NML Crossing, Episode 072 - Young Justice Special #1 (1999)

NML Crossing, Episode Seventy-Two

Young Justice Special/Young Justice in No Man’s Land #1 (July, 1999)
“Road Trip”
Writer - Chuck Dixon
Pencils - Andy Kuhn
Inks - Chris Ivy
Colors - Digital Chameleon
Letters - Comicraft
Edits - Illidge, Berganza
Cover Price: $3.95

Batman might've banned Robin from re-entering No Man's Land... buuuuuut, he didn't say anything about Young Justice! LOOPHOLE! Today we're hangin' out with the Jr. JLA as they beat up a sub and salad, and Kon-El gets aroused a bunch. It's a bit of a sticky wicket... you'll almost think I'm making it up as I go!

Plus: A wonderful NMaiLbag!

The Bada-Bin!

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Young Justice #1 (1998)

Young Justice #1 (September, 1998)
"Young, Just Us"
Writer - Peter David
Pencils - Todd Nauck
Inks - Larry Stucker
Colors - Jason Wright
Separations - Digital Chameleon
Letters - Ken Lopez
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.50

Ya know, after covering the third part of the Young Justice "trinity" yesterday, I got a hankering to actually dive into the series itself.

I gotta say, growing up (this series started when I was 18... so, I guess I was technically already "grown up", except... not at all) this series was one of my favorites... heck, I'm sure for awhile there it was my #1 favorite.

Sadly, in the interim, it's kinda turned into one of those books that proves the whole "You can't go home again" adage.  I've tried time and again to revisit this series... but, for whatever reason, struggle getting through it.  Not sure why... it's just one of those things that "is", I guess.  I could go into some theories... but, I wouldn't want to bore you (any more than I already am!).

Let's hop right in!

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We open with a trio of bad dreams, maaaan.  In the first, Robin has lost his hand... it was eaten by "killer cockroaches".  No bother, Batman just slaps a Batarang on his wrist and calls it good.  In the next, Superboy sprouts glowing wings... and in the last, Impulse "Hulks out".  Oh, by the way... this is being written by Peter David, just in case you haven't picked up on that.  These "bad dreams" feature things that have happened in other books Peter David has worked on... Aquaman losing his hand, Supergirl being a fallen angel... and of course, the Hulk being... well, Hulkish.

But... like I said, these are just a trio of bad dreams... nothing to actually worry about.  Our young heroes wake up simultaneously, and we can see that they're camped out at the JLA's old Happy Harbor cave-hideout.  They're awake all of 30 seconds when Impulse realizes... he's bored.

Well, we'll get back to that.  First, we're going to shift scenes to a (conveniently) nearby archaeological dig... where an archaeologist named Nina Dowd is checking out some strange findings, in the form of a... tire?!  No sooner does she touch it than it goes BWAFOOM.

Back in the Cave... Impulse is still bored.  As such, he decides to... uh, rush off, grab a can of spray paint... and proceed to "tag up" the joint.  Wouldn't have been my first impulse (no pun intended), but whattayagonnado?  Heck, he even writes some disparaging remarks about the band Hanson on the chest of Red Tornado!

Wouldn'tcha know it... that's all it takes to wake ol' Reddy up, which scares the bejeezus out of the boys.  He takes a moment to give the kids the once over, before deducing that together they epitomize the Freudian concept of Id, Ego, and Superego... which, I'll grant ya, is an interesting way to look at it.

Reddy then reveals how they managed to wake him from his self-imposed slumber.  Ya see, they simply annoyed him to the point where he has the intense urge to smack the lot of 'em!  So, he's now awake... and, kinda indebted to the young fellers!

Impulse checks the monitors and learns of what went down at the dig site.  The foursome head off to look into it.  Unfortunately, DEO Agent,s Donald Fite and Ishido Maad have already arrived... and believe they're in control of the situation.  So yeah, they're Fite 'n Maad.  Did I mention that Peter David wrote this?

Bart, seeing a strange crystal, heads into the crater anyway.  Maad doesn't hesitate to squeeze off a round in his direction (yeesh).  Thankfully Superboy swoops in for the deflection.  Impulse vibrates his way into the crystalline cocoon... which, explodes!  When the dust settles, we see that Nina Dowd was inside it... though, now she's calling herself Mighty Endowed... because, well... she's... uh, hmm.  Her boobs done got big... very big.  So big, she can't support 'em!

