Young Justice Episode Review – Pilot

Reviews, Top Story

Friends and longtime readers probably know that I am a huge Young Justice fan. The cancellation of the series was definitely one of the big motivations in my losing interest with buying new comics. I wrote a column about my love of Young Justice a few months ago.

One thing important you should know about me going into this review: I am not a fan of adaptations that stick strictly to “what’s in the original.” I didn’t want to see a Young Justice cartoon that rehashes the comic stories, no matter how much I love them. Keep the spirit of Young Justice, but show me some new twists on it. And that is pretty much exactly what “Independence Day” did.

SPOILERS

The episode starts on July 4th (appropriately). Several ice-powered villains all strike various cities at the same time. Each villain is taken out by a hero and their sidekick. Mister Freeze by Batman and Robin, Icicle by Green Arrow and Speedy, Killer Frost by Aquaman and Aqualad, and Captain Cold by Flash and Kid Flash. Throughout these battles, the heroes are all discussing that “Today is the day.”

The sidekicks are all brought the the Hall of Justice, but realize that they are still being treated like kids. Speedy gets irate, pointing out that this isn’t even the real Justice League headquarters and that the real base is a satellite called the Watchtower. He storms off, leaving Aqualad, Robin, and Kid Flash.

The Justice League get called out on a case, and tell Aqualad, Robin, and Kid Flash to stay put. They hear about a fire at Cadmus, and decide to go help out. They quickly realize that Cadmus is not what it seems, as it extends 50 stories beneath the ground.

Cadmus’s director (Mark Desmond) is using Genomorphs, telepathic genetically altered creatures, to keep Cadmus under his control, including their security director, the hero known as Guardian. Desmond also seems to be working for some kind of mysterious organization called The Light.

The young heroes investigate and come across a clone of Superman. They decide to free him, but instead he takes them down. They are brought to a cloning chamber, where Desmond orders them to be cloned and then destroyed.

One of the Genomorphs (Dubbilex) assists in getting Superboy to defy orders and rescue the other heroes. They try to escape Cadmus, and Superboy quickly realizes he doesn’t have all of Superman’s powers. No flight and no heat vision. Desmond ends up mutating himself into Blockbuster to try and bring them down, but the Aqualad, Robin, Kid Flash, and Superboy work as a team and manage to bring him down.

Guardian is freed from the mind control, and looks to bring Cadmus back under control.

The Justice League arrive. Superman is shocked when he sees that he has been cloned. The Justice League demands to find out what the kids were doing. Batman says, “Never again.” The young heroes refuse to accept that, saying they will continue working together as heroes with or without the League’s help.

A few days later, they are brought to the League’s original headquarters, and formally made a team. Red Tornado will be their supervisor, Black Canary will train them, Batman will assign them real cases (covert ones, as Flash says they would rather the Justice League be targeted by villains than the kids). They are also introduced to their newest teammate, Martian Manhunter’s niece, Miss Martian.

END SPOILERS

I do admit, I was a little sad that we didn’t see Wonder Girl (my favorite YJ member). I was glad that Kid Flash and Robin being Dick and Wally seemed mostly cosmetic. Robin had plenty of Tim Drake moments, and KF definitely reminded me of Impulse at times.

I did think that a few times, Kid Flash’s speed seemed a bit slow, but that really is just a fanboyish gripe. Characters on a superhero team always operate well below their potential.

Superboy was a little angsty (understandably) in the first episode, but showed flashes of being the Kon-El I love, like saying “Looks like I don’t have heat vision, so I guess I have to rescue you.” It was cool how they used Superboy in basically the same role Secret had in the first YJ story.

The biggest surprise to me was Aqualad. He always felt like the odd man out to me when I saw the roster, but I quickly became a fan of the character. The design was great, especially the gills on the neck and the weapons on his back. I loved the respect he showed Aquaman, even when he was telling him off. I do hope they explain how his powers work though. They looked so damn cool, but I had no idea they worked.

