your hand?), but dang, I’d hate to lose them. They really add to the fun of the design. Maybe they use Future Technology (TM) to recede into gold circles on his gloves when he’s not at super-speed, and are then deployed when he needs… uh… super-stabilization? Palmaerodynamics? Personality-wise, this strikes me as an Impulse who made it into his later teen years with any kneecap-trauma, and, so, is still a complete goofball.

Vito: I’m totally enamored with this design. Like Joel’s, it’s such a subtle fix. I look at this and I say, “Kid Flash.” There’s no way this could be any other character. What I love, and I have no idea if Adam intended this…but I love the emblem. It’s a subconscious nod to the fact that Bart is related to The Reverse-Flash. I am praying that Adam meant to do that because it’s 100% genius.

Dean: Bounding into action, Adam’s Bart design is rocking a seriously smooth Silver Age vibe. Great subtle nudges to the classic Kid Flash design here.

Joel: The Reverse-Flash bit is an interesting point, and one that I missed. Nice. As a Silver Age costume, this costume hits just the right note. For a contemporary costume, however, I’d like to see the yellow broken up a bit more.

Vito: I think there are too many edges to be a true Silver Age costume, but I can see where you guys are going.

Jessica: Agreed. It’s more Silver-Age-meets-the-future…which is exactly right for Bart!

Joel: I keep thinking that this is the Impulse that would appear in the super-hero equivalent of Teen Beat. He’s so stylish and suave for a kid! I can imagine the DCU’s population of twelve-year-old girls swooning over his picture, and writing “Impulse+Mary Sue=Tru Luv 4evah!!!” on their notebooks. Or am I projecting?

Jessica : Coming from a girl who is still secretly twelve years old at heart, I can say that you are definitely not projecting. This Bart is totally swoonworthy.

Dean: Hahaha, awesome. I mostly wanted Bart to look like a sprinter waiting to race between missions, so I gave him the jacket. I also ditched the mask in favor of simple shades. I figured Wally worked best with the semi-open secret identity, and so could Bart.

Vito : I want that jacket ASAP!

Dean: I’m freaking floored by Tom’s design. Slick translucent helmet, gorgeous super-sized logo, wicked forearm lightning bolts, and cool boots all add up to a killer design…I want to draw this so bad. I think the vibe Tom was going for here is ‘armored,’ like the costume is tough leather and the helmet is an obvious necessity for crime-battlin’. I love it.

Joel: Whoa! I love that helmet design! That is very cool. The enlarged chest emblem is bold, and works well in this design. Are those rivets along his waist? I’m guessing that the lightning motif is asymmetrical on the legs, but I can’t really tell.

Vito: The thing that strikes me is that this looks like a kid. He looks like he’s having fun, and that is what Impulse is all about. The way that top half meets the bottom half…this could easily have been a Kid Flash redesign. I also like how bold and large that chest emblem is. If you look at this closely, and use a little imagination, when he runs, you’ll get the lightning effect that we always see. He wouldn’t need the Speed Force to represent itself as lightning, because the costume, with the yellow lightning motif, would do it for him.

Jessica: There’s something very super-soldier about this – I’m picturing an army of Bart’s clone “scouts” (remember those?) in this design. What a visual punch!

Joel: This is a very strong design, and one that makes good use of Bart’s history as Impulse to bring new visual motifs into play. The unbroken expanse of white provides a streamlined look. I really like the dropped-out circle for the chest emblem. I’m not sure how I feel about the distinct slant given to the goggle lenses. On the one hand, it makes Kid Flash look a bit insecty. On the other, it makes Kid Flash look like he’s trying to take himself more seriously than the wide-eyes, round-goggled Impulse, which strikes me as appropriate as the character ages.

Dean: Mike’s design looks made to move!. Great windswept hairstyle, cool treads, functional googles, and the red-on-white lightning bolts on the calves are wicked. I also like how Mike kept Bart’s original ‘Ringo-designed gloves.

Vito: If Bart ever joined his cousin XS in the Legion, this would be the perfect costume for him, hands down.

Chris: Amazing. I can’t find a single thing wrong with this, when it’s all soo right.

Vito: [praying] Dear Jesus, please let DC do a Kid Flash story within the 52 Earths and have Mike Norton draw it. Thanks and Amen.