Episode Credits

Cast

Artemis

Stephanie Lemelin

Robin

Jesse McCartney

Miss Martian

Danica McKellar

Superboy, Marvin White

Nolan North

Aqualad

Khary Payton

Kid Flash

Jason Spisak

Zatanna

Lacey Chabert

Harm

Ben Diskin

Red Arrow

Crispin Freeman

Batman

Bruce Greenwood

Captain Marvel

Chad Lowe

Secret, Wendy Harris, Karen Beecher

Masasa Moyo

Mal Duncan, Jim Daniels

Kevin Michael Richardson

Lucas Carr

Greg Weisman

Crew

Writer

Peter David

Director

Jay Oliva

Music, Theme Music

Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion, Lolita Ritmanis

Voice Direction

Jamie Thomason

Animation Timing Director

James Tim Walker

Storyboard

Jay Baker, Jake Castorena, Tim Divar, Ki-Doo Kim, Owen Sullivan

Lead Character Design

Phil Bourassa

Character Design

Dusty Abell, Jerome Moore, Coran Stone

Prop Design

Alex Kubalsky, Eugene Mattos

Animation Services

Lotto Animation Inc.

Animation Director

Heechul Kang (supervising), Junsik Cho, Daegu Heh, Hyeoksoo Lee

Producer

Brandon Vietti, Greg Weisman

Executive Producer

Sam Register

Quotes

Harm: Mediocrity such as this is never far from Harm!

Synopsis “Secrets”

31st October -- There been a break in at New York City’s Met, but Detective Jim Daniels is incredulous that only one object, the “Sword of Beowulf”, an ancient Anglo-saxon sword held in a claw-like scabbard, has been stolen. The curator of the exhibit tells the detective about the mythical powers of the sword which he says can only be unlocked by a person “pure of heart” who says a special phrase in Old English. The thief, who repeatedly refers to himself as “Harm” in the third person, is still in the building (“Still, Harm should be grateful. Harm did need the words”). The sword’s scabbard opens upon Harm’s recitation of the phrase and he draws out the sword. An orange light passes from the Sword to Harm and lodges where his heart should be. A stunned curator asks how Harm could possible be “Pure of Heart”, but is reminded that the myth didn’t specify “pure good”, just “pure”.

At Mount Justice, Megan (Miss Martian) has invited the Team to the Happy Harbour High-School Halloween dance. Wally (Kid Flash) is already in costume and flirting with Megan, but he is oblivious to the fact that she and Conner (Superboy) are a couple. Captain Marvel, who has been hanging around the Team a lot, shows up under the mistaken belief that Megan’s invitation also extended to him. He eventually catches on that he wasn’t invited and teleports out saying he’s going trick-or-treating on his own (Marvel is actually a 10-year old in an adult’s body, but the Team don’t know that). Zatanna and Artemis teleport in just before Marvel leaves and Zatanna instantly spots that Conner and Megan are acting like a couple. Artemis tries to laugh off her observation, but walks away when she realises that Zatanna is correct. Artemis had held a secret crush for Conner and is surprised/depressed by the news he is dating Megan. Artemis doesn’t want to go to the dance anymore so Zatanna suggests a girls night out fighting crime instead.

Conner, Superboy, and Wally hit the Halloween dance and, to Conner’s frustration, find that the majority of the other students are actually dressed as members of the Justice League. They are greeted by Wendy, Karen, and Mal, but their other friend Marvin is worried about reports of a Martian Invasion which keeps appearing on the student’s mobile phones. Their teacher, Lucas Carr, scoffs at the idea and points out that the Martian Manhunter is a member of the Justice League. The party has been going a while when the lights suddenly go out. The students then get another wave of Martian invasion alerts. Mr Carr again tells them its a cliché, but he is interrupted by an announcement over the speakers. The voice claims to be from the Department of Homeland Security and tells everybody to stay inside the building. Wally is just about to call the Cave when Conner spots the prankster with his infra-red vision.

Robin and Aqualad are absent from the party as they are back at base with Red Tornado, Batman, and the visiting Red Arrow debating the Sportsmaster’s claim to have a mole inside the Team. Aqualad believes Sportsmaster was just trying to sow dissent, but Red Arrow isn’t convinced and says that Artemis has lied about being Green Arrow’s niece. Aqualad is surprised, but Batman cuts off Robin before he can reveal Artemis’ true parentage. Batman is more concerned about Superboy, who may still possess programming from his time in Cadmus that even he isn’t ware of. However, Aqualad says he fought “side-by-side” with each of them and again refuses to believe that any of them are traitors.

Zatanna and Artemis hit Manhattan on the back of two of the Team’s motor-bikes. Their patrol takes them past the Museum where the police are still out in force. Artemis refuses to talk about Conner and Megan and insists she just needs something to hit. The opportunity presents itself then they stop a mugging, a grocery store robbery, and an attack on a young woman by four men. However, Harm is watching their crime fighting from the rooftops. He is in turn watched by a pale, silent girl. Harm finally introduces himself to Zatanna and Artemis by blowing-up their parked bikes and then advancing on them out of the flames. “Harm isn’t impressed” by Artemis’s arrows or Zatanna’s magic, but he intends to study them before fighting the Justice League proper. Zatanna spots the pale girl beckoning them from an alleyway so she and Artemis beat a strategic withdrawal. They follow the girl to the roof tops, but she is always just out of reach and the only word is ever says is “secret.”

Secret vanishes just as Harm catches up with Artemis and Zatanna. They delay him with ice for a few seconds, but Harm is relentless. Artemis challenges Harm to a fight without their weapons, but she in unable to land a single blow on him. Harm monologues during the fight and infuriates Artemis by criticizing her lack of focus (“It struggles with inner demons. It can’t fight Harm while fighting itself. Harm doesn’t battle his demons, Harm embraces them.”). He continues twittering on about the sacrifices he’s made to become pure enough to wield the Sword of Beowulf, but that just gives girls time to evade him and escape with the reappeared Secret. She directs them to a place they think it’s a random location, but Harm reveals that they have actually found his home. He attacks them again and the last thing that Artemis sees before she passes out is Harm and the Secret standing over her.

Back in Happy Harbour, Marvin stops three of the younger students from leaving the dance by telling them he’s been told to keep them inside for their own protection. Marvin is the prankster behind the invasion message, but it is his turn to be pranked when Wally runs up to him screaming “The Martian’s are coming! The Martian’s are coming!” A giant spectral things from another world with glowing green eyes then appears behind Wally. Conner makes a show of hurrying Marvin inside away from danger while he holds off the invader. It throws Conner around with its telekinesis prompting Marvin runs screaming into the dance hall. He tells everybody that he was behind the prank and then tries to convince them that Martians have really invaded. However, he’s left confounded and confused when Conner and Wally reappear as if nothing had happened.

When Artemis regains consciousness she finds that she is tied to chair and that Harm is talking to her. A television shows Zatanna tied to a chair in another room with a cross-bow pointed her. Harm threatens Zatanna unless Artemis tells him her secrets. He demands to know how they found his house, but Harm swears that he has no partner when Artemis mentions the Secret. While Harm is distracted, Secret removes Zatanna’s gag so she can use a spell to free herself from the ropes. Zatanna is in a little girl’s bedroom and finds a photograph showing harm and Secret as apparently loving siblings. Zatanna asks Secret about her connection to Harm, but the only thing she says, the only thing she ever says, is “secret”. Harm has finally noticed that Zatanna is free, but he falls for her illusion while she is freeing Artemis. Harm then gets his first fleeing glimpse of Secret as he follows the three girls to the kitchen door. Artemis then covers their escape by setting of an explosion which engulfs the entire ground floor of the house.

Zatanna and Artemis are surprised to find a small grave in the house’s back garden. It is marked by fresh flowers and a rough plank of wood on which is carved “Greta Hayes. Beloved sister.” The two girls step back in fright when the translucent image of the Secret rises out of the grave. It is now clear that Secret is the ghost of Greta Hayes, the sister of the villain that has been chasing them. She nods to acknowledge her identity and produces an image of her brother’s dagger when asked how she died. Harm finds them and challenges them to stay away from “Harm’s holy place.” Artemis accuses him of killing his own sister, but Harm is unrepentant. Greta was the only thing good in his life, but to make himself pure – pure evil so that he could wield the Sword of Beowulf – he had to purge that goodness from his heart and in Harm’s twisted mind that meant killing Greta.

Harm is taken aback when Secret/Greta rises from the grave again. He accuses Zatanna of conjuring another illusion, but she points out that she didn’t speak. Secret advances slowly towards Harm and he tries to tell them that he isn’t sorry. Secret walks through his flailing stabs and reaches into his chest to extract light that the Sword of Beowulf had given him. Whether the act is literal or symbolic is not clear, but Harm’s wavering at Greta’s reappearance demonstrates that his heart not as pure as he had thought. The Sword knows this and suddenly goes heavily in Harms hand. He looses grip on the Sword and it is pulled back into its grotesque scabbard. Without the sword Harm is a very easy target for Artemis’ violent righteous indication. With Harm unconscious, the Secret returns to her rest. Zatanna tells her that “We won’t forget you Greta” and that they will make sure she gets a proper burial.

Artemis questions how anybody could murder a relative and she’s about to mention her own family, but stops herself. Zatanna warns her that “secret’s don’t stay buried”, but Artemis clams up again and says she “doesn’t have any secrets.” They then notice a gap in the fence through which it is possible to see a sign on a showing the word “secret”, the very last thing that Greta ever saw and the only word she could say after death.

Continuity

• This episode takes place on the night of All-Hallow’s Eve — Halloween — October 31st.
• Captain Marvel’s teleport code is 15.
• Kid Flash’s wrist is still in plaster due to the injury he received in "Alpha Male".
• The New York zeta-beam point is hidden being a billboard for The Silver Blade.
• The Martian Manhunter has a few hundred nieces and nephews. He and Miss Martian first met five months ago after she stowed away on his last trip to Earth (note that this conflicts with the origin that Miss Martian told the team in [cred ref="young-justice-vol-2|6"] where she ways she won a contest to become his sidekick.
• Artemis carries extra-strings for her bow. Logical one might think, but not something we’ve really seen before in a comic book archer.

Commentary

Peter David, the writer

The entire run of the original Young Justice comic book series was written by Peter David, a fan favourite novelist and veteran comic book writer. David is no stranger to TV and has written highly regarded episodes of Babylon 5, Crusade, and Space Cases and several recent episodes of the Ben 10 franchise. Therefore, it’s not that surprising that he was tapped to write an episode of the Young Justice cartoon adaptation. The first confirmation of this came when David posted on his bog that:

I neglected to mention yesterday [Jul 24th, 2nd day of the San Diego Comic-Con] that I attended the presentation of the “Young Justice” animated series. The audience reaction seems overwhelmingly positive, and I’m glad to hear it, because (and I am now free to mention it) I’m going to be writing several episodes for the series. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to reconnect with the characters, even if there are some differences between the guys I wrote and the new incarnation. I would love to tell you all about my first episode, but I’m afraid that it’s…oh, what’s the word…Secret.

The tease was the name of a popular character, “the Secret”, who starred in his YJ, but is absent from the Cartoon Network version (see below for details).

The Secret and Harm

Harm first appeared in Young Justice (vol. 1) #4 (Jan 1999) as a young wannabe supervillain who runs rings around the team before escaping back to his secret identity as a suburban teen called Billy. It looks like he’ll be back for another round quite quickly, but issue #5 ends with the shocking conclusion of Harm’s father shooting him rather than allow his evil to continue.

Unfortunately death doesn’t really have a meaning for supervillains and Harm returns several issues later, more powerful than ever, as a demon during a jail break from Hell.

The Secret, who as we’ve seen in this episode is Harm’s sister, was more talkative in the original comics, but we didn’t know she was a ghost, at least at first. She had little or no memory of who she was before Young Justice liberated her from a government-run orphanage for superhumans. She was insubstantial and appeared to be a living gas, but her touch could freeze objects or people and it soon become clear that there was more to her origin than it appeared.

The truth of the Secret’s origin is revealed in Young Justice (vol. 1) #42 (April 2002) as the Secret came face-to-face with the Spectre – DC’s ghostly spirit of vengeance and cosmic exposition. Billy (Harm) was Greta’s adopted brother in the original comics. Her memories of Billy and her original life were slowly reawakening and the Spectre took her back to the site of the shooting shown above.

He then explains that her brother had fallen in with a minor demon called Buzz who offered him power in exchange for a sacrifice, specifically the life of his younger sister. Billy obliged by tossing a toaster into Greta’s bath water electrocuting her, but she revived on the mortuary table as a disembodied cloud. The Spectre (and yes that is Hal Jordan… it’s a long story) further explained that she isn’t completely dead and that the “Lords of Light” took an interest in her. They transformed her into a living ghost, neither dead or alive, but a conduit between this world and the next.

It’s a surprisingly dark background for a character who duplicated Miss Martian’s naive and vulnerable character. The evil god Darkseid, Desaad’s boss hinted at last episode, tries to tempt the Secret into embracing her power over death and she almost falls. Eventually at the end of the Young Justice‘s run Darkseid tires of her resistance and punitively strips her powers from her. What he’s too blind to see is that her power derives from her being partially dead, remove that and she’s just a normal healthy living girl again. Secret then lives out the rest of her life in pease and isn’t see again.

Harm is voiced by Ben Diskin who voiced Venom in Greg Weisman’s The Spectacular Spider-Man. Secret is voiced by reoccurring Young Justice voice artist Masasa Moyo (Cat Grant, Wendy Harris).

Secrets

The theme of this episode is secrets and there are a lot of them to go around. In no specific order:

• Megan and Conner’s relationship.
• Captain Marvel’s true age
• Artemis’s crush on Superboy.
• Artemis’s parentage and secret identity.
• The existence of a mole on the team.
• The new that the Martian stories are just a prank
• Miss Martian lying about how she was selected to be the Manhunter’s sidekick.
• Harm’s murder of his sister
• Robin’s secret identity. The one Team member with an identity he can’t tell the others is one of those who doesn’t go to the High School dance.
• Secret Meeting: Did the rest of the Team know that Aqualad was talking to Red Arrow and Batman.

Halloween Allusions

Team costumes

• Artemis: Female vampire.
• Kid Flash: The Michael J. Fox werewolf from Teen Wolf.
• Superboy: The Mummy.
• Miss Martian: There is plenty going on here. Kid Flash first asks if she’s going as My Favourite Martian, a 1960s sitcom about a martian living secretly on Earth. Her actual costume is as a zombie bride (although being a DC series they could justify it as a Silver Banshee allusion). Later when she scares Marvin the human she uses a scary version of Marvin the Martian from the 1948 Haredevil Hare cartoon and a monster cry which may be Godzilla’s roar.
• Zatanna: Is unsurprisingly a witch.

Student Costumes.

There are quite a few costumes at the part. Almost all of them are variations of the Justice League and/or their allies. The ones that caught my eye were:

• Wonderful Wizard of Oz versions of a Scarecrow and Dorothy.
• Male version of Harley Quinn
• A Hawkwoman who looks suspiciously close to Justice League Unlimited‘s Hawkgirl
• Bobble-head Red Tornado
• Shaggy from Scooby Doo
• Mal Duncan as “Superman, done right” – it’s actually Conner’s original comic book costume
• Karen Beecher as Bumblebee – her comic book costume and an allusion to the name of the school’s cheer-leading trope,
• The Flaming C – Conan O’Brien’s alter ego who has been patching into Young Justice clips before

The Martian Invasion

The hoax of a Martian Invasion is an allusion to a War of the Worlds radio play that was broadcast on Halloween 1938. HG Well’s book about a Martian invasion of London was adapted for an American setting by famed movie director Orson Wells. A master storyteller, Orson Wells used the format of radio and people’s familiarity with it to present a fictionalised invasion through news bulletins and reports. The tactic worked so well that less attentive listeners and those tuning in late bought into the scenario entirely. This led to reports of people telephoning their local radio stations or police departments for verification. The level of national panic if often overplayed, but the myth of it has entered the popular psyche. It is that same sort of manipulation of people’s perceptions, now via social media, that Marvin uses in this story.

The Sword of Beowulf

Beowulf was the subject of an 8th century Anglo-Saxon epic which tells of his defeat of the the monster Grendel and his mother. The story was adapted as a CGI film in 2007 by Robert Zemeckis and Beowulf was voiced by Ray Winstone.

There are several swords in Beowulf which could be the sword refered to her. The first is the sword Hrunting which is given Beowulf so that he might fight the Grendel. However, the sword’s magic fails and Beowulf is forced to kill Grendel with his bear hands. It was described as “a rare and ancient sword” and that it had been “tempered in blood”. Later when Beowulf is fighting Grendel’s mother he picks up another sword, Nagling, which had been forged by giants:

Then the golden hilt, the ancient work of giants, was given into the hands of the old warrior, the grey-haired battle-chief; after the fall of the devils it came into the possession of the lord of the Danes, a work of marvellous smiths; and when the cruel-hearted creature, God’s adversary, guilty of murder, and his mother, too, forsook this world, it passed into the possession of the best of earthly kings between the seas, of those who dealt out treasures in the Danish kingdom.

However, that sword’s power also fails during Beowulf’s last fight with the dragon and it shatters on the monster’s armour like skin. Whether “the Sword of Beowulf” is Nrunting or a reforged Nagling isn’t clear.

Misc.

• The Met – The art museum shown in this episode isn’t specifically identified by name, but a Manhattan art museum with a grand neo-classical facade can only be the Metropolitan Museum of Art on 5th Avenue.  Although, in a DC Universe a Metropolitan Museum not in Metropolis does get a little confusing.
• Detective Jim Daniels – the police man who is talking to the museum curator in the tag sequence is called Detective Daniels and if given he name Jim Daniels in the credits. I’m not familiar with a particular DC reference – beyond a rich-kid in an old Superman Christmas story with the same name. But, the actor James McDaniel did place a policeman in the police drama NYPD Blue.
• Up until now Captain Marvel has been voiced by Rob Lowe, but for this episode he’s succeeded by his younger brother Chad Lowe. Chad has previously voiced Cosmic Boy in the Superman animated series.
• The Silver Blade. Artemis and Zatanna ride the bikes out of a teleport-tube hidden behind a vintage billboard advertising an old movie called The Silver Blade. Silverblade was a 1987 DC comic book series about a washed-up actor called Jon Lord who has the ability to turn into any of the amazing movie heroes he’s ever played. The series is named after his signature role as the swashbuckling Silverblade.
• Zatanna is riding a red motorcycle which would probably be Superboy’s bike, but I suppose he doesn’t need it how he’s got the Supercycle.
• The shop across the street from Harm’s house, the shop that Secret took her name from, is Abel’s House of Secrets. Abel (of brothers Cain and Able fame) was the host of a horror anthology called the House of Secrets in much the same manner as the Crypt Keeper was the host of Tales from the Crypt.

Characters

Feature Characters

The Team

• Aqualad (Kaldur’ahm. Last appeared in "Disordered". )
• Artemis (Artemis Crock. Last appeared in "Disordered". )
• Kid Flash (Wally West. Last appeared in "Disordered". )
• Miss Martian (M’gann M’orzz/Megan Morse. Last appeared in "Disordered". )
• Robin (Dick Grayson. Last appeared in "Disordered". )
• Superboy (Conner Kent. Last appeared in "Disordered". )

Supporting Cast

• Wolf (Last appeared in "Humanity". )

Guest Stars

The Justice League

• Batman (Bruce Wayne. Last appeared in "Failsafe". )
• Captain Marvel (Billy Batson. Still hanging around the Cave. Last appeared in "Failsafe". )
• Red Tornado (Last appeared in "Failsafe". )

Allies

• Red Arrow (Roy Harper. Last appeared in "Targets". )
• Secret (The ghost of Greta Hayes. Assists Zatanna and Artemis stop and apprehend Harm – her brother and murderer. Can only say the word Secret. )
• Zatanna (Last appeared in "Humanity")

Villains

• Harm (Hayes. First Earth-16 appearance. The brother of Greta Hayes. He kills her in order to purify his heart ahead of his stealing of the Sword of Beowulf. )

Other Characters

• Dectective Jim Daniels (Detective with the NYPD. First appearance.)
• Happy Harbour High-School Students and teachers including: Lucas Carr, Mal Duncan, Karen Beecher, Wendy Harris, Marvin White (At the Halloween dance. Last appeared in "Targets")
• Unnamed museum curator

Opinion

Highlights

• The kitchen explosion/ambush and Harm’s almost expletive.

Oddities

• The language used around Greta’s grave is oddly muted (shades of Standard and Practices). Zatanna asks Greta “How did you die?” and is shown Harm’s dagger. Artemis says to Harm “you did this to your own sister”. Likewise, she calls the act “it” or “that”, never “killed” or “murdered”.

Open Questions

• Something is up with Miss Martian’s origin. In Young Justice (vol. 2) #5-6 the Team sat around the campfire and related their origin stories to each other. Miss Martian told a tale about winning an Olympic style contest in order to be chosen as the Martian Manhunter’s worthy sidekick. However, its straight out said here that she stowed away on the Manhunter’s space craft to Earth. What is the full truth and how does his play into her insecurity about White Martians?

My thoughts

Artemis and Zatanna’s girl’s night-out crime fighting turns into a surprisingly dark ghost story that is off-set by the light-hearted Halloween Dance antics back in Happy Harbour. What is impressive is that this is virtually an all-girls episode. Conner and Wally are just foils for Megan in the Happy Harbour sequences and Aqualad and Robin are locked in the conference with Batman. Its therefore interesting to give them such a boy villain to fight. The entire “I’m pure evil” stance makes Harm appear the most immature character in the episode (he definitely needs to lay off on the animé influences). The plot almost comes down to the two acting grown-up girls fighting the silly immature-boy.

A lot of us old Young Justice fans from the 2000s comic-book series remember the Greta Hayes character with affection. Peter David’s original treatment of the characters was to write them as a little younger, perhaps a little broader than shown here. You can think of the original Young Justice series as being the inspiration for both the Teen Titans and Young Justice cartoons. The tone and artistic-style of the comic book was translated into the Teen Titans cartoon whilst the characters and milieu became the YJ cartoon itself. Secret served the character role that Megan does – the naive, slightly vulnerable girl character opposite the headstrong, tomboy girl character (clichés, but the same breakdown can be applied to the guys in any cartoon/comic). The manner of Secret’s transition to the screen is surprising, but it works brilliantly.

If I was to nitpick I’d say that this episode was let down in a couple of places by the framing/animation on the action sequences. For example, Harm’s first attack on Zatanna and Artemis just feels oddly static. However, that is only nitpicking, the combination of the Secret/Harm and the focus on Zatanna/Artemis otherwise makes this a great episode.

