Home > LLL > DC's Original Impulse: Kent Shakespeare

Legion member Kent Shakespeare, aka "Impulse," appeared in DC Comics' Legion of Super-Heroes (volume four) comic series from October 1990 to September 1994. After the Legion timeline rebooted as a result of the Zero Hour mini-series, Kent no longer existed in continuity. In the meantime, another character, super-speedster Bart Allen, took the "Impulse" code-name. He has since reverted to the "Kid Flash" code-name. This page is not about Bart, but rather the original Impulse, Kent Shakespeare. For information on what may possibly be a new, post-Zero Hour version of the character, go here.

Original Art:

I now own four pieces of original art featuring Kent. View the pages.

Multimedia:

Kent Shakespeare action figure
This was made by a fan, but it's still cool to see Kent in another medium (on an external site).

Kent Shakespeare (166k JPG)
Sketched by Stuart Immonen (former LSH artist) at the 2000 San Diego Comic-Con.

Kent Shakespeare (154k JPG)
A commissioned sketch by Jeff Moy (former Legionnaires artist) at the 2000 San Diego Comic-Con.

When Kent joined the Legion (152k JPG)
A fictitious comic cover based on Adventure Comics #346 (original done by the late Curt Swan).

Framed! Kent is driven from Earth (70k JPG)
The "cover" of the issue featuring Kent’s last day as a Legionnaire, based on SLSH #222 (original done by Mike Grell).

Page-by-Page Appearances

Legion of Super-Heroes, volume four
#12: pp. 17-22, first named on page 19 (KG story, TMB script, KG/AG art)
#13: pp. 1-5, 8, 12 (KG story, TMB script, KG/AG art)
#15: pp. 11, 14, 15 (KG story, TMB script, BP/CG/AG art)
#16: pp. 1, 5, 15, 18 (KG story, TMB script, BP/CG/AG art)
#17: p. 5 (KG story, TMB script, BP/CG/AG art)
#20: pp. 9, 12, 16, 17 (KG story, TMB script, AG story assist, KG/AG art)
#21: p. 12 (AG story, KG/AG art)
#22: pp. 4, 5, 9 (AG story, KG/AG art)
#23: pp. 1, 2, 4-8, 10-12, 14-17 (AG story, KG/AG art)
#24: pp. 2, 7, 11, 12, 16 (AG story, KG/AG art)
#28: p. 12 (KG story, TMB script, JP/KS art)
#36: p. 16 (KG story, TMB script, JP/KS art)
#37: pp. 13, 24 (TMB story, JB/JD art)
Annual #3: pp. 2-5, 7,11 (first story: AG story, RH/IM/AG art) 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17 (second story:TMB story, BP/AG art)
#39: pp. 1, 23 (TMB story, SI/RB art)
#40: pp. 6, 7, 9, 13, 16 (TMB story, SI/RB art)
#42: p. 3 (TM story, SI/RB art)
#44: p. 15 (TMB story, SI/RB art)
#48: p. 10 (TMB story, SI/RB art)
#51: cover, pp. 4, 8-12, 15, 16, 21-23 (TM story, CT/WV art)
#52: pp. 8 (TM/SI/RB story, SI/RB art), 17 (CT/WV art)
#53: cover, pp. 7-9, 14-16, 23 (TM/SI/RB story, SI/RB art)
#54: pp. 2, 4-6 (TM/SI/RB story, SI/RB art)
#57: pp. 1-2 (TM/SI/RB story, CT/DC art)
#61: p. 11 (MW/TM/SI/RB story, SI/RB art)

Legion of Super-Heroes 2995 Sourcebook (Mayfair Games), pp. 61-62

Who’s Who (second series) #8 entry (TMB story, CS/AG art)

Postcard (KG/AG art)

Writer/Artist Key:

