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Young Justice: Invasion

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Laura 'as astra' Sack writes...

Summit- Only one question burred in comment #8, but first...
Shorts
-Loved the All New Plastic Man ...again
-Amethyst -cute enough end.

1- First time around it seemed off visually. Less so, but still this second time. The layouts are great, just something sub (the very high usual) par in the faces and maybe animation. I mentioned in an earlier review that Black Manta is movie matinee hot. He was just good looking here. It threw me off a bit.
2- When the Light unmasked, I was hoping the Reach would too. It would have been interesting to see what the rank and file looked like.
3- "No agreement exists that makes a slave of Black Manta."
"No agreement exists that guarantees the life of Black Manta."
"Manta guarantees that himself"
-all jokes about referring to oneself in third person, it's a pretty bad@ss exchange. I do wish we had a change to learn more about him.
4- "Apologies great one." "None necessary child. You have my...thanks." Putting aside the lovely bit of voice acting there, I do like this soft-spoken Ras aGhul. I'm used to him being over the top, but this speaks to a certain self-assured power that theatrics can undercut.
5- Random comment: There is something about the Reach Ambassador's design I really like.
6- Black Manta jumps between Black Beetle and son ~after~ betrayal is known. (Well... the first betrayal.) Kal doesn't even have a kind word to him while 'dying' in his grief stricken arms. Not even hearing the emotion choked voice as he proved to be alive.
7- So all the Light all are in on the Darwinian aims? I always assumed each had his or her own reason. (It seems especially odd with Klarion.)
8- The gotcha! No, Gotcha!, No GOTCHA! is fun.
-Q How did Garth pass as adult size in human disguise?
-Nightwing and opponent switching positions :)
-Gaurdian offhandedly knocking out one opponent while ducking another :)!
-Nice strategy that not everyone pulled their hoods off at once. Robin, Wondergirl and Impulse got the drop on their opponents by waiting a minute.
-And one last Gotcha! with Klarion.
-Ras says not to fight because the League has no jurisdiction - interesting villains do not fight for no reason. (The Master will be resurrected! -It's not cheating mortality if you announce you are going to do it;)
9- Back to Black Manta and son...this fell a little flat for me. Kal might say he admits to feeling conflicted, but I don't really see it. Artimas has shown anger to her dad, but there always seems to be conflict- she cares for him despite wanting not to, and he's shown her just about no fatherly consideration. Black Manta has moved oceans for Kal, and we've never seen Kal hesitate a moment. All he offers for explanation is that his father wastes his gifts on villainy. It's a long time, and a lot of serious 'affronts' before the father fights back or even shows any anger. And his line about it not being a world in which a "free man can afford to be soft" coupled with the Black Beetle incident earlier leads me to wonder if he has good reason to be somewhat screwed up. In fact the only real emotion we see from Kal is when he knocks out his father- it's anger and disdain, "I believe that was fairly ruthless, I hope it made you proud." (Well, there is that tiny eye gesture he does while looking at his unconscious father at the end of the battle...) I'm not sure if I just think a lot is missing, or if it is a story for another time.
10- I'm shipping for L'gan and M'gan. He's earned it.
11- I like that Black Beetle can dump the Ambassador. He's slave to the Reach, not a particular Reach.
12- I was surprised to learn that Kal was going back to being leader of the team...I had assumed Dick took over earlier in the 5 years, not just with the plan.
13- "Not after we destroy the Earth." Da Da DUM Da!
thanks.

Greg responds...

7. Well, Klarion likes the Chaos. But the rest are all aboard. They may have slightly different twists to their agendas, but the basics are all the same.

8. We went out of our way to show that the Ninjas came in all sizes.

Response recorded on January 09, 2014

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Laura 'as astra' Sack writes...

Intervention
Shorts-
Absolutely loves the All New Black Lightning short...again. I'm not sure I get Grace's text about changing oil.
More Amethyst, still okay, and actually 'new'.

