Episode Credits

Quotes

Kaldur’ahm: Have you ever wondered what would have happened if I had stayed behind and you had become Aqualad?Garth: Never.Kaldur’ahm: No, neither have I.

Synopsis “Downtime”

August 27th – Young Justice’s fight against Clayface in Gotham City has not gone well. Aqualad (Kaldur’ahm) is the last to fall before the Batman suddenly crashes in through a skylight and disables Clayface with ease. Later at Mount Justice Batman takes Aqualad to task for his failure as team leader. He is told “You’re their leader and your head wasn’t in the game!” Aqualad tries to protest, but realises that Batman is correct. He confesses that after so long of dreaming of the surface world he now finds that his thoughts drift more towards Atlantis. Batman correctly deduces that it is a particular person in Atlantis that Aqualad is missing, but warns him that “you can split your time between the surface and the sea, but not your mind. Either you are here 100% or you need to walk way. Make a decision Kaldur and make it soon.”

Kaldur’ahm returns to Poseidonis (the Atlantean capital city) to consider his future. He is met by King Orin (Aquaman) who invites him to an intimate dinner that he and the Queen will be hosting. However, Kaldur had hoped to meet with somebody special (a girl called Tula) so the King tells him to bring them along. Kaldur then goes to search for Tula at the Conservatoire of Sorcery – the school of magic where he studied before becoming Aqualad. He bumps into another friend, the squid-headed Topo, who is illustrating a retelling of Aquaman’s battle with the Ocean Master. It was during that battle that Kaldur and Garth (his best friend) aided the King. He was so impressed with the young men that he gave them the opportunity to become his protegé. Kaldur’ahm accepted, but Garth prefered to return to his studies as the Conservatoire.

Kaldur eventually finds Garth and Tula practicing their combat sorcery under the watchful gaze of their teacher Queen Mera. He apologies to the Queen for interrupting, but she tells him that she has another class and will see him tonight at the dinner. Tula hugs Kaldur and both of his friends are pleased to see him after an absence of two months. Kaldur asks Tula to go with him to the royal dinner and she agrees before hurriedly leaving with Garth “for another class.” As they go its clear that Garth and Tula have become closer than Kaldur realises.

Back on the surface the other members of Young Justice enjoy their own downtime.

• At the cave Megan tries to drag Superboy away from watching the TV (he’s not watching a show, he’s just staring at static), but her attempts to involve him in cooking end disastrously when she accidentally dumps the ingredients all over him. Megan moves closer to him to wipe the ingredients off, but the romantic tension is broken by the Red Tornado’s arrival.
• At Wayne Manor Dick Grayson tries to work off his anger at Batman for apparently trusting Aqualad more than him (Robin’s own leadership of YJ had been a disaster and it had appeared that he was fine with Aqualad taking over). Batman sees his young ward’s frustration and gets him to work it off with a father/son (mentor/sidekick) game of basketball.
• In Central City Wally West’s family hosts a dinner for the birthday of Jay Garrick (the first Flash).
• In Gotham City the wheelchair Paula Crock is pleased that her daughter Artemis has received a Wayne Foundation scholarship to Gotham Academy (despite never having actually applied for it – the Batman’s hand at work it would seem). Artemis doesn’t want to leave her friends at Gotham North, but agrees to go to the Academy to please her mother.

At the Poseidonis Science Center Doctor Vulko shows Prince Orm (Aquaman’s brother) a giant-starfish that despite being frozen in a block of ice for millennia still has detectable brainwaves. Later at the dinner, Orm relates their discoveries to his brother, Mera, Kaldur’ahm, and Tula. However, Kaldur isn’t listening and tells Tula that he is considering quitting the surface world and returning to the Conservatoire (the Queen warms him that he had been away from his studies for so long that he’d have to rejoin in a lower class than Tula or Garth). The King and Queen have just announced that Mera is pregnant and are being congratulated when Superman radios Aquaman with a Justice League emergency in Tokyo Bay. The King asks Kaldur to accompany him to the teleport gate and in private tells him that he has spoken to Batman about Kaldur’s future.

While the Royal Family is occupied with their own affairs multiple teams of armed intruders have breached Poseidonis’s defenses by tunneling in under the city. Their leader Black Manta then tells them to move to Phase 2 of their plan. They spread out and place explosive “Manta Stings” on key buildings. As Kaldur and Tula swim through the Palace’s gardens he tells her that he has decided to stay in Atlantis with her and she is forced to finally tell him that Garth and her have become lovers during his absence. Kaldur’s response never comes as Manta’s teams move to Phase 3 and detonate their Manta Stings. Dozens of explosions rock the city and Manta’s armoured soldiers begin attacking the Atlantean guards.