Robin tries to take control of the scene... and is approached by a goofball reporter from a local news station.  He refers to them as the Teen Titans (and really, why wouldn't he?).  He is corrected, and after a couple of misunderstandings, our heroic trio is anointed as Young Just Us... er, Young Justice.

Back in the hole, Superboy spies the big ol' tire sticking out of the dig, and decides to nyoink it out... revealing that it is attached to, well, a pretty gaudy looking vehicle... which he decides to call the Super-Cycle!  Robin wonders why just touching the thing would have turned Nina Dowd into... the ample bosomed beastie they nearly had to fight.

Robin then takes a closer look... and winds up getting trapped in the seat!  Despite Kon and Bart's best efforts... it looks like he's stuck!  The Super-Cycle then takes off, leaving the DEO, Red Tornado, and the media behind!

Annnnnd, that's where we leave off!

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Yeah, this was pretty fun.  I'm sure I appreciated it more as a teen-ager myself, but I can't say that I didn't enjoy this a great deal.

I mentioned during the preamble that I wasn't going to bore you with any theories as to why certain runs we love become difficult to revisit in later years... and, well... I guess I kinda lied, because I'm about to.  Hey, at least by now you've already read the synopsis and looked at all the panels... so, if you wanna click off now, you won't be missing much.  Just know, my feelings will be irreparably hurt.

I've said time and again that, to me... comics history is more than just "comics history"... in a way, it's also our history.  Just like any other hobby, I suppose... though, with the periodical nature of comics, I feel like we've got more to tie specific times in our lives to certain eras/runs... we can point to a well-remembered/well-loved run in a book, and kinda point to where we were in our own lives, running alongside it.

Where I'm going with this, I suppose, is... perhaps there's a part of me (us?) that engages in something not entirely unlike transference (but certainly not exactly), with certain comics.  If I look back, I originally read this during a highly transitional time in my life.  Becoming an "adult" (I'll letcha know when I finish that), moving across country, starting to work for a living... I gotta wonder if that has anything to do with it.  Maybe I just have difficulty putting myself into the "gestalt" of when these books came out?  Maybe it just reminds me of a time where I had seemingly limitless options... and kinda kick myself today for not taking advantage of that.

If anything I said holds any water (or makes even a modicum of sense... I apologize for the rambling), than I'll concede that I have been rather unfair to this book in the years that followed.  I'll stop with the me-search before I decide I wanna Irish-up the cup'a coffee I'm sippin' on.

Back to the issue.  It was fun... and I'd definitely recommend it.  It's a silly book, and one that'll probably cause you to chuckle out loud.  There are "inside baseball" bits, but the humor isn't entirely predicated on knowing the reference.  Sure, you'll get more out of it if you realize Peter David wrote that issue of Aquaman where he lost his hand (and so on)... but, even if you didn't, the visual and reaction are still funny enough on their own.

We get some decent puns... Fite n' Maad, Ms. N. Dowd becoming rather well En-Dowd.  Silly stuff like that.  Harmless enough, though... the latter probably wouldn't make the final cut these days.

Overall, I'd certainly recommend this... though, I would suggest going for the trade collection, if you can.  This is very much a "chapter one" (not that there's anything wrong with that), and I'd reckon you'd get much more out of it going in for the entire first arc.  If you like what you've read about this issue, I'm sure you'll dig the trade.

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Young Justice #22 (2000)

Young Justice #22 (August, 2000)
"... the Best Intentions!"
"Father's Day"
"Stakeout"
"Other Interests"
Writers - Todd DeZago, Jay Faerber, Chuck Dixon, & Brian K. Vaughan
Pencillers - Todd Nauck, Coy Turnbull, Patrick Zircher, & Scott Kolins
Inkers - Bud LaRosa, Rodney Ramos, Norm Rapmund, & Dan Panosian
Letterers - Clem Robins, Ken Lopez, & Albert DeGuzman
Colorist - Jason Wright
Separations - Digital Chameleon
Assistant Editor - Maureen McTigue
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.50

Hey, there's a familiar cover... well, kinda familiar.

