Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Re-Reads (Now Reading: Swamp Thing: 1971 through 1985)

Thank you. Forgiven and forgotten.

Young Justice 1 (Sep. '98)

First, some context: in the late 90s, the Big Two were backing away from the angry in-your-face approach of the recent past. Grim and gritty was out, bright and shiny was in. Unfortunately, while this gave us some good comics, it also gave us a lot of vapid, retrograde mediocrities, particularly over at Marvel. Over at DC, after a long gestation process of mini-series and one-shots from writers other than PAD, we got the Young Justice ongoing. The Teen Titans had grown up and been relaunched at the same time as The Titans, so now it was time for a focus on the new generation of young superheroes. JLA Junior didn't have the right ring to it (as the banner atop this issue makes clear), so instead we got Young Justice. And that was perfectly fine.

We open with PAD in full meta-commentary mode, as Robin, Superboy, and Impulse each have nightmares reflecting the more controversial aspects of PAD's runs on Aquaman, Supergirl, and Marvel's Hulk. Our heroes wake up screaming in the original Justice League headquarters, the cave in Happy Harbor. When Robin asks if the others had bad dreams, Kon and Bart lie.

Tim's reply:

"You guys are lucky. I had this bizarre nightmare. It was as if I'd lost control of my life. I was turning into someone unrecognizable. Grim, gritty, depressing...as if some maniacal power was doing terrible things to me just to satisfy some demented whim."

Bart: "Sure. Whatever" (Thought bubble symbolizing "screwball") Look, I was all for forming this club, but this is boring. We need some...action.

Cue a bizarre occurrence at a nearby archaeological dig headed by one Professor Nina Dowd, who touches a relic resembling a common wheel and causes an explosion.

Back at the cave, Bart is running wild with a can of spray paint, writing "Hanson Bites" on the apparently inert body of Red Tornado (remember Hanson?) and then using same body as a surfboard.

Turns out Red Tornado still has a spark in him, and he tries to help the boys put things in perspective with a discourse on Freudian psychology. In a nutshell: Bart is Id, Superboy is Ego, Robin is Superego. Kon being Kon, he gets all pissy because he doesn't get to be Superego.

Tim: "Oh, this is idiotic. You're the Red Tornado, aren't you? What are you doing here?"

Reddy: "I had withdrawn from humanity because I had, in fact, lost my humanity. I had believed that, without my humanity, there was little or no purpose to my continuing to exist. However, in the last few minutes, I have begun to believe that perhaps...just perhaps...there is some small aspect of human feeling left to me."

Kon: "Why?"

Reddy: "Because I find that you three annoy the hell out of me. I feel an urge to smack you...particularly Impulse. For that, I am indebted. Thank you."

Tim: "You're...uh...you're welcome, I guess."

Before things can get even more awkward, Bart notifies the others about the disaster at the dig site. As the four of them take off, Tim asks Reddy, "How do you know all that stuff about us?" Reddy replies, "I have detailed files on over 1500 super beings that I'm constantly updating. I have NINETEEN on Hawkman alone."

(The above joke at the expense of Hawkman continuity might be my favorite joke in the whole issue.)

At the dig site, two special agents, Fite (the black guy), and Maad (the Asian guy), are telling rubberneckers in no uncertain terms to back off. Even the DEO suits are scared of Fite & Maad. But Bart whizzes by them anyway, and approaches a cocoon that's formed at the spot where the explosion was. Tim and Kon argue with Fite and Maad, and Fite spells it out for them: "We're from the All-Purpose Enforcement Squad. Multi-national cooperative task force. We have more clearance than God."

Bart tries to vibrate into the cocoon, causing it to explode and reveal...well...

"Foolish males! Once I was mere Nina Dowd...but NO MORE! Now I am...MIGHTY ENDOWED!"

(Yeah, groan if you want to. I still find it funnier than anything from JLI.)

Before Mighty Endowed can carry out her threat, she discovers that, unlike the various Image universes, the laws of physics do apply to women's breasts in the DCU, and gravity brings her down.

Tim: "Gentlemen, with all due respect, this might be something more up our alley. Why don't you authorize us to go down and check this out for you, firsthand."

Ace Atchison, CDTV reporter: "Yeah, you can trust them. They're the Teen Titans."

Kon: "No, we're not."

Ace: "Oh, right. They're the Young Justice League of America."