Kaldur fights back against those attacking the Palace forcing them to call for reinforcements.Mera creates a magical shield as Prince Orm and his guards fire back at the attackers. Tula and Kaldur join them as Kaldur realises that the attack has been planned with precision. Garth’s arrival distracts Tula and she is wounded by one of the intruders. Mera then casts a vast octopus spell which shields the palace and gives the defenders a moment of cover. Garth cradles Tula as he reports that the attackers have hit multiple targets across the city – everywhere Kaldur realises except for the Science Center. It’s all been an elaborate diversion. Kaldur then tells the other defenders to stay with Tula and the Queen as he heads to the Science Center alone.

Black Manta personally leads the raid on the Science Center and his Manta-sub begin demolition of the Center’s roof in order to extract the still frozen starfish. Garth joins Kaldur on the Queen’s orders, but its clear that Kaldur is more experienced in combat than Garth. Kaldur steals the uniforms from two of Manta’s guards, but is spotted by Black Manta. A fire fight ensures in the Center and Manta bemoans that Aqualad has chosen to join the scores of fools willing to die for Aquaman. Kaldur saves Gareth from Manta’s attack and tells his distracted friend to get his “head in the game.” The battle intensifies as Aqualad goes one-on-one with Manta. The frozen starfish is being winched out of the Center when Aqualad calls to Garth to cut the cable. The giant block crashes to the floor and Manta shouts that “if I can’t have it no one will!” He then fires a missile that destroys the specimen and much of the Center. Garth casts a spell to shield himself and Aqualad, but by the time the debris has cleared Manta and his henchmen have fled.

September 3rd – Aquaman is grateful to his city’s defenders, but the only thing that survived of the specimen is a single arm point. However, even this is already regenerating. With the Science Center destroyed it is decided that the specimen will be sent to the surface for study and safe keeping. Kaldur acknowledges his recent emotion conflict, but decides to return to the surface as Aqualad now that there is less to tie him to Atlantis. He wishes Tula and Garth all the best and then returns to Mount Justice. He then tells Batman that he is here “one hundred percent. ” Batman calls Young Justice together for their next mission and informs them  them that the Watchtower has detected a massive power surge in the Bailyian desert. Manta reports to the Light that he was unable to secure his objective, yet the light still compliments him and says “everything falls into place.”

Continuity

• This episode takes place on the 27th of August. The epilogue takes place on the 3rd of September.
• Stephanie Lemelin’s voice credit gives Artemis’s full name as Artemis Crock. Her mother is named as Paul Crock. Artemis has a scholarship to attend Gotham City Academy – the same private school as Dick Grayson.
• Poseidonis timezone is given as UTC-2 (out in the Atlantic Ocean). Atlanteans salute with a closed fist. There are several races in Atlantis including human headed and squid-headed humanoids.
• Aqualad has been away from Atlantis for two-months (since just before "Independence Day"). He became Aquaman’s sidekick after assisting him in a battle against the Ocean Master.
• There are three generations of speedster in Central City – Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, and Wally West. Barry Allen is Wally’s uncle.

Commentary

Atlantis

Atlantis was invented by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. He used it as an allegory of an advanced society and told how it vanished beneath the ocean in a “single day and night of misfortune.” The implication being that Atlantis was an imperfect society that was punished by the gods (not entirely different from Sodom and Gomorrah from the Bible). However, there is just something about this idea of an advanced lost civilization that made people believe that Plato’s fairy tale was real. A legion of fools and romantics have gone searching for the site of the “real” Atlantis and, while there may have been cataclysms – racial memories of Minoan Crete have been suggested – that Plato based this story on, an actual island called Atlantis remains a myth.

Modern interest in Atlantis erupted during the 19th century when writers like US Congressman Ignatius Donnelly wrote seriously about an “Antediluvian” (pre-Biblical flood) world and movements like the Theosophists claimed that the Atlanteans had possessed mystical powers. This fertile ground wasn’t ignored by popular fiction and the ruins and survivors of Atlantis were soon appearing everywhere. Early examples include Jules Verne’s 1869 book Twenty Thousands Leagues Under The Sea which features a submarine trip to the remains of Atlantis and Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1929 novel The Maracot Deep which finds that Atlantean survivors have adapted to living beneath the waves.

