​ "Young Justice" - Episodes S0301 - S03E06 Review

And... it's back. Young Justice, the show that seemingly wrapped up on Cartoon Network in 2013, is back on the new DC Universe Channel with all-new episodes. A fan outcry brought the series back after Cartoon Network abruptly shut down the show, supposedly because they were getting out of the superhero business that had done well by them for over a decade. But the Young Justice toys weren't selling for Mattel, which had a partnership with Cartoon Network. So Cartoon Network ended the show.

To bring everyone up to speed: Young Justice is set in its own "universe", separate from the various other Cartoon Network animated DC shows. The Justice League exists, and has members such as Rocket and Hardware, who started off as part of DC's Milestone Comics or what they call the Dakotaverse because it's set in South Dakota. The Dakotaverse features heroes created by the late Dwayne McDuffie such as Static, although Young Justice isn't tied into the Static Shock animated series yet.

Confused yet? Hang on. In Young Justice, Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash try to prove themselves to their mentors in the Justice League by going off on their own mission. They end up rescuing Superboy, and later Miss Martian and Artemis join the group as well. Batman ends up forming them into Young Justice with training and supervision by Black Canary and Red Tornado.

That's just season 1. Season 2 takes place five years later in continuity, and the ranks of Young Justice has expanded. There's a whole thing going on with an alien force known as the Light, which has the Reach working for them. Several League members are put on trial for supposedly attacking a peaceful planet.

That brings us to the new third season, which takes place two years later in continuity and is subtitled "Outsiders". Meta-human trafficking is on the rise and the Bedlam organization is abducting children with the "metagene", triggering it, controlling them with implants, and selling them off-planet to aliens. Meanwhile, after the various shenanigans above, the League is increasingly limited by the UN, which now has Lex Luthor as the Secretary General. Disgusted with the bureaucracy getting in the way of the League's mission, Batman leaves and takes about half of the League with him.

But enough about the League. Meanwhile, Nightwing (Dick Grayson), Superboy (Conner Kent), Tigress (Artemis Crock), and Miss Martian (Megan Morse) are still leading Young Justice (YJ). One League member, Black Lightning (Jefferson Piece) resigned after seemingly killing a metahuman. Aqualad (Kaldur'ahm) was a Young Justice member, but somewhere in the two years, stepped up and took on the role of Aquaman and now leads the League.

Dick checks out the aforementioned Bedlam organization. He and his buddies end up rescuing Prince Brion Markov of Markovia and a Quraci woman named Gabrielle. Or Violet. Or "Halo". In the first six episodes she is listed by a different name each time in the credits. Near the end they also pick up Forager, a "Bug" from the alien world of New Genesis.

If some of this sounds familiar, it's because the grouping is more or less the same as the Outsiders, a comic book team that was first created in 1983. Batman resigned from the League because the UN forbid them from entering Markovia, and then traveled to Markovia where his friend Lucius was being held captive. He recruited Brion and Jefferson, picked up Halo, and snagged a few other members like Metamorpho and Katana along the way. Those are the basics, although they've had their ups and downs and membership changes over the years. Forager wasn't a member, Katana is a member of the Justice League who leaves with Batman, and we haven't seen Metamorpho yet. Although some version of him has shown up in promo material along with Katana, so we'll get presumably get them in the last seven episodes.

That brings us to season 3. Which is airing three episodes once a week, on Fridays when Titans used to drop. Except for the last week when they air four episodes, to bring the total up to 13. "Princes All" basically sets all of this up. We see the current Young Justice, and Batman and his group leave the League. It's the last time we'll see most of the League in the first six episodes, including previous high-profile members like the aforementioned Batman, Black Canary, and Red Tornado. We find out the League has been involved more with space missions given the UN interference on Earth.

We also get introduced to the meta-traffickers and Markovia, and find out Dick is gathering a team of covert operatives into Markovia to take down the traffickers. Said team consisting of himself, Conner, Jeff, and Artemis, although Jeff's powers are on the fritz, presumably psychomatically since he killed the girl metahuman at the beginning of this episode.

"Royal We" has the team breaking into a Markovian children's hospital that is being used to conduct meta-human activation experiments. Leading it, is Dr. Simon Ecks, who is an example of one of my favorite things about Young Justice and co-creator Greg Weisman; they aren't afraid to toss in obscure characters and references. Ecks is the villainous Dr. Double X, and was created during the early Silver Age as one of a number of mildly goofy Batman villains back when the Caped Crusader was wearing jetpacks and traveling to distant planets to fight aliens. Yes, that Batman which these days lurks in the shadows and is an urban myth. While X was never as bad as, say, Crazy Quilt, the comics eventually gas-lit him as a washed-up, forgotten villain. Here, it helps that they lost the goofy costume (see left) and expanded Ecks' powers so he can create multiple energy clones instead of just one.

