Young Justice Episode 1

This is sort of a spur of the moment article I have decided to write. With all my articles on Once Upon a Time, Sense8 and Star Trek still ongoing plus all my regular comic book reviews, you’d think covering another television series would be madness. However, I see this madness as an opportunity to take on a project I’ve always wanted to do but have never been able to find the right subject. That is, to write a series of articles on a television series that I haven’t yet seen and give my honest opinions on it. This of course brings us to today’s subject matter Young Justice.

Young Justice is an animated series that spotlights the younger generation of heroes in the DC Universe. My only actual exposure to this show has been a single episode I managed to catch while flipping channels one day. I liked what I saw, but never got around to watching the show in its entirety, despite the heavy praise it received from fans. However, the part that really drew me to this series wasn’t the series itself, but rather, its creator, Greg Weisman. For those of you who don’t know, Weisman is notable for being the creator of Disney’s Gargoyles, my favorite television show of all time and the gold standard to which I believe all animation should aspire to. I plan to do a series of articles related to Gargoyles sometime in the future, so I won’t go into too much detail. (Trust me, if you get me started now, this article will be six hundred pages long before we even start talking about the episode) Suffice to say, Weisman is a great writer who has proven time and time again that even though a series is marketed towards children, it can still tell an epic, complex story that can be just as easily enjoyed by adults. With Weisman at the helm, I believe that we’re in safe hands.

We open in Gotham City where a family is having a 4th of July cookout in the park. The cookout is interrupted by an attack from Mr. Freeze but Batman and Robin make short work of him. Before we go any further, I would just like to comment on how surreal it is seeing Gotham City in during the day like this, made even stranger by the sight of Batman in broad daylight. After they round up Mr. Freeze, Robin remarks that “today’s the day.” Likewise, we soon see several other hero/sidekick teams facing off against other ice-themed super villains. Green Arrow and Speedy take down Icicle, Aquaman and Aqualad save a crashed ship from Killer Frost and finally, Flash and Kid Flash stop a robbery by Captain Cold. At the end of each scene, each sidekick also mentions that “Today is the day.”

Cut to Washington DC, where we learn that “today is the day” that the sidekicks are finally being granted access to the hall of Justice. Martian Manhunter welcomes the four young heroes to the hall and Flash tells them to make themselves at home. The veteran leaguers need to step out for a minute to discuss the coincidence of four ice villains attacking on the same day, but the sidekicks aren’t let into the meeting. Speedy, who’s been the most visibly excited by becoming a full-fledged member of the league, as well as the most visibly annoyed when referred to as a sidekick sees this as a sign of disrespect and snaps, berating the Justice League for promising access to Justice League headquarters and not even letting them onto the Watchtower Satellite and berating his fellow sidekicks (for lack of a better term) for being okay with that treatment before finally storming off.

Before anyone has a chance to react to Speedy’s outburst, Superman calls on the Titantron with a report about a fire at Project Cadmus, but Supes is subsequently interrupted by Zatarra who has word of a Supervillain using some kind of magical doohickey to block out the sun. Since the latter is the more pressing issue, it takes priority over the fire at Cadmus and the League heads out, ordering the three remaining sidekicks to stay put. The young heroes are visibly distraught by their respective mentor’s apparent lack of trust, Aqualad in particular appearing shaken by the revelation that the Watchtower was hidden from him, the three decide to investigate project Cadmus and prove themselves in the eyes of the league.

While the three are successful in rescuing civilians from the burning building, they soon learn that something is wrong here, especially when Aqualad spots a mysterious figure in the elevator. Following the trail, they learn that Cadmus has a hidden underground laboratory filled with giant monsters. The gang quickly figures out that Cadmus is building an army of monsters designed to be living weapons when they’re confronted by lesser-known DC hero, Guardian, flanked by a small contingent of human sized monsters. Guardian recognizes the three sidekicks but it soon becomes apparent that he’s under some form of mind control, and orders the monsters to take down our heroes. The heroes escape, but Robin, whose curiosity was peaked by something he found in Cadmus’s records called Project KR, takes the others deeper into the facility.

Project KR turns out to be Superboy, a clone of Superman. Finally deciding that they’re in too deep, our heroes try and contact the league, only to find that they have no signal and Guardian and his monsters are only minutes away from breaking through the door. Not wanting to leave the poor innocent clone in this state, they set him free, and, as you’d expect, he attacks them on sight, and being as strong as Superman, he wipes the floor with them in a matter of seconds, ending the episode.

So, what did I think of my first experience with Young Justice? Well, first, must praise the animation style. All the characters look great and all the fight scenes are beautifully animated. As far as the episode itself, the plot was very by the numbers, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the episode was bad. I actually felt that I could relate to the plight of our heroes in a big way. Here they are, trying to prove themselves as heroes on par with the Justice League, their mentors only ever see them as children. I’m obviously not a superhero, but I have certainly felt looked down upon and underestimated by authority figures as I’ve tried to assert my adulthood. However, while I appreciate the struggle of our main characters and find it very relatable, I think that it comes at the cost of making the Justice League look like a bunch of jerks. Mind you, it’s a bold move to show these established and beloved characters in a different and more fallible light, but they’re overly condescending attitude towards the sidekicks really rubbed me the wrong way. Speaking of the three main characters, I thought they worked off each other really well and their individual personalities really got to shine. Aqualad is serious minded and obviously has a lot of respect for Aquaman, explaining why the lack of trust and confidence from his mentor appeared to hit him the hardest. Robin is ambitious and eager to prove himself, especially evident given that he was the one to suggest the team investigate Cadmus. Finally, Kid Flash is headstrong and often rushes in without thinking. They compliment each other really well. Finally, the cliffhanger ending was affective, but given the fact that from the opening credits we know that Superboy eventually joins the team, so the resolution is predictable. I think ultimately, that’s what keeps me from enjoying this as much as I’ve enjoyed other other shows of its caliber, its predictability. As enjoyable as the first episode was, I was never surprised by where the plot took me, having seen stories similar to this one several times before. However, a single episode is hardly an adequate gauge of the quality of an entire series, so join me as I continue to share my thoughts as I make my way through Young Justice.