All this creativity fed into the 1940s and 1950s DC Comics where two distinctly different versions of Atlantis developed. Both were undersea cities. The first was a city of fish-tailed merpeople and was the home city of Lori Lemaris (an old girlfriend of Superman). The second was Aquaman’s home and featured extensively in his comics. Aquaman was the King of an Atlantis populated by water-breathers who had retained their legs. His Atlantis was a colourful and wonderfully kitsch world of fairy-tale aquatic adventures.

The two versions of Atlantis were finally reconciled in the 1980s when it was explained that Aquaman’s Atlantis and Lori Lemaris’ Atlantis were actually two separate cities called Poseidonis and Tritonis who had survived the destruction of their mother land. Aquaman’s ancestors used science to give themselves gills whereas Lori’s ancestors used dark magic to turn themselves into fish people. The entire scenario was spun into a fabulous fantasy epic called the Books of Atlantis written by Peter David (Young Justice’s comic book co-creator). He also wrote Aquaman’s adventures for a time and was responsible for giving Aquaman a beard.

The version of Atlantis shown in this cartoon is Aquaman’s Atlantis – it’s even called Poseidonis in the time stamp – and draws heavily from its earlier comic book appearances. The most significant addition that they have added is the Conservatoire of Sorcery. It formalizes the appearance of magic in Atlantis and unifies the disparate powers of Garth, Mera, and other superpowered Atlanteans. This Atlantis is shown as a domed city on the floor of the ocean. It is a world of jade statues and purple corals. Multiple races are shown including the legged Atlanteans like Orin and Kaldur’ahm, fish-tailed Tritonians, Lagoon Boy, and the squid headed Topo. Statues seen through the episode show both human and squid headed figures.

Inhabitants of Atlantis

King Orin

Aquaman. He was traditionally known by the comic books by his surface name of Arthur Curry (a name given to him by his surface father). However, Peter David also gave him the Atlantean name Orin.

Mera

Aquaman’s wife. In the comics she originally came from another dimension where they had the power to telekinetically manipulate water. That power is greatly expanded here and shown to be a result of Atlantean magic. She reveals that she’s pregnant in this episode. In the comics her infant son was murdered by Black Manta.

Mera is voiced by Kath Soucie. She also voiced Dexter’s mum in Dexter’s Laboratory and Bubbles from the Powerpuff Girls.

Prince Orm

Aquaman’s brother. In the comics Orm is a supervillain called the Ocean Master. However, the Earth-16 Ocean Master has already been name checked in Aqualad’s origin so he is either a completely different character or Orm has hidden his identity. Orm’s inclusion here is also a nod to the Justice League episode “The Enemy Below” where they are the first to show Orm as a Prince. That Orm tries to kill Aquaman and steal the throne for himself. Orm is voiced by Roger Craig Smith

Doctor Vulko

The scientist is one of the longest-serving of Aquaman’s supporting cast and is often shown as his chief (sole?) advisor or Prime Minister. It was often Vulko who had to run things while Aquaman was off having adventures. Vulko is voiced by Jeff Glenn Bennett, the voice of the Red Tornado.

Garth

He first appeared in Adventure Comics #269 (Feb 1960) and was the original Aqualad. He was the prince of an Atlantean sub-kingdom who was born with the curse of purple eyes. The deeply superstitious Atlanteans feared this and left him to die in the open ocean. He survived – like Aquaman previously – as a sort of undersea Mowgli. Aquaman eventually encountered the youth and took him in as his sidekick. Years later Garth would strike out on his own and studied with Aquaman’s father, the sorcerer Atlan, to become the hero Tempest. It is Garth who appeared in the Teen Titans cartoon. His Tempest identity is reference when he casts a spell to “summon the tempest”.

Garth is voiced by Yuri Lowenthal who is probably better known as Ben-10. He has also voiced Icicle Jr in "Independence Day", Mister Miracle in Batman: the Brave and the Bold, and Superman in The Legion of Superheroes.

Tula

Tula was introduced as Aquagirl in Aquaman #33 (May-June 1967) as a girl friend for Aqualad (Garth). She was briefly associated with the Teen Titans was killed defending Atlantis during Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Tula is voiced by Cree Summer. She also voiced Madame Xanadu in "Denial".  Vixen in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Mercy Graves in Superman/Doomsday, Max in Batman Beyond, and Natasha Irons in Superman: The Animated Series.

Lagoon Boy

As Aqualad passes through the Conservatoire we see a boy trying out a spell, this is Lagoon Boy a character created by Erik Larson (Peter David’s successor on the Aquaman comic). He’s introduced as a character to show the diversity of races in Atlantis and has the unusual ability to rapidly inflate his size just like a puffer fish.