1- The interaction between the beetles is pretty fascinating. To be so completely controlled and yet still have distinct personalities is not what we usually see.
2- "Don't blame Beetle! He's just as much a captive of the Reach as we were. We have to set him free! ...ya know, before he conquers the earth and enslaves mankind." :)
3- How unexpected; the Toy Man's visuals come from Smallville. I may be wrong, but isn't he an undersized suited man in the comic books? Not good or bad, just unexpected.
4- Under Reach control Blue just can't manage to really take a proper care at protecting the civilians, can he? Until now that seemed to be very good at faking everything else till now. I can't decide if it is a legit nit to pick, or just the difference of hearing it from inside Jaime's mind. Speaking of which...
5- Nice reversal to have Scarab in control (well, Reach) and Jaime in head complaining. "That's not the way I talk! And stop waving! I look like the Queen of England… Great, now I'm Peter Pan." :)
6- Poseidonis. Nice city design! It is complete NOT Atlantis. L'gan is such a sweet guy.
7- Inching closer to the Scarab I love form the comics...it's odd to think that the Scarab is as much a prisoner as Jamie. You would think when he was reset he would lose the desire not to be of the Reach, but it is clear (to me at least, Jaime misses it) that the Scarab's mind is clear. Even before Bart and Babs show up that's so, but once they do there is a distinct lack of the usual bloodthirstiness in the Scarab. Then there is dragging his blades to make noise and banging away at a force field powered by kinetic energy. Such lovely acts of defiance for one without free will.
8- Nice depiction of Bart's speed. I love the idea that he goes so fast that he can still walk on the support of the rope after it rips because the loss of tension hasn't had a chance to each the rope under his feet.
9- Reach scientist "This goes well." Such lovely sarcasm. Cut to M'gan, "this isn't going well." Ouch. Everything she says is true. Everything he says is true. Truth sucks. (M'gan does ask for Connor first thing when she gets to the warehouse.)
10- "Girlfriend...some day you have to tell me how you figure out those backward words so fast!" The question had occurred to me. "Maybe backwards is my native tongue." I bet there is some weird truth in that.
11- "They doubtless plan to destroy Blue Beetle, and then you and this scarab in the process." "Hermano, if that's your only take-away from our time together...you haven't learned a thing." Well, I did learn to talk a certain way when the Reach is listening...
Q12- "You can thank us later." Is Robin talking to his teammates of Green Beetle? Did they always have a contingency to save all Beetles who showed up?
13- "Congratulations Jaime Reyes....If this mistrust is your only take-away from our time together..." Nice turn around.
Q14- They've been working in this fix for months...before the Reach took BB over? Was this a case of- we'd better study this...wow! we'd better learn this just in case and Just in case came to pass?
15- Knowing when to throw a fight, and how to do so convincingly...impressive.
Thanks.

Greg responds...

3. If you mean "Smallville" the television series, I don't think that's correct. Toyman was inspired by one of his many comic book incarnations. But you'd have to ask Phil Bourassa and/or Jerome Moore for details.

6. Poseidonis is the capital city of Atlantis. It's where we were in episode 108 "Depths".

12. Yep.

14. Yep.

Response recorded on January 09, 2014

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Laura 'as astra' Sack writes...

The Hunt

Wow- first time I had 5 questions in a review for a while.
But first the Shorts-
I loved the All New Animal Man...again
DC Nation Farm League- Not sure I love it, but this one had great lines. "I want whatever Wombats eat!" "'I'll go.' 'But actually get snacks, not just run around rooftops and narrate yourself.'" "Catcat" "I am the mongoose who is also a bat...cue lightning." "I looked it up, wombats eat roots!" Alright, I think I liked this one.

