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Inertia (DC Comics)
Encyclopedia
Inertia or Kid Zoom is a fictional character
, a supervillain in the DC Comics
universe
.
wrote that he could only accept five percent of the credit. The rest was offered to Mike Wieringo
(twenty percent), Grant Morrison
(twenty-five percent), and Todd Dezago
(fifty percent). He also states that Inertia's appearance is just Impulse
's inverted, like a Reverse-Flash
. This fits the character's original role as a "Reverse-Impulse" created to antagonize
the title character.
.
becoming The Flash. Inertia appeared in The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #5: “Lightning in a Bottle, Part 5” (December 2006) by Danny Bilson
and Paul DeMeo. The formula was largely the same. Inertia acted as an antagonist to the title character, Bart Allen, who had changed greatly since his days as Impulse.
In addition to his Flash appearances, Inertia made repeated appearances in Teen Titans (vol. 3). A team-based series, Teen Titans featured Inertia as part of an enemy team, Titans East
. The story arc
began in Teen Titans (vol. 3) #43 (January 2007) written by Geoff Johns
, with art by Tony Daniel
and Jonathan Glapion. The arc concluded with Teen Titans (vol. 3) #46 (April 2007) written by Geoff Johns and Adam Beechen
.
of Bart Allen
, and was created in the 30th century by Bart's maternal grandfather President Thawne and also named after him. Thawne, being the descendant of the Flash's enemy Professor Zoom
, got tired of his grandson's crime fighting activities in the 20th century and decided to create a clone of Bart using more Thawne DNA so that he would be more ruthless. In addition to this modification, Thaddeus' growth and development was slowed. This is in contrast to Bart's accelerated development (becoming physically 15 at chronological age 2). This was done to give Thad more training and knowledge than Bart ever would. His mission as the "Reverse-Impulse" was to go back in time
and replace Bart, but he was easily defeated.
In his second attempt, upon realizing Impulse was prepared to sacrifice himself to save Max Mercury
, he fled, apparently horrified by the contrast between Bart's adopted family and his own grandfather's treatment of him as a weapon.
event, Inertia worked with Manfred Mota
. Inertia stated that his agenda involved stealing the speed of all other speedster
s in order to become the next "Fastest Man Alive". His first targets include his old rival Bart Allen, who was now the latest Flash and the original Flash, Jay Garrick
. After betraying Mota, Inertia used Mota's daughter, Valerie Perez
, as bait in a trap he set for Bart. Despite being targeted by a photon cannon specifically designed to target the Speed Force- which had recently become 'embodied' in Bart-, Bart successfully rescued Valerie before destroying the cannon, racing around the world before returning to the original cannon and moving out of the way of the beam at the last millisecond so that the cannon's blast destroyed itself. After this defeat, Inertia began to gather the Rogues
for his next attack.
Inertia was also working with Deathstroke
. Due to Bart's encapsulation of the Speed Force
, Inertia has been forced to inject himself with Velocity 9, a notoriously unstable substance invented by The Rival which allows the user to move at superhuman speeds. However, Inertia's Velocity 9 has been specially made by Deathstroke, but had shown no ill effects.
After being defeated in The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #8, he returned in #10 when he confronted the captive Heat Wave
. He recruited Heat Wave into his newest mysterious plan, telling him that he was talking about something that would "change the world". Getting rid of the Flash would "just be a bonus."
At this time, he was also a member of the new Titans East
team in exchange for Deathstroke's help. He began the attack on the Teen Titans with Titans East teammate Match
. Disguising himself as Impulse and Kid Flash, he defeats Robin and Raven
, then toys with Wonder Girl in Robin's secret facility. Ultimately, he lets Match knock Wonder Girl unconscious. During the assault, Inertia mentioned that he was going to call himself Kid Zoom
after Bart renamed himself from Impulse to Kid Flash, but decided to stick with the name Inertia.