Lori Lemaris

In the Lagoon Boy/Topo sequence there is a young woman who turns her legs into a mermaid’s tail. The character was identified as Lori Lemaris (the old Superman character) by character designer Jerome Moore who posted his design on his deviant art page.

The direction was to design Lori as a young girl, and I endeavored to avoid making her look too much like Disney’s Ariel, The Little Mermaid. I also steered away from typical mermaid design, where the tailfin is angled like a cetacean, and shaped primarily like a chevron. I gave her a truer fishtail, so she must swim using a sideways tail motion instead of a dolphin kick. I tried to make her pretty, but not too cutesy, or too sexy.

Lori speaks, but the voice artist isn’t credited.

Topo

He actually predates Aqualad as a Aquaman’s sidekick and was originally just a squid, but he was later retconned in Kurt Busiek’s run Tad William’s run (thanks to Steve for the correction in the comments) into a squid-headed boy. Topo is voiced by James Arnold Taylor. He also voiced Green Arrow and Guy Gardner from Batman: the Brave and the Bold and Captain Cold in Justice League: The New Frontier.

Black Manta

The villain of this episode is Black Manta. He first appeared in Aquaman #35 (September 1967) as a surface dweller who used a special dry-suit for raiding trips beneath the waves. His motivations have wavered over the years, but he is principally a conqueror with delusions of over throwing Aquaman.

The producers play with comic book fans expectations during this episode. Prince Orm is shown as a nod to a Justice League Unlimited episode and Mera announces that she’s pregnant which foreshadows her and Aquaman’s son from the comics. The use of Black Manta in the same episode reminds us that it was Manta who killed that child.

In the comic books Black Manta is Aqualad’s father. That personal connection is not stated explicitly in the cartoon, but Khary Payton does voice Aqualad and Black Manta (something the producers often do for related or similar characters, e.g. Nolan North voices both Superboy and Superman). There is also a speech by Manta when he first confronts Aqualad and asks him “Such a waste! You really have no ambition beyond serving Aquaman. Aren’t scores of others willing to die for their King? ”

The Flash Family.

Jay Garrick was the original Golden Age flash. His birthday is shown here, but he does not speak. Character designer Jerome Moore designed a photograph of the three Flashes which was meant to be seen on the wall at the dinner.

Featured from left to right are the three “generations” of Flash, including Barry Allen, Wally West, and Jay Garrick. The premise was that someone in the West family snapped a shot of the trio of speedsters all together out in public, and then the heroes were kind enough to autograph the photo for a young Wally West (The signatures would be a ploy to divert the suspicion of casual visitors to Wally’s house).

The picture ended up on the cutting room floor, but the full version can be seen on Moore’s DeviantArt page.

References

• Batman’s defeat of Clayface. This Clayface bears a very strong resemblance to the Clayface from Batman: The Animated Series and he is even defeated in a way similar to that used to defeat Clayface in “Feat of Clay” (namely electricity).
• The sequence showing Aqualad’s origin reminds me of a sequence drawn by Bruce Timm for Justice League “Paradise Lost”.

Misc.

• In common with the theme of “Downtime” all the heroes, apart from Superboy and Superman, are listed in the credits under their alter egos.
• Wally’s diet: Finishing off the ice cream at Jay Garrick’s birthday dinner.
• Artemis is given a surname and a mother in this episode which throws all my guesses about her being Cheshire and Green Arrow’s daughter into a spin. Her mother is given the name of Paula and their surname is Crock. That would appear to make her a parallel with the daughter of the Sportsmaster (YJ version was seen in Drop-Zone). Paula Crock is voiced by Kelly Hu who also voiced Cheshire in "Infiltrator". The mystery deepens.
• Artemis Crock’s scholarship letter is signed Philip Wilcox, Dean of Administration for Gotham Academy. Philip Wilcox is named it would seem for Phil Bourassa (the lead character designer for the show) and David Wilcox (the show’s Line Producer).
• The one character that is potentially missing from this list of Atlanteans is the second Aquagirl, Loerna Marquez, unless she’s one of the students shown as the Conservatoire.
• Starro – yeah, that giant frozen star fish thingy isn’t random chance. The Justice League’s first comic book enemy was a giant alien nuclear powered starfish called Starro. Given that, it’s a fair bet that icicle will be back.
• Uncredited credits taken from Ask Greg 07/03/11.

Unanswered Questions

• Where did they get the Atlantean Language from?