1- Still wondering at the geological chaos not shown for introducing the second moon sized War World into orbit. (I just remember one mention when it parked in orbit.)
2- "One of nine young heroes captured by the Reach." Wolf is included in the count. Lex is not one to underestimate anyone.
3- "You had me at 'we owe them'." The last statement ;) or perhaps the most important.
4- Surrender ruse- those kids are certainly simpatico.
Q5- Parts of War World look like a city. Is it designed to hold a population should the person with the key desire it?
Q6- The new kids seem rather blasé about throwing Reach soldiers over the edges to presumably die. I'm not saying they should hold back, just that I am a little surprised that it doesn't make them pause at any point. Is this a case of not thinking of the (literally) faceless enemy, or rage against those that tortured them? (Although...do I imagine a landing ~thud~ right before the "and that's what you get for blasting my board!", like they landed on an off screen surface and not followed Eduardo's previous fall path?)
7- I really liked the visual of Longshadow shrinking down and his real body filling into the space before it disappeared. Something about how he sunk into and filled the feet, knees and shins was...elegantly done?
Q8- When Arsenal is out of power for his arm, does that include basic none weapon functions- does it become still? I tried pause frame, but aside from him using his other hand to take the Reach weapon, I couldn't tell if there was anything to check on screen. (I've read description of the cutting edge leg prosthetics can be like that - you don't fully charge and sometime the next day your miracle of modern mechanical engineering becomes a very fancy stump leg. One lady described being unable to leave her desk one day because she had plugged in her leg to charge.)
9- Nightwing and Megan's guiltfest. Nicely done. Without short changing legitimate emotional reactions, you have a history of not having characters stupidly hash over and wallow unaware. They can do stupid things, but not because they are blind to a painfully obvious thing. (Unless of course that blindness is a defining flaw ~ahem, Demona~.)
10- I love those smiles as Sphere comes in :)
11- GGGodfry- Happy, happy, joy, joy. Earlier I accused him of drinking the kool-aid. I do apologize. Kinda reminds you why an honest press that hates you can be your most important resource. The fact he had been on their side, but not going to ignore their sins, gives him the access to publicly call the Reach on their lies and the standing to be believed as unbiased. As for all the nasty things he said of the Justice League...a lot of them were fair. As Feste said, "now my foes tell me plainly I am an ass: so that by my foes, sir, I profit in the knowledge of myself, ...the worse for my friends and the better for my foes." (Who can resist quoting Feste?) Of course this might all be for naught if he ends up being Darkseid or the like....
12- The Light certainly are clever with mega level distractions when they steal stuff.
Q13- What is the stuff Roy takes that was in the same room as the key?
14- Nightwing is right to throw Arsenal off, and he did it they best way possible under the circumstances, but the runaways were right from what they observed, and it speaks well of them that loyalty and fairness motivates them so. Carries right through to rejecting Lex without hesitation. Those kids have great instincts. Roy will either get them killed or be the better for the association. It's too small of a group for his ill actions to be compensated for, and although he thinks they suit his lone wolf badassery, that's really not what they are about. They act from a solid core value set, not the hurt fear that Roy does. Different reactions to very similar experiences, though the new kids had each other while Roy was alone.
15- Roy immediately figures out all the pieces- he's using you as a distraction while he sent another pawn to get the crystal key! "Actually Deathstroke is more of a bishop". :) The kids reject it, but Lex is unapologetic about his utilitarian world view.
Thanks

Greg responds...

5. I think it's largely functional, but yes, I'm sure it was designed to hold a massive army if necessary.

6. Yes, the latter. You didn't imagine the thud. It's in the mix.

8. If it were 100% drained, it becomes useless. But the power fully drains from the weapons systems before it loses function as an arm.

13. Things like Guardian's shield, Wonder Girl's lasso, etc.

Response recorded on January 09, 2014

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Laura 'as astra' Sack writes...

Complications: (1 question in the mix)
Shorts-
An all new rerun of the second Vibe short...
Gem World- cute as the others.

