TV Retrospective: Young Justice episodes 1-5

It’s been a while, what with me reducing the number of reviews I do on a weekly basis and the mass of comics I’ve had to review (that isn’t stopping by the way, I’ll be covering DC’s rebirth post-hiatus) but it’s time once again for a Television Retrospective

It’s time to look at Young Justice, the DC version of Avengers: Earth’s mightiest heroes. An ever-evolving team in a place where a wider universe exists. Based on the comic, but only loosely since it only stars one of the core cast of the comic. Young Justice has received a lot of praise and fans have begging producer Greg Weisman for season since its cancellation, for the record his response is always #notuptome, so you can stop asking now, it’s bugging up my Twitter feed.

Young Justice never came out in a Pal-2 format for UK viewing. I’m considering doing a #WTFU video (is this still a thing, I’m writing this in February people) about what studios can look toward doing to prevent their works suffering copyright infringement, but I digress, that’s for another day. For now, let’s dig into my American copies of Young Justice

Independence Day part 1

In Gotham City, Mr Freeze is attacking a park, wait, there’s daylight in Gotham, wow? Oh and he’s doing that for… some reason. Batman and Robin make a rare daytime appearance to stop him.

In Star City, Icicle Jr is causing chaos on a bridge as Green Arrow and Speedy are there to stop him. They take him out with relative ease, Speedy’s impatient because ‘today’s the day.’ At Pearl Harbour, Killer Frost is attacking for some reason. Ice is almost completely ineffective against Aquaman. His partner, Aqualad is excited because ‘today’s the day.’ Captain Cold has stolen some diamonds, the Flash and his partner Kid Flash take him out quickly, Kid Flash doesn’t want Flash to stall because ‘today’s the day’

We cut to the Hall of Justice in DC, today is indeed the day. The Hall of Justice is the headquarters of the Justice League. Flash and Kid Flash arrive late because funny I guess. I’m kinda eh to the opening title sequence, just a bunch of clips. They’re brought in as the audience discusses. Speedy is less than happy about being called a sidekick and we get Robin’s quirk for the season, wanting to take words like overwhelmed as having a prefix, this will infect everyone.

So, they head into and they’re greeted by Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado. They’re told to relax as the league debrief on the co-incidence of 4 villains related to ice attacking in one day. Speedy isn’t happy, it doesn’t matter which side of the glass they’re on. He reveals that the League’s real HQ is the watchtower. Batman isn’t happy he was told. He storms out.

Superman calls about a fire at project CADMUS. Batman’s had his suspicions about the place and it could offer them a chance to investigate but Zatara calls about Wotan’s scheme, which takes priority. They leave, telling the others to stay put. None of them are happy about that, they wonder what CADMUS is. Robin hacks the computer, it’s the same system as the batcave (that’s kinda dumb) it’s a genetics lab in DC.

They decide to go investigate the fire, there are 2 scientists in need of rescue but an explosion blows them out, Kid Flash speeds in and rescues them, dropping them off on the room before losing momentum. Robin swings into the building whilst aqualad diverts water from the fireman’s hoses to bring the two scientists down. He joins the others and sees a something go into the elevator. A high speed express elevator that has no business being in a 2-story building.

It goes much further down. Robin swings down with the others sliding down his wire, they make it to sub-level 26. They spot some large creatures, a small creature on top of one of them makes them think that nothing odd is going on. Doctor Desmond is contacted by Guardian, who tells them that a genome alerted him to a security breech. He says that the real CADMUS is the most secure building in DC, a claim that is frankly laughable given that they got down here so easily.

The trio find some electric things, they’re not on the grid keeping their identity secret. Robin hacks in and finds out about the genomorphs, living weapons, and also the project Kr. Guardian and his genomorphs. After a telepathic influence he tells the genomes to take them down. Robin uses smoke to even the odds. They manage to escape and are heading down to find project Kr.

Level 52 is f*cking weird, seriously what the f*ck is this. They have 2 routes but one of them is blocked, so they follow. Kid Flash manages to the block the slowest closing door a facility has so they can get through. Robin locks them in. They find project Kr, a subject wearing a bright white Superman logo. Kr is the atomic symbol for Krypton.