Characters

Feature Characters

Young Justice

• Aqualad (Kaldur’ahm)
• Artemis Crock
• Kid Flash (Wally West)
• Miss Martian (M’gann M’orzz)
• Robin (Dick Grayson)
• Superboy

Supporting Cast

The Justice League

• Aquaman (King Orin, last appeared in "Fireworks")
• Batman (Bruce Wayne, last appeared in "Infiltrator")
• Flash (Barry Allen, last appeared in "Fireworks")
• Red Tornado (appeared last episode)
• Superman (voice only, last appeared in "Schooled")

Villains

• Black Manta (first Earth-16 appearance)
• Clayface (unamed, fights YJ in Gotham City, first Earth-16 appearance)
• Ocean Master (shown in Topo’s flashback, first Earth-16 appearance)

Other Characters

• Alfred Pennyworth (Batman’s butler, first animated Earth-16 appearance, last appeared in Young Justice (vol. 2) #0)
• Garth (Kaldur’ahm’s best friend, first Earth-16 appearance)
• Iris West (Barry Allen’s girlfriend, first Earth-16 appearance)
• Joan Garrick (Jay Garrick’s wife, first Earth-16 appearance)
• Mary West (Wally West’s mother, last appeared in Young Justice (vol. 2) #0)
• Mera (King Orin’s wife, first Earth-16 appearance)
• Orm (King Orin’s brother, first Earth-16 appearance)
• Paula Crock (Artemis’s mother, first Earth-16 appearance)
• Rudolph West (Wally West’s father, last appeared in Young Justice (vol. 2) #0)
• Tula (Kaldur’ahm’s friend, Garth’s girlfriend, first Earth-16 appearance)
• Vulko (Chief scientist at the Atlantean Science Centre, first Earth-16 appearance)

Cameos

• Lagoon Boy (shown practising magic, first Earth-16 appearance)
• Lori Lemaris (shown practising magic, first Earth-16 appearance)

Opinion

Highlights

Mera’s defense of the Palace is cool, but seeing Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, and Wally West together was the coolest.

Oddities

• If Batman could disable Clayface with an electrical attack why couldn’t Aqualad do the same with his electric eel tattoos – maybe that’s to show he was off his game.
• This is a pretty cool Batman, but even so he’s still spying on his “son” through Wayne Manor’s security cameras.

First Impressions

Aqualad is a compelling character. He isn’t like the other sidekicks as he’s essentially a trained Atlantean warrior. Robin and Kid Flash are superheroes, but Aqualad is the King’s champion and, as shown here, is lethally effective in a warzone. The moment where he uses one of Manta’s henchmen to shield himself and Garth is intense and shows a line that the other heroes may not be willing to cross (And this is a pretty bloody episode – not in terms of actual blood – but, in terms of bodies floating in the water and henchmen/soldiers getting fried. ) Yet for all his training Aqualad is still the most reserved of the sidekicks and there is a clear caste distinction between him and his mentor – Wally West could succeed Barry Allen as the Flash, but Kaldur’ahm will never hope to succeed Aquaman as King of Atlantis.

I love this version of Atlantis. It’s one of the shames of the comicbook Atlantis that everytime somebody tries to build up its world it gets destroyed in some crossover or other. The amount of effort to add bobbing motions to characters, subtle ripple effects to scenery, and all sorts of other details really creates a unique ambience. I dare say that this is one of those episodes that will look great on bluray. The shear size of the Atlantean cast is also impressive, but when you see Lagoon Boy you’ve got to wonder just how far they’ll go. I don’t think Black Manta has ever looked this good.

There is a fantastic Gargoyles website where Greg Weisman – the producer of Gargoyles and now Young Justice - answers questions. As of late the correspondence has included a large number of Young Justice questions and responses.

The Gender Issue

The longest response has been to the criticism that “Independence Day” only featured male characters. In his response Greg describes the reasons – storytelling and comics tradition – that led to this appearance.

You asked why there were no female Leaguers until the end. But where would they have fit? There are no female Leaguers with traditional first generation sidekicks. So Batman, Green Arrow, Aquaman and Flash could not be replaced by Wonder Woman, Black Canary or Hawkwoman. That leaves the four Leaguers introduced at the Hall of Justice. I needed Martian Manhunter to be there to set up Miss Martian. I needed Red Tornado there to set up his interest in the teens. I needed Superman there to set up Superboy. That leaves only Zatara. He was certainly replaceable. But then I would have had to hire another voice actress to read ONE LINE. I couldn’t afford to do that. We have budgets. (And you’ll notice that Red Tornado never speaks in the episode. Couldn’t afford giving him a line either. None of which had anything to do with gender.)