TMB: Tom and Mary Bierbaum
KG: Keith Giffen
AG: Al Gordon
BP: Brandon Peterson
CG: Carlos Garzon
TM: Tom McCraw
SI: Stuart Immonen
RB: Ron Boyd
MW: Mark Waid
JB: June Brigman
JD: John Dell III
JP: Jason Pearson
KS: Karl Story
CT: Christopher Taylor
WVG: Wade Von Grawbadger
RH: Rob Haynes
IM: Ian Montgomery
DC: Dave Cooper
CS: Chris Sprouse

DC’s Original Impulse

Richard Kent Shakespeare of Earth

Although he first appeared in the comics as "that ex-Legionnaire Kent Shakespeare," Kent has a backstory that has been told via the LSH 2995 Sourcebook, Who’s Who, and flashbacks. What follows is a piecing together of these stories:

Biography

Richard Kent Shakespeare was raised in the New Rochelle district of Metropolis on Earth by two supportive parents, Robert and Laura Shakespeare. His upbringing gave him a strong commitment to do the right thing. He was a shy and intelligent child, which made him a target of class bullies. That left Kent with a strong empathy for outcasts and misfits, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to defend the persecuted.

While attending medical school in early 2989, Kent was accidentally exposed to a mystery virus, but when no immediate negative effects could be detected, the virus was deemed harmless. Eventually, though, serious symptoms developed and Kent found himself gravely ill.

Doctors began to fear for his life. In desperation, they shipped him off to Colu for examination by brilliant former Legionnaire Brainiac 5. Brainy discovered that the virus had actually taken control of Kent’s body, gradually replacing and improving upon its components, and was now performing the necessary biological functions itself. The virus that had appeared to threaten Kent’s life was actually transforming him into a more efficient, more powerful biological entity.

Once the negative effects of the illness subsided, Kent found that he had grown about seven inches taller, added considerable mass, and gained dramatically enhanced strength and endurance. Brainy believed the most useful – and safest – place for Kent was with the Legion of Super-Heroes. And since that team was suffering mass defections during the worst years of the post-Collapse depression, Kent was welcomed there. Joining April 14, 2990, Kent became a reliable, respected member in the group’s darkest years. He also became an easy friend of Jo Nah’s (Ultra Boy); later they continued to be friends.

He assisted during the Black Dawn incident, which only fueled the hostile treatment from Earthgov (LSH #52). Finally, the determined, idealistic Kent crossed the government once too often. Science Police Earth decided to make an example of him and attempted to arrest Kent on trumped-up charges, forcing him to abandon the deteriorating Legion (LSH #28) and flee Earth in September 2991; soon afterward, the Legion totally disbanded.

Earthgov agents continued to hound Kent out into the galaxy, driving him to use the network of former Legionnaires living around the UP to avoid capture. He soon found himself on Braal with ex-Legionnaire Rokk Krinn (Cosmic Boy) when the Braal-Imsk war broke out. Military service seemed like as safe a haven from his pursuers as any, so when the Braalian draft board attempted to press Kent into service, he put up only token resistance. Kent was sent into combat with Rokk and was among the troops stationed at Venado Bay when the Imskians attacked with their devastating "Damper" weapon, though Kent wasn’t injured since the weapon affected only Braalians (LSH #20). When the war ended in November 2991, Imskian Occupational Army authorities allowed him to go avoid capture by Earthgov by settling in a pediatrics clinic on the medical planet Quarantine. He was put their partly to keep an eye on Garth and Imra Ranzz (Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl)’s son, Garridan, who’d been diagnosed by Querl Dox (Brainiac 5) as a carrier of the deadly Validus Plague. Kent developed special relationships to many children of the ward, including Garridan and a strange, unwanted little girl named Ivy.

He was still working there in late 2994 when the clinic was attacked by the Persuader (LSH #12-13). After the attack, he heard of several ex-Legionnaires banding together to resurrect the team, and he eagerly left Quarantine to join them. It was difficult to leave behind the children of whom he’d grown so fond, but Kent sensed the universe was facing a crisis period and felt the Legion could do a lot to set things back on course. This angered young Ivy, and she harbored a grudge against Kent for a long period.