It's pretty reminiscent of New Teen Titans #8... "A Day in the Lives"... except here, we have a red robot instead of a red menace!

That Titans issue was a classic.  Does Young Justice have any hopes of living up to it?

Read on...

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We open with the Red Tornado who is having a good hard think on whether or not he should consider himself a "father" to Traya.  He's struggling with the fact that he feels so much like a father... but, technically, isn't.  Just then, his attention is drawn to a playground where children are... well, playing.  He sees a certain group, and they instantly remind him of... well, you know.

He then hears a girl crying.  He approaches her to find out what's up... and she tells him that a boy just hit her.  When Reddy confronts the boy... he explains that he saw that she was all by herself and was just inviting her to play "tag" with the rest of the kids.

We wrap up with a woman who was watching (but, for some reason didn't get involved when she saw a girl crying) tell Reddy that he's a "natural" when it comes to parenting.

Then... an interlude!  Back at the temporary Young Justice HQ in the Poconos, Bart is trying to figure out a way for Superboy to get his powers back.  Ya see, this is on the heels of the "Sins of Youth" event, in which all of the teen heroes swapped ages with the adult heroes... so, say... Superboy became Superman, and vice-versa.  Anyhoo, when Superboy returned to his "real" age, he no longer had powers.  And so, here we have Bart Allen rummaging through his issues of Secret Origins to try and concoct Kon's return to a super-powered state.

Our next vignette features Robin and Nightwing as they stakeout a fella named Billings in Bludhaven.  Robin's having some trouble readjusting to being in his teen-age body after briefly becoming Batman.  He's also struggling with the fact that... being Batman was hard.  Who better to chat up than the original Robin... and short-tenured Batman himself, Dick Grayson?

They continue to chat, and the subject shifts to secret identities.  Ya see, Tim hasn't shared his with his Young Justice teammates... because, with his comes (in theory) the whole Bat-Family.  Dick points out how funny it is that Tim felt overwhelmed by the responsibility of being Batman... however, feels right at home leading an entire superhero team.

Just then, they see their ticket into Billings' house.  Hungry Harry's Deli delivers!  When Billings goes to answer the door, we find out exactly what kind of sandwich he ordered... a knuckle sandwich!  (Yeah, that was pretty bad... I apologize).

Turns out he'd actually ordered cheesesteak fajitas... which, I feel like they were trying to establish as the "tourist food" of Bludhaven.  As they tie the baddie up, Nightwing is convinced that everything will eventually work itself out.

Back to the interlude... Bart has read his comics and has a few ideas on how Kon-El might get his groove back.  First he tops off his Soder Cola with some Super Soldier Serum Syrup... then places a non-radioactive spider atop his sushi rolls.  It's a cute scene.

Our next story features Cassie as she finds out she'd scored the lead in her schools presentation of Our Town.  She's not at all sure how she feels about this... after all, she only tried out so her gal-pal wouldn't have to do it alone.  Said gal-pal then starts getting on her about planning her life.  Wow, that escalated pretty quickly.

Later on, Cassie returns home... and unfortunately for her, it's report card day.  Her mother is furious that her daughter got a B in history... and forbids her from meeting up with her Young Justice friends on school nights until she raises that grade.

She can, however, train with Artemis.  The pair discuss some of Cassie's trepidation when it comes to heroing.  After the age-swap of "Sins of Youth" Cassie knows that she most definitely does want to be a superhero when she grows up... but, what about now?  Maybe she'd like to have a semi-normal teen-age experience... maybe even be in a school play.  Welp, that's not what "Artie" wants to hear... and she dismisses her.

On the ride home, the Sandsmarks happen across a a woman who had just flipped her car and slammed into a pole.  She made it out okay, however, her baby is still struggling in the inferno.  Lucky for her, one of those Sandsmarks is Wonder Girl.  Cassie saves the tot... realizes the kind of difference she can make as a superhero... and the following day, drops out of the play?  Okay.

Our final "interlude" has Bart still trying all sorts of ways to give Kon some (any) powers.  He starts by bathing him in a mixture of chemicals... which, I guess isn't the worst idea considering how several of the speedsters got their powers.

When Kon doesn't immediately exhibit super speed, Bart figures maybe he used the "Plastic Man chemicals" instead... and checks to see if Superboy's appendages have become all stretchy.  No dice there either.