Episode Credits

Cast

Artemis

Stephanie Lemelin

Robin

Jesse McCartney

Miss Martian

Danica McKellar

Superboy

Nolan North

Aqualad

Khary Payton

Kid Flash

Jason Spisak

Wolf, Serifan, Desaad

Dee Bradley Baker

Dreamer, Whisper A'Daire

Grey Delisle

Bear

Bill Fagerbakke

Batman

Bruce Greenwood

Black Canary

Vanessa Marshall

Martian Manhunter, Vykin, Ugly Mannheim

Kevin Michael Richardson

Crew

Writer

Andrew Robinson

Director

Michael Chang

Music, Theme Music

Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion, Lolita Ritmanis

Voice Direction

Jamie Thomason

Animation Timing Director

James Tim Walker

Storyboard

Charles E. Drost III, Paul Harmon, Jeff Johnson, Lauren Montgomery

Lead Character Design

Phil Bourassa

Character Design

Dusty Abell, Jerome Moore, Eugene Mattos

Prop Design

Tea-Soo Kim

Animation Services

MOI Animation Inc.

Animation Director

Sang-Young Uhm

Producer

Brandon Vietti, Greg Weisman

Executive Producer

Sam Register

Quotes

Serafin: Come on pard’ners, lets ride in there, guns a blazing, and round-up them outlaws!Dreamer: He’s watched a lot of Earth Westerns.

Synopsis “Disordered”

Previously in "Failsafe": The Martian Manhunter had linked the Team’s minds together telepathically to create an artificial reality (AR), a shared dream, where the Earth was under attack. The Team were asked to fill the void left after the AR Justice League were killed. However, they were unaware that it was a no-win scenario constructed to test their performance against an impossible enemy. The AR turned into a nightmare after Artemis was “killed”. Miss Martian’s subconscious could not differentiate between the AR and reality and her untrained telepathic mind convinced everybody else that the events they were experiencing were real. Each of the Team “died” in turn as the no-win scenario degenerated towards destruction. It was only at the end, when only Miss Martian was left, that the Manhunter was able to wrestle control of the AR back from her subconscious and shut it down. The Team were left them shaken and disturbed at the choices and sacrifices they had made whilst under extreme duress.

October 23rd — A week has passed since the AR scenario was shut down, but it is clear that the Team are still traumatised. Their mentors are concerned for them so Black Canary begins a series of counselling sessions to help them process their experiences. As usual Superboy (Conner) is the toughest of them to reach. Canary tries talking to him, but he just proclaims “you don’t know what I feel!” and walks out of the session.

Conner is looking for some fresh air and is about to take his motorbike out when the Sphere (the intelligent machine they rescued from the deserts of Bialya in "Bereft") blocks his path. The Sphere surprises him by transforming into a high-tech trike. A smiling Conner then takes the Sphere out for a test flight with Wolf tagging along in the passenger seat. Batman runs into the hanger just as Superboy leaves, but his calls for him to come back remain unanswered.

The Forever People

The peace and quiet of Metropolis is shattered by the opening of a Boom Tube, a teleportation gateway, through which flies a car carrying five super-powered teenagers. These are the Forever people. Their leader Vykin consults “Mother Box” (a box-shaped living alien computer) which informs him via its pinging sounds that what they seek is on world. Superboy is flying down the coast when the Forever People block his path and demand the return of the “New Genesisphere” (Superboy’s Sphere) and other technology stolen from them. However, before the confrontation turns violent Mother Box pings to tells Vykin that Superboy actually saved the New Genesisphere from the real thieves. The Forever People’s attitude suddenly softens and their biggest member Bear, who had just threatened Superboy, enthusiastically proclaims “Apologies! The Forever People embrace you as an ally and worthy warrior!”

The Forever People introduce themselves to Superboy as “new gods” and give their names as Serafin (a gun toting teen obsessed with Earth’s Wild West), Dreamer (their telepath), Moonrider (who remains silent), Vykin (their leader with magnetic powers), and the bombastic strongman Bear. Mother Box has tracked technology stolen from their home world of New Genesis to Earth. The Sphere was the first piece, but they are now zeroing in on the second item, the Rescue Drill. They find the tunnelling machine being used by criminals from Intergang to tunnel into the Metropolis Federal Reserve (“a heist!” explains Serafin). Superboy leads the Forever People underground where they find Ugly Mannheim and Whisper A’Daire directing the Intergang operation.

Vykin naively demands the return of their technology, but Intergang respond with powerful weaponry – discs which cause intense pain, gravity traps which entomb the target, and energy whips. Dreamer is shocked and tells Superboy that the weapons are those of the “Gods of Anti-Life” from the planet of Apokolips. Those weapons give Intergang a distinct advantage in the confined tunnel created by the Rescue Drill so the heroes fall back to the surface, to the construction site Intergang had used as a cover for their drilling operations. The Sphere joins the battle by firing at Intergang. The Forever People gather around their Mother Box and shout “Tarru”. The five teens dissolve in a burst of light and merge into a single giant armoured form called Infinity Man. Its power turns the tide of the battle and forces Mannheim and his men to escape via another Boom Tube.

Infinity Man finally dissolves back into the individual Forever People, but they are concerned about Intergang’s source. Whisper had been captured by Infinity Man and Dreamer uses her telepathic power to project images from Whisper’s memories. A vile hooded figure appears before them and Dreamer exclaims “Desaad!” Superboy has finally had enough of his enigmatic new friends and demands to know what is going on. Dreamer explains that they come from the twin worlds of New Genesis and Apokolips. Bright New Genesis is home to the Gods of Life, Freedom and “The Source” while the brutal world of Apokolips is home to the Gods of Slavery and Degradation. Intergang are using weapons from each faction. The figure Whisper remembers is Desaad, “god scientist and chief torturer” of Apokolips — although the name of Desaad’s “unspeakable” master remains unspoken.

Mother Box tracks the Apokoliptian technology back to a hanger on an airfield, but Superboy’s infra-red vision shows no heat signatures. They sneak inside, but discover that Intergang have been masking their heat patterns and that it’s a trap. The Forever People are too distracted preparing to merge into Infinity Man again to notice that Desaad is disguised as one of Intergang’s foot soldiers. He hands Mannheim a “Father Box” which Mannheim throws at Infinity Man before he’s fully formed. Father Box places Infinity Man fully under Desaad’s control. It batters Superboy around the air-field, but Father Box knows Desaads “predilections” and is more interesting in hurting Superboy that killing him. Infinity Man/Father Box’s focus on Superboy blinds it to the Sphere which attacks the Infinity Man’s head and plugs into its armour. The Sphere can’t free Infinity Man, but it can control him and creates a set of controls that lets Superboy ride Infinity Man like a machine.

Infinity Man, with Superboy at the Sphere’s controls, blocks Intergang’s attacks and fights back. Superboy and Infinity Man disarm Mannheim and his thugs with ease. Mannheim pleads to Desaad for assistance, but the god scientist calls a Boom Tube and makes his own escape. As he goes Desaad shouts “All will suffer!” and throws a bomb back at Infinity Man/Superboy. They destroy it with Infinity Man’s optic blast, but the backwash from the explosion causes Infinity Man to separate back into the Forever People. Wolf destroyed Father Box, but the Sphere has been heavily damaged/wounded. Superboy is concerned for his friend, but Vykin’s Mother Box starts a healing process. The teen gods still intend to take the Sphere back to New Genesis, but Superboy reacts angrily to them taking his friend. His emotional connection to the Sphere reassures them that he won’t just treat “her” as a machine and they agree to him keeping her.

The Counselling Sessions

Canary continues her counselling session while Superboy is away from the Cave. Artemis is terrified when Canary suggests she could tell her team-mates about her real parentage and cites how Kid Flash would react (a choice Canary notes with interest). By comparison Kid Flash is much more relaxed during his session, but he also over reacts that when Canary bring up his reaction to Artemis’s “death” in the AR and tries to change the subject.

Aqualad offers his resignation as leader to Canary during their session and says that he behaved more like a soldier than a general during the AR. Canary then makes him realize that none of the others are ready to assume that mantle and he reluctantly takes back his offer to resign. The AR had also made Robin question whether really wants to be the leader. He had always expected to grow up to become the next Batman, but the AR made him realize that he does not have the same “thing” inside of him which makes Batman able and willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of the mission. He confides in Canary that “I don’t want to be THE Batman any more.”

Miss Martian blames herself for the AR collapse. While talking to Canary her green skin turns human-coloured without her thinking about it. She reacts with shock then Canary calls her “white” until she realises that she meant Caucasian. Martian M’gann thinks that being plain-human Megan without any powers will solve her problems, but Canary tells her that not being herself is never the answer. However, she seems to accept Canary’s advise to keep practising until she finally has control.

Superboy eventually returns to the Cave after his adventure. His report concerns Batman who believes that further investigation is required. Superboy also returns to his session with Black Canary. He admits to her that he was not traumatised by the AR and was actually “at peace”. The one things he has wanted to know / wanted to be since Cadmus created him is what it would be like to be Superman. The AR gave him that chance and that made him relaxed, even happy, there. However, he now feels guilty for feeling happy when the same events so traumatised his friends. Canary admits that there is no easy answers, but that admitting how he felt is the first step in dealing with it.

Continuity

• Black Canary refused to speak for a while after her first Canary Cry almost deafened her first grade class.

Commentary

New Genesis and Apokolips

Every DC Cartoon series has to at some time or another introduce Jack Kirby’s New Gods. Jack Kirby was a legendary comic book creator who worked predominantly for Marvel Comics in the 1960s. He co-created the Fantastic Four, Hulk, and numerous other characters as an artist working alongside writer/editor Stan Lee. By the end of the decade Kirby was looking for new opportunities and crossed town to work with Marvel’s chief rivals at DC Comics. His work for DC comprised four interlocking comic books – the New Gods, Mister Miracle, Jimmy Olsen, and the Forever People – which explored the war fought on Earth by alien gods – the evil gods of Apokolips and the new gods of New Genesis.

The “Fourth World”, as it became known, was a vast almost Tolkien-level milieu that is now widely celebrated, but it almost ended up still-born as DC management, citing poor sales figures, cancelled the titles prematurely. Despite their initial lack of foresight, DC have continually minded Kirby’s concepts for characters and settings. The biggest of these draws is the central villain of the entire saga, a secular Satan figure called Darkseid. He has proven to be one of the few cosmic villains in the DC Universe will any great traction. The appeal of the figure to writers is so strong that he ended up being the principal enemy in the DCAU Superman and Justice League Unlimited cartoons. He is also the villain that Geoff Johns and Jim Lee chose to use in the New 52 refoundation of the Justice League.

The Forever People

The Forever People first appeared in Forever People #1 (Feb 1971) in a story that actually reads more like a Superman story. It’s written almost like an issue of a Superman comic that is guest-starring the Forever People. He is in Metropolis and helps the kids and Infinity Man battle Darkseid. It’s not really until the second issue that they take over their own title properly. This episode keeps the connection with Superman by having Superboy be the one to meet them first.

Within the Fourth World saga the Forever People represent the next generation of gods. As they were created at the end of the 1960s they display a strong flower-children / counter-cultural inspiration. However, they each also have a resonance with a different period of Earth’s history (something played up by later writers). They are in effect flower-child equivalents of a Norse warrior (Big Bear), a Wild West rogue (Serafin), a Victorian gentleman (Mark Moonrider)… okay, the analogy breaks down, but the point is that Kirby never uses just one or two ideas when he could mash a dozen of them together. The names Kirby used have been shortened for this episode so Big Bear and Beautiful Dreamer become Bear and Dreamer. Also, thankfully, Vykin the Black is just Vykin.

The Forever People are the original archetypes of the group of characters who merge into one single character, another pick-up from the communal ideas of the hippies. When they all touched their Mother Box – a living computer – and shouted the world “Tarru” the Forever People are replaced by an adult super-god called the Infinity Man. This pre-dates everything like Captain Planet and the Transformer combiners.

Vykin and Serafin are voiced by regulars Dee Bradley Baker (Wolf) and Kevin Michael Richardson (Martian Manhunter). Dreamer was voiced by Grey Delisle who has also voiced Barbara Gordon in Batman: Year One, Fire in Batman The Brave and the Bold, Black Canary in the Green Arrow short. She may presently be better known as the sultry voice of Catwoman in Batman: Arkham City and as the modern voice of Scooby Doo‘s Daphne. Bear was voiced by Bill Fagerbakke who has also voiced Ronnie Raymond (Firestorm’s alter ego) in Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Broadway in Greg Weisman’s Gargoyles. However, Bill will probably be most widely known as Patrick from SpongeBob SquarePants. Mark Moonrider does not speak.

The Super-Cycle

As well as creating great characters Jack Kirby was also brilliant at designing their devices and vehicles. In the comic books the Forever People travelled in a large 5-person flying-cycle called the Super-Cycle — this is the Sphere or New Genesisphere that Superboy liberated in "Bereft". The Super-Cycle was picked up by Young Justice creator Peter David as his team’s transportation in the original comic book series that this cartoon is based upon. The flying car that the Forever People use in this episode is called a Whiz Wagon and was originally used by the Newsboy Legion, a group of clones created by the Cadmus Project (another Kirby production).

Intergang

Intergang was created by Jack Kirby as a criminal organization run and supplied by Desaad on Darkseid’s behalf. Although any given one of their activities were more likely than not to be a result of Desaad operating on his own. Originally Intergang was run by a seedy executive called Morgan Edge, the CEO of Galaxy Broadcasting – the “GBS” station fronted by Cat Grant which is used for all the TV slots in this show. Edge was later replaced by a second generation gangster called Ugly Mannheim. He alludes to his father, Boss Moxie, during dialogue in this episode.

Later writers, including Greg Rucka, explored the religious/cult concepts of a criminal organization sponsored by a god and turned Intergang into a cult who worshipped Darkseid and his “Crime Bible.” One of the new characters they introduced during this time was Whisper A’Daire whom first appeared in Detective Comics #743 (April 2000) as a follower of Ra’s Al Ghul she resurfaces later on working with Ugly Mannheim in the 52 weekly series.

Misc

• Miss Martian is baking again as shown in "Welcome to Happy Harbor" and in "Downtime". The Superboy was shown watching the same TV programme, i.e. static, in "Downtime".
• Kid Flash’s arm is still in plaster – it was broken in "Revelations".
• Martian Manhunter: “Trauma tends to linger, as I know you know. ” — this is an allusion to Batman’s origin and how the trauma of seeing his parents killed before him caused Bruce Wayne to dedicate his life to become the Batman.
• Wally diet: pop-corn while talking to Black Canary.
• Full Credits: Ask Greg

Characters

Feature Characters

The Team

• Aqualad (Kaldur’ahm. Last appeared in "Failsafe". )
• Artemis (Artemis Crock. Last appeared in "Failsafe". )
• Kid Flash (Wally West. Last appeared in "Failsafe". )
• Miss Martian (M’gann M’orzz/Megan Morse. Last appeared in "Failsafe". )
• Robin (Dick Grayson. Last appeared in "Failsafe". )
• Superboy (Conner Kent. Last appeared in "Failsafe". )

Supporting Cast

• Wolf (At the Cave when the Team awake. He is killed in the other reality while saving Superboy’s life. Last appeared in "Humanity". )

The Justice League

• Batman (Bruce Wayne. Last appeared in "Failsafe". )
• Black Canary (Serving as the Team’s counsellor. Last appeared in person in "Humanity". )
• Captain Marvel (Billy Batson. Still hanging around the Cave. Last appeared in "Failsafe". )
• Martian Manhunter (Last appeared in "Failsafe". )
• Red Tornado (Last appeared in "Failsafe". )

Guest Stars

The Forever People

• Bear (Bombastic and super-strong. First Earth-16 appearance.)
• Dreamer (Has psychic and telepathic powers. First Earth-16 appearance.)
• Infinity Man (The five Forever People combined into a single giant. First Earth-16 appearance.)
• Moonrider (First Earth-16 appearance.)
• Serafin (Western obsessed sharp shooter. First Earth-16 appearance.)
• Vykin (Leader of the Forever People and custodian of Mother Box. Has magnetic powers. First Earth-16 appearance.)

Villains

• Desaad (Chief torturer of the gods of Apokolips. Has been supplying New Genesis and Apokoliptian technology to human forces, including Intergang. First Earth-16 appearance.)
• Ugly Mannheim (First Earth-16 appearance.)
• Whisper A'daire (First Earth-16 appearance.)

Opinion

Highlights

• A Superboy and his Wolf out for a joyride.

Oddities

• Mark Moonrider isn’t very talkative is he.

Unanswered Questions

• What is Intergang’s relation to the Light? What is Apokolips’ relation to the Light?

My Thoughts

As the team cope with the trauma from "Failsafe" the secret of the (New Geni)Sphere is revealed and the Forever People come to Earth. This episode is a breath of fresh air after after the darkness and trauma of last episode. Indeed this episode opens with, and is interspersed by, the team’s counselling seasons with Black Canary. These give an insight into the characters and vocalizes the Artemis and Wally tension that has been running since she appeared. I thought the admissions from Robin and Superboy were interesting. The former was horrified at where being his mentor took him while the later found peace in his mentor’s role. Robin doesn’t want to be Batman, but Superboy wants – needs – to be Superman.

The Forever People are an interesting counterpoint to Young Justice. Each of them can be seen as a close, but far more self-assured parallel of a YJ member – Dreamer is Miss Martian, Bear is Superboy, Serafin is Kid Flash, Vykin as Aqualad, and Moonrider as Robin. They are relaxed in their own identities and the merger into Infinity Man gives them an openness and intimacy that YJ do not have. Their use here is to give Superboy a juxtaposition of how a more harmonious team could operate. As we saw in "Terrors", he’s quite a different character when he’s out from under the pressure of YJ and his own need to be protective towards Megan. He relaxes and becomes a far more engaging character. The scene with Black Canary at the end of this episode shows Superboy dealing with his own emotional baggage about being Superman’s clone, but I wonder how much longer that this can run before they have to actually have the confrontation between him and Superman.

Episode Credits

Cast

Artemis

Stephanie Lemelin

Robin

Jesse McCartney

Miss Martian

Danica McKellar

Superboy, Zatara

Nolan North

Aqualad

Khary Payton

Kid Flash

Jason Spisak

Red Tornado, Wade Eiling, Jason Bard

Jeff Bennett

Iris Allen-West

Nicole Dubuc

Batman

Bruce Greenwood

Cat Grant

Masasa Moyo

Martian Manhunter, David Reid, Green Lantern

Kevin Michael Richardson

Crew

Writer

Nicole Dubuc

Director

Jay Oliva

Music, Theme Music

Kristopher Carter,Michael McCuistion,Lolita Ritmanis

Voice Direction

Jamie Thomason

Animation Timing Director

James Tim Walker

Storyboard

Charles E. Drost III, Paul Harmon, Jeff Johnson, Robert Sourza

Lead Character Design

Phil Bourassa

Character Design

Dusty Abell, Jerome Moore, Coran Stone

Prop Design

Andy Chiang, Eugene Mattos

Animation Services

Lotto Animation Inc.

Animation Director

Heechul Kang (supervising), Sangjoon Lee, Myeonghwan Park, Junsik Cho

Producer

Brandon Vietti, Greg Weisman

Executive Producer

Sam Register

Quotes

Aqualad: We are Earth’s heroes now.Superboy: So what are we waiting for, a theme song?

Superboy: I’m not Superman.General Eiling: I don’t know who you are son and right now I don’t care. You wear the S and you got the job done.

Synopsis “Failsafe”

The approach towards the Earth of a massive alien mothership is answered by Green Lanterns John Stewart and Hal Jordan and a spaceworthy version of Batman’s Batplane. The Lanterns challenge the alien ship to identify itself, but it responds by disintegrating them. The bomb-bay doors of the Batplane open, disgorging the Justice League’s heaviest-hitters – Superman, Captain Atom, the Martian Manhunter, and Captain Marvel. However, they too are disintegrated by the alien craft and its squadrons of smaller fighters. The Batman manages to eject from the Batplane when it is targeted by the fighters, but his survival pod is destroyed before he can escape. The entire attack has been watched by the League’s side kicks from the Cave headquarters. The teenagers, who seem strangely passive after witnessing the deaths of their mentors, are told by the Red Tornado that should the rest of the League fall it will be up to them to defend the Earth.

The alien fighters straffe Earth’s cities in an onslaught that is played out on national TV. Central City reporter Iris Allen-West is saved from one group of invaders by the Flash and Zatara moments before they and she are disintegrated by a second wave. News anchor Cat Grant tries to keep her composure as she switches to events in Taipei, Taiwan, but her viewers are horrified to see the Hawks, Green Arrow, and Black Canary die. Grant then tells her viewers that Aquaman, Icon, and the Atom have all been reported killed. Wonder Woman and Red Tornado are killed investigating the alien mothership which has landed on top of Smallville. The Tornado gets one last message to the Cave saying that he fears he is the last of the Justice League moments before he is lost.

Aqualad bravely notes that “We are Earth’s heroes now.” Earth’s weapons and frontal assaults against the enemy have been proven highly ineffective so they will have to choose a new strategy. The Team track the concentration of alien ships and find that a lone craft is investigating Superman’s Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic. Aqualad decides to capture and repurpose its weapon. The Team arrive in the frozen north after changing their stealth costumes white to camouflage with the snow. Miss Martian’s telekinesis disables the ship while Artemis’s foam arrows seal the aliens inside. Everything is going as planned until Wolf is disintegrated saving Superboy’s life. Superboy separates the alien craft’s weapon from its frame and begins integrating it with Miss Martian’s bioship. However, while they work two more alien ships show up. Artemis’s blows them out of the sky, but is disintegrated in retaliation.

Miss Martian and Kid Flash are horrified at Artemis’s death, but Aqualad thinks fast and destroys the remains of the her killer’s craft before it can attack again. They had watched their parents and mentors slaughtered with detachment, but Artemis death profoundly affects the team. Kid Flash is enraged, Miss Martian is distraught, and Robin is silent. Aqualad tells them that her death cannot be in vain and orders the bioship to the Hall of Justice. They find General Wade Eiling’s tanks and troops try to repel the invaders will little luck. Superboy’s arrival turns the briefly turns tide and the troops mistake him for Superman. Superboy corrects them, but Eiling tells him “You wear the S and you got the job done. ” Eiling and the Team then fallback to the shattered remains of the Hall of Justice.

For a moment the Team look up at the statues of the Justice League’s founders and try to accept that they are really gone. Miss Martian is having the biggest problem with the loss, but she suddenly starts digging through the rubble with her telekinesis to reveals the still living Martian Manhunter. He has no memory of what happened after he was “disintergrated” and his mind is clouded, but he knows there was something important he had to tell them. Kid Flash is inspired and has Robin scan the alien’s weapons. The Kid theorises that the weapon is actually a teleportation beam, like a zeta-beam, and that Artemis is actually safe somewhere in a prison camp or ship. They don’t have time to consider the ramifications further because the Hall comes under attack by another wave of fighters. The Manhunter has to go through the slow process of giving them computer access one at a time so they can beam to the relative safety of the Cave. Only a few of them make it before Aqualad sacrifices his own life to force the Manhunter through the teleporter to safety.

With Aqualad dead Robin assumes command of the operation. He reasons that if the aliens are teleporting their opponents then the only logical place that they could be sent would be to the mothership in Smallville. His plan is for Superboy to create a diversion whilst the rest of them sneak inside. Miss Martian is appalled and tells him that Aqualad “would never sacrifice a team mate.” “No”, replies Robin “he would sacrifice himself” and calls Aqualad’s self-sacrifice at the Hall a mistake that has left the Team without its leader. As they prepare for the attack the Team broadcast a message to the survivors around the world telling them that they will survive and that the “Earth will never surrender!”

