He Wandered Away a Dismantled Hero - Kid Flash 8-page comic #16 of 16 in series 2
Characters: Bart Allen (Kid Flash), Max Mercury, Jay Garrick (Flash), Wally West (Flash), Irey West (Impulse), Barry Allen (Flash), Preston Lindsay, and supporting cast. Plus glimpses of Jai West, Cassie Sandsmark (Wonder Girl), and Conner Kent (Superboy).
Rating: G.
Content: Humor.
Page Count: Eight pages of comics script.
Summary: The good news is that Bart has solved the murder mystery he’s been investigating. The bad news? The crime boss Big G.G. has set his dogs on his former protégé, amateur movie director Peter Karlson has ordered Gravitas to attack, and the building where Bart was hiding has collapsed around him.
Continuity: Starting from the DC Comics standard, this series of eight-page backup stories about Bart Allen started here. This is part of the second story of that series, starting here. Bart is living in Keystone City with Jay and Joan Garrick; Barry Allen and Max Mercury are back.
Disclaimer: Kid Flash and his family and friends are owned by DC Comics under copyright and trademark laws. This pastiche is offered freely as entertainment for fans.
PAGE ONE (five panels)
Panel 1. Title and credits space.
TITLE:
He Wandered Away a Dismantled Hero
CREDITS
Panel 1. PRESTON LINDSAY jumps out of his car, looking at the collapsed ruin of 3858 Lampert Street. DEBRA and GRANDMOTHER CHAMBERS are also shocked.
PRESTON:
Kid Flash was inside there!
Panel 2. CHAMBERS struggles back to his feet, pointing to NEGOSHIAN and confronting GRANTHAM.
CHAMBERS:
Is he working for you?
GRANTHAM:
No! Is he working for you?
Panel 3. NEGOSHIAN, a little shocked himself at what he did, tries to regain his persona, but also jerks his thumb back at PETER.
NEGOSHIAN:
Gravitas works for no one!
NEGOSHIAN:
And, uh, it was that kid’s idea.
Panel 4. HANNAH DINH glares at PETER, who reacts in disbelief. PETER’s UNCLE JIMMY stands nearby, also trying to figure out what’s going on.
PETER:
He was supposed to run out! Why didn’t he run out?
PETER:
That stupid speech gave him plenty of time to run out!
•
PAGE TWO (five panels)
Panel 1. BART as Kid Flash vibrates out of the rubble, looking behind him.
BART:
Whoa. Had to vibrate twice as fast as normal.
Panel 2. Moving at superspeed, BART rips some tubes off NEGOSHIAN’s costume.
BART:
Ooh! Big loud silver guy! With those graviton thingies!
Panel 3. BART dashes around and around the attack dogs. In the background, NEGOSHIAN lies dizzily on the ground.
Panel 4. BART grabs a handgun away from MANNY. In the background, the two dogs’ legs are wrapped up in their own leashes.
Panel 5. BART comes to a stop, grabbing GRANTHAM by the necktie.
BART:
Gotcha!
•
PAGE THREE (five panels)
Panel 1. Detective MARCUS TIMMINS roars up in his SUV, followed by a police patrol car.
SFX:
Weeooweeoowee--SCREECH
Panel 2. BART shouts to TIMMINS, who’s in plain clothes with his police badge around his neck.
BART:
Detective, arrest this man for the murder of Raemond Ferguson!
Panel 3. BART, still holding GRANTHAM, points to the heap of rubble that was 3858 Lampert Street.
BART:
All the evidence is right inside that…oh.
Panel 4. As TIMMINS looks on skeptically, BART continues his plea as GRANTHAM responds confidently.
BART:
Well, arrest him for kidnapping!
GRANTHAM:
The ladies came voluntarily.
BART:
Assault with a deadly dog!
GRANTHAM:
My babies never touched anyone.
Panel 5. BART lets go of GRANTHAM as he digs in his memory for some applicable charge.
BART:
Um…demolition without a license?