In Teen Titans (vol. 3) #44, he is shown to be romantically involved with his Titans East teammate Sun Girl
. In the same issue Sun Girl claims to be Inertia's partner in the future, where they both own an imprisoned Miss Martian
as their slave: despite her claims, their future was irrevocably changed later. At the conclusion of the conflict with the Titans East, Inertia and Deathstroke were the only two who escaped, the rest of the team being either defeated or defecting to the heroes' side.
Once the plan was put into action, the Rogues attracted the attention of The Flash, but it was soon revealed that this was Inertia's intention all along. The machine they were building did not stop time. Its function was to drain the Speed Force from the Flash (Bart Allen
) and transfer it to Inertia, so he could regain natural speed powers and no longer be dependent on Velocity 9.
Though Bart did lose his speed, the Pied Piper
and Abra Kadabra
caught on to Inertia's betrayal and subdued him before subduing the Flash. Inertia broke away in an attempt to reach the machine and prevent Bart's girlfriend from releasing the Speed Force, only to be tackled and beaten by a raging Flash, outraged at what his 'clone' had done. Fearing his being repowered, however, the other Rogues killed Bart.
Immediately after killing Bart, the Rogues turned their wrath on Inertia, blaming him for the entire fiasco. Inertia ran, but the arrival of the police forced the Rogues to flee before they could give chase, allowing Inertia to escape.
However, at the same time Bart was fighting the Rogues, Wally West
, the previous Flash, returned to this plane of existence. Upon hearing of Bart's death, Flash hunted Inertia down, enraged at Inertia's pleasure over Bart's death and the implication that Bart had died because Wally's return prevented him from accessing the Speed Force. Though he considered killing him, Inertia's connection to Bart proved the only thing that prevented Wally from smearing him over a mountain while running at full speed. Instead, he decided to "do something worse." He used his abilities to slow Inertia's movement down to the point where he was totally immobile, essentially a living statue, and subsequently placed Inertia on display at the Flash Museum, facing statues of Bart Allen as Impulse and Kid Flash. Though he could still think, see and hear in normal time, Inertia was doomed to spend eternity in a state of near-total paralysis, staring at Bart's images (ironically enough, a variant of the fate that befell Zoom
after attacking Linda
for the first time). Wally describes it as being "forced to stare, with eyes that take a hundred years to blink... at the ghost of the man he could never be."
, as he is about to be transferred from the Flash Museum to Iron Heights, Inertia is struck by a red lightning bolt, which frees him from paralysis. Hearing of the escape on the news, the Rogues decide to hunt him down as payback for being manipulated. After killing his guards, Inertia is about to attack Wally West's children, when he is stopped by the very person who freed him: Hunter Zolomon, aka Zoom, who wants Inertia to become a new Kid Flash.
He battles the Rogues alongside Zoom, even going so far as to rename himself Kid Zoom. When Libra
appears with Weather Wizard
's infant son as a bargaining chip, Thawne kills the child and attacks Libra, only to be stopped by Zoom. He quickly turns on his mentor, reverting Zoom back to the wheelchair-using Hunter Zolomon. He attempts to defeat the Rogues singlehandedly, but is frozen in place by Pied Piper, then killed from a combination attack from the other Rogues echoing the way Bart Allen was murdered. His body is teleported to the Keystone City
police with a note that reads "Tell the Flash we're even. - The Rogues".
's Legion of Doom. The Legion's Inertia is discovered to be an impostor by Red Robin
, who points out that the new Inertia is too tall to be Thaddeus Thawne.
. He has not demonstrated any other speed related powers, including Bart's resilience to alterations in the time stream. For some time following Infinite Crisis
, Inertia remained no longer connected to the Speed Force
. Instead, he has begun injecting himself with Velocity 9, a substance that helps him maintain his superhuman speed. Velocity 9 has been notoriously unstable in the past, but Deathstroke
's new variant seems to offer no negative side effects
. For a brief period before his death, he shares his powers with Zoom
, who lends him his speed to pressure him into being a new Kid Flash
. His attempt failed, Inertia turns into a maddened Kid Zoom, with absolute mastery over the individual timestream of a human being, able to revert Zoom to the powerless Hunter Zolomon and kill with a simple snap of his fingers before being killed by the assembled forces of the Rogues.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
, a supervillain in the DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
universe
DC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
.
