Young Justice: Season 1

The series starts with Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash getting fed up with their mentors treating them like sidekicks. In an attempt to separate themselves they go on an unapproved mission to Cadmus headquarters in response to a fire. While there, they discover Superboy (a secret cloning project of Superman) and free him. Together they form a team of young superheroes (later adding  Ms. Martian, Artemis and Zatana to their ranks), and cover missions that the league hands them. During their missions they start noticing a trend of unrelated supervillians working together, and investigate who the masterminds are behind a recent string of crimes. Who is the light?

*SPOILER WARNING*

Just in case you missed my last issue it is impossible for me to go fully in depth with my feelings towards a series without covering all of it. So, if you haven't seen Young Justice and don't want to be spoiled please seek another article.

Now that we have that unpleasantness out of the way, Young Justice is a series that seems to mature more and more as the episodes progress. In the first couple of episodes the characters are a bit cut and dry. They don't really have any back story so the creators have to rely on gimmicks, and catch phrases to get the audience emotionally invested. Robin's questioning towards grammar starts to feel played out after the first couple of times you hear it. Superboy's laughable dialogue seems less like rage induced blather and more like lazy writing. Aqualad is pushed aside for the more notable (likable) characters, even though he seems the easiest to understand. All of the story line seems cliche and half-assed. Fortunately enough, the creators start to get their act together relatively early in the series. You can notice that the creators stop treating the people (most likely children) watching this series like idiots, and recognizing their faults. It all comes together when Artemis joins the team, and her back story is introduced in episode six.

As soon as Artemis get's introduced we see a character with depth, and that depth seems to be contagious because the other characters come down with it too. Artemis being the product of a family of criminals was an interesting addition to the collective backstory of the team. When that happens, we notice Aqualad start to realize the weight of leadership, and see his heart get broken by his first love. These arcs not only give him depth, but add a layer of relatability that none of the characters match. Yes, I know that some people can relate to the "neglectful father" story they were going with for Superboy, and there are other arcs that some people can relate too; but, Aqualad's is universally shared. We all have that one first love that either broke our hearts, or shaped our future in romance. The weight of leadership can be understood by people of all ages. You are either the leader of a team, in some sort of management position at a job, or the ring leader for your friends. Hell, even kids that play video games can understand the weight of leadership story, and it is unfortunate that we don't see more of that in cartoons. It is not only a relatable storyline, but an educational storyline, preaching confidence and how to deal with the calls you make.

Superboy is the next on my list. Superboy started off just being the angry bastard son of Superman, but turned into an overly protective boyfriend, and an addict. Let me explain. Eventually, when Ms. Marian and Superboy get together there is an episode where the team finds out that Aqualad had been keeping the possibility of a "mole" on the team a secret. During this time, Superboy shows signs of being overly protective in regards to his new girlfriend. They address his issue to be sure, but there are still those moments where Superboy has to catch himself before he falls back into the trend. That is what I like about the overly protective boyfriend arc, it shows us a character that tries to self improve. The addict thing was just fun. Not only does it show one of the negative effects of steroid use (anger), it shows that Lex Luthor would make his "son" an addict if it meant the destruction of Superman.

Ms. Martian gives us that time old tale of segregation, but shows the lengths someone would go through to hide it (if they had the ability like she did). Many people within the LGBTQ community can relate to this, with having played it straight for so long, but can other minorities relate to it? Would African Americans do the same during segregation? Asian Americans during WWII? Even if it isn't a minority aspect there are all things that make us want to put on a new face. Whether we are to heavy, got made fun of in school, have acne, etc. What really strikes me is when she insists that the body she is posing in "is who she is." She says that her outward appearance reflects her inner thoughts.  That can easily be compared to a social comment on gender identity, or cosmetic surgery; but, before I ramble on let me wrap this up. Ms. Martian shows us the segregation aspect, as well as the prospective of someone who can start fresh somewhere new in a more appealing body, which all make her one of the most fascinating characters on the show.

As much as I love Ms. M, she wasn't my favorite. As you could probably deduce from my praise of her before, my favorite character of the show was Artemis. Yes, I can relate to Ms. M, and yes I love that they made her character a symbol of empowerment; but, I have to appreciate the solid writing that went into the character creation of Artemis. She proves that we can be more than the some of our parts, and turn out better than our surroundings. I may love being able to relate my outsider feelings with Ms. Martian, but that feeling will always pale in comparison when I can relate to someone like this. When you grow up poor, you know that (odds are) you will be poor until the end of your days unless you work twice as hard as the people that had things handed to them. From the day we are introduced to Artemis we see her struggle twice as hard for acceptance. That may have had something to do with Speedy being pushed aside; but, we are constantly reminded of trust issues regarding her. Just think what she would have had to go through if the entire team knew of her relations from jump street. We see her struggle for acceptance, prove herself time and time again, until the point when the time comes for her to tell the team it is not as big of a deal as it would have been from the start.

In the end, this season was great and I still have another season to talk about in coming issues. Warner Brothers doesn't often disappoint with their animated programming, and this is just one in the amazing line that they have produced. Give it a look see, but I have to warn you that it has been cancelled so try not to make the mistake I did getting emotionally invested in the series. As of right now we are only getting two seasons out of those heartless bastards.