GRANTHAM:
Hey, talk to the silver guy.
•
PAGE FOUR (six panels)
Panel 1. GRANTHAM backs away, pointing at CHAMBERS.
GRANTHAM:
I got nothing to do with these freaks.
GRANTHAM:
Especially him.
Panel 2. PRESTON runs up beside CHAMBERS.
PRESTON:
So is it over?
CHAMBERS:
Yeah, man, it’s over. We can go home.
Panel 3. UNCLE JIMMY confronts PETER beside his equipment-filled car. PETER is feeling rather smug. In the background, the police officers are talking to NEGOSHIAN.
UNCLE JIMMY:
You set this up for Kid Flash to win?
PETER:
He got Big G.G. off your back, right? And it’ll look great in the movie. So I think it turned out to be a very good idea.
Panel 4. Only BART is still angry, yelling at TIMMINS as GRANTHAM, MANNY, and the dogs walk away.
BART:
But what about Raemond? And the cat?
BART:
G.G.’s getting away with murder! Where’s the justice in that?!
Panel 5. TIMMINS answers BART, who gets angrier.
TIMMINS:
Sorry, Kid Flash. We need evidence to make a charge stick any better than a Post-It Note.
Panel 6. Fuming, BART runs off at top speed, leaving the whole crowd in his wake.
BART:
Arrrgh!
•
PAGE FIVE (five panels)
Panel 1. MAX MERCURY in costume, JAY GARRICK as the Flash, WALLY WEST as the Flash, and IREY WEST as Impulse dash up to TIMMINS.
MAX:
We heard there was trouble with Kid Flash.
WALLY (small letters, under his breath):
Of course.
Panel 2. TIMMINS explains the situation to the heroes. In the background, PRESTON stares at IREY, who’s running around examining the scene curiously.
TIMMINS:
The kid got out of that heap without a scratch. But when I couldn’t arrest anyone, he took off like a rocket car.
PRESTON (to IREY):
You look…shorter.
Panel 3. IREY sticks out her tongue at PRESTON. WALLY rolls his eyes and prepares to run.
WALLY:
Aw, man! Kid Flash could be anywhere by now. Come on, Impulse--stay close!
Panel 4. As WALLY and IREY WEST’s paths trail off into the distance together, BARRY ALLEN as the Flash arrives.
BARRY:
Sorry I’m late!
MAX:
It’s good you’re here. Kid Flash needs to talk to you.
Panel 5. BARRY and JAY look puzzled, and MAX does his inscrutable Zen-master thing.
BARRY:
Me? But he doesn’t really know me. I’m a story he grew up with.
MAX:
Exactly. I suspect you’ll find him…
•
PAGE SIX (seven panels)
Panel 1. BARRY arrives inside the Flash Museum to find BART running on the cosmic treadmill.
MAX CAP (finishing MAX’s speech):
“…at the Flash Museum.”
BARRY:
Bart? Do you want to talk?
BART:
No. I want to run!
BART:
I’m going back to save Raemond Ferguson from ever being killed.
Panel 2. BARRY has run around to address BART’s face. BART, still running, rolls his eyes as he responds.
BARRY:
Bart, it’s dangerous to interfere--
BART (interrupting BARRY’s balloon):
To interfere with the timestream blah blah! To change history blah blah blah!
Panel 3. BARRY tries to reason with BART.
BARRY:
Just think of all the things you might undo.
Panel 4. BART’s thought balloons from the previous panel show the coolers marked ORGAN TRANSPLANT, himself saving CHAMBERS from the beating, DEBRA CHAMBERS with her kitten on her new porch.
Panel 5. BART has stopped running, and is slumped against the treadmill.
BART:
But a nice guy’s dead for no reason. And the criminal’s strutting around, enjoying life. That’s not justice!
BARRY:
Even heroes can’t make life just, Bart. All we can do is make it a little less unjust. We just have to keep trying. As long as we can, and a little more.
Panel 6. Close up of BART, downcast but accepting.
BART:
Okay, I get it.