Robin hacks the systems, which are not encrypted now. He’s a clone of superman. They try and contact the League but they’re too deep underground. Desmond says he can’t let them leave, he can’t get on the bad side of the CADMUS board of directors. Robin sets the clone free but thanks to the genomorphs he attacks. Aqualad lasts the longest but he’s no match for them. He opens to door to let Desmond in.

That’s a long description but an intriguing start, not lacking in action despite heavy amounts of story

Rating 8/10

Independence Day (part 2)

Desmond speaks to his masters, the Light. They advise that they’re cloned, their clones will serve the Light. One of the Genomorphs wakes them up, Superboy stares at them. Desmond insists that Superboy is sent back to his boy, and he makes Guardian see things the same way. Robin begins to pick the lock on the chains. Superboy knows that images are implanted in his mind, which seems counter-productive to me

Superboy was created to replace superman, or destroy him should he turn from the Light (choice of words is all) Aqualad tries to turn him but Desmond interrupts, initiating the cloning process. Dubilex is asked to download the memories of the individuals and kill them. Aqualad somehow telepathically communicates with Superboy and he comes to the rescue. It appears he doesn’t have heat vision. Robin escapes on his own and with Superboy’s help frees the others. He then destroys the clone samples so they can’t be cloned.

The genomorphs are activated and our heroes are surrounded. It seems superboy has some anger issues. Superboy tries to fly up the elevator shaft but finds he can’t, with the elevator coming down, they choose to exit but doesn’t realise they can just head up now the elevator is below them. Dubilex directs them to a ventilation shaft. Desmond tries to outsmart them but Robin hacks the motion sensors, allowing them to head up the stairs.

Desmond decides to activate project blockbuster as they head to sub-level 1 to intercept. Our heroes are suddounded and the genomorphs uses their telepathy to knock them out. Dubilex arrives, he set the fire, he woke them and guided them, he wants Superboy to help free them. He frees Guardian from the mental control, Desmond takes the Blockbuster formula and becomes Blockbuster a giant grey monster, they’re kind of fond of these, as you’ll find out later.

Guardian is no match, Superboy gives them a hole to the surface. Robin gets an idea after plain attacks fail and Aqualad is punched through a support column. He calls Kid Flash to help him destroy some more columns. Kid Flash uses high school tricks as Robin briefs the others. Robin marks a point which Aqualad covers in water, Superboy punches him down and Aqualad electrocutes him as Robins explosives bring the building down. You can’t say that isn’t teamwork.

Superboy gets them out of the rubble as the whole league arrives to confront them. Commence dramatic pose! Superboy shows himself to Superman who is very taken aback by it, Superboy states outright that he’s a clone. And Batman asks for the rest. Superman is not accustomed to have a clone but states they’ll work something out for him.

Batman makes a case that they’re not doing this again, but Aqualad has balls and stands against them. They did good work. Robin argues that if they don’t use what they’ve been taught, why be taught at all. Superboy just argues not to let them tell them what to do. 2 weeks later, they’ve got the old Justice League Mount Justice Headquarters. Red Tornado will supervise, Black Canary will train and Batman will deploy them on covert missions.

There’s a fifth member, the Martian Manhunter’s niece, Miss Martian. Guardian’s placed in charge of CADMUS and he plans to make it a gentler CADMUS. The light discuss events, even what’s happening may prove useful to them

It’s definitely an intriguing opening 2-parter, plenty of action in this second, and I do enjoy watching them work together. You could argue the league are kinda pr*cks in this episode but it comes from wanting them safe.

Rating 8/10

Welcome to Happy Harbour

Speedy is stopping a bad guy from doing something, god knows if I know what, and the team intervene, they try and convince Roy to join the team, but he’s less than interested. He traps the bad guy in foam to keep him still.

Robin and Kid Flash arrive at the cave in civilian clothes, Red Tornado is arriving, they ask if he has a mission but that’s Batman’s responsibility. They’re told to socialise as a team building exercise. They tour. The facility was a league headquarters until it was compromised, so they’re trying to hide in plain sight and we’ll see how well that goes for them in season 2. Miss Martian tries to assure superboy telepathically but he’s not happy about it. Miss Martian’s a little new to earth and doesn’t get what an invasion of privacy her powers are. Oh and we get her quirk ‘Hello Megan’ this will get annoying very quickly.

