Anonymous writes...

"Indepedence Day" Review

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I really enjoyed this, it’s one of the tightest animated pilots I’ve seen in… well ever. Admittedly, I’m a life long member of the Church of Weisman but I’ll try to keep the fanboyish squeals of delight down to a somewhat dignified level.

First thing I’ll note is that the animation is drop dead gorgeous, I remember when I first saw to five minute preview featuring the ice villains and thinking that is seriously high quality stuff. It looks more like a theatrical feature then the kind of thing you’d see even on a typical tv budget. I don’t know if that’s because Brandon Vietti and the rest of the visual team are just that darn good or because WB are pouring truckloads of money into the animation budget, but I suspect it’s mainly the former with a little of the latter.

Story and character wise, well it’s a Weisman show so it goes without saying that they’re going to be top notch. I particularly enjoyed the very whedonesque banter between are four heroes. I’m also liking the new Aqualad, he has a very eldest sibling vibe. He’s thrust into the role of the mature responsible one trying to keep a handle on Wally’s impulsiveness, Dick’s devil may care attitude and Superboy’s anger issues.

Fans of JLU will probably see a lot of Michael Rosenbaum’s Flash in this incarnation of Wally right down to his hokey attempts at being a ladies man. Dick gets plenty of opportunities to show off his skills, he seems to have a natural talent for tactics and strategy but doesn’t quite have the maturity to take on a proper leadership role… yet.

Of course the big stand out character is Superboy. This is his story more then anyone else and the first step on his journey from pawn of Cadmus to master of his own fate is a nice parallel with the sidekicks’ own desire to step out of their mentors’ shadows. We also get a lot of nice tidbits from a lot of the supporting characters, from Clark and Conner’s original reactions to each other (which are magnificently portrayed purely through animation, without a single word of dialogue) to the downright icy glare Bruce gives Ollie when he finds out Roy knows about the Justice League’s REAL headquarters.

Plot wise there’s a lot of really cool twists and pipe laying for future stories. Greg and Brandon once said that the main theme for season one would be “secrets and lies” and boy they weren’t kidding. Both Cadmus and the League are hiding behind false fronts, their respective public HQ’s being little more then elaborate decoys for their real bases of operation.

We’re also introduced to what looks to be the series’ main villains, a shadowy cabal calling themselves “the Light” ironically enough. I’m very intrigued by these guys and a strongly suspect we’d recognise a lot of them if their faces weren’t being obscured. With Young Justice being organised as the League’s covert-ops team to combat the Light’s behind the scenes manipulations, I’m expecting a lot of more secrets, lies and plot twists in addition to straight up super heroic punch-ups.

All in all, I was very impressed. If the pilot is anything to go by, this may end up being the best thing to come out of DC animation since Batman: The Animated Series.

John Derrick writes...

I hate to say it, but I was extremely disappointed in the Young Justice premiere. Don't get me wrong--the animation was gorgeous, the dialogue entertaining, the story intriguing. But the gender imbalance was a huge turn-off for me.

Why was it that the women of the Justice League were only shown in the last five minutes of a two-part pilot? Why did the male sidekicks get to go on a rebellious adventure and force the League to accept them as a team of their own, while the first girl is only added to "Young Justice" at the very end, introduced by her uncle and guardian like some sort of token?

I expect that the women will have a lot more to do in the episodes to come, but I still find it profoundly problematic to introduce the characters in such an unequal manner. I believe there are too many men in the world as it is who see women as mere supporting players in their stories. Why reinforce this stereotype for a whole new generation of superhero cartoon fans?

kon-el writes...

1.Does Superboy have super hearing? I mean he was able to hear Aqualad from far away.
2.Why couldn't Superboy fly?

Anonymous writes...

I really dont know how your gonna respond to this you might wanna keep it to yourself so people dont read to much into it, but could you tell us the ages of some of the people on Earth-16?

These are the ones I'd like to know
Black Canary
Zatanna
Jamie Reyes
Static
Zachary Zatara
Supergirl

Yeah those arre the main ones Im curious about

Greg Bishansky writes...

I originally wrote this for my blog, and decided to paste it in here.

Young Justice

Well, what do you know? This is my one hundredth entry. Appropriate that it is about Greg Weisman's newest TV series.