Creation
When questioned as to who created Inertia, Ethan van SciverEthan Van Sciver
Ethan Daniel Van Sciver is an American comic book artist, best known for illustrating a number of titles including Green Lantern, Superman/Batman, New X-Men, and The Flash: Rebirth...
wrote that he could only accept five percent of the credit. The rest was offered to Mike Wieringo
Mike Wieringo
Michael Lance "Mike" Wieringo , who sometimes signed his work under the name Ringo, was an American comic book artist best known for his work on DC Comics' The Flash and Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four....
(twenty percent), Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...
(twenty-five percent), and Todd Dezago
Todd DeZago
Todd Dezago is an American comic book writer. He is best known for his collaborations with penciller Mike Wieringo on The Sensational Spider-Man and their creator-owned fantasy series Tellos, which premiered in 1999, as well as for co-creating Young Justice with artist Todd Nauck in the 1998...
(fifty percent). He also states that Inertia's appearance is just Impulse
Bart Allen
Bartholomew "Bart" Allen is a superhero in the . Allen first appeared as the superhero Impulse. He would later go on to become the second Kid Flash and the fourth Flash. Allen's first cameo appearance was in The Flash #91, while his first full appearance was in issue #92...
's inverted, like a Reverse-Flash
Reverse-Flash
Reverse-Flash is a title that has been taken by three supervillains in DC Comics. All of them have super-speed and are enemies of the Flash dynasty.-Golden Age:...
. This fits the character's original role as a "Reverse-Impulse" created to antagonize
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
the title character.
Initial appearances
Inertia's initial appearance came in Impulse #50: "First Fool's" (July 1999), followed by #51: "It's All Relative" (August 1999), with Dezago observing. Then, Dezago wrote for Impulse #52: "Tumbling Down" (September 1999). The most character development came in #53: "Threats" (October 1999), with Dezago also writing. Inertia wasn't featured again until Impulse #62 and #66: "Mercury Falling" (July, November 2000), by Dezago. After this, Inertia would not be notably featured again for half a decadeDecade
A decade is a period of 10 years. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek dekas which means ten. This etymology is sometime confused with the Latin decas and dies , which is not correct....
.
Revival
About five years after his debut, Inertia began making regular appearances in the DC Universe again, mostly due to his twin Bart AllenBart Allen
Bartholomew "Bart" Allen is a superhero in the . Allen first appeared as the superhero Impulse. He would later go on to become the second Kid Flash and the fourth Flash. Allen's first cameo appearance was in The Flash #91, while his first full appearance was in issue #92...
becoming The Flash. Inertia appeared in The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #5: “Lightning in a Bottle, Part 5” (December 2006) by Danny Bilson
Danny Bilson
Daniel "Danny" Bilson is an American writer, director, and producer of movies, television, videogames, and comic books. With his writing partner Paul DeMeo, Danny Bilson wrote the movie The Rocketeer , the video game James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing , the television series The Sentinel ,...
and Paul DeMeo. The formula was largely the same. Inertia acted as an antagonist to the title character, Bart Allen, who had changed greatly since his days as Impulse.
In addition to his Flash appearances, Inertia made repeated appearances in Teen Titans (vol. 3). A team-based series, Teen Titans featured Inertia as part of an enemy team, Titans East
Titans East
Titans East is the name of several DC Comics teams. The teams appear in the Teen Titans comic books and animated series. The comic book incarnation of Titans East first appeared in the "Titans Tomorrow" storyline, which is set in the future. The first modern incarnation appeared in Teen Titans vol....