Miss Martian and the Martian Manhunter ghost into the mothership under the cover of darkness. She sends a message to Superboy telling him that she loves him moments before he goes to work against the ships perimeter defences. The mothership’s bay doors open and a stream of fighters exit to confront Superboy. Kid Flash then uses the open doors to piggyback Robin inside at superspeed. Their gambit worked, but Miss Martian collapses when she feels Superboy die. Kid Flash is still adamant that they’ll find him with Artemis, but the Martian Manhunter corrects him. His mind is clearer now and he tells them that there is no detention facility. Robin’s scan’s confirm this, but he tells them that their mission is still on, they must still destroy the mothership.

The four survivors eventually find the ship’s power core – a massive glowing sphere that has its own gravity field. Miss Martian telekinetically lowers them onto its surface so that Robin can plants his bombs and sets a count down. However, their escape it cut off by a set of blast doors. Robin orders the Manhunter to ghost Miss Martian out of the ship and tells them that he and Kid Flash will follow on. However, after they’ve left Kid Flash nods in acknowledgement to Robin that their own escape is impossible. The explosives go off moments later and the mothership is consumed in a vast fireball. Miss Martian watches the inferno from a safe distance with the Manhunter. In a harsh tone the older Martian tells his tearful niece that it must end now. He then stabs her through the heart. A split second later Megan awakes to find herself, Superboy, Artemis, and the rest of the team safe and sound and back in the Cave’s training hall.

The Team are dazed and traumatised from their experience. Captain Marvel holds the Miss Martian as she cries almost uncontrollable and Superboy stands nearby unsure of what to do. Batman explains that they were in an artificial reality, a training exercise, created by the Martian Manhunter telepathically linking their minds together. They knew going in that it was not real – that is why they were impassive to the deaths of the entire Justice League – , but they were not aware that it was a no-win scenario designed to test them in the worst possible situation. However, the shock of seeing Artemis “die” caused Miss Martian’s powerful subconscious mind to interpret the events as real. She unwittingly overrode the Manhunter’s control and made everybody believe that the events of the simulation were real. Even those of them that were killed in the simulation believed that they were “dead” and remained comatose.

The Martian Manhunter had to insert himself into that world, but Miss Martian’s power almost made him forget as well. It was only at the end, when the psychic noise from the “living” heroes had vanished, that he was able to reassert his own control and pull them all back into the waking world. The Manhunter apologises to them and says he never knew a training exercise could be “so dangerous, so damaging.” He turns to leave and almost collapses. The strain on him has been massive, but he quietly confesses to Batman and Red Tornado that, while Miss Martian cannot be held responsible for what happened, she has the strongest telepathic mind that he has ever encountered.

Continuity

• The training scenario takes place on the 15th of October, they all awaken on the 16th of October.
• The Martian Manhunter’s teleport code of 07. Miss Martian’s code is B-05. Robin is B-01. Kid Flash is B-03.
• Miss Martian has the “strongest telepathic mind” that the Martian Manhunter has ever encountered and is stronger even than he.

Commentary

The Invaders

The Invaders in this episode are never identified and we never see one of them “in person” as it were. The shape of their mothership is suggestive of the Imperium from Justice League “Secret Origins”.

This episode also references the 1953 adaptation of War of the Worlds. The alien’s death-ray kills its target by turning them into a glowing mass through which their skeleton is shown, this is similar to the War of the Worlds special effect where a person skeleton would be seen before they died. The smaller alien fighters are not unlike the alien craft from the War of the World’s with a general curved wing-configuration with a central column/eye stalk.

Both of the War of the Worlds and “Secret Origins” invasions were staged from Mars and this telepathic scenario was created by the Martian Manhunter. Was he hinting at something to come or just playing with archetypes?

The Military

In this episode we see three characters – at least three of whom are credited with voice roles – from the US military who also exist in the DC Comics. The most prominent of these is General Wade Eiling, Captain Atom’s superior officer as shown in current issues of the Young Justice (vol. 2) comic book. The other two are Jason Bard and David Reid. Bard was a detective and love interest of Batgirl’s from the 1970s while David Reid is the alter ego of the super-hero Magog. The voices of the solders are supplied by the normal supporting cast with Jeff Bennett (Red Tornado) voicing Eiling and Bard and Kevin Michael Richardson (Martian Manhunter) voicing Bard.

Full Credits List

• Ask Greg

Misc.

• The Atom is mentioned in the casualty list by Cat Grant, despite him not having yet appeared on scene.
• The aliens choose Smallville as their base of operations. Smallville is Clark Kent’s (Superman) adopted home town.
• “Hello Wally!” – Kid Flash copies Miss Martian’s “Hello Megan!” catch phrase.

Characters

Feature Characters

The Team

• Aqualad (Kaldur’ahm. Last appeared in "Humanity". He is killed in the other reality while saving the Martian Manhunter. )
• Artemis (Artemis Crock. Last appeared in "Humanity". She is killed in the other reality in the Arctic. )
• Kid Flash (Wally West. Last appeared in "Humanity". He is killed in the other reality when the mothership blows up. Shows a lot of concern/hope when Artemis is “killed” and then revealed to possibly be alive. )
• Miss Martian (M’gann M’orzz/Megan Morse. Last appeared in "Humanity". Tells Superboy that she loves him. The Martian Manhunter discovers that she has the most powerful, yet untrained, telepathic mind he has ever encountered. She unwittingly seizes control of the dream reality until the Manhunter “kills” her to shock her awake. )
• Robin (Dick Grayson. Last appeared in "Humanity". He is killed in the other reality when the mothership blow up. )
• Superboy (Conner Kent. Last appeared in "Humanity". He is killed in the other reality while providing a distraction for the attack on the mothership. Discovers that Superman has a Fortress of Solitude. )

Supporting Cast

• Wolf (At the Cave when the Team awake. He is killed in the other reality while saving Superboy’s life. Last appeared in "Humanity". )

Guest Stars

The Justice League

• Batman (Bruce Wayne. He is killed in the other reality during the first wave of the invasion. Last appeared in "Revelations". )
• Captain Marvel (Billy Batson. Still hanging around the Cave. He is killed in the other reality during the first wave of the invasion. Last appeared in "Humanity". )
• Martian Manhunter (Setup the telepathic training scenario, but lost control of it to Megan’s subconscious. He is killed in the other reality during the first wave of the invasion, but had to re-insert himself in order to shut it down. Last appeared in "Revelations". )
• Red Tornado (Back in the Cave after the events of ""and working with the Justice League. )

Cameos

The Justice League inside the Artificial Reality

• Green Lantern John Stewart (First spoken appearance. Killed in the other reality during the first wave of the invasion. )
• Captain Atom, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Superman (Killed in the other reality during the first wave of the invasion.)
• Black Canary, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Hawkwoman (Killed in the other reality while defending Taipei” )
• Flash (He is killed in the other reality during the defence of Central City. )
• Zatara (He is killed in the other reality during the defence of Central City.)
• Wonder Woman (She is killed in the other reality during the defence of Smallville)

Other guest stars and supporting cast inside the Artificial Reality

• Alfred Pennyworth, Barbara Gordon, Betty Kane, Citizens of Gotham City (Inside the training scenario. Shown listening to Robin and Kid Flash’s broadcast)
• Atom (Inside the training scenario. Mentioned as dead by Cat Grant. First Earth-16 reference. )
• Cat Grant (Inside the training scenario. Television reporter for GBS. )
• Denny (Inside the training scenario. Iris’s cameraman.)
• Garth, Red Arrow, Rocket, Tula, Zatanna (Inside the training scenario. Shown preparing for battle at the Cave.)
• General Wade Eiling (Inside the training scenario. 3-star general in the US army. )
• Icon (Inside the training scenario. Mentioned as dead by Cat Grant)
• Iris Allen-West (Inside the training scenario. The Flash’s wife. Television reporter in Central City. )
• Lucas Carr, Marvin White, Wendy Harris, Karen Beecher, Mal Duncan, Happy Harbour High-School Students (Inside the training scenario. Shown listening to Superboy and Miss Martian’s broadcast. )

Opinion

Highlights

• The Arctic Costumes – even Robin complete with Owlman like parka hood.

Oddities

• If this isn’t a time to be putting on Doctor Fate’s helmet I don’t know what is.

Open Questions

• Just how powerful is Megan?
• When will KF finally get a clue about his feeling for Artemis?
• Why did the simulation show specific people? Were these pulled from the Team’s collective memory? They knew Wade Eiling from the comic book and Iris Allen-West is Wally’s aunt, but where do they know Jason Bard from?

My Thoughts

Young Justice get put through the Kobayashi Maru, but Miss Martian’s unwitting reprogramming of the scenario doesn’t quite match Captain Kirk’s efforts. When I first started watching this I though “oh, it’s a holodeck” episode — that usual arrogant fan think you get when who assume you’ve second guessed the show’s plot or weekly trope — yet that expectation was nicely subverted.

The viewer’s own “they’re not really dead” reaction is exactly the same as the Young Justice’s reaction to seeing the Justice League killed. Its a subtle bit of writing, but as the characters become more emotionally engaged with the simulated reality so too does the viewer. The characters are in on the unreality of the scenario from the beginning, but as they forget that so are we made to forget by the strength of their reactions. It is a masterfully played twist that is backed up by a suitably traumatised re-entrance into their actual reality.

While the scenario was an illusion the emotional trauma that the Team went through was very real and I expect that this will be played out in episodes to come. The Kid Flash/Artemis subplot was nicely used with KF not quite realising himself why Artemis’s death resonated so strongly for him. Likewise Superboy was forced to (Super)man-up and we saw what Robin would really be like as Team leader. I would have liked to have known more about the alien invaders, but they were never the point of this episode and remained suitably generic.

Episode Credits

Cast

Artemis

Stephanie Lemelin

Robin

Jesse McCartney

Miss Martian

Danica McKellar

Superboy, Zatara

Nolan North

Aqualad

Khary Payton

Kid Flash

Jason Spisak

Wolf

Dee Bradley Baker

T.O. Morrow, Red Tornado, Red Volcano

Jeff Bennett

Zatanna

Lacey Chabert

Captain Marvel

Rob Lowe

Professor Ivo

Peter MacNicol

Black Canary, Red Inferno

Vanessa Marshall

Crew

Writer

Greg Weisman

Director

Matthew Youngberg

Music, Theme Music

Kristopher Carter,Michael McCuistion,Lolita Ritmanis

Voice Direction

Jamie Thomason

Animation Timing Director

James Tim Walker

Storyboard

Ki-Doo Kim, Shi-Ok Pak

Lead Character Design

Phil Bourassa

Character Design

Dusty Abell, Jerome Moore, Coran Stone

Prop Design

Tea-Soo Kim, Eugene Mattos, Coran Stone

Animation Services

MOI Animation Inc.

Animation Director

Jin-Hae Lee

Producer

Brandon Vietti, Greg Weisman

Executive Producer

Sam Register

Quotes

Zatanna: Tornado never knew my moves.Robin: And I bet you’ve got some good ones… Sorry, that may have come off a little too Wally.Zatanna: Heh, I don’t mind.

Synopsis “Humanity”

Previously: The android superhero Red Tornado had volunteered to supervise the Justice League’s sidekicks after they forced Batman to recognise their nascent team. One of their first adventures saw them battle an android called Mister Twister who had been designed by the Tornado’s creator, the evil scientist T. O. Morrow, to retrieve and reprogramme him. They defeated Twister, but the Red Tornado refused them permission to investigate further ("Welcome to Happy Harbor"). Several months later, two more androids – the Red Inferno and Red Torpedo – breached the Cave and apparently succeeded where Twister had failed. The Tornado turned on his young charges and knocked them out before vanishing with his two “siblings” ("Homefront").

October 10th – In his hidden laboratory, T.O. Morrow finishes restoring Red Tornado’s conciousness, senses, and free will, but he deliberately leaves the android’s voice box off-line and his body disassembled. Morrow describes the Tornado as his “prodigal son” while his assistant, Brom Stikk, busies himself by checking over the standing, but unmoving Red Inferno and Red Torpedo.

In the Cave, Black Canary is serving as the Team’s rotating “den-mother” while the Tornado is missing. Kid Flash is sitting out the training due to his broken arm (an injury suffered fighting the Injustice League in "Revelations"), but he is perfectly happy to have Captain Marvel run errands for him. The magician Zatara, Canary’s replacement, arrives and programmes the zeta-tubes to teleport his daughter Zatanna into the Cave. Miss Martian goes to introduce herself, but Robin enthusiastically cuts in and, with uncharacteristic nervousness, introduces himself and the rest of the group. Zatara emphasises that this is only a visit on Zatanna’s part and the Team has a brief telepathic conversation about how they still seem to be on probation with some members of the League. Zatanna recognises what is going on and calls them out in front of Canary and her father.

Superboy vocalises their thoughts and demands to know what the League are doing to find the missing Red Tornado. Canary repeats Batman’s warning that investigation into the Tornado’s whereabouts are purely a League matter. Zatara tries to diffuse the sudden hostility by suggesting that the Team take Zatanna on a tour of the Cave. Once they are out of ear-shot from the adults Zatanna asks what they are really going to do. Superboy and Aqualad agree that they are going to hunt down the Tornado on their own. Zatanna is all for helping them and says she can’t tell her father about their unsanctioned mission if they “kidnap” her. Minutes later they are aboard the Bioship and heading away from Happy Harbour and the Cave (Canary buys Miss Martian’s explanation that they are just showing Zatanna around Happy Harbour).

Stikk brings the Torpedo and Inferno back online as Morrow finishes reassembling the Tornado. However, Morrow, says he will not reactivate the Tornado’s voice or motors functions until he has finished downloading Tornado’s memory files. While they wait Morrow relates his own history of trying to infiltrate the Justice Society (the League’s WWII predecessors) with an android trojan-horse disguised as a real superhero. His first attempt was the Red Torpedo, an oceanic superhero, but the android’s programming was too crude. He followed that up with the more sophisticated Firebrand (later renamed the Red Inferno), but her programming was too good and she heroically sacrificed her life before she could betray the Society. The Red Tornado was Morrow’s third attempt, but his “heroic programming and Pinocchio-like desire to become more human” caused him to side with the Society against Morrow.

Robin had asserted that Batman had already investigated every logical location for the Red Tornado and T.O. Morrow. They thus need to think of an illogical “truly dum” idea as that’s the only ones left. They all turn to look at Kid Flash and he suggests they call in a favour from Warden Hugo Strange at Belle Reve ("Terrors") and interview Professor Ivo, Morrow’s competitor and fellow robot building evil-genius. Ivo refuses to help and says he’s experienced at resisting telepathic probes, but he is unprepared for Zatanna’s spell which causes him to perfectly recount the location of Morrow’s lab (“a secret base beneath Yellowstone National Park, 100 metres south of Old Faithful”). Warden Strange looks on with displeasure at this development.

Back at Morrow’s laboratory, the download of the Red Tornado’s memories into Morrow’s new android, the Red Volcano is complete. This new Red Volcano is designed to just destroy the heroes rather than try to infiltrate them. However, the hulking Volcano’s first act is to kill Morrow revealing him, or at least the Morrow present in the laboratory, to be yet another android. The Volcano has been loaded with memory files from T.O. Morrow and the other Red androids. He reveals to his siblings that Morrow’s plan was to trigger the supervolcano buried beneath Yellowstone Park. It will erupt in stages with the third and final stage blanketing the Earth with ash. This will plot out the sun and decimate humanity leaving the way open for the android conquest of Earth.

During the flight to Yellowstone Zatanna explains that her magical powers are limited and that she needs to have mastered a spell cold in order to use it. Superboy is more concerned with retribution against the Red Tornado, but Aqualad pointedly notes that he deserves more than to be “The Weapon” that his designers created him to be (a direct reference to Superboy’s own creation by the Cadmus Project). Ivo, at Strange’s insistence, has phoned Morrow’s Laboratory and warned them that the Team are on their way. Zatanna accompanies them as they proceed on foot to the laboratory, but the Red Volcano is monitoring their approach and sends the Red Tornado to kill them. The Team try fight back against their former mentor, but are easily beaten and knocked unconscious.

The Team’s defeat was a ruse designed to fool the Red Volcano into thinking that the Red Tornado is working with him. However, the Volcano has all of the Tornado’s memories and sees through his gambit. The Volano attacks the heroes directly and the Tornado abandons them to fight him alone. His rock-controlling powers allow him to levitate boulders out of the ground and propel them at the teen heroes. The Volcano is also able to swiftly predict and counter their strategies due to his stolen memories, but Zatanna is unknown to him. She’s able to blind the Red Volcano, but he retaliates by starting the supervolcano eruption ahead of schedule. The eruption shakes Morrow’s laboratory where the Tornado has returned to speak, via an external computer, to his two remaining siblings. Inferno questions why they who-are-not-human should save the humans, but the Tornado counters by saying that, while they was never human, she and the Inferno were always heroes.

A large pool of lava has appeared around the Red Volano as he throws burning rocks and lava against the Team. Kid Flash recognises that Red Volcano has created a stage 2 eruption and that he is intent on advancing to a world threatening stage 3. The Team redouble their attacks, but the android is stronger and faster than they are. The sudden arrival of the Red Torpedo forces Volcano back into the lava. The Red Tornado follows by shattering the plinth Red Volcano had created for himself, and the Red Inferno keeps up the pressure with her own fires. Inferno and Torpedo wrestle Volcano and down into the lava. The Tornado joins them and forces Volcano lower into the lava where the heat begins to melt all four androids. The Volcano’s last vindictive act before it melts is to push the eruption to stage 3. The Tornado’s own legs have melted off and he appears content to join his siblings in molten oblivion. However, he is pulled free at the last minute by Superboy.

Kid Flash explains that their only hope of stopping the eruption is to bleed off the excess pressure from the supervolcano. Under his direction Robin calculates the points to relieve the pressure and Artemis blows them open with her explosive arrows. Its then up to the Red Tornado, in a staggering display of his power, to funnel the exhaust ash cloud out of the atmosphere.

He is successful and return to Earth. Kid Flash then uses the machinery in Morrow’s laboratory to restore the Tornado’s voice. The Team finally realise that the Tornado became their supervisor in an attempt to become more human himself, something he thought he could only do around the lively teens and not around the staid adults of the League. Once he is repaired the Red Tornado visits the real Thomas Morrow, now a very old and sick man, who is kept alive by hospital machines. Zatanna enjoyed her “kidnapping” and Robin hopes it will be the first of many — that is if her father doesn’t live up to his promise to ground her for life.

Continuity

• This episode takes place on the 10th of October. Black Canary is the out-going supervisor and Zatara in the in-coming supervisor.
• The Tornado didn’t betray the Team in "Homefront" and claims he left to spare the Team from further attacks and to search for Morrow.
• Zatara’s teleport code is 11, Zatanna’s code is A-03.
• Robin fancies Zatanna, his reaction is almost identical to Kid Flash’s first meeting with Miss Martian.

Commentary

Zatanna and Zatara

Zatara and Zatanna owe their existence to a character from outside the comic books. Many early comic book characters were pastiches of better known comic strip characters and one of the more famous newspaper comic strip characters was Mandrake the Magician. Mandrake was created by Lee Falk (the creator of the Phantom) and first appeared in 1934 in comic strips distributed by King Features Syndicate. That character is largely forgotten nowadays and last appeared on screen as part of the 1980s cartoon series Defenders of the Earth, a series which united him with Flash Gordon and the Phantom in a sort of comic-strip Justice League. At the time, however, Mandrake inspire an entire genre of magicans turned superhero/adventurers.

The idea of a Mandrake like character, a stage magician who fought crime using real magic, was lifted by Fred Guardineer for his character of John Zatara — they even had the same moustache. Zatara first appeared in Action Comics #1 (June 1938) alongside Superman and remained an interesting, if minor, character throughout the 1940s. The twist that differentiated John Zatara from the other Mandrake pastiches was that he spoke his magical spells in reverse — the order of the letters in each word was reversed, but the word order is perserved. Thus “Undo These Ropes” becomes “Odnu Eseht Sepor”.

Zatara’s adventures were cancelled at the start of the 1950s. Many of them had been written by Gardner Fox and Fox revived the character when he began writing the Justice League in the 1960s. However, he didn’t bring back Zatara to be a Leaguer. Fox instead revived Zatara so that he could introduce Zatanna, Zatara’s grown-up daughter. Beginning in Hawkman (vol. 1) #4 (Nov 1964) and concluding in Justice League of America (vol. 1) #51 (Feb 1967) it was explained that Zatara had married a women from a hidden race of magical humans (homo magi compared to our own homo sapiens) and that Zatanna was the result of that union. However, Zatara had been cursed so that he and Zatanna would both die if they ever saw each other again. He separated himself from her for their mutual protection, but she with the Justice League’s help managed to find Zatara and to lift the curse.

Zatanna eventually became a member of League ten-years-later in Justice League of America #161 (Dec 1978) and, despite leaving the team, usually pops up when there is a mystical threat they need helping with. While with the League, Zatanna wore a more traditional superhero costume, but she has since returned to her original costume which was a female varation of her father stage-magician silks. She recently starred in her own series written by Paul Dini where she concentrated on her day job as a stage magician whilst fighting magical threats in and around LA.

Zatanna in this episode is voiced by Lacey Chabet. She also voiced Gwen Stacey in The Spectacular Spider-Man (another Greg Weisman production), was the original voice of Meg Griffin in the first season of the Family Guy, and played Penny in the 1998 big-screen adaptation of Lost In Space. The Zatanna shown in this episode is significantly younger than she is normally shown in the comics. A teenage Zatanna has been seen before in flashbacks of the Batman: The Animated Series, where she was a contemporary of the younger Bruce Wayne, and in a couple of web-cartoons that WB produced a few years ago. Those web-toons aren’t online – as far as I know – but, they showed a Sabrina Teen Witch like version of Zatanna.

The Golden Age flashback

T.O. Morrow describes to the Red Tornado the history of the Red androids and his attempts to infiltrate the Justice Society. This differs from the comic book version in that it was only the Tornado who was ever the designed for infiltration, his other androids are a far more recent invention. That is, however, not to say that the new origin doesn’t draw heavily on two older Quality Comics characters.

The original Red Torpedo was Jim Lockhart who first appeared in Quality Comics’ Crack Comics #1 (May 1940). He was a naval diver who designed a specialised submarine called the Torpedo which he used to go on fabulous adventures. Years later DC acquired the Quality Comics back-catalogue and worked their characters into their own universe. The original Red Torpedo remained obscure even after the name was borrowed for a female underwater android based on the Red Tornado’s design (the Tornado himself was named after on an equally obscure DC Comics character of the 1940s). The Young Justice character merges the underwater android aspect with the look/identity of the original Quality Comics character.