I liked the role the Justice League took in this one, and hope that stays constant. They were there, and definitely had a huge presence in the world, but for the most part the kids were allowed to take center stage.

I especially loved Superman’s reaction to Superboy. You don’t often see that wide of an emotional range pass across an animated character’s face. I definitely can’t wait to see how this is resolved.

The animation and voice work were solid. I always like hearing Rene Auberjonois, even if he voice always sounds exactly the same.  And Alan Tudyk as Green Arrow and Bruce Greenwood as Batman were inspired casting. I know a lot of people are complaining about Jesse McCarthy as Robin, but by the end of the second part, he had really grown on me.   The rest of the YJ kids were all cast perfectly.

The humor was a bit hit and miss, which isn’t all that unusual for a pilot trying to find its footing. I did like the “whelmed” running joke, and Kid Flash trying to explain that you shouldn’t call Superboy an “it” was great, but the “Incredible Bulk” line was just corny. I know Peter David is writing some episodes, so hopefully this will tighten up some quickly.

And I definitely liked all the fan service. Zatara being a Justice League member is a cool idea.  I hope it means we’ll see Zatanna as a member of Young Justice in the future.  And I’ve always liked Guardian and Dubbilex (I got a text during the episode asking me if that was Blue Devil, which cracked me up. He really did look like Blue Devil!).

I’m really curious about “The Light,” and where they are going with Speedy. Definitely a lot of good ideas here which should lead to some great future episodes.

While I thought the whole cartoon was good, I really think it hit its stride in the last ten minutes or so. Everything from the final fight with Blockbuster to the team’s formation was perfect, and I had a goofy smile on my face the whole time.

One big gripe is a reoccurring one with Cartoon Network. STOP SHRINKING THE CREDITS!! There are a lot of voice actors I am a fan of, and always watch the credits of cartoons to see who was involved. Cartoon Network always blocks that effort. To anyone who was curious, IMDB lists these actors from Young Justice’s pilot:

Season 1, Episode 1: Independence Day: Part 1

George Eads … Barry Allen / The Flash (voice)
Crispin Freeman … Roy Harper / Speedy (voice)
Bruce Greenwood … Bruce Wayne / Batman (voice)
Phil LaMarr … Arthur Curry / Aquaman (voice)
Yuri Lowenthal … Cameron Mahkent / Icicle (voice)
Jesse McCartney … Dick Grayson / Robin (voice)
Nolan North … Clark Kent / Superman (voice)
Khary Payton … Kaldur’ahm / Aqualad (voice)
Jason Spisak … Wally West / Kid Flash (voice)
Keith Szarabajka … Dr. Victor Fries / Mr. Freeze (voice)
Alan Tudyk … Oliver Queen / Green Arrow (voice)

Season 1, Episode 2: Independence Day: Part 2
Rene Auberjonois … Mark Desmond (voice)
Bruce Greenwood … Bruce Wayne / Batman (voice)
Phil LaMarr … Arthur Curry / Aquaman / Dubbilex (voice)
Jesse McCartney … Dick Grayson / Robin (voice)
Nolan North … Conner Kent / Superboy / Clark Kent / Superman (voice)
Khary Payton … Kaldur’ahm / Aqualad (voice)
Kevin Michael Richardson … J’onn J’onzz / Martian Manhunter (voice)
Jason Spisak … Wally West / Kid Flash (voice)
Alan Tudyk … Oliver Queen / Green Arrow (voice)

Final Score: 8.5/10: Show has a lot of potential, and I definitely enjoyed it. Didn’t grab me quite as strongly as the first episodes of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, but I am very excited for it to come back in January!

Mike Maillaro is a lifelong Jersey Boy and geek. Mike has been a comic fan for about 30 years from when his mom used to buy him Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Adventures at our local newsstand. Thanks, Mom!! Mike's goal is to bring more positivity to the discussion of comics and pop culture.