Upon rejoining the Legion, Kent was immediately embroiled in the new United Planets-Khundia war (LSH #15-17). He used his medical skills as a medic, as well as his powers in some of the key battles. After this, he, Jo Nah (Ultra Boy) and Celeste McCauley traveled to Zuun to investigate the so-called "Quiet Darkness" of Darkseid.

He did not participate directly in the battle for Terran independence, but Kent spent most of his time on Talus. He was one of many speculating whether the SW6 Legionnaires were the real Legion, or if the older Legion were some kind of clones. When Earth died, he helped rescue the populace (LSH #39), and resettle the Terrans to New Earth (LSH #40). Soon after this he and Celeste were sent "on assignment" to Quarantine so Celeste’s new-found emerald powers could be studied. When Mordru’s spell re-animated the dead corpses of cadavers in Quarantine’s morgue, Kent helped protect Ivy and the other children (LSH #44, 48).

At one point, Grimbor the Chainsman traveled to Quarantine with the intent to retrieve his love, Charma Drisden, from the clinic. Kent, along with Celeste and other super-powered patients, stopped the villain (LSH #51). The next time Kent was seen he was returning to Talus to rejoin the team (LSH #52). He joined the team in its attack on Glorith on Baaldur (LSH #53), and was de-aged to about 10-12 years old by the sorceress. After that battle, the Legion was framed, and went on the run from the law (LSH #54-60). Kent was sent to Quarantine so that doctors could study his condition. He was last seen playing cards with Ivy in Quarantine when he winked out of existence at the end of the 30th century in Zero Hour (LSH #61).

Notes

The virus that radically transformed Kent Shakespeare’s body apparently gave him limited invulnerability, super-speed, and super-strength. He also possessed far greater physical stamina than the average human, but, according to Who’s Who, he was susceptible to mental fatigue and therefore required sleep. He also seemed to have a higher metabolism that allowed him to heal much faster. No evidence was shown of this requiring Kent to eat more than other humanoids (ala the Wally West Flash).

These powers, the name "Kent," and the glasses seemed to scream "Clark Kent! Superboy!" to some fans, and perhaps this supposed likeness to Superboy (who no longer existed due to various temporal adjustments) led to Kent’s virtual disappearance from the comic book soon after his appearance. But despite these similarities and an optimism and playfulness that seemed out of place with the grim and gritty older Legion, Kent was really his own character.

Kent got the most action in issues written or co-plotted by Al Gordon, the inker-writer who created him (as revealed in an early lettercol). In this bio’s author’s opinion, Kent’s best lines were during "The Quiet Darkness," where another Gordon creation, Celeste McCauley had a similar spotlight. He then made only one appearance until the destruction of Earth—and after that he and Celeste were off-camera ("on assignment" at Quarantine) and only made cameos until rejoining the team, only to be quickly de-aged and put off-camera.

Why is Kent worth more than a footnote? In this author’s opinion, he represented a classic hero in a modern comic—a fun, sometimes serious, young man with a lot of idealism ... with an "accident" origin worthy of Silver Age Legion stories. Despite the oft-depressing stories of LSH vol. 4, he never seemed to exhibit much angst. Perhaps not fitting in coupled with internal D.C. politics did him in. Not a player in the final "End of an Era," Kent’s codename has since been taken by Bart Allen, grandson of the second Flash, Barry Allen. Still, the entry for Kent Shakespeare in comics history will forever be followed by the words, "the original Impulse."

About the Author

Kent fan Steve Mohundro played Kent Shakespeare on LegionMUSH back in the early '90s, and he used the few Kent appearances in the comics and other sources to shape the way he roleplayed the character. It now appears that Kent has finally made a (currently brief) appearance in the post-Zero Hour continuity. And even though Bart Allen bore the Impulse codename for many years, the author has always been a fan of the character, and bears no grudge whatsoever.

Disclaimer

Legion of Super-Heroes characters and concepts Copyright © DC Comics Inc. "Kent Shakespeare" character a creation of, and possibly the property of (but ask him yourself) Al Gordon. Images in biography by Keith Giffen and Al Gordon, all others by Steve Mohundro except when noted.