The second of Morrow’s androids in this episode is the Firebrand/Red Inferno. The original Firebrand was Rod Reilly, another Quality Comics character, who first appeared in Police Comics #1 (Aug 1941). He was also brought into the DC Comics universe where he was used as the inspiration for a second female Firebrand, alias Danette Reilly, when DC was populating a 1940s era supergroup called the All-Star Squardron. The Squadron was a pooling of every hero active during the 1940s into a single war-time batallion. It is Danette/Firebrand who is shown sacrificing her “life” in this episode. The villain who kills her is called the Dragon King. In the comics he killed the original Firebrand, his daughter became the archenemy of the modern day teen-heroine Star-Spangled Kid (whether she’ll turn up in this cartoon remains to be seen, but she’d fit in great).

During the Firebrand flashback she and the Flash and shown in front of the Trylon and Perisphere (the spire and sphere) from the New York World’s Fair of 1939. The comic book All-Star Squadron, of which they were members, used the Perisphere as their headquarters and the comic book Hall of Justice, the League’s HQ, is built the same site.

During the Red Tornado’s flashback we see him standing with members of the Justice Society. Doctor Fate (Kent Nelson) featured heavily in "Denial" and appeared briefly at the conclusion to "Revelations". The 1940s Flash (Jay Garrick) appeared out of uniform in "Downtime" where Wally was attending a birthday dinner in his honor. He was also shown in flashback as the Flash in Wally’s origin in Young Justice (vol. 2) #5. The other heroes shown are the original Green Lantern, Sandman, and Wildcat.

Misc

• T.O. Morrow: “Any thus the prodigal son returned…” — is a quote from the Bible, Luke 15. It’s the “Parable of the Prodigal/Lost Son” which is a teaching – depending on how you look at it – about how children always remain special to their parents no matter how they’ve parted. The implication is that Morrow believes that Tornado has squandered his gifts to him (by not destroying the heroes), but is willing to accept him back as the prodigal son.
• The location of Morrow’s Laboratory is given as Teton County which is in Wyoming. Teton contains 40% of the area of Yellowstone National Park.
• Kid Flash’s diet: pineapple juice and nachos (although Wolf gets to eat the nachos)
• Kid Flash’s souvenir: an android’s hand from Morrow’s laboratory.
• Those teleport codes: Full Justice Leaguers just have numbers while the sidekicks have numbers prefixed by the letter B. Zatara gives Zatanna a teleport code prefixed by the letter A (“A-0-3″) which suggests a different group of people with access to the League’s facilities, but whom aren’t members of either team. It furthermore suggests that there are two people prior to Zatanna with the A prefix. This is purely a guess, but these could be other civilians – possible Snapper Carr (seen in Young Justice (vol. 2) #2) and/or Catherine Colbert (the League’s liaison who has been mentioned by the producers, but not seen on screen).

Characters

Feature Characters

The Team

• Aqualad (Kaldur’ahm. Last appeared in "Revelations")
• Artemis (Artemis Crock. Last appeared in "Revelations")
• Kid Flash (Wally West. Last appeared in "Revelations". Still has a broke arm which he uses as an excuse to sit-out training. )
• Miss Martian (M’gann M’orzz/Megan Morse. Last appeared in "Revelations")
• Robin (Dick Grayson. Last appeared in "Revelations". Mets Zatanna for the first time and is obviously attracted to her.)
• Superboy (Conner Kent. Last appeared in "Revelations".)

Guest Stars

• Zatanna Zatara (Giovanni Zatara’s daughter. Can cast spells, but needs to know them cold before she can use them in action. First Earth-16 appearance. Given the teleport code A-03 by her father, but he insists that she’s just visiting. )

Supporting Cast

• Wolf (Mutant white wolf adopted by Superboy. Last appeared in "Revelations".)

The Justice League

• Black Canary (Has been serving as the team’s rotating den-mother. Last appeared in "Revelations". )
• Captain Marvel (Waiting on the injured Kid Flash. Last appeared in "Revelations")
• Giovanni Zatara (A sorcerer who dresses in stage-magician silks. First name used by Black Canary. Introduces his daughter Zatanna to the team. Last appeared in "Revelations". )
• Red Tornado (Revealed to have been a member of the Justice Society. Loses his legs, but is rebuilt by episode’s end. Discovers and states his intention to care for his dying creator, T.O. Morrow. Last appeared in "Terrors". )

Villains

• Red Volcano (First Earth-16 appearance. An elemental android with power over earth and rock. The fourth of T.O. Morrow’s Red androids. Apparently destroyed his episode. )
• T.O. Morrow (Thomas Morrow, first name given by Ivo. The creator of the Red androids. His “younger” self is shown to be android, his real elderly and dying body is shown at episode’s end. Last appeared in "Welcome to Happy Harbor". )

Other Characters

• Professor Ivo (Morrow’s competitor and the creator of Amazo. Reveals Morrow’s location to the Team. Last appeared in "Terrors".)
• Red Inferno / Firebrand (Last appeared in "Homefront". The second of Morrow’s Red androids. Was designed to infiltrate the WWII era superheroes under the guise of Firebrand, but her programming was too good and she sacrificed her “life” to save the Flash. Recommissioned by Morrow as the Red Inferno. Apparently destroyed this episode. )
• Red Torpedo (Last appeared in "Homefront". The first of Morrow’s Red androids. Designed to infiltrate the WWII era superheroes in the disguise of an aquatic superhero, but his programming wasn’t sophisticated enough. Apparently destroyed this episode. )
• Brom Stikk (T.O. Morrow’s laboratory assistant. Last appeared in "Welcome to Happy Harbor"/)
• Warden Hugo Strange (Former chief pychicatrist at Belle Reve, succeeded Amanda Waller as Warden. Works for the Light. Last appeared in "Terrors". )

Cameo Appearances

• Dragon King (Masked Villain who shoots Firebrand. Shown in flashback. First Earth-16 appearance.)

The Justice Society

• Doctor Fate (Shown in flashback. Previous appeared in "Denial". )
• Flash I (Shown in flashback. Previous cameod in "Downtime". )
• Green Lantern I, Sandman, Wildcat (Shown in flashback. First Earth-16 appearance.)

Opinion

Highlights

• The flashbacks. The entire episode was great, but as a DC fan I just loved seeing those obscure Quality Comics characters and the brief appearance of the JSA.

Oddities

• Where did all that ash go? Tornado may have accelerated it into orbit, but it’ll eventually fall back down and still have the same effect.

Open Questions

• Does the Tornado have a secret identity or not. It is stated that the Red Tornado does not have a secret identity, yet in "Targets" its also stated that the Martian Manhunter has given him the name John Smith.
• Just how old is the Red Tornado? The Justice Society were active during the 1940s and that flashback makes it look like he was built around that time.
• The Red Volcano’s hand turning to dust has to be a homage to something, but I can’t place it.

My Thoughts

The return of the Red Tornado allows Greg Weisman to merge the Tornado’s siblings with his original “infiltrate the JSA origin” to create a compelling story. I never in all my days thought I would see a DC cartoon include a reference to Firebrand or to the WWII era Red Torpedo. The use of the JSA and the deep DC history gives this episode a feeling a real weight and grounding (something it shares with "Denial" and "Downtime"). The animation this episode is really fluid with a consistent high-quality across action and talking scene. One of my favourite moments is Zatanna’s magicking of Ivo, the look on his face is priceless and is a nicely observed bit of animation.

I found the cartoon volcanology amusing – a supervolcano is just something on an entirely other scale to what was shown in the cartoon. The Yellowstone supervolcano isn’t a little mountain in Yellowstone, it is Yellowstone and sits beneath almost a quarter of the entire Park. It’ll take more than a few arrows to vent that baby when it goes up. Nevertheless, the set-up does give a display of just how powerful the Red Tornado is. His is a wonderfully visual power and it transfers to screen quite well, I particularly like the way his tornadoes are coloured red in order to denote their origin. His morose demeanour “I don’t believe I should be rebuilt” reminds me of a certain Hitchhiking paranoid android.

A good episode, with great animation and brilliant use of DC’s vast back catalogue of obscure characters.

Episode Credits

Cast

Artemis

Stephanie Lemelin

Robin

Jesse McCartney

Miss Martian

Danica McKellar

Superboy, Zatara

Nolan North

Aqualad

Khary Payton

Kid Flash

Jason Spisak

Wolf, Ultra-Humanite

Dee Bradley Baker

Count Vertigo

Steve Blum

Vandal Savage

Miguel Ferrer

Batman, Wotan

Bruce Greenwood

Alyssa Milano

Poison Ivy

Masasa Moyo

Cat Grant

Nabu

Kevin Michael Richardson

Joker

Brent Spiner

Crew

Writer

Kevin Hopps

Director

Michael Chang

Music, Theme Music

Kristopher Carter,Michael McCuistion,Lolita Ritmanis

Voice Direction

Jamie Thomason

Animation Timing Director

James Tim Walker

Storyboard

Jay Baker, Tim Diver, Phil Langone

Lead Character Design

Phil Bourassa

Character Design

Dusty Abell,Jerome Moore, Coran Stone

Prop Design

Andy Chiang,Eugene Mattos

Animation Services

Lotto Animation

Animation Director

Heechul Kang (supervising), Daegu Heh, Yeongsoo Kim, Hyeoksoo Lee, Jeha Yu

Producer

Brandon Vietti,Greg Weisman

Executive Producer

Sam Register

Quotes

The Joker: With so much power at my finger tips some might call me a control freak. Others, just a freak.

Synopsis “Revelations”

October 1st – The peace and quite of a Metropolis street is shattered by the sudden eruption of a mutant thorny vine from beneath the side-walk. The writhing vine is small at first, but it coils around itself and rapidly grows to skyscraper size. Not only is its size unnatural, but the vine is animate and sprouts flower/arm like tendrils which throw police cars around. The “test” is watched from afar and is declared a complete success by Count Vertigo and his Injustice League (Poison Ivy, Black Adam, Wotan, Ultra-Humanite, the Atomic Skull, and the Joker).

At the Cave, Robin is sparring with Aqualad when Miss Martian and Superboy walk past. Robin gossips that they a couple and asks Aqualad if they should tell Artemis and Kid Flash, but Aqualad tells him that it is none of their business. Batman then arrives and orders the computer to display the national news. The plant creature has reappeared in Metropolis and is bigger than ever. Superman and the Justice League are attacking the plants, but the vines contain trace amounts of a Kobra Venom variant – a trail that links them back via the Brain’s animals, to Kobra and Bane’s formulae, and the Cadmus Project. It is now abundantly clear that unrelated criminals are cooperating with each other in some kind of “super villain secret society”.

Robin accesses the Cave’s computer and announces that the Metropolis attack was only the beginning. Other cities – including Gotham City, Paris, Star City, and Taipei – are also under attack. However, his satellite signal is interrupted by a global broadcast by the Injustice League. Count Vertigo demands a ransom of 10 billion dollars or the cities will be destroyed. Robin guesses that the Injustice League were behind everything they’ve faced so far. Batman says the Justice League will handle the actual plants and assigns the Team to hunt down and eliminate whatever system is controlling them. Kid Flash is disappointed as he thinks he’s being sidelined until Artemis points out that they’ll probably be coming into direct conflict with the Injustice League.

Zatara’s magic locates a site of concentrated sorcerous activity suggesting Wotan’s presence in the Louisiana Bayou. Captain Marvel, who had been hanging around the Cave, is eager to join the Team, but Batman tells him that he is needed elsewhere. They return to Gotham City where the Batman uses the Batplane to spray herbicide on the creature, Captain Marvel then throws a large part of its mass into space while Zatara’s magic burns more of it away. The plant responds by releasing Joker’s lethal laughing gas. The Joker is controlling the plants from the Injustice League’s HQ, but Poison Ivy is concerned by the strain all this activity is placing on her “baby” (the giant vine that is acting as control hub for all the rest). The Ultra-Humanite and Wotan help care for the vine while the Atomic Skull pumps more power into it.

The Bioship’s approach toward the Bayou is detected by the Injustice League’s sensors. Kid Flash is interested in why Aqualad brought a duffel bag along and is told that it contains “Plan B”. Miss Martian is suddenly overcome by waves of dizziness and disorientation transmitted to her through the Bioship. It is protecting them from the worst of Count Vertigo’s attack, but the living ship can only take so much and drops it’s invisibility. Black Adam spots the Bioship and punches it into bayou where it is grasped by more of Ivy’s mutant vines. The Team bail out as the ship sinks, but are met on dry land by Vertigo and Adam. Aqualad orders Miss Martian and Robin to vanish into the swamp and fulfil the mission objective while the rest of the Team keep the villains busy.

Meanwhile, the Justice League are spread out around the world fighting the mutant vines. The Paris Vine had engulfed the Eiffel Tower and is being fought by the Martian Manhunter and Aquaman. The Taipei Vine has overwhelmed a nuclear power station causing its reactor to under go meltdown, but Captain Atom is on hand to absorb its energy. Vines grapple the Star City Bridge and are fought by Red Arrow, Green Arrow, and Black Canary. The Joker is controlling each scenario in parallel, a talent he ascribes to his multiple personalities. He commands the Star City Vine to attack a school bus, but Green Lantern Guy Gardner is on hand to catch it. Other heroes helping the Justice League include Blue Devil in Taipei, Plastic Man in Gotham City, and Icon and Rocket in Paris.

Vertigo and Black Adam subdue the members of the Team that are fighting them, but Vertigo recognises that two of them are missing. Robin and Miss Martian have found the Injustice League’s headquarters and the central vine that is acting as a control antenna for the rest, but are discovered by Poison Ivy and the Ultra-Humanite. Wotan creates cage to contain the rest of the Team as Black Adam flies them back to the Injustice League’s base. However, the Bioship has regenerated and Miss Martian uses it to clobber Wotan causing him to drop his spell and the captured teens.

The heroes are briefly reunited, but face the combined might of Ivy, Adam, Vertigo, and the Ultra-Humanite. Count Vertigo is worried when he notices that Robin is missing again, but Ivy senses the danger to her Vine too late. Dozens of Robin’s throwing discs detonate, destroying the control vine and cutting its signal to the mutant vines. The mission objective is a success, but the rest of the Injustice League are now free to concentrate their reprisal attacks on the Team. Vertigo commands “Kill them. Kill them all!”

Wotan’s sorcery brings the Team to their knees. Aqualad shields Miss Martian for a moment and tells her “Plan-B”. She telepathically commands the Bioship to deliver Aqualad’s duffel bag to him. Inside it is the Helmet of Fate and its appearance causes Wotan to pause. Kid Flash – who had his own experience wearing the Helmet ("Denial") – calls out to Aqualad not to put it on, but its too late. There is a blaze of light and Aqualad is transformed into Doctor Fate. The Doctor’s intervention shifts the balance of the battle and keeps Wotan from hurting the others. Nevertheless, its still a pitched battle with the Joker looking to carve Robin, and the others cooperating to knock down Vertigo.

The battle is decided by the arrival of the massed Justice League. Together they push the villains back into a circle and force them to surrender. The Joker alone refuses and uses his remaining connection to Ivy’s mutant vines to blanket the area in his Joker gas. Batman decks the Joker, but its Aqualad – still as Doctor Fate – who destroys the gas before it can cause harm. Kid Flash is furious that Aqualad was allowed to put on the Helmet of Fate and fears that he’s lost his friend forever to Nabu, the Lord of Order who inhabits it. However, Nabu agrees to relinquish Aqualad after help from Kent Nelson’s spirit.

Batman describes the Team’s performance as satisfactory and says that they have successfully neutralised the super villain secret society which had been acting against them. However, this scheme has merely been another part of the Light’s plan. The Injustice League were a set of proxy villains designed to distract attention from the Light, the real super villain secret society, and its members Vandal Savage, the Queen Bee, the Ocean Master, Ra’s Al Ghul, Lex Luthor, Klarion, and the Brain.

Commentary

The Injustice League/Society/Legion of Doom

The idea of a reverse Justice League, of a group comprised of the individual Leaguer’s enemies, is a reoccurring one, but there is rarely a any relationship between the differning incarnations. The very first version of this villain grouping was the Injustice Society – a collection of the Justice Society’s enemies who first appeared in All-Star Comics #37 (Oct-Nov 1947). The Injustice Society persists in the comics until the present and inspired a string of similar groups who fought the Justice League. The League’s opponents can broadly be split into two groups by splitting the Injustice Society’s name.

The Injustice League

The first set of groups are variously named the Injustice Gang or the Injustice League and are random assortments of villains who come together for single attacks on the League. There will normally be little relation between one incarnation of the Injustice Gang/League and the next. It is this general shape of this group which was picked up by the Super Friends writers as the Legion of Doom.

The Super Friend’s group gets a shout out from the design of the Injustice Society’s swamp based headquarters.

The villains in this incarnation of the Injustice League are:

• The Atomic Skull – An enemy of Superman. This version of the Atomic Skull plays up the skull part of the motif and appears almost zombie-like. The Skull doesn’t appear to speak.
• Black Adam – Captain Marvel’s arch-enemy. He was a former agent of the Wizard Shazam (like the Captian currently is), but turned against his patron. Adam doesn’t appear to speak.
• Count Vertigo – The leader of this group. An enemy of Green Arrow. He is a minor European nobleman who’s own inner ear problem was corrected by sophisticated electronics. However, that technology now allows him to broadcast to other peoples inner ears – the part of the body that controls balance – causing vertigo, sickness, and other balance related problems in his enemies. Vertigo is voiced by Steve Bulm who previously voiced the same character in the DC Showcase: Green Arrow short from the Superman/Batman: Apocalypse DVD. Bulm previously voiced Killer Croc in the Batman: Arkham Asylum video-game and Marvel Comics’s Wolverine in string of their cartoons.
• The Joker – Batman’s arch-enemy. His true identity isn’t known for certain in the comics (he may be a hitman, a gangster, or just a failed comic). But, he appears to have been turned insane by almost drowning in a vat of chemicals. A younger of this incarnation of the character appeared in flashback in Young Justice (vol. 2) #2. The Joker is voiced by Brent Spiner, who will be most recognisble to genre fans as the android Lt. Commander Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Spiner was one of the Next Generation stars who worked with Greg Weisman on Gargoyles (he voiced the reoccuring character Puck).
• Poison Ivy – Another of Batman’s enemies. She was a shy botanist who was transformed into a plant-controlling vixen by her mentor, the unscruplous scientist Jason Woodrow. In common with her Batman: The Animated Series appearance this Ivy is very protective of her planets and refers to them as her “babies”. Ivy is voiced by Alyssa Milano. She voiced the character of Aimee Brenner in the DC Showcase: The Spectre short from the Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. She’ll be best known to genre fans as Phoebe from Charmed. Milano hasn’t played DC’s Ivy before, but she was the lead character of the direct-to-video production Poison Ivy II.
• Ultra-Humanite – Originally an enemy of Superman from the 1940s, he later became a reoccurring foe of the Justice Society. He was a typical mad scientist, but developed a talent for having his brain transplanted into different bodies. He most famously posed as the film star Delores Winters before his brain ended up in the body of an albino gorilla. The Humanite is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker and in common with the intelligent gorilla Monsieur Mallah from last episode he doesn’t appear to be able to speak.
• Wotan – An enemy of Doctor Fate. Wotan was previously mentioned in "Independence Day" when the Justice League were called away to stop him blotting out the Sun thus leaving Robin and co. free to investigate Cadmus and liberate Superboy. Wotan is voiced by Bruce Greenwood (the regular voice of YJ’s Batman).

The Light

The second set of these villain groups take on the “Society” element of the Injustice Society and operate as the “Secret Society of Super Villains”. That group even had their own short-lived comic book series and persists into the present as a more serious grouping called the Society. The Society fought DC heroes in the Infinite Crisis maxi-series and were really effective, but like all these groupings, their effectiveness only lasted as long as their was proper leadership and they could be convinced not to kill each other.

In tone and effectiveness the Light, the true running badguys in this series, appears to be inspired by the Society. However, it also appears that the Light may be a continuation of the original Injustice Society. The first comic book version of the Injustice Society included Vandal Savage who is shown her as the leader of the Light. The second incarnation of the comic book Society included Sportsmaster and Tigress (Artemis’s parents in the YJ reality) and Icicle Senior (from the Belle Reve breakout attempt).

The various members of the light have been disguised in previous episodes with voice credits only attributed to codenames like L-1 or L-2. However, we’ve also seen most of these characters in separate episodes so we can match up disguised codenames with the normal voice artists.

• L-1 – Vandal Savage - Vandal Savage (he’s named in the credits) is an immortal caveman who has been manipulating and sabotaging humanity’s affairs since the stone age. The comic book version has claimed to have been all sorts of historical despots and is the head of the DC Universe Illuminati, the secret society for which the Light may be named. He hasn’t been seen on screen before in this series, but he appears to be the leader of the Light. Savage is voiced by Miguel Ferrer who also voiced the disguised character L-1 (presumable Savage) in "Fireworks" and "Drop-Zone".
• L-2 – Ra’s Al Ghul - Ra’s is the head of the League of Shadows. This is the organisation which employs the Sportsmaster, Cheshire, Black Spider, and the Hook and thus is behind the events of "Infiltrator" and "Targets". Oded Fehr voiced Ra’s Al Ghul in "Targets" and the disguised character L-2 (presumable Ra’s) in "Infiltrator".
• L-3 – Lex Luthor - Is Superman’s arch-enemy. He appeared in "Targets" as the mediator of an international treaty. He and Ra’s Al Ghul arranged for it to appear as if the League of Shadows was trying to assassinate Luthor as part of their manipulations of the treaty discussions. He was voiced by Mark Rolston in "Targets". Rolston also voiced the disguised character L-3 (presumable Luthor) in "Fireworks".
• L4 – Queen Bee - The Queen Bee has not appeared in person until this episode, even then she is only briefly seen on screen. She is the monarch of the desert country Bailya which was featured in "Bereft". Marina Sirtis voiced the character of L-4 in "Bereft" so is presumably the Queen Bee, the Light’s sole female member.
• L-6 – The Brain - Is one half a villianous duo (Monsieur Mallah being the other one) who fought the team in "Alpha Male" where they were using Kobra Venom to mutate wildlife in Northern India. He was voiced by Corey Burton in "Homefront". The French speaking disguised member of the Light, L-6, was voiced by Nolan North for "Drop-Zone".
• L-5 or L-7 – Klarion - Is an extra-dimensional Lord of Chaos. He tried to steal the Helmet of Fate from Kent Nelson during "Denial", but it was taken in custody by Kid Flash. Klarion was voiced by Thom Adcox in "Downtime".
• L-5 or L-7 – Ocean Master - Is Aquaman’s arch-enemy. Like the Queen Bee, he had not appeared in person until this episode, but he was shown in flashback in "Downtime" as part of Aqualad’s origin – Kaldur became Aqualad after defending Aquaman from an attack by the Ocean Master.