Superboy then pins Bart down and tells him to back off... then we close out with a look at all the rest of the goofy stuff Impulse had snagged in his attempt to make a hero out of Kon.  How did Bart get a hold of a Green Lantern battery?!  And 'Mazing Man's helmet?!

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Had more fun with this than I expected.  Young Justice is one of those weird books... it was probably in my Top 3 books while it was coming out, but I have such a hard time revisiting it.  Not sure if I just "outgrew" 'em... maybe it reminds me how none of "these" characters really exist anymore... or, maybe it just reminds me that this was half-a-life ago, and I start questioning all of the decisions I've made since then.  Either way... ahem, had a good time with this.

Should we start with the framing/interlude sequence?  These scenes were cute.  Bart acting like you'd imagine Bart would in this sort of situation.  I mean, he's being a complete pain in the ass... but, his heart is definitely in the right place.  He's going to these lengths in order to help his buddy.  Gotta remember that Kon is one of his very few "real" friends... and he probably doesn't wanna lose him as a "running buddy" on the team.

It's also always neat to see those "gallery" panels with oddities like, ya know, 'Mazing Man's helmet (which even makes it to the cover!).  And all the Bart-takes on classic superhero origins was a lot of fun to see.

Let's talk about the Cassie arc first.  I get what they're going for here... but, and I think we've talked about this before... when you bring the idea of superheroes being able to save "everybody", it all kinda starts to fall apart.  Here we have Cassie, who just happened to be in the right place to save that baby from the burning car... which says to her that she needs to be a superhero from this point on... and walk away from her role in the school play.

But... heroes can't be everywhere, right?  I mean, if Cassie had her way, she'd have been across country hanging out (and heroing) with Young Justice on this night... and that baby wouldn't have made it.  So... which is it?  You're never going to be everywhere at once... and if heroes could save everybody... then nothing bad would ever happen.  Not sure what giving up a role in a school play would help.  Again... I get what they're going for... I just think it's a pretty flimsy way to go about it.

Red Tornado's story was... ehh, a bit on the saccharine side.  Another where I "get what they're going for", but still... feels a bit trite.  I mean, for the entire thing to work, we have to allow for the fact that a grown-up woman ignored the cries of a young girl... who, as far as anyone knew, had just been slapped by one of the boys.

And, really... what exactly did Reddy do besides ask "What happened here?"  Is that really being a "natural" father?  I think that's just being an adult, no?

Unsurprisingly, (and ignoring it's non-ending) I felt like the Nightwing and Robin bit was likely the strongest of the issue.  Tim struggling with how much he should let his teammates "in" has been an ongoing thread in Young Justice from the very start.  I appreciate that they understand (and explain) just what a domino-effect giving out his secret identity has the potential to cause.  It really could unravel the entire Bat-Family... which wouldn't be a good thing.

I dig that while Tim and Dick have so many similarities, they're also very different young men.  I loved that Dick was quick to point out the differences between the Teen Titans and Young Justice.  His dismissal of the "Junior Justice League" as perhaps a little "less stable" than his old team was pretty neat... and, also pretty true.

This was a "jam" issue of sorts, with several writers and artists... all of which flowed pretty nicely.  The only artist who really stuck out here was Zircher, as he is far less cartoony than the rest of the team.  Still, great work all around as far as art is concerned.

Overall, yeah... this is worth a peek.  It's not quite on the level of a Scott Lobdell post-crossover X-Men issue, but if you ask me... few things are.  The kids are starting to get their lives back to normal following "Sins of Youth", and it was a pretty good time.  This issue is available digitally.

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Young Justice #40 (2002)

Young Justice #40 (February, 2002)
"The Night Before Doomsday"
Writer - Peter David
Penciller - Todd Nauck
Inker - Larry Stucker
Colorist - Jason Wright
Separations - Digital Chameleon
Letterer - Ken Lopez
Assistant Editor - Tom Palmer, Jr.
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.50

Ho, ho, ho... who's ready to read a comic, that's not really a comic?  Today we're going to chat up an issue of Young Justice which is more an illustrated riff on T'was the Night Before Christmas... and one in which I think we just might actually see Santa Claus!

