Young Justice Episode 13 – Review

By: Thomas Pugsley (writer)

The Story: You’re not the boss of me now!  And you’re not so big, either.

The Review: Ever since Aqualad received word from Red Arrow that the team possible had a mole lurking about and he decided to keep it a secret, we all knew it would be only a matter of time before word got out and he would have to face the consequences of that.  As we’ve learned time and time again in comics (half the time with Batman or Professor X as the offending character), heroes don’t usually take well to secrets being kept from them.

That said, the overreaction of the YJers to the news seems a little extreme, and their collective cold shoulder to Aqualad rather harsh, given how obviously penitent he is about his actions.  It’s understandable their good sense may be a little rattled from nearly perishing at the hands of Red Tornado and his “siblings” last episode, but no one seems to remember that Aqualad came just as close, if not closer, to dying as any of them, with maybe the exception of Miss Martian.

Consequently, Superboy’s rage towards Aqualad not only highlights his trademark emotional instability once again, but also reveals an one-tracked overprotectiveness for his new flame.  At least Miss Martian manages to keep her head about Aqualad’s betrayal, and even shows irritation at Connor acting like her handler.  The couple then get their first, cherished taste of romantic drama when M’gann and Artemis pair off, leaving a confused clone behind.

Of course, the team has to go through the tiresome process of splitting off and sulking before they finally get over their self-righteous anger over what Kaldur did or did not do.  Fortunately, Pugsley doesn’t spend too much time on these familiar beats, which do little except make the characters look petty and whiny, proving that Aqualad perhaps had good reason not to reveal what he knew to the team.

Young Justice Episode 7 – Review

By: Thomas Pugsley (writer)

The Story: YJ embarks on a psychedelic journey through the magical world of Dr. Fate—it’s exactly as weird as it sounds.

The Review: Here is what friends do: talk with each other about each other behind each other’s backs, argue about ridiculous, often inconsequential things, and make fun of each other’s weaknesses.  And when the friends involved are teens, these elements pop up threefold.  It’s not necessarily as bad as it sounds.  Without these things, much of the spice of life would be missing.

That’s why it’s such a relief to see the YJ-ers finally ranking and razzing on each other (that’s right—I’m bringing back lingo from the late nineties; in my defense, they were totally solid back when I was, like, eight).  I think Artemis has a lot to do with that.  Besides how she’s naturally sarcastic to begin with, she also allows for a clear separation between the girls and the guys, which opens up a whole new layer of intrigue to the team dynamic.

Up until now, Miss Martian being the only girl, and a sweet one at that, has kind of forced the guys to tiptoe around her a little bit.  But now she has a new BFF, it frees her to show some snap and self-awareness.  It also brings in the inevitable girl talk, which we all know is code for talking about boys.  Fortunately, their mutual attraction to Superboy hasn’t brought resentment to their early friendship—that’s a ship I’d be fine with not sailing.

The best part of Artemis’ membership is her banter with Wally.  Rom-com dialogue tends to lean toward the obvious, especially when writers are obviously pushing for a specific matchup, as they do here.  Pugsley wisely keeps things good-natured, rather than mean-but-secretly-loving-it, and he avoids having them squabble pointlessly over nothing, choosing instead to let Artemis pick at Wally’s hypocrisy in claiming to believe in magic just to impress Miss Martian.