The Guest Stars

A handful of DC Heroes appear in this episode to assist the Justice League against the mutant vines. These are:

• Blue Devil – The Blue Devil was a stuntman who designed and built an advanced costume in order to play the character of the Blue Devil in an otherwise low budget film of the same name. Unfortunately for him the filming woke a real demon who transformed the stuntman in a devil suit into a real devil.
• Green Lantern Guy Gardner – Hal Jordan’s back-up as Green Lantern. He was chosen by the ring as an equally valid candidate for Earth’s Green Lantern, but Hal happened to be closer. Guy later became Hal’s proper backup, but was rendered invalid after a head injury. It was at that stage that John Stewart was chosen as the alternative backup. Guy later returned to the GL Corps, albeit with a more bombastic attitude.
• Plastic Man – Plastic Man is a character, like Captain Marvel from last episode, who was a massive success in the 1940s, but has never really recaptured his old glory. He’s probably best known nowadays for his own 1980s cartoon series.
• Icon and Rocket – These are two character from a comic book company called Milestone Publications which was set up to present an ethnically diverse set of comic book characters. Milestone’s biggest hit was the character Static who was adapted into his own cartoon series Static Shock and crossed over with the Justice League Unlimited cartoons. Icon is a superman-like alien-character, but the star of his series was really his human teenage sidekick Rocket.

Misc.

• Kid Flash’s diet: Is being eaten in Captain Marvel. Later a banana.
• Kid Flash’s souvenir: A scrap of Vertigo’s cloak.
• Artemis has started carrying rebreathers after almost drowning in "Homefront" and "Alpha Male". Megan breathes underwater by growing gills.
• Superboy: “I hate monkeys”. As with last episode, this is something of a catch phrase. It originated in Young Justice (vol. 2) #2 as a reference to the telepathic G-Gnomes from Cadmus and got repeated in "Schooled" as a response to the MONQUI robots.

Characters

Feature Characters

The Team

• Aqualad (Kaldur’ahm. Briefly wears the Helmet of Fate as Doctor Fate while battling Wotan. Last appeared in "Alpha Male")
• Artemis (Artemis Crock. Last appeared in "Alpha Male")
• Kid Flash (Wally West. Breaks his arm in the final battle. Last appeared in "Alpha Male")
• Miss Martian (M’gann M’orzz/Megan Morse. Last appeared in "Alpha Male")
• Robin (Dick Grayson. Last appeared in "Alpha Male")
• Superboy (Conner Kent. Last appeared in "Alpha Male")

Supporting Cast

• Wolf (The white mutant wolf adopted by Superboy. Last appeared in "Alpha Male". )

The Justice League

• Batman (Bruce Wayne. Dispatches the Team to find the Injustice League. Shown flying the Batplane while fighting the mutant vine in Gotham City. )
• Captain Marvel (Billy Batson. Last appeared in "Alpha Male". Still hanging around the Cave. Fights the Gotham City Vine. )
• John Zatara (Identifies the location of the Injustice League from the sorcerous power given off by Wotan. Fights the Gotham City Vine.)
• Aquaman, Martian Manhunter (Fight the Paris Vine)
• Captain Atom, Flash (Fight the Taipei Vine)
• Black Canary, Green Arrow (Fight the Star City Vine)
• Green Lantern John Stewart, Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Superman (Help round up the Injustice League)

Guest Star

• Doctor Fate (Last appeared in "Denial", takes over Aqualad in order to battle Wotan. )

Guest Appearances

• Blue Devil (First Earth-16 appearance. )
• Green Lantern Guy Gardner (First Earth-16 appearance. )
• Icon (First Earth-16 appearance. )
• Plastic Man (First Earth-16 appearance. )
• Red Arrow (Roy Harper. Last appeared in "Targets" )
• Rocket (Icon’s sidekick. First Earth-16 appearance. )

Villains

The Injustice League

• Atomic Skull (An atomic-powered enemy of Superman. First Earth-16 appearance. )
• Black Adam (Captain Marvel’s evil equivalent. First Earth-16 appearance. )
• Count Vertigo (Leader of the Injustice League. An enemy of Green Arrow. First Earth-16 appearance. )
• Joker (Batman’s arch-enemy. First on-screen Earth-16 appearance, previously appeared in flashback in Young Justice (vol. 2) #2. )
• Posion Ivy (A plant-controlling enemy of the Batman. First Earth-16 appearance. )
• Ultra-Humanite (A mad scientist’s brain in an albino-gorilla’s body. First Earth-16 appearance. )
• Wotan (A sorcerer. First on-screen Earth-16 appearance, was behind-the-scene fighting the Justice League in "Independence Day" and "Fireworks". )

The Light

• Brain (A brain-in-a-jar. Last appeared in "Alpha Male". )
• Klarion (A Lord of Chaos in child-form. Last appeared in "Independence Day". )
• Lex Luthor (A billionaire business and Superman’s arch-enemy. Last appeared in "Targets". )
• Ocean Master (Aquaman’s arch-enemy. First Earth-16 on-screen appearance, was reference in "Downtime". )
• Queen Bee (Ruler of the desert country Bailya. Behind-the-scenes of events in "Bereft". )
• Ra's Al Ghul (Leader of the League of Shadows. Last appeared in "Targets". )
• Vandal Savage (League of the Light. First Earth-16 undisguised on-scene appearance. )

Cameo Appearances

• Kent Nelson (Behind-the-scenes. Helps convinced Nabu to give up possession of Aqualad’s body as Doctor Fate)
• Sportsmaster (His image is shown by Batman.)

Opinion

Highlights

• The guest stars.

Oddities

• The School Bus that gets attacked in Star City has “Metropolis School District” on the side of it.

Open Questions

• What will somebody as powerful as Wotan or as insane as the Joker do when they realise that they’ve been used as puppets by the Light? Or, do some members of the Injustice League realise their role in this charade?

My Thoughts

A great episode which showed the team operating collectively again – as compared to last episode’s squabbling. The Justice League is shown facing a very credible threat and the Team are sent on an absolutely critical mission with regard to it. It shows Batman’s faith in Aqualad’s Team, but it also served to show YJ in their place – they’re powerful enough to find and disrupt the control vine, but are not powerful enough to take down the assembled Injustice League. I like it that the status of the Justice League is maintained, it serves to give YJ a defined position and role in this version of the DC Universe.

I was quite impressed that they managed to get Brent Spiner and Alyssa Milano to voice characters as part of an assemble and not just as single leads. I found Spiner’s Joker to be different than I was expecting. Mark Hammill’s Joker (from Batman: TAS and DCAU) is a very strong character who revels in his insanity and laughter where as Kevin Michael Richardson’s Joker (from The Batman) was more of a tough guy. Spiner’s Joker feels a lot more serious and less jovial than Hammills, there is a greater degree of menace in his performance, but not quite the same level of banter.

Apart from the Joker and Ivy the Injustice League are just cyphers who could have been replaced with any number of guest villains. Yet that may have been the point – they were always meant to be a distraction for the Team, a throwaway bunch of wannabe’s sacrificed by the Light. The massing continuity is generally handled well and it felt that this was one of those episodes, like "Targets", that the season arc pivots around. The only down side of this was the cringworthy information dump where, as a group, the voice artists relate off the Light’s former activities yet seem to forget to include any intonation in their delivery.

Episode Credits

Cast

Artemis

Stephanie Lemelin

Robin

Jesse McCartney

Miss Martian

Danica McKellar

Superboy

Nolan North

Aqualad

Khary Payton

Kid Flash

Jason Spisak

Monsieur Mallah, Wolf, Mr Tawny

Dee Bradley Baker

Brain, Hamilton Hill, Dudley H. Dudley

Corey Burton

Batman

Bruce Greenwood

Captain Marvel

Rob Lowe

Crew

Writer

Thomas Pugsley

Director

Jay Oliva

Music, Theme Music

Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion, Lolita Ritmanis

Voice Direction

Jamie Thomason

Animation Timing Director

James Tim Walker

Storyboard

Jay Baker, Tim Diver, Phil Langone

Lead Character Design

Phil Bourassa

Character Design

Dusty Abell, Jerome Moore

Prop Design

Eugene Mattos

Animation Services

Lotto Animation

Animation Director

Heechul Kang (supervising), Sangjoon Lee, Myeonghwan Park

Producer

Brandon Vietti, Greg Weisman

Executive Producer

Sam Register

Quotes

Robin: I thought vulchers only ate dead meat.Kid Flash: Yeah, these are some very proactive scavengers.

Synopsis “Alpha Male”

September 10th – Hamilton Hill, the Mayor of Gotham City, is on vacation in Northern India. Hill, an avid big game hunter, has dismissed his local guides who were telling tales of “devil beasts” and is tracking an endangered Indian tiger with his two companions. They eventually find the magnificent specimen beneath an isolated tree. Just as Hill has the tiger in his scope three mechanical probes extend from the ground and stuns it unconscious. Hill’s surprised party turns to face a noise from behind them and come face-to-face with a gorilla carrying a mini-gun. Hill escapes into the undergrowth, but his fellow hunters are cut down by the mini-gun’s fire.

September 23rd – It is the morning following the Red Torpedo and Inferno’s trespass into the Cave and the abduction and reprogramming of the Red Tornado ("Homefront"). The other members of the Justice League repair and upgrade the Cave’s systems, while Batman, Green Arrow, and Black Canary debrief the Team. The teen heroes are angry that they were overwhelmed by a supervisor who was meant to be looking out for them. However, they quickly turn on their own leader, Aqualad, when Superboy overhears him telling Batman that Sportsmaster had boasted about having a mole on the Team ("Targets"). Batman cuts through their heated argument with one word (“Enough!”) and tells the Team that in the Tornado’s absence Captain Marvel has volunteered to be the first in a rotating batch of supervisors. Superboy wants to hunt down the Tornado, but Batman over rules him and tells them that, as Tornado was a member of League, his disappearance will remain the League’s business.

Instead of hunting the Tornado the Batman dispatches the team to hunt for the mysterious gorilla who shot at Mayor’s Hamilton Hill party. Even Robin is incredulous about the mission, but Batman says its just one of other very credible reports and pointedly tells Aqualad to lead “his team” to Northern India. The jovial Captain Marvel accompanies them, but his desire to help is mistaken by Robin and Kid Flash as distrust in their abilities. They prepare to reconnoitre, but Robin and Kid Flash refuse to review the mission parameters. Robin reminds Aqualad that they started their own team specifically because the Justice League had kept secrets from them before he leaves to scout the area with Kid Flash. Superboy’s own anger is driven by a heavy-handed desire to protect Miss Martian, but she chafes against his protectionism and heads out with Artemis. Superboy then bounces off on his own. Aqualad if left with Captain Marvel to ponder if they even are a Team any more.

Eyes watch the dispersing teen heroes from the jungle undergrowth. Aqualad and Captain Marvel find gorilla footprints and confirm part of Hill’s story, but their investigation is cut short by a rumble from the jungle. Two massive elephants step into the clearing. They are unnaturally large and aggressive, their skin is ripped showing bulging muscles beneath, and bony spikes pierce their skins. The first mutant elephant is easily strong enough to withstand Marvel’s superstrong punches and throws him aside. He picks himself up, but find himself staring at the face of the tiger, also augmented, that Hill had been hunting. Both the mutant tiger and elephants have high-tech collars around their necks. Elsewhere Superboy is attacked by a pack of augmented wolves led by a giant white specimen, Robin and Kid Flash are attacked by super-sized vultures, and Miss Martian and Artemis are attacked by mutant crocodiles. Robin’s recognises that the animals have been injected with Kobra Venom ("Drop-Zone").

The mutant animals attack the heroes, but are a match to their strength and stamina. It’s Aqualad who recognises that the collars around their necks are agitating them, making them unnaturally aggressive. He destroys the collar around the nearest elephant causing it to become docile and wander back into the forest. Aqualad realises that the collars denote an intelligence behind these attacks. The comms are jammed and Aqualad is annoyed that Miss Martian failed to link them up telepathically. However, the Captain points out that it was actually Aqualad’s failure for not making her link them up. He cites Batman’s example from the Cave – the leader should had taken command. Miss Martian then makes contact herself and tells Aqualad about their own encounter. She adds the final piece of the puzzle by noting the similarity of the collar design with that used in Belle Reve ("Homefront").

Captain Marvel spots the mutant tiger again (“Cool. The Tiger!”) and rushes off after it before Aqualad can stop him. The tiger leads him into a clearing, but its a trap and Marvel is floored by an inhibitor field. The mysterious gorilla emerges to stand over him. The Captain later awakes to find himself strapped down to a surgical table in a laboratory. He is wearing an inhibitor collar that allows him to speak, but otherwise stops him from moving. He is addressed by a disembodies voice with a French accent. It talks about a surgical procedure to study the effect of his powers on his brain by removing it from his body. The voice them tells Mallah, the gorilla who is now dressed in surgical scrubs and a red beret, to prepare for surgery.

Aqualad orders Miss Martian to link the Team telepathically, but they all start grumbling again. He lets them bicker for a time before cutting them off with “Enough! Captain Marvel has been captured and we must act as a Team to save him”. Aqualad shuts Robin up before he can argue again and tells him the matter is finished until the mission is over – they can replace him as leader then if they so choose, but until that time he remains in command and demands their obedience. The Team (minus Superboy who is still wrestling with his white wolf) finds the laboratory and cooperate under Aqualad’s direction to deactivate the force field surrounding it. That brings them into conflict with the laboratory’s second line of defence – a troop of mutant macaques. Aqualad orders them to target the monkey’s control collars so they can remove them from the conflict without harming them further.

Mallah leaves the surgery to bolster the defences and smells the invisible Miss Martian trying to sneak pass him. He knocks her down and the rebuffs Kid Flash’s counter attack. Meanwhile, Captain Marvel is trying to reason with his captor that extracting his brain isn’t so smart, but it’s a line of reasoning lost on the Brain (literally a brain in a jar). The Brain is about to activate the cutting lasers when the mutant tiger leaps cross the surgical table and sends the Brain and his instruments clattering across the floor. The Brain shocks the tiger for defending Marvel and is gloating over him when Mallah comes flying through the laboratory’s concrete outer wall, a victim of Miss Martian’s telekinesis.

Kid Flash recognises the Brain, but the Team have run into a trap. Stun probes extend from the ground and paralyse the Team. Miss Martian’s telekinesis is still working and she uses it to snatch the controls from Mallah, deactivating the field. Superboy then bursts into the room with the white wolf (now collarless and his friend). They circle Mallah and the Brain while Aqualad frees Captain Marvel. However, the Brain refuses to be captured. The laboratory lights cut out for a few seconds, but when the illumination returns the Brain and Mallah have vanished. The Captain has removed the tiger’s collar in gratitude for saving him. He then asks the tiger, who he names Mister Tawny, to look after the other animals and promises to visit. The white wolf and Superboy have bonded and he jokingly asks if can keep him.

Robin asks Aqualad why he kept the mole existence a secret. Aqualad then admits to them that the source of the tip was the Sportsmaster. Artemis exclaims that he can’t be trusted and Aqualad agrees, but says he still had to consider the possibility that either it was true or that the Sportsmaster was trying to sow discord in their ranks – either way he needed to keep the information secret until he could ascertain which was true. Robin concedes his point and the Team unanimously vote to keep Aqualad as their leader.

Captain Marvel leaves them to return to the Cave while he flies back to Fawcett City and to the apartment he shares with his Uncle Dudley. The Captain excitedly tells him about hanging out with the Team and how they were so much more fun than the League. Dudley tells him to get some sleep, but has to remind him to transform. Captain Marvel shouts his magic word “Shazam” and is transformed back young Billy Batson, a boy who is actually young than the Team he was supervising as Captain Marvel.

Continuity

• Hamilton Hill is attacked on September 10th prior to the events of "Terrors". The Team’s investigation takes place on September 23rd, the morning after the events of "Homefront".
• In the Red Tornado’s absence the Team will be supervised by a rotating panel of Justice League supervisors. The first of these is Captain Marvel.

Commentary

Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel first appeared in Whiz Comics #2 (Feb 1940) and was created by Bill Parker and C. C. Beck. When Superman appeared in Action Comics #1 (June 1938) he became the first true superhero, but he did not remain the only one for long. A slew of super-powered characters debuted in the early 1940s – some of them were quite distinct from Superman’s archetype, but some of them were actually rather close. Fawcett Comics’s Captain Marvel was actually one of the closest in terms of powers, but he was quite distinct in other ways.

The Captain only appeared to be an adult. He was actually a young orphaned news paper seller called Billy Batson who had been recruited by the ancient wizard Shazam to be a champion of good. By saying Shazam’s name young Billy was transformed into the adult Captain Marvel (a child’s conceptualisation of the perfect hero). The Wizard’s name wasn’t only a spell, but it also stood for the six immortals who gave a portion of their power to the Captain – these were wisdom of Solomon, strength of Hercules, stamina of Atlas, power of Zeus , courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury. The Captain and Aqualad cite Solomon and Mercury in comments during this episode.

What separated the Captain from Superman was the tone of his books and his extended family. There was a certain charm to the Captain’s stories and an artistic grace (particularly in the spin-off stories) that was lacking from Superman’s stories. The magical nature of the Captain’s powers meant that he was soon sharing them with his friends and family. His twin sister Mary was turned into Mary Marvel, (1942) his crippled best-friend was transformed into Captain Marvel Junior (1941), and his guardian Uncle Dudley was turned into Uncle Marvel (1943). Their Marvel Family of heroes pre-dated Superman’s parallel Superboy (first appeared 1945) and Supergirl (first appeared 1959).

Despite the difference in tone between Superman and Captain Marvel DC Comics wasn’t too impressed in the similarity between the two characters and sued Fawcett Comics. It can’t have helped that the Captain was actually outselling Superman at one point. The court case dragged on and DC eventually won, but by then superhero comics were on a downward spiral that would last into the late 1950s and Fawcett were looking to get out of the business. The irony is that decades later DC would first license and then buy outright the rights to the Captain Marvel characters. The Captain has been integrated with DC’s own universe for the last twenty years or so, but he never seems to quite fit in.

Captain Marvel is voiced by Rob Lowe. He may be best known from two Mike Myer’s film vehicles. To those of a certain generation he was Ben Kane, Wayne’s rival for Cassandra’s heart in the Wayne’s World film franchise, and Young or Middle Number Two in the Austin Powers films.

The Brain and Monsieur Mullah

The Brain and Monsieur Mallah are a pair of super villains created by Arnold Drake for Doom Patrol #86 (May 1964). The Brain, real name unrevealed, was a scientific rival of Niels Caulder (the creator/leader of the Doom Patrol), who had perfected the science of enhancing animal intelligence. His greatest success was to give a normal gorilla a genius level IQ in excess of 170. That ape was given the name Monsieur Mallah and became the scientist’s personal assistant. The scientist’s body eventually died, but Mallah – operating under his instructions – surgically removed his brain and placed it within a sophisticated life-support jar. Mallah and the Brain would found a supervillain group called the Brotherhood of Evil that would plague Caulder and the Doom Patrol for years.

The Brain is voiced by with a French accent by Corey Burton. He voices Hugo Strange in the recently released Batman: Arkham City, as well as various voices in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and will be most recognisable as Brainiac from in a string of DCAU and DC cartoons. Burton has in general made a career of voicing villains – he voiced Megatron in Transformers: Animated, Count Dooku in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Captain Hook in Jake and the Never Land Pirates.

The Animals

Mallah, as described above, was the Brain’s assistant. The tiger whom Captain Marvel names as Mister Tawny is a nod to a Tony The Tiger like character who use to co-star in Captain Marvel’s 1940s comics. The wolf that Superboy battles has parallels to several DC characters including Krypto (who is referenced), but also to Rex The Wonder Dog. In the comics Mallah and Mister Tawny can speak, but in the world of Young Justice they can only growl.

Mallah, in common with the other lead animals, is voiced by veteran voice artists Dee Bradley Baker. He has voiced numerous characters in Batman: the Brave and the Bold including Etrigan. He also voices the Clone Troopers in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars and any where an animal is needed to snarly or growl.

Each of the animals that the Brain experiments on are Indian variants of more widely distributed species:

• The Indian Wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) is a distinct subspecies from the North American Grey Wolf. These are the wolves that adopt Mowgli in the Jungle Book. It is the species from which the domestic dog has been theorised to descend.
• The Indian Elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) is smaller than its African cousin, it also has a more rounded back and droopier ears. The tip of the African elephant trunk is pointed to create two “fingers” that it uses to manipulate objects, the Indian elephant only has one of these. As you can see from Jerome Moore’s character designs they were careful to make sure they were referencing the right species. Its that attention to detail that I love in Young Justice.
• The Indian Vulture (Gyps indicus) is a large, long necked bald-headed scavenger. If this is Northern India then its probable that these are members of the Slender-billed Vulture subspecies.
• The Mugger Crocodile (Crocodylus palustris) is distinct from the Salt-Water (coastal) and Gharial (narrower snout) crocodiles found in India. Crocodiles subdue their prey by clamping it in their mouth and then twisting and rolling with it in the water, this wears out the prey and eventually kills it. In a nicely observed piece of animation you can see the mutant-croc trying to do this to Megan.
• The Rhesus Macaque (Macaca mulatta). There are several Macaque species native to India, but Rhesus Macaques (sometimes called Rhesus Monkeys) are the most numerous across the Northern Indian range.

Misc.

• Hamilton Hill is the Mayor of Gotham City from the old Batman: the Animated Series cartoons.
• Kid Flash: “You damn dirty ape” – They had to do it. Whenever a gorilla appears on screen in a combat situation somebody will quote Charlton Heston in the original Planet of the Apes
• Kid Flash’s Diet: Preztels at the briefing.
• Kid Flash’s souvenir: Mallah’s beret.
• Superboy: “I hate monkeys” is something of a catch phrase. It originated in Young Justice (vol. 2) #2 as a reference to the telepathic G-Gnomes from Cadmus and got repeated in "Schooled" as a response to the MONQUI robots.
• Wally suggests they call the white wolf Krypto, but Miss Martian says the name is taken. Krypto is the name of Superman’s pet dog.

Characters

Feature Characters

The Team

• Aqualad (Kaldur’ahm. Last appeared in "". His leader ship is questioned by the Team because he kept the Sportsmaster’s gloating about a mole secret, but he reaffirmed as leader elect at the end of the episode. )
• Artemis (Artemis Crock. Last appeared in "". Almost dies from drowning for the second night running. )
• Kid Flash (Wally West. Last appeared in "")
• Miss Martian (M’gann M’orzz/Megan Morse. Last appeared in "")
• Robin (Dick Grayson. Last appeared in "")
• Superboy (Conner Kent. Last appeared in "". Befriends a white wolf whom he names “Wolf”. )

Supporting Cast

• Justice League Computer

The Justice League

• Batman (Bruce Wayne)
• Captain Marvel (Billy Batson. Last appeared in "". Becomes the first of the Team’s rotating supervisors.)
• Captain Atom, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Green Lantern John Stewart, Martian Manhunter (Cleaning up the Cave after the Tornado’s attack. )

Villains

• Brain (Unnamed. A human brain in a jar. Uses Kobra Venom to create mutant animals. First Earth-16 appearance. )
• Monsieur Mallah (The beret-wearing gorilla with the machine gun. The Brain’s assistant. First Earth-16 appearance. )

Other Characters

• Dudley H. Dudley (Uncle Dudley, Billy Baston’s guardian. First Earth-16 appearance. )
• Hamilton Hill (Mayor of Gotham City. Almost killed by Mallah. First Earth-16 appearance. )
• Hunters (Two big game hunters accompanying Hamilton Hill, unnamed. First appearance. )
• Mr Tawny (The tiger that is targeted by Hamilton Hill and later befriended by Captain Marvel. First Earth-16 appearance.)
• Wolf (The large white dog that attacks and then befriends Superboy. First Earth-16 appearance. )

Opinion

Highlights

• Captain Marvel flying back to Fawcett City. It was a nice coda which I hope will be followed up in a future episode.