Let's get right to it!

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We open with Robin in the bathroom dealing with the aftermath of having eaten Arrowette's cooking.  When suddenly the rest of Young Justice are alerted via their monitors that something is headed their way... could it be Santa?  No, probably not.

Their first instinct is to call in the "big guns", that being one of the teams whose names begin with "Justice" rather than end with it.  Turns out, they're all off planet... or just plain off-duty this crazy Christmas Eve.  Worth mentioning we get perhaps the only mention of the Inferior Five in turn-of-the-century DC Comics here!  Also, the Suicide Squad... in between their bouts of relevancy.

Young Justice realizes that saving the world is up to them... so they hop in their cycle and take to the skies.  Wonder Girl tries tracking the menace, and they find themselves being introduced to the baddie himself... Mordrek of the Great Khund Alliance.  Oh yeah, him.  He's cooking up a doomsday (not him) device, in the form of a rather large Earth-smashing meteor/bomb/thing.

The kids set their phasers to boom... and begin blasting away at the gigundus flaming head-meteor... but it's to no avail.

When all hope is lost, the gang hears a bell... perhaps this is Santa, boy would that be swell.  Ahem, sorry... I promised myself I'd try not to rhyme here.

Anyhoo, Santa flew in, right into the meteor's path... you'd figure the elves would have better air-traffic control, maybe they're just bad at math.  Dangit... did it again!

As it turns out, the crash did the trick... when the dust settles, there was no sign of Mordrek.  Hmm... can't seem to help myself.  Unfortunately for our heroes, Santa's gone too... the reindeer have turned into a torrent of goo!

Suddenly Santa's sack fell on Bart... the Young Justice kids know they've now got to play a part.  With Santa kayoed before delivering the toys... who's going to treat all the good girls and boys?

Why Young Justice of course will take the gig... if only they'd realized it gonna be so big.  Instead of delivering the goods in a single night... this gift-giving struggle proved a two-month-long fight.

The kids didn't realize there'd be back-end stuff... like how dealing with customer service might be tough!  Folks were annoyed by mistakes and delays... and our poor heroes were left in a desperate haze.  Two months to deliver... would give anyone pause, perhaps it's best left to old Santa Claus.

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Now... come on, just how fun was that?

I probably haven't picked this issue up in... well, fifteen years... and I gotta admit, when I opened it and saw the "gimmick", I sorta groaned... even considered skipping it altogether.  I thought back to last year when I covered that Christmas issue of Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children... and thought this might turn out similar to that.

I'm glad I actually gave this a full read though, as I found myself smiling through the whole thing.  Not only does this fall in sorta-kinda my DC-Wheelhouse (Bart as Impulse, Kon-El as Superboy, Cassie still wearing the black wig), but it was just a heckuva lot of fun.

Sure... Santa "dies" here, however with the caveat that he'll be reborn the following year.  See, it's not hard to end a over-the-top tragic story with a flicker of hope!  If only more folks wrote that way comics would be a whole lot more fun.

Let's talk art... Todd Nauck was one of my favorite turn-of-the-century artists.  He strikes the perfect balance between comic-booky and cartoony... he's really quite excellent!  Can't leave out the wonderful softer pastel colors from Jason Wright.  It fits the tone of the story perfectly... this really looks like something that could be in a storybook.  I think the only way it could feel more "Christmas Special-y" is if they used claymation figures!

My only complaint would be... DC's gimmick covers the month this came out.  I mean, it's a good cover... maybe a great one, but... c'mon, wouldn't you have loved to see what kinda cover Nauck and Company would've cooked up for a Christmas Special?  This could've been a cover that could stand beside The TT's Swingin' Christmas Carol.  I think if that were the case, this issue would get a whole lot more "play" this time of year.  Instead, this gem is hidden behind a DC gimmick-month cover.

Overall... even though I spoiled the entire thing for you, I'd recommend adding this to your Christmas comics library.  I think this could be a great annual read for folks of all ages as you count down the days until Christmas!  This issue is available digitally.

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On the Fourth Day of Christmas on Infinite Earths, I give to you Young Justice #40, Superman: The Man of Steel #109, Green Lantern: Larfleeze Christmas Special, and a Red Hood and the Outsiders Annual #2 Review.

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