Panel 7. Silhouette of BARRY and BART running out of the Flash Museum together.
BARRY:
We’ve both been dead, Bart. Was it that bad?
BART:
Actually, Grandpa, I don’t think I was paying attention.
•
PAGE SEVEN (four panels)
Panel 1. BART in regular clothes plays a videogame with JAI and IREY WEST. The cousins are all enjoying themselves.
BART CAP (expressing BART’s thoughts):
My name is Bart Allen.
BART CAP:
I live with a bunch of relatives in Keystone City.
Panel 2. GRANTHAM, brushing his teeth in the morning, foams at the mouth and realizes he’s using a tube marked SHAVING CREAM.
Panel 3. BART as Kid Flash races into a fight with the Teen Titans, particularly SUPERBOY and WONDER GIRL.
BART CAP:
Secretly I’m Kid Flash. I work with the Titans.
Panel 4. GRANTHAM comes out to his luxury SUV and discovers all the tires are flat.
•
PAGE EIGHT (six panels)
Panel 1. BART in ordinary clothes participates in a discussion in his Criminal Justice class. HERSEY and DESIDERIO sit nearby. Unlike earlier scenes, he’s sharing ideas with all the other students instead of trying to show off, and everyone is friendly and interested.
BART CAP:
I’m taking some college courses.
Panel 2. GRANTHAM stands on a curb, having just been splashed by mud on his tailored linen suit. A fading crackly trail shows who stomped in that puddle.
Panel 3. BART in regular clothes plays guitar in PRESTON’s apartment as HANNAH and PETER record him and the “Kid Flash Investigates!” footage plays on PRESTON’s screen.
BART CAP:
I’m helping to make a movie.
Panel 4. As GRANTHAM sits down at a restaurant table, the chair behind him is whisked away, again with a crackly trail.
BART CAP:
And every day…
Panel 5. GRANTHAM angrily looks over his shoulder to find a handwritten KICK ME sign taped to his back.
BART CAP:
…I try to do…
Panel 6. GRANTHAM walks through his neighborhood. He looks haggard, and is glancing around suspiciously. At ankle height, a cord is being drawn tight across his path with a faint crackly trail beside it.
BART CAP:
…something useful.
END
Rating: G.
Content: Humor.
Page Count: Eight pages of comics script.
Summary: The good news is that Bart has solved the murder mystery he’s been investigating. The bad news? The crime boss Big G.G. has set his dogs on his former protégé, amateur movie director Peter Karlson has ordered Gravitas to attack, and the building where Bart was hiding has collapsed around him.
Continuity: Starting from the DC Comics standard, this series of eight-page backup stories about Bart Allen started here. This is part of the second story of that series, starting here. Bart is living in Keystone City with Jay and Joan Garrick; Barry Allen and Max Mercury are back.
Disclaimer: Kid Flash and his family and friends are owned by DC Comics under copyright and trademark laws. This pastiche is offered freely as entertainment for fans.
PAGE ONE (five panels)
Panel 1. Title and credits space.
TITLE:
He Wandered Away a Dismantled Hero
CREDITS
Panel 1. PRESTON LINDSAY jumps out of his car, looking at the collapsed ruin of 3858 Lampert Street. DEBRA and GRANDMOTHER CHAMBERS are also shocked.
PRESTON:
Kid Flash was inside there!
Panel 2. CHAMBERS struggles back to his feet, pointing to NEGOSHIAN and confronting GRANTHAM.
CHAMBERS:
Is he working for you?
GRANTHAM:
No! Is he working for you?
Panel 3. NEGOSHIAN, a little shocked himself at what he did, tries to regain his persona, but also jerks his thumb back at PETER.
NEGOSHIAN:
Gravitas works for no one!
NEGOSHIAN:
And, uh, it was that kid’s idea.
Panel 4. HANNAH DINH glares at PETER, who reacts in disbelief. PETER’s UNCLE JIMMY stands nearby, also trying to figure out what’s going on.