1- Just really noticing, but Black Manta is movie matinee gorgeous. (Kal is beautiful (also hansom, but the word choice is intentional), but just enough not human to be 'alien'.)
2- War World bigger than moon? That should make chaos - as a Manhattanite I wonder at how high the water is hitting.
3- "Don't kid yourself Jade, we're not that different." Maybe some other time I'll see it, but right now they really seem ~that~ different. The first time I saw it I basically accepted the disdain she shows her father as that of a child to a parent, for and on par with that Artimas has shown. But on second viewing it occurs to me, she is a mother. She is probably more likely to disdain him as parent herself. Which then contrasts interestingly with Black Manta's devotion to a son that covertly disdains him. I am increasingly curious as to the history and relationship between father and son.
Q 4-"Fresh Pot" The random crew member looks really familiar. How odd. Also very human, like Black Manta, are they not Atlantian?
5- "The Martian is attempting to save him. She knows if her patient dies we have no reason to keep her alive." Well thank goodness they came up with a reason to explain it. There is no guarantee our intrepid heroes would have thought of that.
6- Ok, now we can talk. Slam! -that's unfortunate.
Q 7- Nightwing the detective puts together miniscule clues and figures out Blue Beetle is lying... works for me. But how does he do a somersault down easily three times his height and land on his feet? Is the gravity lighter on War World? (Is its gravity is based on mass and not artificially generated?) On Earth when he does something like that he usually bounces off a few intermediary things on the way down - like in that French sport that makes {extremely fit} regular people look like Spiderman.
8- In Artimas & Cheshires' room- Cheshire's anger at Megan for 'stealing' that memory makes her real sense of family contrast to her father even stronger. She's never a good guy, but her interest is in self. Since she cares about family, (despite having abandoned it when they were younger), she protects it. Same way we saw her rescue [clone] Roy to be a father. (Art note- side by side you really see the sisters look alike.) It makes her a lot more likeable…despite being a cold blooded killer. Sportsmaster, in contrast, rejects the emotional response, he takes the physical, literally kick in the head, and then is happy because his 'baby girl' is playing Manta and Light for chumps.
9- M'gan, "I realize Chesire that we will probably never be friends."
Cheshire, "You can leave off the probably." :)
10- Deathstroke, "Leaving so soon...and without a goodbye?" Cheshire, "Good bye." LOVE IT. More father daughter contrast: Sportmaster has a grudge and rep and challenge to meet- he runs to the fight. Short of something on the level of sister to avenge, (or a paycheck, I presume), she's done and gone. Way smarter. He's the bad guy equivalent of a knight throwing off his helmet after knocking off his opponent's. She's more of a shoot the knight with a gun kinda gal. Darwin with a wry sense of humor. Yeah, I know it's part of the act, but they are playing to type.
11- Mid fight sibling teasing...makes me happy. But seriously, losing a free babysitter is probably worth a small amount of bruising and blood spilled...just saying.
12- "Yeah Yeah...and sorry" "For what?" SLAM hee hee
13- Elegant end to the situation...but how long till Simon wakes up and they're all screwed?
14- What a sweet scene between Cheshire and her mom over Lian.... Of course you stopped the camera before her mom's reaction to Artimas being alive. I presume it went something like this, "She's al...She's.... I'm, I'm so hap...so ha... I AM SO GOING TO KILL HER!" Or something like that.
15- More Black Manta has heartfelt dad...and no love from Kal. I'm looking forward to that back story.
16- Jamie shows his face...I wonder, (and presumably will soon find out), if he gave up his identity or just showed a face that may or may not be recognized. (Like that JLU episode with Lex Luthar in Flash's body. He takes off the mask, looks in the mirror and realizes he has no idea who's face that it.)
Thanks.

Greg responds...

2. The Warworld is smaller than our moon. Still huge, but not that huge.

4. Nearly all of Manta's men are African-American. Some are African. Some are African-Somewhere else. None are Atlanteans.

7. I'd have to look at it again, but I don't remember it seeming super-human.

Response recorded on January 09, 2014

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Laura 'as astra' Sack writes...