Oddities

• Tigers are an endangered species and it is illegal to hunt them in India is illegal as far as I know. The oddity here isn’t actually the legality, its that an American would have to go to India to find a tiger as it’s widely believed that there are more tigers in captivity in the USA than there remaining in the wild in India! Then again Hill could always have gone to Ohio.

Open Questions

• Why was the Brain testing Kobra Venom on Northern Indian wildlife?

My Thoughts

The set up with the mutant animals seemed like a red herring, but Batman “never jokes about the mission.” It was a great and inventive change of pace over last episode’ s Die Hard pastiche. What the episode really did was to allow Aqualad to step up as the team’s leader. He’s likeable and experienced, but he doesn’t have the intensity or charisma that some other leaders do. That can make the character seem slightly bland or passive at times so it was nice to see him take the team to task for their lack of professionalism. The animation on the animals was brilliant and showed real observation of wildlife and its actions.

Wow, Captain Marvel sure has a thick neck. It’s like he isn’t even trying to fit in with the laws of physics and is instead following Billy Batson’s idea of what a superhero would look like. Nevertheless, the Captain’s appearance was great fun and was a useful balance against the bicking Team. There is always a danger with these episodes that they’ll introduce something annoying that will run too long. Superboy’s aggression, the traitor arc, Wally’s flirting with Megan, and quite a few other beats could be really get old fast, but the writers seem careful to keep a lid on them. Concepts or ideas run for a few episodes, but are shelved or addressed before they become formulaic.

Episode Credits

Cast

Artemis

Stephanie Lemelin

Robin

Jesse McCartney

Miss Martian

Danica McKellar

Superboy, Superman

Nolan North

Aqualad

Khary Payton

Kid Flash

Jason Spisak

Red Tornado, Red Torpedo

Jeff Bennett

Cheshire, Paula Crock

Kelly Hu

Bette Kane, Barbara Gordon

Alyson Stoner

Crew

Writer

Jon Weisman

Director

Michael Chang

Music, Theme Music

Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion, Lolita Ritmanis

Voice Direction

Jamie Thomason

Animation Timing Director

James Tim Walker

Storyboard

Charles E. Drost III, Paul Harmon, Jeff Johnson

Lead Character Design

Phil Bourassa

Character Design

Dusty Abell, Jerome Moore

Prop Design

Alexander Kubalsky, Eugene Mattos, Coran Stone

Animation Services

MOI Animation Inc.

Animation Director

Doo-Hyung Lee

Producer

Brandon Vietti, Greg Weisman

Executive Producer

Sam Register

Quotes

Artemis: It’s Red Tornado!Robin: Yes on the Red! No on the Tornado!

Superboy: By the way: Worst. Death-trap. Ever.

Synopsis “Homefront”

September 22nd – Artemis Crock is awoken at 6am by her alarm clock. She gazes around her bedroom in the Gotham City apartment she shares with her mother and remembers back to when Jade, her older sister, still lived at home. Her mother was in prison at the time and Jade (implied to be the assassin Cheshire; Young Justice (vol. 2) #7) left rather than stay at home with their father. Artemis’s wool-gathering is cut short when her mother forces her to get up. It’s her first day at the Gotham City Academy (the result of a Wayne Foundation scholarship; "Infiltrator") and Artemis is met by her student liaison. Robin (who unknown to Artemis also goes to the Academy) appears and tells Artemis that “We’ll laugh about this someday” and takes a picture of himself with her. She turns to see who it was, but he has already vanished.

In the Cave’s cavernous Hanger Bay, Superboy and Miss Martian have final recognised their mutual attraction (since "Terrors") and have been spending a lot of time together. Kid Flash assumes they’ve been working on Superboy’s bike and decides to give them his expert help. Meanwhile, Aqualad confides in the Red Tornado about his suspicion that there is a mole on the Team ("Targets"). Aqualad contemplates telling Batman, but the Tornado notes that Batman generally expects them to solve their own problems. The Tornado then cuts their conversation short and tells Aqualad that he has agreed to cover Green Arrow’s Justice League Monitor Duty as Arrow has a date with Black Canary.

Back in Gotham, Artemis is in uniform and preparing to teleport to the Cave when she runs into Robin again. He doesn’t let on that he’d seen her earlier and acts surprised that she’s in Gotham. Her cover story is that she is Green Arrow’s niece/sidekick from Star City so she hurriedly tells Robin that she’s visiting her cousin who was in a State “spelling bee”. Robin teleports to the Cave first and Artemis follow him. When she arrives the room is full of smoke. Robin shouts to her and she dodges just before a jet of flame sears past her. They reply with arrows and throwing discs, but their two opponents remains shrouded in smoke. Flame and water attacks alternatively assault them, but nobody on the Team responds to their radio or telepathic calls – they can’t even raise the Justice League, Batcave, or Red Tornado on the Watchtower.

After a series of desperate dodges, escapes, and retreats the two teen heroes reach the Cave’s kitchen area. From there Robin downloads the Cave’s blue prints into his wrist computer, they then use the plans to navigate through the Cave’s air ducts and hidden access tunnels. A column of flame almost fries them before appearing in the plant room as a female silhouette surrounded by fire. Artemis and Robin finally catch a moments breathe by diving into another access tunnel. Robin hacks into the Cave’s security system to prevent them from being easily traced. At Artemis’s insistence he also brings up the security logs. They see Aqualad ask the others how their school-work is balancing with their responsibilities before an explosion takes out the camera. It seems that their team has been overwhelmed by the same force chasing them.

Artemis and Robin make for a secret passage way in the library, but hide when they hear footsteps. The Red Tornado’s voice calls to them and a relieved Artemis steps out from her hiding place. However, its not the Tornado she sees, but another red-coloured android (the Red Torpedo). It lunges at her and Robin pushes her out of its way. A second red-android (the Red Inferno; a female one, the same fire throwing one as from the plant room) blocks their escape. Robin and Artemis escape into the passage way they were searching for. Artemis is increasing worried – neither of them have superpowers and the Red Tornado on his own was one of the powerhouses of the Justice League. Robin’s natural levity under fire doesn’t help Artemis’s stress.

Torpedo calls to them over the Cave’s PA system and tells Robin and Artemis and tells them that they “have exactly ten minutes to surrender or the lives of your team-mates will be extinguished.” The rest of the Team are being held captive in the Hanger Bay. Miss Martian and Aqualad are imprisoned in a cage of fire which is rapidly weakening them while Kid Flash and Superboy are wrapped in a twisted lump of metal. The Red Torpedo causes the waters to rise around them as it counts down the deadline for Robin and Artemis to surrender.  They are running towards the Hanger when the Torpedo’s waters overwhelm them. Robin’s rebreather from his utility belt saves them, but the the android grabs Artemis. Robin jabs it in the eye with an arrow and then pulls Artemis out of its reach with a grapple-line.

They eventually make it to the Haner, but M’gann is unconcious and Aqualad is concerned that they can’t survive much longer. However, the Inferno’s fireballs keep Robin and Artemis moving and they have to keep ducking underwater for safety. Eventually they make it to the steps leading to Aqualad’s cage, but by then the two androids have them surrounded. They throw their weapons against the androids, but the Inferno in invulnerable to arrows and Robin’s discs just bounce off of the Torpedo. One of his discs is defected and embeds itself worryingly close to Kid Flash’s head. Even playing the fire and water powers of the androids against each other only gives the two teen heroes a moment to escape. They dive down back through the pool and into a hatchway that leads them to the yet another access tunnel.

Artemis is beginning to panic – she’s down to her last arrow and is incredulous that Robin still believes that they can save their friends. However, it’s her off-hand comment about the “machines” that inspires Robin to rig an EM pulse to shut them down. He uses the disc that landed near Kid Flash to communicate with him. The Kid describes how to turn components from the Med-Lab’s X-Ray machine into an EMP device. However, to make it work they’ll need to hook it up to the Cave’s main generator which is back in the Hanger. Superboy and Kid Flash distract the androids’ attention with insults as Robin sneaks the EMP generator into place. However, its too short and its prongs don’t complete the circuit. Robin doesn’t have chance to improvise a solution before he’s swept away by the Torpedo’s tidal wave.

Artemis is out of arrows and is forced to retreat alone. Without Robin’s help she feels totally overwhelmed and curls up believing that she has failed the Team. Artemis even thinks that if she escapes she can call in the League or at least hunt down her friends killers. She’s looking for an escape route when she comes across Kid Flash’s souvenir collection which includes one of her sister’s Cheshire masks. For the second time that day she’s reminded of the day that Jade (Cheshire) ran away from home. It inspires her not to runaway from her new family. Artemis then takes another of the Kid’s souvenirs – the arrow she used against Amazo in "Schooled" – and returns to the Hanger Bay. She bluffs the androids that she’s surrendering, but with one arrow and an accurate shot Artemis connects the circuit through the generator and triggers the EMP.

The EMP device deactivates the androids which in turn causes the fire cage to evaporate and the flood waters to receed. The Team are all okay despite their trauma, but Superboy and Kid Flash are still stuck in their metal prison as the metal cutting tool is inoperable – another victim of the EMP pulse. Just then the Red Tornado arrives and tells them that he was unaware that he has any “family”. He had to teleport to New Providence and fly to the Cave as the Zeta-Tubes were non-functional. The metal cutter suddenly starts up signifying that the EMP pulse is starting to wear off. At the sametime the Red Tornado is kneeling over the prone Red Inferno. A spark jumps across to the Tornado from the Inferno and appears to over write his programming. The “possessed” Red Tornado turns on the Team and creates a whirlwinds in the Hanger Bay which sucks the breathe out of the Team causing them all to pass out.

By the time the Team regain conciousness they are surrounded by the concerned Justice League who are asking what happened. However, all three of the Red androids – Torpedo, Inferno, and Tornado – have vanished.

Continuity

• This episode takes place on September 22nd.
• Dick Grayson, Artemis Crock, Barbara Gorden, and Betty Kane all go to Gotham City Academy.
• The Red Tornado is exempt from Monitor Duty since becoming the Team’s supervisor.
• Robin has been “doing this” since he was nine.

Commentary

The Red Inferno and the Red Torpedo.

The Red Tornado (the android, not the 1940s comedy character) first appeared in Justice League of America #64 (Aug 1968) as a trojan-horse designed by the scientist Ivo to infiltrate and destroy the Justice League. It broke its programming, rebelled against Ivo, and was accepted as a genuine member of the group. Flash-forward to the 1980s and the character had been redefined as a sentient alien-whirlwind who just happened to inhabit the android’s metal shell. This is the version of the Tornado’s back-story that is visible in his "Welcome to Happy Harbor" biography.

Ivo has created duplicates of the Tornado before and even versions with different elemental powers, but these all lacked the individuality of the original. It was revealed in the 2009 Red Tornado mini-series that Ivo had actually created a series of elemental androids each with power over a different classical element. The first other than the Tornado (air) to appear publicly was the female shaped Red Torpedo (water), but she rebelled against Ivo and was turned off. His competitor T.O. Morrow (Amazo’s creator) then created the Red Volcano (earth) – a brutish powerhouse with no conscience. The fourth was the Red Inferno (fire), a smaller android that so sophisticated that Ivo placed him in human society as a sleeper agent.

The two new androids that appear in this episode are inspired by those from the 2009 mini-series, but are otherwise original. There are only two androids that appear here – twins for Fire and Water – and the male one is called the Red Torpedo in the credits (a reversal in gender with the comics; as much as an android actually has a gender). The female one is then assumed to be the Red Inferno. The symbols on their bodies are linked to their powers – the Torpedo has a trident symbol over its torso and the Inferno has a line of flames.

Continuing the Young Justice pattern of having actors voice related characters, Jeff Bennett voices the Red Torpedo. He normally voices the Red Tornado and also voiced Ivo in "Welcome to Happy Harbor". It was in that episode that Ivo tried to recapture the Red Tornado with the Mister Twister suit/android.

Batgirls

Two blink and you’ll miss them cameos at Gotham City Academy: the blond “Bette” and the red-head “Barbara”. These are identified in the credits as Betty Kane (alias Bat-Girl and Flamebird) and Barbara Gordon (Commissioner Gordon’s daughter, alias Batgirl and Oracle). Both girls are voiced by Alyson Stoner, she was one of the kids from Cheaper By The Dozen and voices Isabella from the Phineas and Ferb cartoons.

The Academy itself first appeared in "Schooled" as the site where Amazo fought the Team. Artemis didn’t appear properly until the following episode, but from off-screen she fired an arrow at Amazo which saved Kid Flash’s life. It’s that arrow he has in his souvenir collection and is the one that Artemis uses in this episode to start the EMP device.

Misc.

• While taunting the androids: Wally buffs that he could vibrate his molecules free anytime he wants – however he already admitted in "Drop-Zone" that he hasn’t mastered that particular skill yet.
• Kid Flash’s diet: Sandwich before repairing Superboy’s bike.

Characters

Feature Characters

The Team

• Aqualad (Kaldur’ahm. Last appeared in "Terrors")
• Artemis (Artemis Crock. First day at Gotham City Academy. Last appeared in "Bereft" )
• Kid Flash (Wally West. Last appeared in "Bereft")
• Miss Martian (M’gann M’orzz/Megan Morse. Last appeared in "Terrors")
• Robin (Dick Grayson. Shown as a freshman at Gotham City Academy, knows Artemis’s secret identity, but doesn’t let on that he know. Last appeared in "Bereft")
• Superboy (Conner Kent. Last appeared in "Terrors". Raises the issue of a traitor with Red Tornado. )

Supporting Cast

The Justice League

• Aquaman, Batman, Black Canary, Captain Atom, Flash, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter (At the Cave after the Red Tornado vanishes. Does not speak. )
• Red Tornado (John Smith. The Team’s supervisor, an android with elemental air powers. Is cover come by a pulse from the Red Inferno and turns on the Team. Last appeared in "Targets". )
• Superman (At the Cave after the Red Tornado vanishes. Asks Artemis what happened. )

Villains

• Red Torpedo (Water elemental android. Male design. First Earth-16 appearance.)Red Inferno (Fire elemental android. Female design. First Earth-16 appearance.)

Other Characters

• Betty Kane (A student at Gotham City Academy, a friend of Dick Grayson. First Earth-16 appearance.)
• Bette Kane (Artemis’s student laison at Gotham City Academy. First Earth-16 appearance.)
• Paula Crock (Artemis’s mother. Her time in prison is mentioned. )

Cameo

• Cheshire (Jade Nguyen. Artemis’s sister, alter ego given in credits for the first time. Shown in flashback to their childhood. She left home rather than stay there after her mother was incarcerated. First chronological appearance. )

Opinion

Highlights

Oddities

• Rising water: its a trope of TV shows to have waters rising around our heroes, but in order for the threat to seem real the water is shown to rise at an alarming rate and that’s usually way faster than any stated deadline would actually imply. Ten minutes to drown our heroes would mean the water creeping up at about an inch every 8 seconds.

Open Questions

• The Sphere beeped at Superboy and Miss Martian in the tag – was it really jealous or was it actually warning them about the Red androids.
• Dick Grayson is described as a freshman – i.e. new that year – at Gotham City Academy, but he’s already shown in "Schooled" as having won awards there the previous year.
• Why does Artemis’s sister have a different surname? Their mother is listed as Paula Crock in the credits, the CN website gives Artemis’s full name as Artemis Crock, and her implied father (the Sportsmaster) has the name Lawrence Crock in the comics. However, Cheshire in common with her comicbook appearances – where she isn’t related to any of those three – is given the name Jade Nguyen. Has she assume that name to distance herself from her family or is there a bigger question over her background?

My Thoughts

There was a run of episodes near the start which focused on individual characters, but it now seems we are into episodes which focus on pairs of characters in stead. "Targets" focused on Red Arrow and Aqualad, "Terrors" focused on Superboy and Miss Martian, and now this episode focuses on Robin and Artemis. The pairing is not that natural, but it works well to starkly illustrate the differences between them. Robin despite being the youngest is also the most experienced where as Artemis is potentially the least experienced. She’s very capable, but doesn’t have that resolve that Robin has naturally developed fighting alongside Batman. The joke with Artemis and Dick Grayson attending the same school and her not even realising it was fun and hinted at the possibility of a Batgirl appearance in the future.

The Red Tornado’s disappearance at the beginning almost appeared like he was the traitor, but that wouldn’t be the case if he’s then taken over by the Torpedo and Inferno. This was a case where comicbook knowledge can lead you astray when making assumption about the Young Justice world. I had assumed that, as we’d seen three elemental Red androids, he’d also be seeing the fourth, but we only got the two fire/ice twins. What I found interesting was that the androids were often shown from the heroes point of view, so there were quite a few upwards shorts of the looming androids from the perspective of the shorter Robin and Artemis.

A quite enjoyed this episode – I think every series has to do Die Hard at some point or other. The developments with Artemis continue and are quite well timed against the release of her Secret Origin in the comic book. She did at times seem a little too stressed by the situation and I’m not sure I really bought into the idea that it would parallelise her. Robin on the other hand was in his element, however he hasn’t been so heavily developed as a character. He’s already quite sharply defined from the comics, yet is given more of a trickster vibe here which keeps him fresh.

Episode Credits

Cast

Miss Martian

Danica McKellar

Superboy, Professor Ojo

Nolan North

Aqualad, Brick

Khary Payton

Riddler

Dave Franco

Batman

Bruce Greenwood

Icicle Jr., Tommy Terror

Yuri Lowenthal

Cat Grant

Masasa Moyo

Hugo Strange

Andrian Pasdar

Amanda Waller

Sheryl Lee Ralph

Icicle Sr.

James Remar

Killer Frost

Sarah Shahi

Mister Freeze

Keith Szarabajka

Crew

Writer

Greg Weisman

Director

Jay Oliva

Music, Theme Music

Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion, Lolita Ritmanis

Voice Direction

Jamie Thomason

Animation Timing Director

James Tim Walker

Storyboard

Jay Baker, Tim Divar, Phil Langone

Lead Character Design

Phil Bourassa

Character Design

Dusty Abell, Jerome Moore

Prop Design

Andy Chiang, Eugene Mattos

Animation Services

Lotto Animation

Animation Director

Heechul Kang (Supervising), Sangjoon Lee, Myeonghwan Park

Producer

Brandon Vietti, Greg Weisman

Executive Producer

Sam Register

Quotes

Amanda Waller: I am the law of last resort. My name is Amanda Waller. I am not your mother, your maiden aunt, or your friend. I am your warden and you are my prisoners.

Synopsis “Terrors”

September 14th — The Terror Twins (Tommy and Tuppence Terror, a pair of super-strong siblings who had previously tangled with Kid Flash and Superboy; Young Justice (vol. 2) #0) are locked in a superpowered brawl with Superman and the Martian Manhunter. The fight passes through three States until it crashes into a warehouse in the Old French quarter of New Orleans. The Twins pick themselves up, but Aqualad and the Red Tornado step-out of the shadows and click power-dampening collars around their necks. Superboy then steps forward dressed as Tommy and Miss Martian shapeshifts to look like Tuppence. Batman attaches duplicate power dampening collars to the two disguised heroes and places them under “arrest.”

September 16th — The battle against the genuine Terror Twins and their replacement with the disguised Superboy and Miss Martian is an elaborate charade on Batman’s part to place undercover operatives within the Belle Reve super-villain prison. Immediately prior to the Team’s formation the League and their sidekicks had fought four ice/cold themed villains involved in separate, but simultaneous crimes ("Independence Day"). Killer Frost and Captain Cold were immediately sent to Belle Reve, but Icicle Jr. and Mister Freeze have just successfully petitioned to be sent there themselves. Batman suspects that this was the intention of the attacks all along and he, distrusting even the guards at Belle Reve, is sending Superboy and Miss Martian in undercover to discover why.

“Tommy” and “Tuppence” find themselves on the same transport as Mister Freeze and Icicle Jr. The younger criminal gets chatty about Tommy’s “sister”, but he is silenced by their arrival at the Prison. They are paraded before the formidable Warden Amanda Waller and Hugo Strange (the prison psychologist). Waller warns them that their collars have been specifically designed to counter their individual superpowers and can also be used to deliver incapacitating electrical-shocks in the event of disorder. She even tells them that the prison walls are strong enough to contain Superman. The Twins are split-up, but they remain in touch via Megan’s telepathy which isn’t blocked by her collar (each collar is custom designed and can only block powers the authorities are aware of).

Superboy and Icicle Jr end up sharing a cell in the male wing while Tuppence finds herself rooming with Killer Frost in the female wing. Exercise takes place in an enclosed fitness yard watched over by guards and gun emplacements. Junior shows Tommy around and they mingle with the other inmates – many of whom the Team were responsible for capturing. Superboy almost gets recognised by Professor Ojo (from "Infiltrator") after he defends Junior. The alteration almost turns ugly, but Icicle Senior (Icicle Junior’s father and the leader of the criminals is Belle Reve) is impressed with Tommy’s spirit and steps in to break it up. Senior then compliments Tommy at the expense of Junior causing Superboy to identify with Junior’s father issues.

Tommy and Tuppence are reunited when the prison psychologist attempts to interview them together. “Tommy” gets annoyed when “Tuppence” admits to Strange that “He won’t admit it, but Tommy really wants to be like his.. our father. Be able to fill Pa’s shoes, do you know? Pa’s distant at best and refuses to give Tommy the time of day. It makes Tommy feel unworthy…” However, Tommy angrily cuts her off before realising that he’s upset her. Later Tommy asks Junior about his own relationship with Senior, but Junior just tells him that his father’s a jerk and that he only wants him around when its useful. Junior makes Superboy realise that “Tuppence” was probably right about him in the psychologist’s session.

Earlier Superboy’s superhearing has allowed him to overhear Icicle Senior telling the other ice villains that their plan was to break every single criminal out of Belle Reve. New prison uniforms were then delivered to each inmate and their cell-mates advised Tommy and Tuppence to change into them as quickly as possible. News that the break is coming soon is relayed telepathically to Aqualad and the Red Tornado who are waiting outside the prison in the stealth Bioship, but they decide to wait for Senior to actually make his move.

Icicle Senior and Mister Freeze take delivery of a consignment of parts (including Mister Freeze’s equipment) from the Laundry room. They then stage a fight in the lunch room which causes the guards to haul Freeze in front of the Warden. In the Warden’s office Freeze overcomes his guard and disables the restraining collars, but not before Waller puts the prison on lock down. In the Cell Block the prisoners regain their powers and quickly overwhelm the guards.