. The story arc
Story arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...
began in Teen Titans (vol. 3) #43 (January 2007) written by Geoff Johns
Geoff Johns
Geoff Johns is an American comic book writer, best known for his work for DC Comics, where he has been Chief Creative Officer since February 2010, in particular for characters such as Green Lantern, The Flash and Superman...
, with art by Tony Daniel
Tony Daniel
Antonio Salvador Daniel AKA Tony S. Daniel is an American comic book writer and artist, known for his work on various books for DC Comics, including Teen Titans, Flash: The Fastest Man Alive and Batman.-Career:...
and Jonathan Glapion. The arc concluded with Teen Titans (vol. 3) #46 (April 2007) written by Geoff Johns and Adam Beechen
Adam Beechen
Adam Beechen is an American comic book writer who wrote Countdown to Adventure and co-wrote Countdown for DC Comics.-Animation:Beechen has written scripts for various cartoon, such as Teen Titans, The Wild Thornberrys, Rugrats, Pink Panther and Pals, The Batman and the Ben 10 franchise...
.
Beginnings
Thaddeus Thawne is a cloneCloning
Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...
of Bart Allen
Bart Allen
Bartholomew "Bart" Allen is a superhero in the . Allen first appeared as the superhero Impulse. He would later go on to become the second Kid Flash and the fourth Flash. Allen's first cameo appearance was in The Flash #91, while his first full appearance was in issue #92...
, and was created in the 30th century by Bart's maternal grandfather President Thawne and also named after him. Thawne, being the descendant of the Flash's enemy Professor Zoom
Professor Zoom
Eobard Thawne, who has gone by the codenames "Professor Zoom" and "Reverse-Flash", is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain in the DC Universe. Thawne is the Arch enemy of the superhero Barry Allen, the second hero to be called the Flash...
, got tired of his grandson's crime fighting activities in the 20th century and decided to create a clone of Bart using more Thawne DNA so that he would be more ruthless. In addition to this modification, Thaddeus' growth and development was slowed. This is in contrast to Bart's accelerated development (becoming physically 15 at chronological age 2). This was done to give Thad more training and knowledge than Bart ever would. His mission as the "Reverse-Impulse" was to go back in time
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
and replace Bart, but he was easily defeated.
In his second attempt, upon realizing Impulse was prepared to sacrifice himself to save Max Mercury
Max Mercury
Max Mercury is a fictional character, a DC Comics superhero based on Quality Comics' Quicksilver.- Publication history :He first appeared in Quality's National Comics #5, cover dated November 1940, as Quicksilver...
, he fled, apparently horrified by the contrast between Bart's adopted family and his own grandfather's treatment of him as a weapon.
Return
Appearing again after the One Year LaterOne Year Later
"One Year Later" was a 2006 storyline event running through the DC Universe. As the title suggests, it involves a narrative jump exactly one year into the future of the DC Comics Universe following the events of the Infinite Crisis event, to explore major changes within the continuities of the many...
event, Inertia worked with Manfred Mota
Manfred Mota
Manfred Mota is a fictional DC Comics villain and adversary of The Flash.-Fictional character biography:Manfred Mota is a nuclear engineer, and the father of Valerie Perez...
. Inertia stated that his agenda involved stealing the speed of all other speedster
Speedster (comics)
A speedster is a fictional character in superhero fiction, particularly comic books, whose primary power is the superhuman ability to perform physical and/or mental acts at impossibly high speeds. The most recognizable such superhero is the Flash...
s in order to become the next "Fastest Man Alive". His first targets include his old rival Bart Allen, who was now the latest Flash and the original Flash, Jay Garrick
Jay Garrick
Jay Garrick is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the DC Comics universe and the first to use the name Flash.-The Flash:...
. After betraying Mota, Inertia used Mota's daughter, Valerie Perez
Valerie Perez
Valerie Perez is a fictional character, a DC Comics supporting character and love interest for Bart Allen when Bart was the Flash.-Fictional character biography:...