War-
Only the last thought has a question.
Shorts-
Vibe I. All new? Still far less dated than it should be.
Amethyst- fun enough

1 A few things caught my interest in the trial-
a- "the life forms you injured" The Light had total control over the Justice Leaguers and chose not to kill?
b- "surely the bribes have changed hands by now? ...savages." Amusing, also an argument not without merit- if bribes are expected, there is a reasonable expectation of behavior in that society. To buck expectations is to challenge the order of that civilization. Like the cannibal shocked by the carnage described in WWI, 'You mean you kill more than you can eat? Savage!", what we see as bad behavior actually keeps them I check.
c- Savage, the 'savage' that started it all, a literal early savage, is there to throw Mongal into the mix. {Mongal…that voice.}
2- War World is the size of the moon? What that would do to Earth! It's cataclysmic!
3- Surest way to take back his world is to concur the entire galaxy? Overkill much?
4- Karen; "Sorry, I'm a little preoccupied ...with THE SECOND MOON IN THE SKY!" What a fantastic fake-out! Not a relationship subplot, gotcha!
5- "Unfortunately the Reach only has this single ship designed for peaceful exploration and unequipped with weapons of any kind." Yeah, that's gonna come back to bite you in the posterior. (Ironic that the Justice League really did that with their satellite.)
6- I notice that when the JL makes important contact, Nightwing always represents.
7- Mal -Fine with me, I like the attention, at least a big alien death moon notices when I'm around.
Karen-Was that a Slam on me? In the middle of a mission?!
Mal-Woman, when are you not in the middle of a mission?!
A point, a palpable point!
Mal-Alright, Supercycle's got our back, I love a lady I can count on!
Karen-Alright, I get it, I'm a bad girlfriend. Now quit pouting.
Mal- Who's pouting? I'm not pouting! Let's just blow this place and go.
I'm given her the win this time.
Mal- Good luck beautiful.
Awww....
8-Mongol's powers are red sun related? But I thought he's that powerful everywhere.
9- Cat Grant's voice is great.
10- Nice cutting from Batgirl down to the Reach on the percentage of attack neutralized. I also recall a transition from the Reach observation of attack to the halls themselves.
11- Mal- you outgrew me. Karen- idiot.
That works better than the cliché on most shows.., more satisfying too. Leads to that great happy clean up vibe Blue beetle destroys.
12- I'm trying to decide if Arsenal screwed up any chance of defeating Blue or if they were really without a chance and the airlock just gave him a chance to go another day. Tim and Karen aren't the most powerful team members, but they are probably among the smartest... (Not that it was Roy's motivation at the time.)
Q13- Why did only the still fighting members of the team get pulled by the open airlock? Roy, Karen, Time and Wolf hold on for dear life. Sphere goes out the door. But Mal just lies there. And I don't see them while the locke is open, but the same question applies to Babs, Gar, Bart, and Conner. As far as I can tell, only Cassie was pinned, and Mongal weighs a ton.
Thanks.

Greg responds...

8. Mongul is a big, strong, powerful guy. Under a yellow sun, his powers (though not exactly the same) rise to the level of Superman's. He can't fly, but he's far stronger. Under a red sun, he has no powers, but he's still far stronger than a normal human - and far stronger than Superman would be under that same red sun. I still wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley.

9. Three cheers for the amazingly talented and versatile Masasa Moyo!

13. I'd have to look at the scene again, but no one should have just lain there. Some were further away than others. And Mongul does weigh a ton (figuratively).

Response recorded on January 08, 2014

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Laura 'as astra' Sack writes...

Another old review, 2 questions among the comments...
Runways
Shorts-
Black Lightening and family- LOVE
SBFF- "brand new"? I'm not saying I didn't love it, just that I loved it the first time.