Senior loses lost contact with Killer Frost in the women’s wing. So Tommy, trying to find an advantage, admits to Senior that he’s in psychic contact with his sister (a twin thing) and volunteers himself and Megan as a vital communications link between the two wings. Senior tells him to send the message that “it’s going down now!” However, Tuppence reveals her hand when she stops Killer Frost from killing one of the female guards. She gets a last message to Tommy before she does silent. He’s worried about her, but doesn’t let onto Senior that his telepathic link is down.

Icicle Senior locks Waller and the guards in a cell and then reveals why they needed so many cold powered villains for the breakout. The walls can withstand Superman’s strength, but the intense cold created by the cold-based villains can make the walls brittle enough for the superstrong prisoners to damage. It’s a slow process, but only possible with that combination of cold and strength. Icicle Junior and Tommy’s job is to work on the thinner wall between the male and female wings. Killer Frost and the female prisoners will escape via the male wing. The special uniforms delivered earlier protect the prisoners against the intense cold caused by the work.

Superboy works at the wall desperate to save Megan, but he know he can’t fight an entire prison on his own. He lies to Junior that the collars are turning back on in the women’s wing and leads him away to the Warden’s office. They disable the prisoners guarding it and Superboy turns the collars back on incapacitating the majortiy of the prisoners. Senior is furious and confronts Waller under the assumption that she had something to do with it. He tries to attack her, but Hugo Strange lunges at Icicle Senior knocking him unconscious. Freeze, Mammoth, and Blockbuster confront Icicle Junior and Tommy/Superboy, but Superboy convinces Junior that its all part of Freeze’s plan to unseat his father. Their ice powers look evenly matched until their switch opponents.

Superboy finally breaks through into the female wing to find that Frost has frozen Megan in a massive ice formation. He knocks out the waiting female prisoners, but Junior stops him from breaking Megan’s ice prison out of fear that it would shatter her as well. Superboy reaches out to Megan’s telepathy and she finds the strength to shatter her prison with her telekinesis. It turns out that her Martian physiology isn’t so vulnerable to ice. She and Superboy embrace each other with a kiss and Miss Martian drops her disguise as Tuppence. Icicle Junior finally realises his error.

Afterwards, Amanda Waller is replaced as Warden by Hugo Strange and it appears that all the prisoners are accounted for except for the Riddler who somehow vanished during the chaos. It was Strange who smuggled the uniforms and tech inside. The breakout failed, but it seems that it otherwise achieved the Light’s goals.

Continuity

• This episode takes place on the 14th and 16th of September – its unclear how many days/nights Megan and Superboy are undercover.
• Miss Martian and Superboy kiss for the first time.

Commentary

The Terror Twins

The Terror Twins – Tommy and Tuppance Terror – first appeared in Young Justice (vol. 2) #0, the first issue of the spin-off comic book. The nickname “Terror Twins” has been applied to several musical duos over the years because of their unhealthy dedication to the rock and roll lifestyle. The most obvious is to the drummer and bassist from Motel Crue Nikki Stix (a bloke) and Tommy Lee, likewise the leader-singer and guitarist from Aerosmith have been called the Toxic Twins.

Phoenician asked Greg Weisman about the origin of the names Tommy and Tuppence as it had been pointed out to him that they were the names of two detectives, Thomas “Tommy” Beresford and Prudence “Tuppence” Crowley, from a series of Agatha Christe novels. Weisman replied:

Tommy and Tuppence Terror were indeed a nod to [Agatha] Christie’s work, but also a nod to my buddy Tuppence Macintyre, who once upon a time helped out so much on the Scotish research for Gargoyles.

A jewelry store called “Gemini Gems” wouldn’t last in Gotham City with five minutes before it was raided by Two Face.

Amanda Waller

The redoubtable Amanda Waller first appeared in Legends #1 (November 1986) and was created by John Ostrander and John Byrne. When she first appeared she was a congressional aid who became the head of a secret government programme called Task Force X – the Suicide Squad. It operated out of Belle Reve and used the prison’s inmates as cannon-fodder for a super-villain version of the Dirty Dozen (with Waller in the Lee Marvin role). The US Government offered the convicts amnesty for their crimes in return for service and kept them in line with explosive devices (collars, armlets, injected devices) designed to kill should the Squad step out of line (a more lethal version of the collars seen in this episode).

Since the Suicide Squad Waller, or the “Wall” as she’s nicknamed, has become a permanent fixture of the the DC Universe and in particular in its intelligence services. Waller isn’t as precious as the superheroes are when it comes to morality and she is willing to work with whoever it takes to get the job done – including serving in Lex Luthor’s cabinet when he became US President. She isn’t a villain herself, but her approach to the job and to the national interests of the USA have put her at odds with heroes before. Oh and she could take down Nick Fury with one hand tied behind her back.

Waller has appeared in other DC spin-offs. She was memorably voiced in Justice League Unlimited by CCH Pounder (the head of their version of Cadmus Project). Waller also appeared in Smallville as the head of Checkmate and in the Green Lantern movie as a scientist studying the deceased Abin Sur.

The Young Justice version of Waller is voiced by Sheryl Lee Ralph. She previously voiced Cheetah in Justice League, but may be best known for playing Dee in Moesha. The character design was done by Jerome K Moore after a sketch by Phil Bourassa.

Belle Reve

The Belle Reve prison is based in the Louisana bayou (Belle Reve Parish in the cartoon, Terrebonne Parish in the comics). There are a number of famous prison institutions in the DC Universe including Arkham Asylum and Blackgate Penitentiary in Gotham City, Strikers Island in Metropolis, and Iron Heights in Central City. However, Belle Reve is the template for most of them (except for Arkham). It was created in the 1980s as a base for Waller’s Suicide Squad and serves as the exemplar for the type of industrial incarceration necessary for super-powered villains. The name Belle Reve was also used as the name of the facility in Smallville where the meteor-freaks were incarcerated.

Each of the Guards shown in this episode has an individual design and name tag. Background character designer Jerome K. Moore shared some notes on the process on his Deviant Art page:

As usual, I endeavored to design these incidental characters with some individuality, and visual interest. No guard looks like another, and in the end, I think this is a minor detail that nevertheless adds some dimension to the show, if only on a subliminal level. I think the animators did a fine job translating my designs, and I was tickled to see that they even managed to keep the little name tags I gave each one. Haha!

And, incidentally, one of the guards was named for our esteemed Line Producer. Can you guess which one?

Hint: Their line producer is called Dave Wilcox.

Hugo Strange

The appearance of Hugo Strange is an instant alert for any comic book fans. He’s one of Batman’s oldest foes and first appeared way back in Detective Comics #36 (Feb 1940) as a mad scientist. He was reinvented in the 1970s and 80s as a psychologist who tried to make a name for himself in the media by analysing the Batman. Strange became obsessed with his subject – he may have deduced Batman’s secret identity, but either decided he was wrong or had a mental break down.

Strange’s positioning with Waller is interesting. She acts at times like a villain, but is ultimately on the side of the good guys. Strange, however, acts like a member of the lawful establishment, but is ultimately a villain. His replacement of Waller as Prison Warden would give the Light easy access to their criminal foot soldiers.

In this episode Hugh Strange was voiced by Andrian Pasdar who may be better known for playing Nathan in Heroes and for voicing Tony Stark in Iron Man and other recent Marvel cartoons.

Prison Villains

There are a lot of villains in this episode, most of them from previous episodes. The two large thugs with Icicle Senior are Blockbuster (Mark Desmond from "Fireworks") and Mammoth (from "Drop-Zone"). The two female villains with Killer Frost are Shimmer (Mammoth’s sister from "Drop-Zone") and an unnamed woman with thorn like tattoos (identitifed by background character designer Jerome K Moore as Devastation).

Also shown for the first time is the Riddler (Edward Nigma) who is the only prisoner to escape, one assumes he’ll be popping up in a future episode or comic. The characters of Icicle Junior, Mister Freeze, Killer Frost, and Captain Cold reappear from the opening sequence of the very first episode. The three villains protecting the Wardens office are Professor Ojo and the Hook (from "Infiltrator" and Abra Kadabra (from "Denial"; you can tell its Kadabra by the cut of his uniform). Brick also reappears from the opening sequence to "Welcome to Happy Harbor".

For more details see the Characters section on this page.

Icicles

The original Icicle (Joar Mahkent) was an opponent of the first Green Lantern and first appeared in All-American Comics #90 (October 1947). He second Icicle (Cameron Mahkent) is his son and first appeared in Infinity Inc (vol. 1) #34 (Jan 1987). The senior Icicle was the inspiration for the character of Doctor Blizzard in Justice League “Legends” while the youner junior Icicle was the badguy in the big “Absolute Justice” two-parter in Smallville.

Both of the Earth-16 Icicles are younger than their comic-book equivalents. The look of the younger Icicle keeps his comic book icy-albino skin-tones, but mixes in reference to winter figures like Jack Frost. One interesting subplot from the comics that the cartoon hasn’t hinted at yet is that the comic book Artemis Crock and Cameron Mahkent are team-mates and lovers. Whether they have a past or even a future relationship within the cartoon remains to be seen.

The senior Icicle is voiced by James Remar. He has also voiced Two-Face in Batman: the Brave and the Bold, the Black Mask in The Batman, and Hawkman in Justice League Unlimited. Remar may be better known as Harry from Dexter. The youner Icicle is voiced by Yuri Lowenthal who also voiced Gareth is the episode "Downtime", Mister Miracle in Batman: the Brave and the Bold, and Superman in the Legion of Super Heroes. Lowenthal will be far better known as Ben from the Ben 10 franchise.

The Kiss.

Superboy (voiced by Nolan North) and Miss Martian (voiced by Danica McKellar) kiss for the first time in this episode. The existence of the kiss was revealed by McKellar at SDCC and she told Buzz Focus about the recording of the kiss:

“He [Nolan] and I almost always record together,” McKellar said. “And it’s good too because we’ve (our characters) got this romance going on and I can tell you that there’s going to be a kiss. In fact, the kiss is real. They had us kiss in the booth, which is very rare. In voiceover, they always have usually asked to kiss (the top of) our hand [demonstrates].

But they said, ‘it doesn’t quite sound right.’ At the time I was eight months pregnant so I was like, [drawing with her hand how big her stomach was] “Well, sure!” but Nolan felt all weird about it. “Are you okay with this? This feels wrong.” Yes I’m okay, I’m an actress, I’ve done this before.’ It’s a sweet kiss but still a very real kiss in the booth.

Misc.

• New Orleans last appeared in "Denial" when Abra Kadabra kidnapped Kent Nelson from Madame Xanadu’s parlour.
• The prison uniforms are delivered by Professor Ivo despite Ivo not being captured at the end of "Schooled".

Characters

Feature Characters

The Team

• Aqualad (Kaldur’ahm. Helps capture the Terror Twins. Waits outside Belle Reve in the disguised Bioship. Last appeared in "Targets". )
• Miss Martian (M’gann M’orzz/Megan Morse. Disguises herself as Tuppence Terror. Kisses Superboy for the first time. Last appeared in "Targets". )
• Superboy (Conner Kent. Disguises himself as Tommy Terror. Kisses Miss Martian for the first time. Last appeared in "Targets". )

Supporting Cast

Justice League

• Batman (Dispatches Superboy and Miss Martian undercover to investigate the cold-themed villains in Belle Reve. Last appeared in "Bereft". )
• Martian Manhunter ( Battles the Terror Twins. Later apprehends the Headmaster in Chicago (as reported on TV by Cat Grant). Last appeared in "Targets". )
• Red Tornado (Helps capture the Terror Twins. Joined Aqualad on-watch outside Belle Reve. Last appeared in "Targets". )
• Superman (Battles the Terror Twins. Last appeared in "Schooled".)

Villains

• Professor Hugo Strange (Prison psychologist at Belle Reve. Conspired with the criminals to smuggle their equipment inside the prison. Takes over as Warden after Waller’s dismissal. First Earth-16 Appearance. )
• The Terror Twins – Tuppence Terror, Tommy Terror (Twin super-strong villains rampaging through New Orleans. Last appeared in Young Justice (vol. 2) #0. )

Belle Reve Prisoners

• Abra Kadabra (With Ojo. Doesn’t speak, but recognisiable from his open to the navel uniform. Apprehended by the Team in "Denial")
• Blockbuster (Mark Desmond. Former head of Cadmus. Apprehended in "Fireworks". Allied with Icicle Senior in Belle Reve. )
• Brick (Apprehended by Red Arrow in "Welcome to Happy Harbor". Called Daniel by Strange. )
• Captain Cold (Leonard Snart. Belle Reve Prison No. xxx. Apprehended by the Flash and Kid Flash in "Independence Day", sent to Belle Reve.)
• Devastation (Pale skinned female con with thorn tattoos. An old Wonder Woman villain. First Earth-16 appearance. )
• Hook (With Ojo. Another member of the League of Shadows, apprehended in "Infiltrator".)
• Icicle Junior (Cameron Mahkent. Belle Reve Prison No. 89P41730. 17-years old. Apprehended by Green Arrow and Speedy in "Independence Day", petitioned to be tried as an adult and was sent to Belle Reve. Shares a cell with Tommy Terror (Superboy). Had some earlier unspecified run in with Professor Ojo.)
• Icicle Senior (Mahkent. Icicle Jr’s father. The dominant gang boss in Belle Reve. Conspires with Hugo Strange and the other ice-themed villains to stage a massive break out. “Recaptured” by Strange. First Earth-16 Appearance. )
• Killer Frost (Crystal Frost. Belle Reve Prison No. 82G19752. Apprehended by Aquaman and Aqualad in "Independence Day", sentenced to the women’s wing of Belle Reve. Shares a cell with Tuppence Terror (Miss Martian). )
• Mammoth (Shimmer’s brother. A test-subject for the Kobra-Venom. Apprehended in "Drop-Zone". Allied with Icicle Senior in Belle Reve. )
• Mister Freeze (Victor Freeze. Belle Reve Prison No. 84M19753. Apprehended by Batman and Robin in "Independence Day". Was sent back to Arkham Asylum, but sued to be recognised as legally sane and was transfered to Belle Reve. )
• Professor Ivo (Deliveres the prison uniforms. Apprehended sometime after his last appearance in "Schooled".)
• Professor Ojo (A scientist working for the League of Shadows. Apprehended by Superboy and Robin in "Infiltrator". Had some earlier unspecified run in with Icicle Jr. Almost recognises Superboy. )
• Riddler (Edward Nigma. One of Batman’s persistent enemies. Doesn’t seem to be in on the Icicle’s plans. First Earth-16 Appearance. )
• Shimmer (Lord Kobra’s bodyguard. Apprehended in "Drop-Zone". Allied with Killer Frost in Belle Reve. )

Other Characters

• Amanda Waller (The tough, no nonsense warden of Belle Reve. First Earth-16 Appearance. Replaced by Hugo Strange after the failed breakout. )
• Cat Grant (TV Reporter reporting on the JL’s battle with the Terror Twins. Last appeared in "Targets")

Belle Reve Guards

• Wilcox (Belle Reve prison guard. First appearance. Part of the prison escort that brings Icicle Jr., Mister Freeze, and the “Terror Twins” to Belle Reve. Normally the only guard that talks, possible senior to the others. Named after David Wilcox, the show’s Line Producer.)
• Banks. (Belle Reve prison guard. First appearance. At the Exercise Yard. Takes Freeze to Waller.)
• Biggitz (Belle Reve prison guard. First appearance. Escorts Freeze from the Prison transport. )
• Hart (Belle Reve prison guard. First appearance. Female guard who escort Tuppence to her cell. Has children. Tuppence/Megan stops Killer Frost from murdering her. )
• Hauser (Belle Reve prison guard. First appearance. Tubby guard who escort Tommy and Icicle Jr to their cell. )
• Riker (Moustachioed Guard, Cell Block 4.)
• Ripley (Belle Reve prison guard. First appearance. Female guard who escort Tuppence to her cell. )

Cameo

• Headmaster (Martian Manhunter villains. Mentioned in dialogue as fighting the Manhunter in Chicago. )

Opinion

Highlights

• Junior’s reaction to the Kiss

Oddities

• The New Orleans warehouse that instantly makes you think Joker, but is then not followed up. Maybe it was just a warehouse.

Unanswered Questions

• Where did the Riddler go?
• What did the League do with the real Tommy and Tuppence during this charade?
• Whatever happened to Amanda Waller? She isn’t a person to be counted out easily.
• What is Professor Ojo’s animosity towards Icicle Junior?

My Thoughts

I quite liked the focus on Superboy as it really showed off his character. The chemistry between him and Junior worked well and I wouldn’t mind seeing the character again. Fun fact: Yuri Lowenthal who voices Icicle Junior has also played Superboy (he was Superboy in the Legion of Super Heroes cartoon). Its interesting to see Superboy interact with somebody outside of the Team or the Justice League for once. Even at High School he’s almost constantly chaperoned by Miss Martian and this is the first time we’ve really seen him unrestrained, out of his own. Despite the disguise, he really chills out – pardon the expression – without the constant threat of Aqualad or Megan telepathically shouting “NO!” at him.

The mass of old badguys was interesting to watch – did you spot Abra Kadabra? I’m convinced that Black Spider must be in there somewhere, but we don’t know what his face looks like. The only down side to all those criminals was the sheer amount of orange on screen. it was also nice to see Amanda Waller pop-up, but it felt that the character was wasted as just a prison warden – she should be plotting her own schemes not falling foul of somebody else’s conspiracy. Maybe we’ll see her again.

The one thing that is beginning to get repetitive with these varied episodes is the “but, the badguys actually got what they wanted” ending. Nevertheless, we’re half way through the season and the show is already beginning to pay off its multiple set-ups.

Episode Credits

Cast

Red Arrow

Crispin Freeman

Miss Martian

Danica McKellar

Superboy, Marvin White

Nolan North

Aqualad

Khary Payton

Sportsmaster

Nick Chinlund

Ra's al Ghul

Oded Fehr

Cheshire

Kelly Hu

Cat Grant, Wendy Harris, Karen Beecher

Masasa Moyo

Tseng, Singh Manh Li, Xiaping

Yuji Okumoto

John Jones, Mal Duncan

Kevin Michael Richardson

Lex Luthor

Mark Rolston

Lucas Carr

Greg Weisman

Crew

Writer

Andrew Robinson

Director

Christopher Berkeley

Music, Theme Music

Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion, Lolita Ritmanis

Voice Direction

Jamie Thomason

Animation Timing Director

James Tim Walker

Storyboard

Ki-Doo Kim, Shi-Ok Park

Lead Character Design

Phil Bourassa

Character Design

Dusty Abell, Jerome Moore

Prop Design

Eugene Mattos

Animation Services

MOI Animation, Inc.

Animation Director

Jin-Hae Lee

Producer

Brandon Vietti, Greg Weisman

Executive Producer

Sam Register

Quotes

Red Arrow: I may, possibly, be in over my head.

Synopsis “Targets”

Previously on Young Justice: Aqualad, Robin, and Kid Flash cooperated to liberate a young clone of Superman called Superboy from the clutches of a laboratory run by a sinister cabal called the Light ("Independence Day"). Batman and the Justice League decided to add Miss Martian to the teen team and use them as a covert strike force that can go where the famous Justice League would otherwise be recognised ("Fireworks"). Roy Harper, Green Arrow’s former sidekick, refused to take part and left to found his own solo identity as the Red Arrow, but he was forced to ask the Team for help in defending a scientist from the assassin Cheshire and the League of Shadows. Red Arrow walked away again after discovering that Green Arrow’s mysterious new sidekick, Artemis, has been added to the team ("Infiltrator").

September 7th – International media attention is focused on the Taiwanese capital of Taipei where delegations from the divided country of Rhelasia are meeting for a peace summit. Security is tight as the North Rhelasian delegation (led by General Singh Manh Li) and the South Rhelasian delegation (led by Prime Minister Tseng) await the arrival of the secret negotiator who they hope will break the deadlock between them. Troops from each side are massing on their shared border and there is a very real danger of all out war if this summit fails.

Red Arrow is undercover in the crowd searching for the international assassin Cheshire. He radios Aqualad at Mount Justice and ask for a physical description of her, but he cuts Aqualad off once he has the information. Red Arrow spots Cheshire and spoils her attempt to blow up the negotiator’s car. They wrestle long enough to be surrounded by armed police and for Cheshire to be captured. To everybody’s surprise the secret negotiator is revealed as the multi-billionaire business-man Lex Luthor!

Luthor recognises Red Arrow as Green Arrow’s former sidekick and vouches for him with the local police. He is obviously useful to Luthor as a bodyguard, but Arrow tells Luthor that he knows who he really is (Superman’s arch-enemy). Luthor replies that “I don’t pretend to be an angel, but it just so happens that this time I am on the side of the angels.” The assassination attempt has only worsened tempers between the two delegations and Luthor’s presence is more important that ever. He offers to hire Red Arrow as a bodyguard for the duration on the summit, but Arrow refuses the money and ends up doing the job anyway.

Meanwhile at Mount Justice, the ball rescued by Superboy from Bialya ("Bereft") appears jealous that he and Miss Martian are about to start their first term at Happy Harbour High-School. While Miss Martian changes her skin colour to pass as earth girl (“Megan Morse”) Superboy is confused by the adoption of a secret identity. The Martian Manhunter shows him his own identity as John Jones and says he suggested the Red Tornado’s secret identity of John Smith. Megan suggest Conner as a name for Superboy and her uncle adds that last name of Kent. Megan thinks this is in memory of the late Kent Nelson ("Denial") as neither she nor Superboy yet know Superman’s secret identity.

Red Arrow tries to question Cheshire, but she won’t tell him anything more than her already known connection to the League of Shadows. She’s flirting with him when the Sportsmaster blows a hole in the wall. Arrow follows their rooftop escape and fires a grappling-line at their helicopter. However, Cheshire cuts his rope sending him, plunging him towards the rooftops before. Red Arrow quickly gives himself a safe, if sticky landing, with a foam arrow. The other end of his grapple-line – the end still attached to the helicopter – contained a tracer which he follows to the League of Shadows’ base. Arrow overhears Ra’s Al Ghul, the leader of the League of Shadows, berate Cheshire for her failure. However, Ra’s spots him and orders Cheshire and Sportsmaster to kill him. They corner Red Arrow on the rooftop and he dives into the moat to escape them. The assassins leave believing they’ve killed him.

After changing his own t-shirt to hide his identity Superboy is slightly annoyed to find that it was unnecessary as every other student at Happy Harbour High is wearing a t-shirt with one or other emblem of the Justice League on it. He collides with a skater called Marvin White and quickly ends up in a stare down with a larger boy called Mal Duncan. Luckily their teacher Mr (Lucas) Carr orders the class inside before anything happens. Marvin and his girlfriend Wendy Harris then introduce themselves and she invites Megan to try out for the Bumblebees – the school cheer-leading squad. The entire episode is exasperating and more than a little confusing for “Conner”. He awkwardness is compounded when, in class, he relates the history of Rhelasia machine-like in response to a question (a gift from Cadmus’s telepathic programming).

