Cartoon Network’s new animated hit has finally begun! Now I know, the ads said it started on January 7, but those first two episodes were the same 1 hour special they played back in November, so this is the first new episode. We will finally get a good look at Miss Martian and what she can doo since all she did in the premiere was change the color of her shirt. From the ads, we know that the team is not complete, as Arrowette still has to join the group and if they are to follow the comic, there may be numerous others.
This episode shows the team getting their first “official” mission since being stationed at their new base. The base is a cave located in Happy Harbor that the JL used to call “The Secret Sanctuary.” The younger heroes will come to call it “The Justice Cave.” The team is presented with some down time so they try to get to know each other and things don’t go so well. Kid Flash is moving a little too fast trying to score points with Miss Martian; Miss Martian (Megan), being unfamiliar with human customs, invades personal space by using her telepathy and Superboy is just being an overall dick. In his defense, the kid is literally a test tube baby and never had any lessons in social skills; he also spent all of his life up to now being mentally controlled so having a voice in his head not his own was a bit unnerving. Their first mission comes in the form of a disturbance in Happy Harbor (gee a supervillain in Happy Harbor right after they move in, what are the odds?) and the team is sent to investigate. Enter Mister Twister, an android controlled mech suit that controls weather. The team makes the mistake of thinking it is Red Tornado and gets humiliated. After a regroup and some clever strategy, Mister Twister goes down hard. Trust begins to form where there was none and the new team is on its way to becoming just that – a team.
As a fan of the former Teen Titans show, I have to say that I am very happy and so far impressed with Young Justice. Of course there are some complaints, but they are minor. For one, Miss Martian is not really related to The Martian Manhunter and despite her appearance she is really a white Martian; for that matter, she is an on/off member of the Teen Titans and not of Young Justice. This episode’s villain, Mister Twister, is a real DC villain with two different incarnations, but neither of them are a big robot. Robin, Superboy and Arrowette (yet to appear on screen) are the only actual members of this team. Impulse is supposed to be on team instead of Kid Flash and this Aqualad is kinda confusing. He is not quite the same black Aqualad from the comics (his name is Kaldur’ahm, not Jackson Hyde). It has been said that the show is only taking the name of the comic; that it will follow its own set of storylines within the DC Universe so we shall see how it continues to develop. So far, things are shaping up nicely.