, as bait in a trap he set for Bart. Despite being targeted by a photon cannon specifically designed to target the Speed Force- which had recently become 'embodied' in Bart-, Bart successfully rescued Valerie before destroying the cannon, racing around the world before returning to the original cannon and moving out of the way of the beam at the last millisecond so that the cannon's blast destroyed itself. After this defeat, Inertia began to gather the Rogues
Rogues (comics)
Some of the enemies of the comic book superhero the Flash, led by Captain Cold, constitute a loose criminal association who refer to themselves as the Rogues, disdaining the use of the term "supervillain" or "super-criminal"....
for his next attack.
Inertia was also working with Deathstroke
Deathstroke
Deathstroke the Terminator , originally simply the Terminator, and known by the Teen Titans as Slade, is a fictional character, a supervillain and sometimes antihero in the DC Comics Universe. He is a mercenary and assassin who first appeared in The New Teen Titans #2...
. Due to Bart's encapsulation of the Speed Force
Speed Force
The Speed Force is a concept presented in various comic books published by DC Comics, primarily in relation to the various speedsters in the DC Universe.-Empowered:...
, Inertia has been forced to inject himself with Velocity 9, a notoriously unstable substance invented by The Rival which allows the user to move at superhuman speeds. However, Inertia's Velocity 9 has been specially made by Deathstroke, but had shown no ill effects.
After being defeated in The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #8, he returned in #10 when he confronted the captive Heat Wave
Heat Wave (comics)
Heat Wave is a fictional villain in the DC Universe and a primary foe of the Flash.-Fictional character biography:Born on a farm outside Central City, Mick Rory became fascinated with fire, as a child. This fascination turned into an obsession and one night, he set his family's home ablaze...
. He recruited Heat Wave into his newest mysterious plan, telling him that he was talking about something that would "change the world". Getting rid of the Flash would "just be a bonus."
At this time, he was also a member of the new Titans East
Titans East
Titans East is the name of several DC Comics teams. The teams appear in the Teen Titans comic books and animated series. The comic book incarnation of Titans East first appeared in the "Titans Tomorrow" storyline, which is set in the future. The first modern incarnation appeared in Teen Titans vol....
team in exchange for Deathstroke's help. He began the attack on the Teen Titans with Titans East teammate Match
Match (DC Comics)
Match is a fictional character in the DC Comics Universe. He is a clone of Superboy. Match appeared in the Superboy title, issues of Young Justice and the Sins of Youth and Joker's Last Laugh crossover events...
. Disguising himself as Impulse and Kid Flash, he defeats Robin and Raven
Raven (comics)
Raven is a fictional superheroine who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in a special insert in DC Comics Presents #26 , and was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez...
, then toys with Wonder Girl in Robin's secret facility. Ultimately, he lets Match knock Wonder Girl unconscious. During the assault, Inertia mentioned that he was going to call himself Kid Zoom
Zoom (comics)
Zoom is a fictional comic book supervillain from the DC Comics universe. He is primarily associated with the superhero Wally West, the third Flash and is the third of the Reverse-Flashes...
after Bart renamed himself from Impulse to Kid Flash, but decided to stick with the name Inertia.
In Teen Titans (vol. 3) #44, he is shown to be romantically involved with his Titans East teammate Sun Girl
Sun Girl (DC comics)
Sun Girl is a fictional character, a supervillain published by DC Comics. She debuted in Teen Titans v3 #42 , and was created by Geoff Johns and Tony Daniel.-Fictional character biography:...
. In the same issue Sun Girl claims to be Inertia's partner in the future, where they both own an imprisoned Miss Martian
Miss Martian
Miss Martian is a superhero in the . Miss Martian was created by Geoff Johns and Tony Daniel and first appeared in Teen Titans #37 . Miss Martian is named "Megan Morse" after Marvel Comics associate editor Ben Morse's wife, Megan...
as their slave: despite her claims, their future was irrevocably changed later. At the conclusion of the conflict with the Titans East, Inertia and Deathstroke were the only two who escaped, the rest of the team being either defeated or defecting to the heroes' side.