He also describes why it shouldn’t be taken as an indicator of the show moving forward:

Yes, the pilot was very boy-centric, but that’s not the rubric for the series. Personally, I love writing female characters, and if you’re at all familiar with my past work, you’ll know I have a history of doing them justice. (At least, I think so.) Gargoyles, for example, is FULL of strong female characters, including Elisa, Demona, Angela, Fox, etc. WITCH was nearly ALL female leads. Even Spider-Man had a strong female supporting cast, in my opinion at least.

All of Weisman’s reassurances are very reasonable and aren’t to far from our own speculations.

DC Women Kick Ass, the blog that raised this issue in the first place, comments that Weisman’s answer makes him a “Silver Age fanboy like [Geoff] Johns”. However, they do accept his reassurances that this isn’t the start of a pattern. They conclude  “I also hope the Silver Age nostalgia that made the pilot a boy-centric show is left in the past, where it belongs.” Which begs the question – if DC don’t have Silver Age nostalgia what do they have left?

Other Details

Other more minor details include:

• Black Canary is 24 years old. Her mother, the original Black Canary, wasn’t active during WWII for timing reasons and wasn’t born until 1943.
• The names of the Cadmus creatures are “G-Gnomes (the tiny psychic guys), G-Trolls (the huge strong brutes), G-Elves (the clawed warriors), G-Dwarves (the tentacled worker drones), G-Sprites (the electricity generating creatures) and one G-Goblin (Dubbilex) with telekinetic powers (and secret psychic powers).”
• Aqualad’s backpack/weapons: “They are called Water-Bearers, and he does need them to do his thing. It’s a combination of Atlantean science and sorcery. His mystic tattoos power the water-bearers which use water stored in his backpack or from some other source to create water weapons and/or manipulate water.”

I found the “Created By” section of the Young Justice credits interesting. Justice League only listed the creators for Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman (plus Jack Kirby for some of the New Gods stuff). Young Justice now adds Joe Samachson as the creator of the Martian Manhunter. I don’t know what prompted the change, but it seems odd to include such a relatively minor character ahead of the creators of the Flash and Green Lantern. Then again maybe it’s because this credits are so simple.

Episode Credits

Quotes

Desmond: Activate the cloning process.Robin: Pass! The Batcave’s crowded enough as it is.

Kid Flash: Are you here to help us or fry us?Superboy: <squints> Huh, I don’t seem to have heat vision so I suppose helping is my only option.

Superboy: Superman can fly. Why can’t I fly?Kid Flash: I don’t know, but you can still leap tall buildings in a single bound.

Synopsis “Independence Day Part Two”

Previously in “Independence Day Part One”: Today was meant to be the day that the teen sidekicks were given access to the Hall of Justice, but what they got was less than they expected. Speedy, Green Arrow’s sidekick, stormed off in disgust and the League were called away on another matter. Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad decided to prove themselves to the Justice League by infiltrating Project Cadmus – a place Batman had voiced his suspicions about. They discovered a vast underground facility beneath Washington where Chief Scientist Doctor Marc Desmond has assembled an army of genetically engineered creatures. In its deepest caverns they discovered a teenaged clone of Superman. They woke the “Superboy”, but he was being telepathically controlled by Desmond’s gene-gnomes and attacked his liberators.

July 4th - Marc Desmond convenes an electronic audience with the Light – the faceless board of directors behind Project Cadmus – to inform them of the current situation. The sidekicks are contained and Desmond believes that the Justice League does not know of their mission. The Light tells Desmond to clone the sidekicks, to create willing mind-controlled duplicates, and to dispose of the originals. The Guardian doesn’t understand why Desmond is so upset that Superboy has not returned to his pod. Desmond is then forced to use his gene-gnome’s telepathy to once again enforce his will on his increasingly vocal Head of Security.

Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Robin are unconscious in the Cadmus cloning chamber when they hear a voice in their heads telling them that they must wake up. They wake to discover that the Superboy is staring at them. He confesses to knowing “how to read and write, the names of things”, but to never having actually been allowed to experience those things first hand. They ask him if he knows what he is and he tells them “I am the Superboy. A geneomorph. A clone made from the DNA of the Superman. Created to replace him should he perish; to destroy him should he turn from the light.”