Ecks is heading the research for the Bedlam organization that is doing the meta-trafficking. Helping him, sorta, is Dr. Helga Jace. There's also palace intrigue ahoy as Princes Brion and Gregor Markov are preparing for Gregor's coronation after the assassination of their parents at the hands of yet another obscure villain, a Quraci meta-human named Jaculi created by John Ostrander for his Suicide Squad era. Jaculi is let into the royal palace by a Quraci servant girl who we'll see more of later. The assassination thing is another reason YJ works: we get a fairly long shot of the bloody corpses of the King and Queen. Not exactly Teen Titans Go! The show is more... adult than its current animated counterparts.

Since Gregor isn't quite old enough to become the full king, his uncle, Frederick DeLamb, (play "Anagrams" with the last name) will be the regent until Gregor comes of age. Oh, and Quarc is a Middle Eastern country, which is a typically anti-American nation that is typically considered villainous. That brings us to another virtue of the Weisman Young Justice: world-building. The episode opens with Beast Boy doing a public-service announcement against meta-traffickers. And is voiced by Greg Cipes, who also voices Beast Boy in Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go! and in-story plays a shapeshifting lieutenant in a Star Trek knockoff, which lets the fictional show save on FX since Beast Boy can transform on his own, Which was a comic book thing, but it's nice to see them port it into YJ.

A second bit of world-building, is a session at the UN. Not only is Luthor chairing the session, but we get appearances by Ambassadors Garth (Atlantis) and Troia (Themyscira) as well as some other UN figures from the comics like League liaison Catherine Cobert and Sumaan Harjavti, the ambassador for Bialya. Bialya being yet another fictional DC Comics country in the Middle East with villainous aspirations.

It's this kind of world-building that has helped Young Justice through the years, and built some of the fan support that got it brought back.

"Eminent Threat" provides the audience with some major action. Count Vertigo shows up to head the Bedlam operation, and he has Ecks, a henchman with the name of "Henchy", and the transformed brother of the girl who died in the first episode, aka "Plasmus", who is another character from the comics, with him. They end up fighting Dick's team. Helping them is the aforementioned servant girl, who generates a "halo" of colors, a different color for each power she uses, including a violet aura that lets her heal injuries and come back from the dead. Unlike the American-blonde character in the comics, this version is Middle Eastern.

While the two sides are fighting, Brion discovers he has geoforce powers. We find out Jace is kind of a heroic type, and helped transform Brion so he'd have enough power to take on his evil Uncle Frederick. It turns out that the Markov line has "geoforce" powers, which may or may not include Brion's missing sister, Tara, who in the comics was Terra. Frederick also has geoforce powers, although in his case they give him super strength and stone-like skin that he covers up with fake normal skin. Frederick has video of Brion transforming, and tries to incite anti-meta sentiments by claiming Brion is working with the Bedlam organization. Thankfully, this is seen through in pretty short order by Gregor, who notes that a) Frederick is a meta-human at the same time that he's decrying meta-humans, and b) clearly Frederick is practiced enough with his abilities that he's been a meta-human for some time.

Brion and Conner put Frederick down, and Gregor is forced to exile Brion from the country. Jeff has recovered his powers after seeing Halo "killed" by Plasmus, and Plasmus gets shot and killed by a nearby farmer. The team leaves Markov with Brion, Jace, and Halo. And that ends the three January 4 episodes.

That brings us to the second batch of three episodes on January 11. As much as they have a theme, it's setting up the Outsiders as a team now that YJ "created" Brion and Halo. We start with "Private Security" , possibly the funniest superhero episode of any show that I can think of. Far funnier than any given episode of Powerless, for instance. It's even funnier than DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and that's saying something. Maybe because it's animated so YJ can juggle the action sequences and dialogue more "realistically".

The basic plot is that Dick goes to his old buddy Will Harper to get some help taking down a meta-trafficking ring. Will Harper was Speedy, Green Arrow's sidekick. Except it was revealed in YJ that he was a clone. Or something. Two other clones were also created, of Roy Harper and Jim Harper. I think. I'd have to check a wiki or watch the old episodes to figure it all out. One humorous bit: actor Crispin Freeman does the voices of all three Harpers. It must have been an interesting day in the recording studio. While Roy and Jim don't get a lot of screen time, Freeman makes all three of them distinct from each other.

