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Review: Young Justice #1

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I know that everybody and his/her dog are fans of the Young Justice cartoon.  So the time seems right to bring back the comic that kind of started it in the first place.  Yet, after all this time, Young Justice – the comic  bears little resemblance to the cartoon show, with shows characters spread across Titans, the Superman books and Bat books and the fact that there are already two Titan themed books on the racks, what is actually going to make this book stand out?  Well, how abut the fact that this is the lead book of the Wonder Comics line aimed at Young Adults for starters

Young Justice #1 sees the formation of the team through the usual mis-understanding featuring one of the newer characters, Ginny Hex.  Quicker than you can say, “this book really needs a Robin”, Tim Drake along with the Cassie  Sandsmark Wonder Girl (who has been missing from the DC Rebirth Universe for quite some time) makes an appearance.  With this being Young Justice, you know for a fact that you are going to get Impulse, with Conner Kent, surprisingly the 90’s version of Superboy. in tow  Finally, we also get a Teen Lantern!  Of course, they will eventually team up to combat a greater threat

Brian Bendis has written a book that is full of fun and little nods to the YJ book of old.  Bendis sprinkles the old with the new characters which hark back to some of DC’s history.  Having before unknown daughters turn up has been a thing in the DC repertoire for a while; Emi for example and of course Crush over in Teen Titans being the most recent.  I am sure that the origins for Ginny and Teen Lantern should be interesting.  Most of Bendis’ characters are full of the sort of self-confidence and self assuredness that belies their normally angst driven story lines, with only Wonder Girl seemingly fitting that role.  The dialogue is snappy, which in of itself isn’t a bad thing, especially when you consider who this book is aimed at.

Patrick Gleason is on art duties and he does a fantastic job in breathing new life in to the characters who have been around for some time.  Like the script, there is a fun energy to proceedings, which reminds me in parts of Dustin Nguyen in style if not substance.  Gleason has worked on a range of DC books and always bring his “A” game.  This book is not exception.  Gleason has tailored his art, ensuring that form and substance meet.  Gone are the overly salacious  versions of certain characters; in their place are current tends on show that adds a nice touch of “being on point”.  Its  odd then that those involved choose to use 90’s Superboy; maybe it was just for the distinct difference between 90’s Conner and the current Jon, who has gone through his own changes as of late.  Colors are by Alejandro Sanchez, who succeeds in giving the book an adult style which should pretty much dispel any negative connotations that a “young Adult” book may carry,  DC Lettering provides the letters (as the name suggests) in a style which doesn’t impact on the flow of the story with the frenetic banter between the characters.  There are a range of variant covers available, each showcasing one of your favourite Young Justice characters; the Superboy one has a certain meme feel to it!

Whilst I appreciate that this book isn’t aimed at me, I can appreciate the need for the comic book industry to entice its next generation of readers, who may well become our next generation of artists and writers.  The thing is, I didn’t need “young adult” books to get me into comic books.  There is an argument that standard books now are more mature than their 70’s counterpoint, but when all is told, society  has changed as well.  We cannot  realistically look back to the 70’s with out 21st century eyes and say “Man, those books are cheesy”.  The other issue with the book, which has nothing to do with the excellent job done, by those involved, is that when you have two products out in the market with the same name, there should at least be some synergy between the pair.  I am not sure that this exists between the comic and the respective cartoon show, which may hurt the book down the line.

Writing – 4 Stars
Art – 4 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Written by; Brian Bendis
Art by; Patrick Gleason
Colors by Alejandro Sanchez
Letters by; DC Lettering
Published by; DC Comics

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes
I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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