Kid Flash and co. offer to introduce Superboy to the real Superman, but Desmond interrupts them and orders Superboy back to his pod. He then starts the painful cloning procedure. As Superboy is walking back to his pod his superhearing hears Aqualad call out to him asking “What would Superman do?” Seconds later the door to the cloning room is ripped open and Superboy returns. He throws the scientists aside and angrily tells them not to order him around. He tells Robin the same thing when he suggests that he helps Aqualad. Robin then blows up the cloning machine to prevent their clones from being recreated.

A furious Desmond orders every geneomorph in Cadmus to be sent after the four teenagers. Massive gene-trolls block their path to the elevator whilst smaller geneomorphs close in behind. The sidekicks evade the gene-trolls, but Superboy knocks out two of them making it clear that he has anger issues. They have made it to sub-level 15 when Superboy hears a voice guiding him through the corridors to an air vent which they use to escape into the ductwork. Robin then hacks the security sensors to send Desmond on a wild goose chase. The four heroes eventually make it to the surface exit, but its proof against even their superstrength.

The escaping teens run straight into a legion of gene-trolls, -morphs, and -gnomes led by the Guardian. The combined telepathic power of so many gene-gnomes forces the teens to their knees. Dubbilex then steps forward and identifies himself as the telepathic voice that has been directing their escape. He was also set the fire that drew them to Cadmus in the first place. Dubbilex believes that Superboy is a geneomorph hero who will lead the other Cadmus geneomorphs to freedom. He then commands the gene-gnomes to release the teens and allows Superboy to choose between freedom or servitude. Superboy tells him that “I chose freedom.”

The Guardian’s mind is also clear again and he tells the boys to “go” and to leave Desmond to him. However, Desmond arrives and tells everybody that Project Blockbuster will give him the power to restore order to Cadmus. He then swallows a vile of blue liquid and is transformed into a hulking grey-skinned “Blockbuster” who is strong enough to withstand even Superboy’s punches. Aqualad and Superboy take on the Blockbuster while Robin pulls Kid Flash to one side. He has noticed the support columns that the Blockbuster keeps damaging and tells Kid Flash to lead him on a dance which further weakens them. The other heroes follow suit and bring the entire above-ground Cadmus building down on top of the Blockbuster.

The four teen heroes are just crawling from the wreckage as Superman and the rest of the Justice League descend out of the night sky. The full roster perches around the wreckage. They, and Superman, are stunned when Superboy steps forward and introduces himself as Superman’s clone. Batman tells then “Start talking”. Afterwards Batman bluntly tells them that they will not be working as a group again. However, Aqualad corrects him and tells their mentors that it is exactly what they will be doing it again. They, including Superboy, fought as a group and are unwilling to just let the Justice League break them up again. Superboy puts its more bluntly when he tells Batman to “get on board or get out-of-the-way!”

July 8th -Four days later at Mount Justice – the original Secret Sanctuary of the Justice League – the League are preparing a new headquarters. Batman tells Superboy, Kid Flash, Robin, and Aqualad that if they’ll be “fighting the good fight” they’ll be doing so “on League terms.” The Red Tornado will live in the new headquarters as their supervisor, Black Canary will train them, but it is Batman alone who will deploy them on missions. They will be his covert team, operating outside of the media spotlight that is focused on the very public Justice League. They will also be joined by Miss Martian, the Martian Manhunter’s niece.

Back at Cadmus, the Board has placed the Guardian in charge with Doctor Spence promoted to chief scientist. The Light, the true force behind Cadmus, are less concerned by the loss of Desmond than they are with the appearance of a new faction of the Justice League.

Continuity

• Setting: July 4th (Independence Day) and July 8th.

Commentary

The Young Justice/Teen Titans comics

This new series mixes up characters from several different generations of teen sidekicks. The original sidekicks appeared during the 1940s. They were brought in to humanize the violent vigilantes, to give young readers somebody to identify with, and to serve the Watson role (somebody for the detective to explain his thoughts to). Robin was the original and first appeared in Detective Comics #38 (April 1940). He was followed by Speedy who first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941). This early period is generally called the Golden Age of comics.

Superhero comics then went into something of a lull until the later 1950s and 1960s when they were relaunched with new versions of old characters. This is the period that is generally refered to as the Silver Age. Kid Flash appeared in The Flash (Dec 1959) and Aqualad first appeared in Adventure Comics #269 (Feb 1960). The adult heroes were first brought together as the Justice League in the Brave and the Bold #28 (Feb/March 1960), but it wasn’t until Brave and the Bold #54 (July 1964) that Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Robin were brought together for a team-up.