Will runs a private security firm, Bowhunter, and agrees to help Dick if Dick will help him and the other Harpers deliver a shipment of "Goode Goggles", which are the YJ version of Google Goggles. They make the delivery, but it gets hijacked by a minor villain named Brick. The comic book version, not the Vinnie Jones version on Arrow. An ocean-side road chase ensues, with Brick wondering why the heck security guards are so good and then complaining that they ruined his suit; Will using his clipboard as a weapon after a cute bit of dialogue earlier ("The clipboard never lies." "You realize the clipboard doesn't talk."); Will complaining when his SUV goes off the road because of the insurance premiums; and Dick and Will discussing Dick's leadership issues while treating the Brick battle as more of an inconvenience.

In a final bit, the team of heroes in security uniforms declare they're security guards as if they were the A-Team, while striking heroic poses.

As side plots we get Brion, Halo, and Jace adapting to their new lives. Brion is under Conner's care, Halo is under Artemis' care, and Jace is under Jeff's care. There's an odd subplot with Artemis and Halo "being there" for Zatanna, who is having her yearly meeting with her father Zatara, who has been possessed by Nabu, the guiding spirit of Dr. Fate. This is touching, but it doesn't really contribute anything to the plot since the whole Zatana/Zatara thing is a carryover from the first two seasons and is never mentioned before or again in the first six episodes of season 3 . I don’t recall Artemis and Zatanna being particularly close. Other than showing us that Artemis is a decent human being by helping Zatanna after her father "leaves" for another year, which we already knew she was, it doesn't accomplish anything.

The end of "Private Security" has my favorite gag, which is Dick pointing out Will is a clone and only a couple of years old. Will notes Jim is an even younger clone and says, "But he's a clone too!", and Jim gets an off-screen Airplane! like "But I'm prettier" line. Maybe you have to be there. Or just watch it: even if you don’t have the DC Universe Channel, you can find the episode somewhere. Or wait for the DVD release. It's just a perfect example of comic timing, characterization, and voice work.

This whole thing is also another example of why YJ works. We don't get "Previously Ons" or long onscreen expositional explanations. Weisman & Co. just assume you know, or remember, Will and Roy and Jim are clones. If you don't, too bad, just go with the flow. A lack of the background knowledge won't hurt you enjoying the episode.

"Away Mission" is another odd one-off. The basic plot is that Miss Martian leads a YJ team to New Genesis, an alien planet inhabited by the New Gods, which is another example of obscurity when Bear (Bill Faggerbakke) shows up. If you're not big on the comic lore, or even if you are, Bear is a member of the Forever People, a Jack Kirby-created group in 1971 that were originally based on the flower children of the late 60s. They were about as well done as you'd expect a guy who was 54 at the time could do. The Forever People have meandered in and out of the comics over the last 50+ years, but never really caught on. So seeing Bear have a major role, not to mention brief flashback shots of the other Forever People and a reference to another member, Bear's one-time wife Beautiful Dreamer, is a bit surprising.

It also helps that Faggerbakke plays Bear like Aquaman on The Brave and the Bold. In other words, like a punch-drunk Asgardian who is endlessly impressed with his own prowess despite his supposed minor-league status.

We also get Ma'Alefa'ak, Miss Martian's brother. And this is also a bit odd, since Miss Martian hasn't been a major player in season 3 and I don't recall her White Martian family background being a major factor in the first two seasons. Basically, it's Ma' posing as a New God, Orion, to turn the Bugs of New Genesis against their supposed oppressors. Miss Martian catches on telepathically, confronts her brother, and a fight breaks out. Along for the ride are Blue Beetle (there's no jokes about him being a "bug"), Static, Thirteen (Traci Thurston, an obscure teen hero who has some kind of magical "bad luck" power), and Kid Flash. He isn't the same Kid Flash who was originally on YJ, but Impulse, Kid Flash's distant descendant who traveled in time and took Kid Flash's place after Kid Flash was killed in season 2.

Ma's deception is revealed to the Bugs but their leader, Mantis, figures the whole thing is a trick. One of Mantis' lieutenants, Forager, doesn't agree, is exiled from his people, and travels back to Earth with YJ.