PETER:
He was supposed to run out! Why didn’t he run out?
PETER:
That stupid speech gave him plenty of time to run out!
•
PAGE TWO (five panels)
Panel 1. BART as Kid Flash vibrates out of the rubble, looking behind him.
BART:
Whoa. Had to vibrate twice as fast as normal.
Panel 2. Moving at superspeed, BART rips some tubes off NEGOSHIAN’s costume.
BART:
Ooh! Big loud silver guy! With those graviton thingies!
Panel 3. BART dashes around and around the attack dogs. In the background, NEGOSHIAN lies dizzily on the ground.
Panel 4. BART grabs a handgun away from MANNY. In the background, the two dogs’ legs are wrapped up in their own leashes.
Panel 5. BART comes to a stop, grabbing GRANTHAM by the necktie.
BART:
Gotcha!
•
PAGE THREE (five panels)
Panel 1. Detective MARCUS TIMMINS roars up in his SUV, followed by a police patrol car.
SFX:
Weeooweeoowee--SCREECH
Panel 2. BART shouts to TIMMINS, who’s in plain clothes with his police badge around his neck.
BART:
Detective, arrest this man for the murder of Raemond Ferguson!
Panel 3. BART, still holding GRANTHAM, points to the heap of rubble that was 3858 Lampert Street.
BART:
All the evidence is right inside that…oh.
Panel 4. As TIMMINS looks on skeptically, BART continues his plea as GRANTHAM responds confidently.
BART:
Well, arrest him for kidnapping!
GRANTHAM:
The ladies came voluntarily.
BART:
Assault with a deadly dog!
GRANTHAM:
My babies never touched anyone.
Panel 5. BART lets go of GRANTHAM as he digs in his memory for some applicable charge.
BART:
Um…demolition without a license?
GRANTHAM:
Hey, talk to the silver guy.
•
PAGE FOUR (six panels)
Panel 1. GRANTHAM backs away, pointing at CHAMBERS.
GRANTHAM:
I got nothing to do with these freaks.
GRANTHAM:
Especially him.
Panel 2. PRESTON runs up beside CHAMBERS.
PRESTON:
So is it over?
CHAMBERS:
Yeah, man, it’s over. We can go home.
Panel 3. UNCLE JIMMY confronts PETER beside his equipment-filled car. PETER is feeling rather smug. In the background, the police officers are talking to NEGOSHIAN.
UNCLE JIMMY:
You set this up for Kid Flash to win?
PETER:
He got Big G.G. off your back, right? And it’ll look great in the movie. So I think it turned out to be a very good idea.
Panel 4. Only BART is still angry, yelling at TIMMINS as GRANTHAM, MANNY, and the dogs walk away.
BART:
But what about Raemond? And the cat?
BART:
G.G.’s getting away with murder! Where’s the justice in that?!
Panel 5. TIMMINS answers BART, who gets angrier.
TIMMINS:
Sorry, Kid Flash. We need evidence to make a charge stick any better than a Post-It Note.
Panel 6. Fuming, BART runs off at top speed, leaving the whole crowd in his wake.
BART:
Arrrgh!
•
PAGE FIVE (five panels)
Panel 1. MAX MERCURY in costume, JAY GARRICK as the Flash, WALLY WEST as the Flash, and IREY WEST as Impulse dash up to TIMMINS.
MAX:
We heard there was trouble with Kid Flash.
WALLY (small letters, under his breath):
Of course.
Panel 2. TIMMINS explains the situation to the heroes. In the background, PRESTON stares at IREY, who’s running around examining the scene curiously.
TIMMINS:
The kid got out of that heap without a scratch. But when I couldn’t arrest anyone, he took off like a rocket car.
PRESTON (to IREY):
You look…shorter.
Panel 3. IREY sticks out her tongue at PRESTON. WALLY rolls his eyes and prepares to run.
WALLY:
Aw, man! Kid Flash could be anywhere by now. Come on, Impulse--stay close!