1-Meta gene being 'opportunistic' makes sense. The DCU is full of the superpowered children of Golden Age none powered heroes, often superpowers that fit thematically with their parents' personas.
Q2-Wilcox's design looks reminiscent of an actor whose names I don't remember...what's the importance of his necklace watch? (Close up on it being left behind.)
3-I'm so used to brilliant Static, I'm going to have to get used to regular (very good) guy- but I like that he was never a runaway. It's been so long since I read the original comics, I can't remember if he was a crazy science geek back in Milestone. (Between the brains and the quips, Virgil often reminds me of Peter Parker.) I did notice that when he knocked out the guard with the fire extinguisher it remained still in the air after the man fell. I take it is to show that he didn't just fling it at the man, or in other words, even in the thick of things he had the presence of mind not to just bean a none bad guy full force. But then it fell on the man's shoulder....
4-I'm not clear on Asami's power. I'm sure it will be made clear or answered by the time you read this, but I'm guessing it has to do with kinetic, springlike force bursts.
5-I'm still fuzzy on how the lab held the kids without parental consent, especially Virgil, (and for all we know, Asami), who wants to be with his family. Though I feel for Newt's side of the argument.
Q6-Jamie on the phone with Nightwing seemed fully Jamie, (had me thinking that the tinkering Green Beetle did hadn't yet taken effect). When the Reach takes a host, do they let the host think it's in control when it's undercover? ...Actually, from a later episode it seems they retain some of their original personality- Is either of the above true? Are the Beetles we've seen typical?
7-Amazo parts...no that's not going to end badly. But Red Volcano was certainly a surprise. Actually, nice red herring of the head being elsewhere.
8-I have no idea if the Japanese is good, bad or really Mongolian, but the timing is hilarious.
9-Virgil and can of Reach was a good chuckle.
10-Jaime going overboard and putting civilians in danger had me assuming he was turning, I hadn't realized it was because he already turned.
11-Those four kids have great instincts when it comes to issues of trust - walking away from Jaime, being wary of Lex.
Thanks.

Greg responds...

2. The real David Wilcox, i.e. our amazing line producer, wears a watch just like that one.

4. Chi.

6. The Scarab, having spent much time with its host, is able to download parameters to make a convincing impersonation (most of the time). But it was never Jaime.

Response recorded on January 08, 2014

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Laura 'as astra' Sack writes...

Yay! The queue is open! I wish I had some gamer friends to go to to try out YJ:Legacy. I will have to make do with everyone else's enthusiastic reviews to find the story. I apologize for the coming info dump, but I've saved up a bunch of comments since the queue closed, but a lot of it is reviews of the last few episodes. I was rather far behinds when the queue closed...

Fix
Shorts-
Batman of Shanghi- Still lovely, still not for me. But seeing fight through puppet screen is cool.
Farm League- eh

Numbered thoughts-
1-Blank Manta is such a concerned father.
2-Megan is so hesitant, what an unfortunate time to be so scrupled. I was suspicious at the time, though writing this up later lets me say I was right to be so. Still I wonder what the plan was had she not been hesitant. Were they just hoping the Green Beetle would be powerful enough to misdirect her? (His offering the Reach drink additive info is an easy give since Lex knew that Robin snagged a sample to test. The Meta gene added info might have been considered something that would eventually, or perhaps was already discovered, an even if not, it was a 'good will' gesture more than worth it.)
3-Artimas really is good at the undercover thinking on her feet. I wonder at the stories during the five year jump that showed her growing those skills. Even though her whole first year on the team was a similar hiding of self in a way, she just wasn't that good at it. (Inner and outer dialogue- Death Stroke coming along- Perfect...perfect.)
4- Blue Beetle- How about we meet up first thing in the morning...say noon :)
5-Lagon in the beginning seems all clueless wanting Megan to use her powers, but then we see him talking about their relationship and there is nothing clueless about it. HE knows something is wrong and won't even wait to talk about it.
6- Death Stroke is visually bad @ss- he moves, he poses etc. I'm on the fence about the ponytail. How it hangs or moves at the bottom looks cool. Looks weird coming from his head. It's a dumb thing for a hand-to-hand fighter, (though Nightwing once had one), but he's good enough to be taunting an opponent to grab at it.
7- Green Beetle gets Jaime to ask to let him in. It's best to get the mark to think he's asking for something from his own ideas.
8- "Megan, we don't have any choice." "No ~ ~ I suppose we don't." Great voice acting.
9- (with question)- There is one thing that struck me as little off in this and the following scenes in Karduran's room: Deathstroke is watching the whole time, he seems the two women, never talking, never saying even the minimum typical (un)pleasantries that two people stuck in a room would end up exchanging. Did he ever think it odd? Suspicious? Even Black Manta waited 6 hours before seeing Tigress stand in place as odd.
10- I still think there is good argument for Nightwing having kept the secret having been kept so limited in scope. Other dangers come from sharing.
11- Even when Kalduran has no face, but Tula does.
12- And there goes Jaime...not that we know that for a few episodes..

thanks!

