Algernon writes...

“Young Justice: Drop-Zone” review

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Really great episode all round, I think this is what most of us have been waiting for since “Independence Day” first aired back in November.

First off, I know a lot of folks thought Desmond’s transformation into Blockbuster was pretty disturbing but damn, Mammoth just took it to a whole new level of nightmare fuel. Not only do we get his skin ripping of but exposed muscle tissue and everything. You guys must have the most laid back S&P exec in history.

Back to the actual plot, this episode really sells the idea of Young Justice as the League’s covert-ops team. I especially liked how the team still hasn’t completely gelled yet, as befits their first official mission. Everyone’s unsure of their roles and they don’t even have a leader yet. Robin’s got a lot of natural talent and he’s probably the best suited for covert work, but he lacks the necessary maturity. I like the idea of Kaldur taking on the “burden of leadership” until Robin’s ready. I got to say Kaldur’s my favourite character so far and I’m looking forward to seeing how he grows as a leader in the future.

I’m a big supervillain geek, so this episode had a lot for me to like. Bane was very cool, a lot of writers forget Bane’s supposed to be a strategist as well as a brawler, so it was refreshing to see him playing the YJers and the Kubra Cult against each other. I also enjoyed Lord Kobra, any dude created by Jack Kirby is automatically worth looking into for me but I loved what Arnold Vosloo did with the character, supremely arrogant yet very cold and understated. It’s easy to see how a cult of personality formed around this guy.

Sportsmaster seemed pretty left field but interesting. I’m familiar with the character from “Batman: The Brave & The Bold” but never expected to see him in a show like this. Still, I liked the way you guys re-imagined him as more of a mercenary then weirdo with a gimmick.

It was also very cool to see the Light again, I’ve been looking forward to seeing these guys again and it looks like their conspiracy seems to stretch across the super-criminal community. Project Cadmus, the Kobra Cult and even Professor Morrow and Mr. Twister, they seem to have their fingers in many dubious pies.

Like I said great episode that just makes my hungry for more, can’t wait to see where you guys are going with this.