Meanwhile, on Earth Dick & Co. have been testing Halo and Brion's powers. Brion has trouble controlling his powers, mostly because of his rage. Halo can control her powers, but no one knows who she is and she's from Qurac so there's a lot of fish-out-of-water humor.

"Rescue Op" finally sees the creation of the Outsiders. But first we get an opening with Black Spider, yet another minor bad guy in the comics. Here he acts a lot like Spider-Man, which is only appropriate since he's voiced by Josh Keaton who played Spider-Man in The Spectacular Spider-Man. Black Spider is working for the League of Shadows, an assassination cult led by Ra's al Ghul. And a mysterious woman drops a boulder on the target, killing him.

Forager ends up bonding with Brion and Halo. Brion learns his sister may have been involved with the aforementioned assassination, so he heads off to get answers from Ra's, and Halo and Forager tag along as his new teammates. Dick and his group go after them to rescue them. And we get yet another obscure character: Sensei (Keone Young), who in the comics is a wizened-old Asian who is also a kick-ass martial artist. The YJ version is a bit more beefed up. Sensei and Black Spider have appeared previously on YJ, but even with about a minute each of screen time, they get some characterization here. Black Spider is a Spider-Man like quipster, and Sensei is an old fart who is endlessly superior to the invading superheroes and just wants to defeat them so he can get back to his meditation. Basically a villainous "Get off my lawn!" type.

The League, which consists of Sensei, a red-hooded ninja, and some dialogue-less guy with a built-in chest blaster, take down our trio of heroes. Dick and his team arrive, fight the bad guys to a standstill, and Ra's shows up to say he's no longer running the League and tells them to get out. The two teams leave, and we find out the red-hooded ninja has some connection to Dick that is part of Ra's' master plan.

Also, Dick finds out Halo's real name is Gabrielle Daou, and she may or may not be a good person, what with betraying the Markov royal family to Jaculi and all. Halo still doesn't remember most of her past and takes the name Violet because of her violet aura and a nickname Brion coined for her.

Overall, the first six episodes of YJ are entertaining. it drags a little bit in "Royal We", mainly because it takes time out to set things up and move all the pieces into place to give Brion superpowers. The show is a bit heavy on the continuity, what with Harper clones, and the League of Shadows, and the Zatana/Zatara reunion, and other bits like Beast Boy mentioning he's dating a princess who was a character in the earlier seasons. Not to mention stuff that seems like continuity but I don't recall being mentioned before, like Miss Martian and her brother.

There are some also cute running gags. The end credits play over different things… not happening while crickets literally chirp in the background.. Like the team's Super Cycle just sitting in a driveway. Or Miss Martian's bioship, which is transformed into an RV. Or Wolf, Conner's pet wolf, that is enhanced with Kobra Venom and now spends all of its time sleeping, including in the end credits of at least one episode. Presumably, that's a running gag that will pay off down the road.

With DC cutting down on its "serious" TV animated presence, YJ is a welcome return to those vintage days of 2013 and before. There's plenty of heroes, both known and unknown. The most frustrating thing is all the things they don't show. I'd like to see more of the League, or even the YJ members that are reduced to background shots. What is the story of Aqualad-turned-Aquaman? What happened to the original Aquaman? What is Thirteen's connection to YJ? We've got Static and Blue Beetle, but they're just bit players so far this season. The problem with having such a large team and only 30-minute episodes is there a lot that is skimmed over.

Also, like the recent Titans, there's a lot of focus on Dick Grayson. "Private Security" is basically him teaming up with an old friend so he can discuss his personal issues. We also get to see Barbara Gordon (aka Oracle) in "Rescue Op". Which is more about Dick's romantic and/or personal life than we find out about anyone else. We find out more about Dick than Jeff Pierce. Which is too bad, because there's some interesting differences between him and the CW Black Lightning Jeff Pierce including an off-hand remark that his ex-wife, Lynn Stewart, is related to a Green Lantern. And John Stewart appeared on and off throughout the first two seasons.

I don't find Dick Grayson that interesting a character. He's more interesting than the Titan version, what with his concerns about leadership and being roped into a reluctant leadership role. He's a more personable version of Batman with a sense of humor, rather than the in-the-shadow-of-The-Bat version we get in Titans. It's just that there are other characters to explore on YJ. Even if you discount the background and cameo members of YJ and the League, you've got Conner and Jeff and Miss Martian and Artemis. All of which have had almost nothing to do. But that could change in the last seven episodes.

So, check out YJ if you want fast-paced action, lots of supertypes, and lots of comic book references and continuity.

But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?