Bart: "No, we're young, but just us."

Ace: "Oh, okay, Young Justice."

Bart: "No, young, just us!"

Ace: "Right, Young Justice!"

Bart: "Fine. Whatever."

Fite: "All right, gentlemen. Check it out. See what's what."

Maad: "Fite! Are you crazy?"

Reddy: "No. He is merely assuming that if there is danger...it is preferable to send in the youngsters as convenient cannon fodder."

Bart: "Sounds like a plan."

Kon: "Siiiigh."

Tim (looking at the wheel): "Hmmm...Superboy, you think you can manage to...?"

Kon: "Pull it out? Not a problem. All I have to do is touch it and my tactile telekinesis can..."

Bart: "Man, will you stop blabbering about your stupid power? You act like you're filling in someone whose just met you! Enough already!"

After some more arguing, Kon unearths what turns out to be a high-tech motorcycle with lots of passenger space. Kinda Fourth World-y, even...

Tim: "I wonder why first contact with it transformed that ordinary woman into...that?"

Kon: "Booby trap?"

Tim bangs his head on the cycle in response to Kon's pun, and accidentally sets off the cycle, which takes off into the sky with the three young heroes inside it.

Narrator: "Meantime, as they rapidly approach the Ionosphere, with the Super-Cycle ignoring both Robin's guidance and Superboy's you-know-what, we find our team finally united in ONE thing..."

Tim and Kon: "ARRRRHHHH!!!"

Narrator: "...pure, undiluted panic..."

Bart: "Keeewwwll!"

Narrator: "...for the most part."

A great first issue that leaves the reader wanting more of this sparkling mixture of action, humor, and teen craziness. Sadly, Mighty Endowed would never appear again, except in some "deleted scenes" taking place at A.P.E.S. headquarters, where Fite & Maad refer to her capture as...wait for it..."A routine bust." Maybe DC thought the whole thing was too naughty for a comic aimed primarily at kids. Whatever the reason, there is still plenty to enjoy in the issues ahead. And in issue #4, which, if my plan to review an issue a day works, I should get to by Friday, Wonder Girl and Arrowette finally show up.

PAD tidbit: he originally named Fite and Maad "Nuck and Futz", just to see if he could sneak it through DC. He did. Being incredibly amused but not wanting to get his editor in trouble, he volunteeringly revealed the pun on the word "fuck" and then agreed to change it, having has "Fite and Maad" as a backup all along.

LOL

Great story, Cobie. Thanks.

I liked Young Justice right from the start, but I really started to love it with #4. I only ever read these issues as they came off the rack, but they hold a special place in my heart. They came out right when I was finishing up high school, and then going to college (and in fact I think they announced its cancellation my senior year). It was never my favorite series during those years but it was one I just consistently expected to be awesome--and was never let down.

I'm really looking forward to these reviews!

It's easy to forget that both Superboy and Impulse were immensely popular at this point with their own high-selling solo series. So PAD was taking three of DC's "babies" with a lot at stake. Not to mention, basically no one was allowed to touch Robin from his creation ten years or so earlier. IMO, his contribution went a long way at maturing and advancing both Superboy and Impulse in a major way, even more so than their own solo series (which were doing that but at a much slower pace); and for Robin, he made him fit into the DCU seamlessly and in a hugely positive way.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Cobie, and for providing some extra context.

The next review will be posted after dinner.

Loved Young Justice. Other comics seemed to be getting a bit overwrought at the time, and I was so in the mood for some lighter fare, which this completely delivered, along with some serious adult storylines. (Harm and Secret? Harsh!)

Well said, Set. I think part of the brilliance of Young Justice was its seamless blend of light and shade.

Young Justice 2 (Oct. '98)

In which Young Justice saves a strange Middle Eastern country ruled by Shiek Ali Ben Styn from a four-armed Apokaliptan monster named Rip Roar, who had stolen the Super-Cycle from New Genesis thousands of years ago. Ultimately, the Super-Cycle sides with Robin, and Rip Roar self-combusts.

This issue is mezzo-quality PAD, fun but ultimately unmemorable, without any moments as good as the first issue. The next two, including YJ One Million, are no great shakes either, although since I'm going for the full PAD YJ experience, I will be reviewing them over the next couple of nights.

Ah, but then, the girls show up...