Anyone who knows me knows I am a huge fan of Greg Weisman's work. "Gargoyles" is my all time favorite TV series; I adored "The Spectacular Spider-Man;" I was quite fond of the second season of "W.I.T.C.H.;" and the freelance scripts he wrote for shows like "Men In Black" and "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command" were always fun.

Okay, I really hated "Max Steel" and couldn't watch more than one episode, but that show had all sorts of behind the scenes problems that were not his fault. And sadly, "Roughnecks: Star Ship Troopers Chronicles" never aired in my area, so I've never really seen it. But, overall, Greg Weisman is responsible for high quality television. So, I was greatly anticipating his newest series, "Young Justice."

"Young Justice" is loosely based on a DC Comics title by the same name, but draws from many other sources. It focuses on a group of sidekicks (but don't call them that) who band together to become a covert ops team connected to the Justice League. The stars of the show are Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Superboy, Miss Martian, and Artemis. Although, we have yet to meet Artemis and only briefly met Miss Martian.

The theme of the first season is "secrets and lies" and this is very apparent within the pilot already. The Justice League is keeping secrets from the members of Young Justice... which was enough to piss off Speedy, and get him to storm off. And Project Cadmus was keeping secrets from the rest of the world.

I love a good mystery, and we've got one set up with a shadowy organization called The Light, who were behind Project Cadmus. Although, I am somewhat reminded of the Illuminati from "Gargoyles" (Hmm... Light - illuminated - Illuminati) and the Council of Thirteen of the Guild of Calamitous Intent in "The Venture Bros." although, I highly doubt Davie Bowie is L-1.

The writing and dialogue are very sharp, and considering the pilot was penned by Mr. Weisman himself, that was to be expected. The animation is very strong, and I kept wondering what their budget was, because it looks great. The voice acting was also phenomenal, which is to be expected from any series voice directed by Jamie Thomason.

This series has just about everything going for it, and already, in my mind, blew the competition out of the water. Yes, I enjoy "The Avengers - Earth's Mightiest Heroes" quite a bit, but the quality of that show just doesn't compare to the quality of "Young Justice." The funny thing about that is that outside of Batman, and some Vertigo comics, I have no attachment to DC Comics at all. I've always been a Marvel reader. But Marvel has never had animated series as good as DC's, with the exception of "The Spectacular Spider-Man" which was just as great as "Batman the Animated Series." But then, look at who the mastermind behind Spidey was.

I give the pilot of "Young Justice" a solid five stars. It also left me intrigued enough to come back for more when the series really gets going in January.

Anonymous writes...

If there was enough related media, and tie-in's what would you like the universe your creating to be called?

Anonymous writes...

Hey Greg,
I was wondering did Blockbuster die in the end or was he imprisoned? And did Ms. Martian change the color of her shirt to match Superboys? How would you describe Superman's reaction to Superboy? When they're first walking into the Hall Of Justice Kid Flash says "Have all 4 sidekicks ever been in the same place at once" or something along those lines does that mean that there are only 4 sidekicks on Earth-16 currently? (which doesnt mean there arent other teen superheroes they'd just be solo right)

Jack-Pumpkinhead writes...

Hey Greg, congratulations on Young Justice! I watched the two-hour premiere and I was thoroughly impressed. I liked the way you handled the characters and the world. I mean, getting Blockbuster in like that? Very nicely done. You put together a very formidable JLA there, and I liked ... oh hell, I loved everything! Please give my kudos to the animators and voice actor if possible (Jesse McCartney was awesome as Robin). My only two questions on the show come from having a poor quality tape to record it on;
1-Did they say Aqualad's first name in the show? Cause if they did, I missed it.
2- Was That Cripsin Freeman voicing Speedy? I know he was Guardian, but I didn't know about Roy.

Again, awesome job, and the series premiere cant start soon enough!

Anonymous writes...

Will you make a Dark Ages comic books spin off??? I would like to know more about the lives of the Gargoyle characters. And by the way, I watched young justice and I enjoyed it! I can't wait till the series comes out in January!

Anonymous writes...

That premiere was amazing!! One question though one that Im not even sure your allowed to anwser. When Blockbuster tells the scientist to clone Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad, Robin replies bys saying "Pass Batcaves Crowded Enough" can you elaborate on what he meant by this? Is their a Batgirl or Batwoman running around Gotham in this universe or maybe Bathound?