Full Throttle
With Bart Allen as the new Flash, Inertia decided it was time to declare war on his old nemesis. He organized Flash's Rogues together in a grand scheme. He claimed that their goal was to build a machine that could stop time, essentially giving them the freedom to commit crimes without anyone being able to stop them. This operation was apparently in the planning stages for some time, and some of the Rogues' planning sessions were depicted in issues of the weekly series Countdown.Once the plan was put into action, the Rogues attracted the attention of The Flash, but it was soon revealed that this was Inertia's intention all along. The machine they were building did not stop time. Its function was to drain the Speed Force from the Flash (Bart Allen
Bart Allen
Bartholomew "Bart" Allen is a superhero in the . Allen first appeared as the superhero Impulse. He would later go on to become the second Kid Flash and the fourth Flash. Allen's first cameo appearance was in The Flash #91, while his first full appearance was in issue #92...
) and transfer it to Inertia, so he could regain natural speed powers and no longer be dependent on Velocity 9.
Though Bart did lose his speed, the Pied Piper
Pied Piper (comics)
Pied Piper is a fictional character in the DC Universe. He first appeared in the pages of The Flash #106 .-Fictional character biography:...
and Abra Kadabra
Abra Kadabra (comics)
Abra Kadabra is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain in the DC Comics universe and an enemy of the Flash. He first appeared in Flash #128 and was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino.-Fictional character biography:...
caught on to Inertia's betrayal and subdued him before subduing the Flash. Inertia broke away in an attempt to reach the machine and prevent Bart's girlfriend from releasing the Speed Force, only to be tackled and beaten by a raging Flash, outraged at what his 'clone' had done. Fearing his being repowered, however, the other Rogues killed Bart.
Aftermath
However, at the same time Bart was fighting the Rogues, Wally West
Wally West
The Flash is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. He is the first Kid Flash and the third Flash....
, the previous Flash, returned to this plane of existence. Upon hearing of Bart's death, Flash hunted Inertia down, enraged at Inertia's pleasure over Bart's death and the implication that Bart had died because Wally's return prevented him from accessing the Speed Force. Though he considered killing him, Inertia's connection to Bart proved the only thing that prevented Wally from smearing him over a mountain while running at full speed. Instead, he decided to "do something worse." He used his abilities to slow Inertia's movement down to the point where he was totally immobile, essentially a living statue, and subsequently placed Inertia on display at the Flash Museum, facing statues of Bart Allen as Impulse and Kid Flash. Though he could still think, see and hear in normal time, Inertia was doomed to spend eternity in a state of near-total paralysis, staring at Bart's images (ironically enough, a variant of the fate that befell Zoom
Zoom (comics)
Zoom is a fictional comic book supervillain from the DC Comics universe. He is primarily associated with the superhero Wally West, the third Flash and is the third of the Reverse-Flashes...
after attacking Linda
Linda Park (comics)
Linda Park is a fictional character in the DC Universe. She first appeared in Flash #28. Linda is Korean-American...
for the first time). Wally describes it as being "forced to stare, with eyes that take a hundred years to blink... at the ghost of the man he could never be."
Kid Zoom
In Final Crisis: Rogues' RevengeFinal Crisis: Rogues' Revenge
Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge is a three-issue 2008 mini-series produced by DC Comics. The series is a tie-in to Final Crisis, and is written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Scott Kolins. This reunites the creative team for the first time since their critically acclaimed run on The Flash Final...
, as he is about to be transferred from the Flash Museum to Iron Heights, Inertia is struck by a red lightning bolt, which frees him from paralysis. Hearing of the escape on the news, the Rogues decide to hunt him down as payback for being manipulated. After killing his guards, Inertia is about to attack Wally West's children, when he is stopped by the very person who freed him: Hunter Zolomon, aka Zoom, who wants Inertia to become a new Kid Flash.