Quite possibly my only quibble with Young Justice is that Superboy and Impulse were super-dynamic occasionally over-the-top characters, with Tim serving as the 'straight man' to their less-than-serious nature. That seemed a deliberate kind of balance. (Id, ego and super-ego, indeed!)

The girls ended up feeling like an afterthought, at times (even if Secret was actually pretty integral to their first team up!), and lacked the same irreverent humor (or ended up moving into Tim's 'straight man' role, standing around and disapproving of the immature hijinks that I was kind of buying the book to read). PAD seemed to write them as a little bit too 'adult for the room,' if that makes any sense.

Part of that impression might have been that I was familiar with Tim, Kon and Bart from previous appearances, while Cassie and Cissie felt more like new characters (which I know they weren't, but they hadn't appeared nearly as much as the boys, up until their Young Justice appearances).

That's not a dig on PAD, obviously. It certainly wasn't his fault that there were a trio of super-boys who had managed to carry their own books for a time and the only super-girls he could find waiting around for a team in the DCU were one-shot characters.

I suppose at least a part of my issue is that I'm pretty territorial about Donna Troy. I can handle their being three or more Robins, or a new Superboy, or yet another Flash, without feeling like these new characters are detracting from Dick, young Clark or Wally (all of whom, at that point, had evolved into adult roles anyway). But Cassie kind of bugged me, because Donna never really got to grow up into Darkstar or Troi, for any length of time. (Again, that's totally not anything to do with PAD or his choices!)

I'd love to be able to go back in time and whisper in PAD's ear about character ideas like Miss Martian or Artemis or Kalduran / Aqualad from the Young Justice cartoon.

I couldn't disagree more regarding the girls feeling like an afterthought. They were IMO the best-written teenage girls in superhero comics. And Cassie was my favorite.

I'd elaborate, but that would make my future reviews redundant, so, Set, do please keep chiming in as I get further into the run.

I would have to re-read, but it would be interesting to see if PAD followed his 'Id, Ego, Super-Ego' formula with the girls as well. I could see Cissie as Super-Ego or Ego, and Cassie as Ego or Id. I'm less clear on Empress or Secret. None of them were nearly as much 'Id Kid' as Impulse, obviously, although later teen heroines like Cyclone and Misfit could fit that.

Perhaps PAD went on to a more four or five element 'scheme', like assigning characters into phlegmatic / sanguine / melancholy / choleric roles, and I just don't remember that like I remember his Id, Ego, Super-Ego setup for the three boys.

I know I haven't been posting reviews, and I apologize to everybody for that. It looks like I was too optimistic about being able to review one issue per day. It doesn't help that the last couple days at work have been rough.

Looks like I'll be posting the reviews mostly on weekends, although if I happen to have the energy for it on a random weekday, I'll post.

Just as a heads-up...I honestly don't know when I'm going to resume the Young Justice/Supergirl re-reads. Unfortunately, my first attempt coincided with some very unpleasant events in Real Life, and I still haven't put enough distance between those events and myself to be able to approach those particular comics again.

I am, however, still confident that we'll be doing a PAD Hulk re-read this winter. Lardy and I talked about it a bit in the All Avengers Thread recently.

I know this is in Fickles' re-read queue also, so I'm temporarily changing the title of the thread to indicate that Busiek and Ross' Marvels will be discussed shortly. I've already completed my re-read of it over the past few days and will post some of my thoughts on it as she starts chiming in.

Anyone who has these books, feels like giving them another look and wants to join in the discussion, feel free!

Excellent. Thank you, Lardy.

I'm hoping the Marvels trade will arrive by tomorrow.

The Marvels trade didn't arrive yet, but a couple items I had ordered earlier than that one did, so I'm 99% certain it'll arrive tomorrow.

I'm so sorry, Lardy, but the Marvels trade STILL hasn't arrived! I pray it'll come in tomorrow.

No hurry, Le Ficque! Ees cule!

Merci, Monsieur Lardy.

I should TOTALLY be "Monsieur Lardy" in a future evolution of my character!

That's a great idea!

"Lock up the patisserie! Monsieur Lardy is coming!"

Monsieur Lardy would do the worst, cheesiest French accent ever!

Even cheesier than Jacques Foccart?

Oh, yeah, I went there.

Nah, ol' Cupcake-Head's grown on me over the years.

Kinda sorta.

Maybe not as much as I thought.