DC Comics has done a mighty fine job of handling comics based on
their licensed cartoons and YOUNG JUSTICE is no exception. Viewers
of the Cartoon Network show will feel right at home reading the
further adventures of the young team of heroes.
For those that are new to the book and are not familiar with the
cartoon, here's the basic premise: Young Justice is a sort of Junior
Justice League that gives the sidekicks of DC's bigger heroes
something to do when they're not with their mentors. The group
borrows a lot from the '60s TEEN TITANS and the previous YOUNG
JUSTICE title. It even has a few similarities with the recent TEEN
TITANS cartoon, although this outing is decidedly more serious in
tone.
This YOUNG JUSTICE is set on an alternate Earth where Dick Grayson
(who dresses and acts a lot like Tim Drake) is still Robin, Wally
West (who looks and acts a lot like Impulse) is still Kid Flash and
Aqualad is a whole new character. Martian Manhunter has a niece,
Miss Martian, and Superboy is a clone of Superman (minus the Lex
Luthor DNA). Speedy has just quit being Green Arrow's sidekick,
becoming Red Arrow in the process, and the mysterious Artemis has
taken his place. There are rumors that Wonder Girl will be joining
by the end of the year, but there's no indication of whether it will
be the Donna Troy or Cassie Sandsmark version. If conclusions were
to be drawn from the other characters it'll probably an amalgam of
the two with Donna's name.
This issue features Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash getting together
and planning to foil an assassination attempt by the League of
Shadows. The story reminded me a lot of the two-part series premiere
for the show as we see the trio embarking on the mission in much the
same way that they investigated Cadmus. That event led them to
discovering Superboy and forming their own group. The art by Mike
Norton replicates the anime look of the show nicely, but while the
feel of the comic stays true to the source material it still hasn't
hit its stride. The full team hasn't appeared in action together and
we're already on the third issue. The first two was primarily a
spotlight on Superboy. Now he and Miss Martian sit this installment
out and Artemis hasn't even popped up in the comic series. It's
almost like we're not there, yet.
Part of this could be because Franco and Art Baltazar were tapped
to launch the comic to coincide with the premiere of the cartoon.
From what I understand, the writers of the show are going to be
doing this book staring on #7 and they needed someone to cover them
until then. Hopefully, we will get to see the team kick it into high
gear when they arrive on the scene. Although they do deliver a fun
story, it seems like the current staff is just doing their best to
not overstep any of the plans that are lined up and are playing it
safe.