An exhausted Red Arrow pulls himself out of the water and finally realises that he need backup. He reports back to Lex Luthor that it’s Ra’s Al Ghul who wants him dead. Luthor describes Ra’s as “a competitor”, but the peace summit will nevertheless continue. Luthor attempts to use the Rhelasian Tea Ceremony as common ground between the two leaders, but the tea is delivered by Cheshire. Finding her path blocked by Aqualad, who has come to aid Red Arrow, Cheshire sets off her bomb. Aqualad uses every ounce water in the room to create a defensive screen shielding the delegates. The Sportsmaster and his League of Shadow assassins arrive as Cheshire’s backup. Aqualad then takes on Sportsmaster as Red Arrow takes Cheshire.

Megan performs her try out cheer for the Bumblebees (Happy Harbour’s football team is the Hornets and their cheerleaders are the Bumblebees). It looks like Megan may have flunked the audition when the other girls drench her in water. Megan has to telepathically shout at Conner not to attack them as he doesn’t understand, but in his attempt to rein in his anger he trips and bumps down the bleachers. It was all an initiation stunt for Megan’s acceptance into the squad – they like her even if her boyfriend is a bit odd. Conner gives his jacket to the dripping wet Megan and picks up her books (“What? You want them to get wet?”). She is happy to have him carry her books, but he is oblivious to the symbolism.

Back in Taipei the Sportsmaster mentions Santa Prisca and Bialya to Aqualad and hints that he has an inside source on the Team. Red Arrow then spots the sprinkler system and shouts to Aqualad to “end this!”. Aqualad uses the torrent of water to create a serpent which washes away the League’s assassins. A lone assassin gets through the deluge, but he is shot down by a blast from Mercy’s cybernetic arm (Luthor’s ever-present assistant). Despite all they hard work it’s the Lexcorp hardware that Mercy showed off which interests the delegates and breaks the ice between them.

Later, as the North and South Rhelasian delegates sign a new treaty, Arrow and Aqualad discuss Sportmaster’s claim to have a mole on the Team. Aqualad refuses to rule out the possibility and says he’ll investigate “quietly”. Arrow says that the Team has his respect and says he’ll be there if they need him. Even later, Lex Luthor and Ra’s Al Ghul toast the success of the peace summit and how they have caused both sides to clamour for Lexcorp technology. The reunified country will be using Lexcorp technological and be under their political sway. Ra’s says that yet another corner of the world has seen “the Light.”

Continuity

• This episode takes place on September 7th.
• Several secret identity are revealed including John Jones (Martian Manhunter), John Smith (Red Tornado), Megan Morse (Miss Martian), and Conner Kent (Superboy).
• Conner and Megan’s High-School classmates include Karen Beecher, Mal Duncan, Marvin White, and Wendy Harris. Their teacher is Lucas Carr.
• Robin, Kid Flash, and Artemis do not appear in this episode.

Commentary

Lex Luthor

Lex Luthor has been Superman’s principal nemesis since the 1940s. He first appeared in Action Comics #23 (April 1940) as a mad scientist (with a full head of red hair) who is trying to provoke war in Europe. Luthor lost his hair after a couple of appearances – possibly as an artistic error – and has remained bald ever since. A personal connection between Superman and Lex Luthor was created in the 1950s when it was explained that Luthor had lost his hair whilst trying to create a cure for Kryptonite poisoning. They had been friends, but Luthor convinced himself that the young Superman had sabotagued the experiment because he couldn’t bare Luthor succeeding where he had failed. The Lex Luthor in Young Justice is the Luthor introduced by John Byrne and Marv Wolfman in 1986. Before their Man of Steel reboot of the Superman franchise Lex Luthor had been a career criminal, a genius scientist who had dedicated his life to destroying Superman. Byrne and Wolfman reinvented Lex Luthor as a billionaire business man who hid his arms smuggling and illegal activities behind a façade of philanthropy and civic works.

Lex Luthor is voiced by Mark Rolston. He was previously credited in "Fireworks" as L-3, the mysterious third member of the Light. He has previously voiced Firefly for Justice League “Only A Dream” and in two episodes of Batman The Animated Series. Luthor’s presence in this series was foreshadowed in "Schooled" when a Lexcorp truck was seen in the Metropolis sequence.

Lex Luthor’s assistant, Mercy,  first appeared in Superman: The Animated Series as Lex Luthor’s valet, but later made the transition to the comic books where she was teamed with another woman called Hope. The robotic Mercy parallel’s a recent Action Comics storyline by Paul Cornell which featured a robot Lois Lane who operated as Lex Luthor’s confidant and bodyguard until it was taken over by Brainiac. However, co-producer Greg Weisman has confirmed that this Mercy  is a cyborg.

Ra’s Al Ghul

Ra’s Al Ghul is a classic Batman villain introduced in Batman (vol. 1) #232 (June 1971) by writer Denny O’Neil and artist Neal Adams. He is Batman’s Professor Moriarty. His name is usually pronounced is “raych-al-ghul”, but Batman Begins went with the phonetic “raz-al-ghul”. The name is derived from Arabic and is meant to mean “the Demons Head”. This is an allusion to his position as an international criminal mastermind and head of the League of Assassins (the group that is called the League of Shadows in this continuity and in Batman Begins). His agenda is an ecological one and is influenced from the 1970s concerns over run away population increase. Ra’s believes that the world’s population is too large and that it is his duty to cull the human herd in order to save the Earth’s biosphere.

In appearance he is a latter-day Fu Manchu or Arab prince, but his ethnicity is usually suitably indistinct that almost anything can be applied. The Batman Begins film series used him as a cipher that was merged with another character called Henry Ducard. Ra’s is virtually immortal as he has access to the Lazarus Pit, an alchemical spring that can regenerate a dying or dead body at the expense of temporary insanity.

Ra’s is voiced by Oded Fehr. He was previously credited in "Infiltrator" as L-2, the mysterious second member of the Light. Fehr has previously voiced Equinox from Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Doctor Fate from Justice League Unlimited.

Happy Harbour High-School

The town of Happy Harbour was first shown in "Welcome to Happy Harbor" and the night-time High School was shown in "Infiltrator" as the place where Red Arrow stashed the scientist Sterling Roquette. In this episode we see Superboy and Miss Martian taken on civilian identities so they can start High School. The five characters who are identified as being their class-mates and teacher all share a connection as sidekicks/mascots of superhero teams in the comic book continuity.

Snapper Carr

The poster-child for the super-team team-mascot is “Snapper Carr” who here appears as their teacher. When he first appears we just see his fingers snapping – an allusion to his comic book origin. He first appeared back in Brave and the Bold #28 (Feb-March 1960) as a teenager called “Snapper” Carr — he got his nickname because he incessantly snapped his fingers. The character was based on the teen-icons of the late 1950s and was added to the Justice League’s adventures as DC management still thought that a teen sidekick was a requirement.

Snapper separated from the League after he accidentally betrayed the location of their HQ to the Joker. That story was adapted/hinted at in a two-part storyline in Young Justice (vol. 2) #1 and Young Justice (vol. 2) #2. This version of Snapper has already shown-up in the cartoon. There is a sequence in "Welcome to Happy Harbor" where we see him watch the Red Tornado fly overhead. The comic book version even replaced the Red Tornado as Young Justice’s mentor for a time.

Character designer Jerome Moore designed Snapper:

When I learned that Carr would be a schoolteacher, I designed him after a character I saw actor Noah Wyle play in the film, “Donnie Darko.”

Wendy and Marvin

When the Justice League was adapted into a mid-1970s Saturday-morning cartoon it was refashioned as the more inclusive, less confrontational Super Friends. The original Super Friends sidekicks were a pair of teenagers called Wendy Harris and Marvin White and their suspiciously Scooby-Doo looking Wonder Dog. They also appeared in the spin-off Super Friends comic book where it was explained that the two kids where children of friends of the Justice Leaguers. Neither of them had superpowers, but Marvin did at least try to dress as hero with his own logo and cape. It’s the same logo that’s shown on his t-shirt here. Wendy and Marvin were around for the first two seasons, but were replaced by the alien Wonder Twins when the show became The All-New Super Friends.

Wendy and Marvin did show up in the modern comics as a pair of genius twins who served as the caretakers of the Teen Titan’s HQ before they inexplicably adopted a Hell Hound that killed Marvin and left Wendy in a wheelchair. They were also revealed to be the children of a super-villain called the Calculator. However, that’s all been junked in the latest comic-book reboot.

When it came to designing Marvin and Wendy Jerome Moore followed a Scooby-Doo inspiration:

Marvin always resembled Shaggy, from SCOOBY-DOO, so I preserved elements of that look for this version. Wendy seemed to take after Daphne, consistently striking a sexy stance in default position.

Scooby-Doo was of course produced by Hanna-Barbera, the same production house that handled the Super Friends.

Mal Duncan and Karen Beecher

Where as the other three characters were non-powered team mascots Mal and Karen were actually super-powered members of their team. Mal Duncan first appeared in Teen Titans #26 (March-April 1970) as a local youth who saved the undercover Titans from a gang. Karen Beecher first appeared in Teen Titans #45 (December 1976) as Mal’s girlfriend. They hung around the Titans as friends and were (significantly) the same age as the Titans (unlike Snapper and the JLA). Duncan was one of DC’s first African-American characters and he has adopted a series of costumed identities over the years. The most prominent of these is as the Herald. Karen has also used the costumed alias of the Bumblebee.

The Mal and Karen that appear in Young Justice don’t have superpowers (that we know of) and Mal is significantly heavier-set than in the comics. The name of the School’s cheerleading squad (the Bumblebees) is a reference to Karen’s costumed identity in the comics. A version of Bumblebee appeared as a reoccurring character in the Teen Titans cartoon. This Karen was designed by Moore as shown in his Deviant Art page.

Karen and Wendy are voiced by Masasa Moyo. She has voiced a string of cartoon and video game characters including an incidental character in Justice League “Tablua Rasa”. Mal is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson (the Martian Manhunter) and Marvin is voiced by Nolan North (Superboy/Superman). Snapper Carr is voiced by the show’s co-producer Greg Weisman.

Cat Grant

The character of Catherine Grant first appeared in Adventures of Superman #424 (Jan 1987) during the 1980s Superman reboot. She was as a romantic foil for Clark Kent and a further complication to the Lois/Clark/Superman triangle. She was a West Coast showbiz reporter who was hired by the east coast Daily Planet in an effort to boost sales. She was Kent and Lane’s source into the inner workings of the crime syndicate Intergang. Cat has seen tough times since then with her son being killed by a rogue Toyman robot and her career crashing into sensationalism. A vampish Cat was memorably played by Tracy Scoggins in Lois and Clark.

The character is voiced in this episode by Masasa Moyo. The Earth-16 Cat Grant character previously appeared in Young Justice (vol. 2) #4, but was not named.

Misc.

• The two countries of South and North Rhelasia are thinly veiled parallels of South and North Korea – even down to the militaristic nature of the North Rhelasian/Korean leader. Conner relates some of its history “modern Rhelasia was created in 1855 and ruled by the Bokown Dynasty until it was divided by the Great Powers into North and South Rhelasia after the Second World War.”
• The Martian Manhunter shows his John Jones alter ego for the first time which, in common with his most recent appearances on Smallville, is portrayed as an African America. The Martian Manhunter notes that it is he who suggested the secret identity of John Smith for the Red Tornado. This may be something of an in-joke as both names (“John Jones” and “John Smith”) are rather generic.
• The distinctive tower seen in the opening shot of this episode is a real building called the Taipei 101 (after its number of floors). It was the worlds tallest building between 2004 and 2010 before being superseeded by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

Characters

Feature Characters

The Team

• Aqualad (Kaldur’ahm. Last appeared in "Bereft". Learns from the Sportsmaster that there could be a traitor on the Team. )
• Miss Martian (M’gann M’orzz/Megan Morse. First uses her Megan Morse secret identity. Last appeared in "Bereft". Mentions that White Martians are seen as second-class citizens by the Green majority. Earns a place on the Bumblebee’s cheerleading squad. )
• Superboy (Conner Kent. Uses his secret identity for the first time. Last appeared in "Bereft". Rattles off the history of Rhelasia from his Cadmus telepathic education. )

Guest Stars

• Red Arrow (Roy Harper. Last appeared in "Infiltrator".)

Supporting Cast

The Justice League

• Martian Manhunter (John Jones. Shows his civilian alter ego for the first time. Appears as an African-American, paralleling his appearance in Smallville. )
• Red Tornado (John Smith. The Martian Manhunter notes that he is the one who suggested the Tornado’s ID.)

Villains

• Cheshire (Assassin with the League of Shadows. Last appeared in "Infiltrator". Her height is given as 5’6″. Aqualad’s computer lists her as weighing 50 kg. )
• League of Shadows Foot Soldiers (Armed and masked. Last appeared in "Infiltrator".)
• Lex Luthor (Billionaire businessman. Acts a peace negotiator at the Rhelasia summit. )
• Mercy Graves (Lex Luthor’s bodyguard. A cyborg with a weaponized arm. First Earth-16 appearance.)
• Ra's al Ghul (Leader of the League of Shadows. First Earth-16 Appearance.)
• Sportsmaster (Lawrence Crock. Last appeared in Young Justice (vol. 2) #7)

Other Characters

• Cat Grant (Television reporter for GBS News. Previous appeared in Young Justice (vol. 2) #4.)
• Lucas Carr (Lucas Carr. Conner and Megan’s teacher at Happy Harbour High-School. Last appeared in "Welcome to Happy Harbor". )

Happy Harbour High-School

• Karen Beecher (Student. Cheerleader with the Bumblebees. First Earth-16 appearance.)
• Mal Duncan (Student. Bigger than the rest. First Earth-16 appearance. )
• Marvin White (Student. Crashes into Conner Kent. First Earth-16 appearance.)
• Wendy Harris (Student. Cheerleader with the Bumblebees, invited Megan to try-out. First Earth-16 appearance.)

Politics

• Singh Manh Li (General. Leader of North Rhelasia. First appearance. )
• Tseng (Prime Minister of South Rhelasia. First appearance. )
• Xiaping (Listed in credits, but not identified by name on screen. )

Opinion

Highlights

Conner in High-School. I know its meant to be the b-plot, but its a great character sequence.

Oddities

Loo seat amid the wreckage of Cheshire’s cell.

Open Questions

• That’s two hits for two that Cheshire has failed. How long before the League of Shadows consider her surplus to requirements.
• How much did Luthor/Ra’s al Ghul set-up and how much just worked out their way? Cheshire was sent to kill Luthor, but she appears to have believed the mission was real. Did Luthor and al Ghul therefore know that Red Arrow was at the meeting? Maybe they deliberately led him there after all it isn’t explained how he knew about the hit.
• Who is the mole that Sportsmaster alludes to? He mentions Santa Prisca, but Artemis hadn’t joined the team at that point and he’d hardly be boosting about a mole to the mole so that rules out Aqualad.

My thoughts

It’s been a long wait for Targets, but it delivers a compelling arc episode that revisits the Red Arrow, Cheshire, League of Shadows, the Happy Harbour School beats from Infiltrator as well as the growing Superboy/Miss Martian romance subplot from Bereft. The relationships around Cheshire are teased as she tells the Sportsmaster (“it had to be you”) and asks Red Arrow about Artemis – readers of the comic book will know that its implied that she and Artemis are sisters.

I really like the way that these characters are animated with a sense of individuality – nobody else moves like Cheshire does and the Sportsmaster’s sports related weapons are never commented upon (they’re just there, part of the rich furniture). The martial arts – and even Aqualad’s backflip – gives this episode a real kung fu vibe.

As for the b-plot, I must say I rather liked the material with Conner and Megan at High-School. There has always been this sitcom/clown stuff with the bumbling Kents and I’ve never much taken to it. However, Andrew Robinson and the gang manage to walk a deft line between slapstick and genuine social discomfort. Conner plays the James Dean character (it must be that jacket) who we all know is really the coolest of the entire bunch, but his attempts to reign in his strength and anger puts him at odds with his more relaxed class-mates. Conner and Megan make a cute couple, but you have to wonder how long it’ll be before Kid Flash notices or gets warned off by Conner.

Quotes

Narrator: The Justice League of America! The combined might and power of the Man of Steel and the Cosmic Crusader. The Winged Avenger and the King of the Seas. The Tiny Titan and the Scarlet Streak. All working together for good against evil as the Justice League of America!

Atom: Stop This Boring Action!

Synopsis “In Between Two Armies”

“A strange drill-nosed craft streaks out of space, torpedoes down, and bores beneath the Earth’s crust”. It is followed by a second craft which observes the descent of the first. The crew of the second craft, the tall yellow-clad “Crystal Men”, are determined to continue their pursuit of the first craft and its crew, the short green-clad Rock People. The Rock People have already set-up a base on the Earth and test their super-weaponry by using magnetic beams to rain meteorites down upon the Earth.

“Within seconds the Justice League is in action”, Hawkman searches for the source of the magnetic waves while Superman and Green Lantern take care of the raining “space junk”. Hawkman notices the Crystal Men’s space ship and follows it towards the Rock People’s base. He radios ahead to the Flash and Atom and they intercept the craft. The captured Crystal Men  explain that they have come to destroy the Rock People before they can use their weapon to destroy Mercury (their homeworld). Hawkman recognises that the destruction of Mercury will cause the Crystal Men’s own super weapon, the Nuclear Core, to explode destroying Earth and the rest of the Solar System.

Superman sends Green Lantern to destroy the Nuclear Core and positions Hawkman to intercept the magnetic beam. He then searches for the Rock People’s base while the Flash and Atom guard the Crystal Men. Unfortunately the Man of Steel arrives too later to stop the firing sequence and Hawkman’s ship is forced to blocks the magnetic wave with its own weaponry. Superman then destroys the weapon before the Rock People can fire again.

The Crystal Men on Mercury have detected Green Lantern’s approach, but his mighty power ring repulses the attacks. He smashes into the hall containing the Nuclear Core, but a Crystal Man’s attack ricochet off of his shields and hits the unstable Core. The Green Lantern envelopes the exploding Core with his emerald energy and uses his formidable willpower to safely contain its explosion. “A short while later back on neutral ground”, the Crystal Men and Rock Men agree to a lasting peace overseen by the Justice League.

Known Credits

Cast

The Narrator

Ted Knight

Superman

Bud Collyer

Atom

Pat Harrington Jr

Green Lantern

Gerald Mohr

Flash

Cliff Owens

Hawkman

Vic Perrin

Crew

Writer

George Kashdan

Director

Hal Sutherland

Associate Director

Anatole Krisanoff

Co-Directors

Norm McCabe, Louis Zukor

Art Director

Don Christensen

Storyboard

Sherman Labby, Jan Green

Story Consultant

Mort Weisinger

Original Music

John Marion

Executive Producer

Allen Ducovny

Producer

Lou Scheimer, Norm Prescott

Commentary

Filmation

The first 1966 season of the Batman TV show (the Adam West/ Burt Ward duo) was such a success that it prompted DC comics to start looking for other ways to get their properties on TV. A deal was done with CBS to air a Superman cartoon show and the search was then on to find an animation house capable of producing it. Superman comic book editor Mort Weisinger approached the nascent Filmation studio who agreed to do the show.

The legendary sticking point in the Filmation/DC deal was that the DC representatives wanted to inspect the Filmation studio before finalizing the contract. However Filmation didn’t have a studio! So phone calls were made and every warm body they could find (including brothers and wives of the producers) were pulled in to “staff” the studio on the day of the DC visit. The bluff worked and they got the DC contract.

The original 30-min New Adventures of Superman aired during the 1966/67 season, but for the following year it was expanded into the hour-long Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure. This included a rotating sequence of shorts based on other DC characters. The Atom, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman appeared individually, but they also teamed together for the first appearance of the Justice League in an animated production. Three shorts were made in total called “In Between Two Armies”, “Target Earth”, and “Bad Day on Black Mountain”.

A standard Filmation efficiency was to film live action sequences with real humans and then rotoscope – trace the film using a projector – the action on to paper. The basic animation shots could then be retraced whenever a new character preformed that same sequence (turning, swimming, tumbling, etc). The result gave Filmation animation an oddly natural fluidity that was often at odds with its seemingly budget appearance. That efficiency allowed them to keep the work in the United States while almost every other animation house were outsourcing their work to foreign companies. It also meant that a surprisingly low number of action sequences could be reused over different backgrounds and in different episodes.

Misc.

• The title sequence uses the shield-less Justice League logo which had introduced to the Justice League of America comic book in the same year that this season started (1966). Both this version and the original were created by DC letterer/designer Ira Schnapp.
• The copy right date is 1967.
• Hawkman uses a beam-throwing gauntlet that bears a certain resemblance to the Glove of Horus from the modern Justice Society comic.
• Aquaman is shown as part of the League in the opening sequence, but does not appear in this adventure.

Characters

Feature Characters

The Justice League of America

• Atom
• Flash
• Green Lantern
• Hawkman
• Superman

Villains

• The Crystal Men
• The Rock People

Other Characters

• Hawkman’s pet falcon

Opinion

Highlights

• It’s the first animated appearance of the Justice League! What more do you want?

Oddities

• Why, during the opening narration, do the Flash, Atom, and Aquaman fly?
• At one point Hawkman responds to the Crystal Men’s statement by talking to a completely different alien who doesn’t appear in the rest of the segment.
• The design of the Crystal Men’s ship switches design half-way through the short.

My Thoughts

Filmation were expert proponents of TV animation where low-budgets required the producers to be ruthlessly efficient with every single frame of animation. Their later catalogue included a string of cartoon adaptations of popular comic book and science fiction properties including the Archie comics characters, the Star Trek animated series, and the He-Man franchise. However it is really these early DC cartoons that set the mould for that later work. Many of the same devices they refined later on are here – the quality of the stock shots may have got better, but their frequency of reuse always remained high.

I’m certainly not old enough to have watched these go out the first time around, but I do remember when they were shown in the United Kingdom. It was Channel 4 (I think) who had an early morning cartoon segment in the 1980s showing cheap cartoons they’d picked up from somewhere. These included the early Filmation Aquaman show and some of the early Marvel cartoons. I think they may have included the Marvel cartoons just to make the DC ones look good – no matter how basic the Filmation animation was it was still light-years ahead of the Gantray-Lawrence’s Marvel work.

For my generation Norm Prescott, Lou Scheimer and Hal Sutherland’s Filmation studio will forever be known as the creators of the He-Man and Masters of the Universe cartoon. There is a repertoire of blaster sounds, dimensional portals, and stock shots that are just seared into my memory. There is one sound in this episode, the overloading Nuclear Core, which I’m convinced popped up often in Masters of the Universe. So for me these show is interesting from an almost archaeological perspective. Neither of the two warring sides, the Crystal Men and the Rock People, are really that villainous and their conflict wouldn’t have been out of place in a Gardner Fox comic story.

Taken on its own this is a 6-minute short that packs in a tremendous amount of plot (just like the early League comics). Some of the logic is hard to follow (did GL just destroy the Crystal Men’s sole power source), but it still retains a certain charm and energy. The Justice League are all very dynamic and there is a good display of powers. It’s noticeable that the Justice Leaguers don’t really work together at any time. They are all off on separate parts of the adventure (with the exception of the Flash who only really serves as the Atom’s ride). This may have allowed them to replicate stock parts of the heroes individual shorts, but it also matches the classical JSA/JLA format so works surprisingly well.