Panel 4. As WALLY and IREY WEST’s paths trail off into the distance together, BARRY ALLEN as the Flash arrives.
BARRY:
Sorry I’m late!
MAX:
It’s good you’re here. Kid Flash needs to talk to you.
Panel 5. BARRY and JAY look puzzled, and MAX does his inscrutable Zen-master thing.
BARRY:
Me? But he doesn’t really know me. I’m a story he grew up with.
MAX:
Exactly. I suspect you’ll find him…
•
PAGE SIX (seven panels)
Panel 1. BARRY arrives inside the Flash Museum to find BART running on the cosmic treadmill.
MAX CAP (finishing MAX’s speech):
“…at the Flash Museum.”
BARRY:
Bart? Do you want to talk?
BART:
No. I want to run!
BART:
I’m going back to save Raemond Ferguson from ever being killed.
Panel 2. BARRY has run around to address BART’s face. BART, still running, rolls his eyes as he responds.
BARRY:
Bart, it’s dangerous to interfere--
BART (interrupting BARRY’s balloon):
To interfere with the timestream blah blah! To change history blah blah blah!
Panel 3. BARRY tries to reason with BART.
BARRY:
Just think of all the things you might undo.
Panel 4. BART’s thought balloons from the previous panel show the coolers marked ORGAN TRANSPLANT, himself saving CHAMBERS from the beating, DEBRA CHAMBERS with her kitten on her new porch.
Panel 5. BART has stopped running, and is slumped against the treadmill.
BART:
But a nice guy’s dead for no reason. And the criminal’s strutting around, enjoying life. That’s not justice!
BARRY:
Even heroes can’t make life just, Bart. All we can do is make it a little less unjust. We just have to keep trying. As long as we can, and a little more.
Panel 6. Close up of BART, downcast but accepting.
BART:
Okay, I get it.
Panel 7. Silhouette of BARRY and BART running out of the Flash Museum together.
BARRY:
We’ve both been dead, Bart. Was it that bad?
BART:
Actually, Grandpa, I don’t think I was paying attention.
•
PAGE SEVEN (four panels)
Panel 1. BART in regular clothes plays a videogame with JAI and IREY WEST. The cousins are all enjoying themselves.
BART CAP (expressing BART’s thoughts):
My name is Bart Allen.
BART CAP:
I live with a bunch of relatives in Keystone City.
Panel 2. GRANTHAM, brushing his teeth in the morning, foams at the mouth and realizes he’s using a tube marked SHAVING CREAM.
Panel 3. BART as Kid Flash races into a fight with the Teen Titans, particularly SUPERBOY and WONDER GIRL.
BART CAP:
Secretly I’m Kid Flash. I work with the Titans.
Panel 4. GRANTHAM comes out to his luxury SUV and discovers all the tires are flat.
•
PAGE EIGHT (six panels)
Panel 1. BART in ordinary clothes participates in a discussion in his Criminal Justice class. HERSEY and DESIDERIO sit nearby. Unlike earlier scenes, he’s sharing ideas with all the other students instead of trying to show off, and everyone is friendly and interested.
BART CAP:
I’m taking some college courses.
Panel 2. GRANTHAM stands on a curb, having just been splashed by mud on his tailored linen suit. A fading crackly trail shows who stomped in that puddle.
Panel 3. BART in regular clothes plays guitar in PRESTON’s apartment as HANNAH and PETER record him and the “Kid Flash Investigates!” footage plays on PRESTON’s screen.
BART CAP:
I’m helping to make a movie.
Panel 4. As GRANTHAM sits down at a restaurant table, the chair behind him is whisked away, again with a crackly trail.
BART CAP:
And every day…
Panel 5. GRANTHAM angrily looks over his shoulder to find a handwritten KICK ME sign taped to his back.
BART CAP:
…I try to do…
Panel 6. GRANTHAM walks through his neighborhood. He looks haggard, and is glancing around suspiciously. At ankle height, a cord is being drawn tight across his path with a faint crackly trail beside it.
BART CAP:
…something useful.
END