Greg responds...

8. I was constantly blown away by the quality of our voice acting - and the voice directing we got from Jamie Thomason.

9. I think the assumption was that Miss Martian was engaged in her psychic work. And Tigress was a guard. Not a friend.

Response recorded on January 08, 2014

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Reiena writes...

I am curious about something with young Justice Legacy.

I was wondering how the Team Years went, is it from July 4th to July 4th each year, or is it from january 1st to january 1st each year.

Got young Justice Legacy for the 3DS and I have to say, was not seeing this storyline coming. The trailers did not give anything away, and I'm happy with the story so far.

Greg responds...

January 1st to December 31st, just to preserve my sanity.

Glad you like it!

Response recorded on January 08, 2014

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Todd Jensen writes...

This is my belated review of "Young Justice: Invasion", which I decided to do as an overall comment rather than an episode-by-episode review (while the episodes felt complete within themselves, they also felt so much like a larger whole that it might work better this way - plus, I watched them long enough ago that I don't think I could keep the individual episodes distinct from each other in my memory).

We start with the infamous and controversial Time Skip, which I remember upset a lot of people because of the major changes to the familiar cast. It took a while for me to fully adjust to it - but one that made some sense. (In particular, I thought it fitted a major part of the story, about the alien trial. It's a big universe, and even in a DC Comics setting where you've got aliens equipped with super-technology able to get from one solar system to another in less than six months, it would still take a while for the fallout from the Justice League's attack on Rimbor to reach Earth.)

My favorite new characters in the second season were Jamie (especially how he's plagued with a Beetle with a ruthless streak that he has to keep arguing with - and worse, since he's the only one who can hear it, those arguments seem odd to anyone within earshot) and G. Gordon Godfrey (memorably voiced by Tim Curry - and what a delight! I thought it a good thing that Goliath and his clan don't live on Earth-16, since I could guess what Godfrey would be saying about them - and we probably don't need to confuse the audience further about whether the gargoyles are from outer space). It was even more of a delight when Godfrey, after lambasting the Justice League for all its secrets, does the same to the Reach near the end; (And his showing up on Apokolips in the final scene suggests that there's more to him than an opinionated talk show host.)

I can't remember all the details that I enjoyed after this time, but a few things:

1. The Krotoleans (or is it Kroloteans- I can't remember which) method of disguising themselves as humans reminded me of the animated adaptation of "Men in Black", though I don't know if that was an influence.

2. I got a kick out of the "Jabberwocky" quotes used to confuse aliens in the second episode.

3. Superman's big moment, trying to rescue the Krotoleans from the explosion - and failing because of their dislike and distrust of him.

4. As the Justice Leaguers prepare to depart for Rimbor, Martian Manhunter asking Miss Martian to look after the plants in his apartment while he's away. It's ironic that such a natural, everyday, down-to-earth moment is coming from a couple of Martians.

5. The original Roy Harper was shown convalescing at a hospital called "Royal Memorial"; I wondered why a hospital in (presumably) the U.S. would have "Royal" in its name (unless it was a surname and not "royal" in the usual adjective sense).

6. One of the funniest moments; Captain Cold learning the hard way that you should never rob a bank across the street from a super-heroine wedding shower.

7. Despite Black Manta being one of the villains (and a new member of the Light, at that), I found his love for his son touching. The moments that most stood out to me was when he was praising Kaldur for not taking credit for the success of a mission when it hadn't been due to his own efforts, and how, when he learns that Kaldur had been really a double agent, his first response is, not anger (though that comes later), but grief and devastation.