Miss Martian shows the team her bio-ship: Their main transport. They head out for a city tour, Aqualad tries to coax Superboy, who feels bad for overacting. Miss M shows the shapeshifting but she also reveals she can’t density shift. Robin remarks that Kid Flash can’t vibrate through walls like Flash can (it’s really a pity they never really show this skill) Red Tornado alerts them to an alarm at a nearby power plant.

The problem seems to be a tornado, which isn’t in fact red.  Miss M manages to stablise the bioship so they can land. Robin disappears into the factory because that’s another of his things. Mr Twister is responsible for this attack. He wipes the floor with them in them in their first encounter but doesn’t bother killing them. He just wants a challenge. Miss M tries to read his mind but can’t and concludes that he’s Red Tornado. You know how I know he isn’t, his tornado’s aren’t red

Miss Martain

<You really are an idiot>

The others somehow believe this despite the obvious evidence. He creates a storm and blasts them back with Lightning, he’s clearly not Red Tornado. Although if any of you had smarts, you’d know that already. Miss M is the only one conscious, she uses the bioship to hide them. They all blame Miss Martian for this one and no… You’re all idiots, the 4 of you saw Red Tornado do his thing last episode, and it’s also kinda obvious from the name.

Naturally, Miss M is upset. So, Mr Twister upsets the docks. God this guy talks, and he’s boring. Miss Martian contacts Red Tornado who says he won’t intervene unless necessary. This gives her an idea. So after a house is destroyed (good job team?) Red Tornado arrives and tells the others to disband, he creates tornados but is eventually knocked down. Mr Twister tries to reprogram them but it’s not him, it’s Miss M, and Kid Flash was creating her tornadoes.

A guy crawls out of the suit who M’Gann crushes, he’s a robot as well. The controller of the robot was working for T O Morrow, the tracking programme was successful, the real Red Tornado was within the facility. Superboy finally kinda apologises to Miss M and that’s the episode to a close

This episode was eh, it really didn’t feel like much happened and honestly the idiotic behaviour was annoying. There are 2 duds in the entire 46 episode run, that’s a good record but this is sadly one of the duds, the first episode to air after the opening 2-parter, which was aired as a special much earlier.

Rating 6/10

Drop Zone

Kobra have stormed the Island of Santa Prisca, they promise to leave if Bane can defeat their champion in sngle combat. They give him back his venom pumps and the fight begins. His opponent: Mamoth, a grey skinned monster. Even at full strength Bane struggles and is defeated. HAIL HYDRA, I mean KOBRA

The team have been sent in, Robin flashes back to the mission. Santa Prisca is the home of venom, the factory is operational but no shipments are coming out. Robin asks who’s in charge but Batman says they should work that out. They arrive at a first drop-point and Aqualad heads down, he bypasses their sensors so they rest can drop down. Some of them have their own stealth suits

They drop down with Superboy going freefall, not exactly covert. They head through the jungle and find hostiles, there are 2 squads of enemies, but they’re heading for each other. They hear gunshots. Robin’s disappeared, Kid Flash does after him and ends up stumbling into the battle.

Both squads begin shooting until Bane and Superboy begins to spy. They defeat both squads and capture Bane. They have the intel to why supply lines have been cut off, but they don’t know why Cobra are hoarding the venom. Bane offers to show them but he’s hiding something and Miss Martian find them.

Kobra activate a jamming net as their master approaches. Bane opens up a secret entrance to the factory. Robin disappears and Flash follows off after him. They enter a computer room and Robin begins hacking. A helicopter arrives. It looks like the new venom has the Blockbuster formula incorporated into it. Whoever Kobra’s selling to, they must also be supplying them with the Blockbuster formula. Their Kobra venom is 3 times stronger and permanent, as we saw with Mammoth earlier.

Sportsmaster comes out of the helicopter, Sportsmaster is a D-list supervillain but they bring him up a bit in this one. Miss Martian is watching the deal and alerts the others. Bane dives in and begins attacking the Kobra goons, more arrive to help, including Mammoth. Bane watches as the fight continues, Miss M is brought down and sets up a link so Aqualad can order a retreat. They head into the tunnels and block their pursuers.

