Young Justice Episode 15 – Review

By: Greg Weisman

The Story: I think this is the beginning of a magical friendship.

The Review: Zatanna has a rather complicated place in the DCU and especially with the Justice League.  Originally, she came into the League as a rookie, one of its youngest, if not its very youngest, members.  While her teammates carried an experienced maturity, she had a bright-eyed innocence and humor that rang a little closer to that of a much younger hero.  Though now an honored member of the League, she still retains a certain youthful charm about her.

Very fitting then that she gets introduced to Young Justice as one of their peers.  In a lot of ways, she fills a vacuum within the team.  For one, she adds another female presence to a largely testosterone heavy cast.  For another, the team has had to deal with a lot of mystical threats with only Aqualad’s dabbling in magic as a viable defense, so having Zee as a direct answer to those situations seems not only appropriate, but ideal.

Weisman smartly avoids using Zee as a magical cure-all to the team’s obstacles by quickly establishing some limitations to her powers: familiarity with her spells, a proper source of energy, and preparation.  None of this stops her from making an impressive showing on her unofficial mission with the YJers, proving that her value to any team is less about solving their problems with some backwards words and more about manipulating the odds in their favor.

Her unpredictability not only in her powers but also in her status as an unknown factor proves crucial when the team finally has their showdown with their treacherous former mentor.  Of course, we know Red Tornado’s no traitor, but it’s necessary the team learns that for themselves, since they still hold a brisk chip on their shoulder when it comes to their League chaperones.  Hopefully, this episode marks a critical point in turning their wariness to genuine affection.

Young Justice Episode 12 – Review

By: Jon Weisman (writer)

The Story: Four red-chromed elemental robots are better than one.

The Review: Nowadays, hardly anyone wonders why, on a league populated by some of the most powerful superhumans on the planet, we need to have Batman around.  No one is naïve enough to believe that his explosive Batarangs will turn the tide in battle or something.  No, the Justice League needs Batman because the guy’s a genius and his prep-time is so off the charts, it may as well count as a superpower.

With that settled, we still have the question of why every superhero team needs at least a couple non-powered members.  Some kind of politically correct, demographic quota?  A reassurance that we won’t all become completely obsolete if people actually do develop superpowers?  Well, whatever the reason, it does mean that at some point, the normals have to prove their worth, usually at the expense of incapacitating the entire rest of their team.

For Artemis and Robin, that point comes in this episode.  Confronted by Red Tornado’s “siblings,” and with no help from their teammates, the two unpowered teens have to improvise their way through twisters of fire and tidal waves of water using only their wit and skills.  Obviously, you get some very high stakes from the situation.  Art and Rob spend most the episode just trying to stay alive, and we all know that mortal stamina can only last so long.

Still, in the back of your mind, you can’t help feeling a little skeptical about the shutdown of their teammates.  Are we to assume Kid Flash hasn’t gotten through Flash Facts 101 and learned how to vibrate through stuff yet?  Or that Aqualad can’t simply use his water-bending on the constant deluges of water Red Torpedo (using the names from the 2009 Red Tornado mini) keeps blasting at them?  It all seems very contrived, but let’s just chalk that up to cartoon magic.

While it’s good to focus on Artemis and Robin for once (if nothing else, it gives us a break from the Miss Martian-Superboy nonsense, except for a brief makeout session at the top of the episode), Robin mostly becomes a cipher to Artemis’ increasingly distraught behavior as the story goes on.  True, the scenes do few favors for her pride (we get a genuinely disturbing moment where she huddles into a fetal position in an air vent), it actually makes sense, given her more emotionally reactive nature and inexperience.