8. I think that the episode that introduces Bart/Impulse needs to be watched twice - the second time, after you know that his behaving like an oddball time traveling tourist is just an act and that he has far more serious motives. (The other things that most stood out to me in this episode was Central City having a monument that looked a lot like the Gateway Arch - being a St. Louisan, I'd naturally pick up on that - which, alas, gets destroyed in the battle with Neutron, Bart's constant use of "Spoilers!" a la River Song in "Doctor Who", and, my favorite:

FLASH (changing into his uniform and running off): Back in a flash!

BART: Does he say that often?

EVERYONE ELSE IN UNISON: Too often.)

I have mixed feelings about this being the last season. On the one hand, the revelation at the end of the Light being allied with Darkseid means that we could really have had an exciting third season. On the other, the ending felt so perfectly "full circle", with the Team floating down to welcome the returning Justice League members as an echo of the ending of the opening two-parter at the start of Season One, and the Team now having full access to the Watchtower; it's come of age.

At any rate, even though I'm not much of a DC Comics buff, I thought that this was a good series, and would like to thank you for it - and wish you well on future projects.

Greg responds...

It's Kroloteans.

And thank you!

(You know, I've only JUST noticed that I've made it to the November questions. Felt like I'd never get through all the posts from back in March. Now, suddenly, I'm only a couple months behind instead of nearly a year. It's quite a relief.)

Response recorded on January 07, 2014

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Superboy fan writes...

Greg, I watched young justice religiously every week until it's end. But I have to admit as a Superboy fan I was disappointed deeply in Invasion. In the second season everyone of the main 6 seemed like they had a role. Artemis, Nightwing, Kaldur and Wally had their secret and Wally his eventual death. M'gann had her abuse of her powers. Superboy's plot was essentially looking sad at everything and getting beaten up every time he was put on screen to the point I started cringing whenever he appeared on screen because I knew he wouldn't do anything effective against the villain of the day.

It was especially apparent in Summit where we get to see nearly every member of the team get to do something awesome and Superboy instantly gets slapped down by black Beetle before he gets his chance when just moments earlier M'gann and Artemis held off their own against him. Il

It just seemed after a certain point you were just picking on the guy.

And relatedly I have to admit I come from home where my mother was very abusive to me and my father so I admit that colors my bias somewhat but I noticed a few other people spotting the parallels as well. But basically M'gann and Conner's relationship dynamic shift seemed incredibly abusive to me. M'Gann's decision to try to erase his memory and abuse the power she had over him and then his reaction to hide what she did to him instead of telling anyone because he still loved her and doesn't want to get her in trouble over him hit a little too close to home. And instead of being apologetic in the slightest she runs off to another guy. So I admit I was hoping all season that Conner would eventually confess to anyone what she did to him and get some kind of support system and the two would eventually become friends again but no longer lovers. So I have to admit their semi-getting back together in Endgame brought me much disappointment. It just seemed like Conner's character stagnated while she dated a rebound guy and realized he was right and it's be okay because he was always there waiting for her. When it seems like he's much better off without her.

Greg responds...

You know, no matter who your favorite character is, you're going to feel he or she was short-changed. I get folks upset with us over Wally's lack of screen time, over Nightwing's lack of action, and so on and so on...

For you it's Superboy. And I get that. I don't agree with your assessment of how we did use him, but there's no doubt he took a backseat in the second half of the second season. Invasion, as I've repeated ad nauseum, was plot-driven, and his role ebbed and flowed with that plot.

So, no, we were no more picking on Superboy than - as another recent poster claimed - we were picking on Kid Flash. We love both characters. Sometimes we showed them in favorable lights, sometimes we didn't. The fact that you focus on the negative may be a fault with our execution, but it certainly doesn't match with our intent.

As for Conner and M'gann: you flat-out don't know where that would have gone. Best not to make assumptions.

Response recorded on January 07, 2014


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