Robin begrudgingly admits that Kaldur is the right person to lead the team, at least until Robin is ready (hint hint hint) the chopper was sabotaged, slowing them down. They arrive at the edge of tunnel but Bane has it wired with explosives. When they died, the League will take out his enemies but Kid Flash manages to disarm the detonator

The helicopter is brought back online but the team arrive. Sportsmaster shows his stuff by taking on Superboy as Miss M secretly sabotages the helicopter. Robin takes on the leader. He is absolutely outmatched. Sportmaster leaves with the helicopter but Miss M put one of the detonators, blowing up the helicopter, forcing Sportsmaster to bail. The Helicopter blows up the factory, the leader disappears and he won’t be seen again unless we get a season 3.

Batman is not happy initially but he acknowledges that the battle-plan rarely survives first contact and they adjusted well given the circumstances. Sportsmaster acquired a single sample. One of the light mentions that 3 occasions where the children have been involved means that this is no longer co-incidental. For the record, what did Mr Twister serve for them exactly?

Anyway, whilst I wasn’t fond of them arguing over leadership, but it’s generally a good episode, introducing a few threats for the team.

Rating 7.5/10

Schooled

In Metropolis a bridge is about to collapse because of an earthquake, a bus is about to head off. Batman’s about to respond (he’s in Metropolis for some reason) but he sees Superman and lets him handle it. Superboy arrives, landing heavily on the bridge (that’s a great idea) but he helps some of the cars and the bus back onto the bridge until Superman had a hand on it. Superman calls him out on it but doesn’t want to help him. He gets a com from Green Arrow about something, Bruce calls him and says they need to talk.

Superboy arrives at the cave, just in time for training. Superboy walks away, this is apparently their first lesson. Kid Flash volunteers but she knocks him down in a second. Superboy’s not impressed. His powers give him the edge. Black Canary asks him to prove it and she knocks him down, twice. Superboy is about to storm off when Batman calls in with a mission

The threat that Green Arrow talked about, it was Amazo and it managed to take 8 leaguers 4 hours to disable and dismantle the android. It was created by Ivo, who was apparently killed. The parts are being sent to two Star Labs locations, with a few decoy trucks. The team is split to guard the two real trucks. Black Canary promises to Superboy she’ll be here when he’s ready)

The trucks are sent away with the team following the trucks. Batman stops Superman for that talk. Robin and Superboy are on one team, Kid Flash, Miss Martian and Aqualad are on the other. Some robots begin to attack the trucks, monkey’s. Superboy dislikes monkeys thanks to a tie-in comic.

Robin and Superboy engage with Robin’s cycle turning into a drone to back them up. They toss Superboy off the road, blinding him temporarily. They escape on Aqualad’s side, Robin uses his batons to fight them off, the machines destroy the tyres of the truck so Robin has to free the driver. They escape with Superboy pursuing. Superboy ditches his com.

Robin argues that since the decoy trucks weren’t attacked, the parts have GPS, which you’d the league would’ve checked for before they were split up but you know, the league are entirely incompetent in this episode so… The parts are heading to Gotham. It’s too far south for Megan or Aqualad to get their soon

I love this scene in the café, just what they order is so them. When Bruce calls Superboy his son, Clark storms off. Superboy catches up with the train and breaks in. He finds professor Ivo. His robots are called MONQIs, you’ve got to be kidding me but Superboy destroys them. Fortunately, AMAZO has been assembled in record time and attacks. Superboy is sent flying into the school and AMAZO heads to finish him. Superboy is blasted into the gym, where Ivo is waiting for some reason.

Kid Flash and Robin arrive to help. An arrow helps them out but it’s unknown who fired it. Superboy remembers Black Canary’s lesson and channels that anger, attacking Ivo. Robin and Kid Flash join suit, whilst phasing Superboy sticks his hand through his head, destroying the head. They disassemble, not wanting to take chances. Ivo is gone

Robin shows the arrow to Batman, thinking Green Arrow had been sent to them, It’s not one of his, they conclude that it’s speedy despite the fact his arrows are normally red. Superboy tells Black Canary she’s ready.

So it took 8 leaguers 4 hours to dismantle the android. 3 members of the team managed to do it in far less time. Yeah, the Justice League doesn’t come off well here, but AMAZO is certainly a worthy threat.

Rating 8/10

Join us next time for the introduction of another team member, the beginning of a beautiful friendship, or two, an important powerful device and a good look at Atlantis.

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Images/clips used in this review are from Young Justice. and belong to their respective owners. All images in this review are subject to fair use