He battles the Rogues alongside Zoom, even going so far as to rename himself Kid Zoom. When Libra
Libra (DC Comics)
Libra is a fictional character, a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Justice League of America #111, published in June 1974, where he formed the first incarnation of the Injustice Gang...
appears with Weather Wizard
Weather Wizard
Weather Wizard is a fictional DC Comics supervillain. The Weather Wizard first appeared in Flash #110 .- Early life :...
's infant son as a bargaining chip, Thawne kills the child and attacks Libra, only to be stopped by Zoom. He quickly turns on his mentor, reverting Zoom back to the wheelchair-using Hunter Zolomon. He attempts to defeat the Rogues singlehandedly, but is frozen in place by Pied Piper, then killed from a combination attack from the other Rogues echoing the way Bart Allen was murdered. His body is teleported to the Keystone City
Keystone City
Keystone City is a fictional city in the . Specifically, it is the home of both the original Flash, Jay Garrick, and the third Flash, Wally West...
police with a note that reads "Tell the Flash we're even. - The Rogues".
Imposter Inertia
Inertia seemingly resurfaces sometime after Bart Allen's resurrection, now as a member of Superboy-PrimeSuperboy-Prime
Superboy-Prime, also known as Superman-Prime, or simply Prime, is a DC Comics superhero turned supervillain, and one of several alternate Supermen. The character first appeared in DC Comics Presents #87 , and was created by Elliot S...
's Legion of Doom. The Legion's Inertia is discovered to be an impostor by Red Robin
Tim Drake
Timothy "Tim" Drake is a superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics and in related media. The character was created by Marv Wolfman and Pat Broderick. From 1989 to 2009, he was known as Robin in the Batman comics, becoming the third character to take up the identity...
, who points out that the new Inertia is too tall to be Thaddeus Thawne.
Powers and abilities
A partial clone of Bart Allen, Inertia is primarily a speedsterSpeedster (comics)
A speedster is a fictional character in superhero fiction, particularly comic books, whose primary power is the superhuman ability to perform physical and/or mental acts at impossibly high speeds. The most recognizable such superhero is the Flash...
. He has not demonstrated any other speed related powers, including Bart's resilience to alterations in the time stream. For some time following Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis is a 2005 - 2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, and a number of tie-in books...
, Inertia remained no longer connected to the Speed Force
Speed Force
The Speed Force is a concept presented in various comic books published by DC Comics, primarily in relation to the various speedsters in the DC Universe.-Empowered:...
. Instead, he has begun injecting himself with Velocity 9, a substance that helps him maintain his superhuman speed. Velocity 9 has been notoriously unstable in the past, but Deathstroke
Deathstroke
Deathstroke the Terminator , originally simply the Terminator, and known by the Teen Titans as Slade, is a fictional character, a supervillain and sometimes antihero in the DC Comics Universe. He is a mercenary and assassin who first appeared in The New Teen Titans #2...
's new variant seems to offer no negative side effects
Adverse effect
In medicine, an adverse effect is a harmful and undesired effect resulting from a medication or other intervention such as surgery.An adverse effect may be termed a "side effect", when judged to be secondary to a main or therapeutic effect. If it results from an unsuitable or incorrect dosage or...
. For a brief period before his death, he shares his powers with Zoom
Zoom (comics)
Zoom is a fictional comic book supervillain from the DC Comics universe. He is primarily associated with the superhero Wally West, the third Flash and is the third of the Reverse-Flashes...
, who lends him his speed to pressure him into being a new Kid Flash
Kid Flash
Kid Flash is the name of several fictional characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, originally created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, as a junior counterpart to DC Comics superhero The Flash. The first incarnation of the character, Wally West, debuted in The Flash #110...
. His attempt failed, Inertia turns into a maddened Kid Zoom, with absolute mastery over the individual timestream of a human being, able to revert Zoom to the powerless Hunter Zolomon and kill with a simple snap of his fingers before being killed by the assembled forces of the Rogues.
External links
- Profile from "The Flash: Those Who Ride The Lightning website
- Crimson Lightning - An online index to the comic book adventures of the Flash.