The sidekicks’ team-up was considered a success so they were brought back as a proper team called the Teen Titans in Brave and the Bold #60 (June/July 1965). A significant addition to that appearance was the introduction of a female character called Wonder Girl. She was explained to be Wonder Woman’s sidekick, but she had never appeared in the Wonder Woman comics and was a completely new character. Speedy wouldn’t join the Teen Titans as a full member until 1969. The roster expanded and contracted over the years until the 1980s when their title was relaunched by Marv Wolfman and George Perez as the New Teen Titans with new members Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy.

DC Comics characters aren’t entirely ageless. The sidekicks have been allowed to slowly age and today those first Teen Titans are young adults – Kid Flash and Robin have taken on new identities and have even succeeded their mentors in the Justice League. However, the idea of teen sidekicks persisted and a new generation of younger sidekicks were introduced to fill the void left by the now adult Titans. The first of these was Jason Todd, the second Robin, but he was something of a misfire and proved unpopular (his story is told in the Under The Red Hood DVD).

After Todd, a third Robin called Tim Drake was introduced. He proved really popular and other characters including Impulse (the Flash’s grandson), Superboy (Conner Kent as shown in the Young Justice cartoon), and others were introduced. These characters were less sidekicks than they were young heroes in their own right. They were brought together in 1998 as a new group, originally mooted as JLA Junior by Grant Morrison, in two stories (JLA: World Without Grown-Ups and Young Justice: The Secret) written by Todd DeZago and illustrated by Todd Nauck. However, the on-going Young Justice series was written by Peter David. He and Nauck created a deceptively cartoon-like book that hid a very dark under current.

The Young Justice series ran parallel to a Titans series which featured the adventures of the former Teen Titans. After 55 issues – nearly all written David and drawn Nauck – DC decided to stage a hideously plotted stunt called “Graduation Day” (avoid this book like the plague! – the books before and after it are quite good, but the GD mini-series itself is rubbish). The two teams were merged into a new iteration of the Teen Titans. The Young Justice members were joined by a couple of the original New Teen Titans who acted as mentors.

Despite it’s patchy genesis this new book, written by Geoff Johns, was popular and was broadly responsible for the creation of a Teen Titans cartoon. Johns introduced an entire generation of new teen heroes during his run including a teenage version of the Martian Manhunter called Miss Martian although in the comics they aren’t related by blood.

Superboy

• Alter Ego: To be established
• Age: 16 weeks as of “Independence Day”
• Abilities/Powers: Clone of Superman. Has inherited solar-powered speed, strength and endurance. Also super hearing.  However, he yet to develop Superman’s heat vision or flight.

This two-part episode is an adaptation of Superboy’s origin. The original Superboy was just Superman as a boy, but the modern Superboy didn’t appear until Superman was killed by the monster Doomsday. Project Cadmus saw an opening to create their own clone of Superman and to announce him to the world as the original returned to life. Their plans were discovered by a group called the Newsboy Legion (clones of the Guardian’s original 1940s sidekicks) who freed the clone before he was fully mature. Thus the new clone had the body of a  teenager, but he also lacked the mind control conditioning that Cadmus had wanted to insert.

The real Superman ultimately returned from the dead (that happens a lot in the DC Universe) and the cloned “Superboy” stuck around as a new character. Young Justice “Independence Day”  follows Superboy’s origin pretty closely, but substitutes Young Justice for the Newsboy Legion. In the comic books Young Justice formed after they helped a girl called the Secret escape from a government laboratory. So you can see how both origin stories have been woven together.

The comic-book Superboy was a half-clone of Superman – they couldn’t extrapolate his entire DNA sequence so grafted the half they could decipher onto a human base. This base was originally believed to be Director Westfield (Desmond’s analogue), but was eventually revealed to be Lex Luthor.

Both Superboy and Superman are voiced by Nolan North. He also pulled dual duty on Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths when he voiced Green Lantern and Power Ring. Superboy’s white solar collector suit is needed to power his abilities because he’s never been allowed to absorb direct solar radiation. Its colour references the glowing white costumes from the Krypton segment of Superman: The Movie.

The Light

The Light are the secret group behind Project Cadmus. The name could be another name for the Illuminati (the illuminated ones) which are a secret society beloved of conspiracy theorists. In the comics the Illuminati are led by the immortal Vandal Savage. Candidates for the Light have to include the (Secret) Society (of Super Villains) or the Agenda. The former are the old Brotherhood of Evil – a reverse Justice League of all the League’s baddest villains. The latter are a group of evil cloners who tried to set up their own version of Project Cadmus and clone an evil version of Superboy called Match.

Project Cadmus

Project Cadmus, or the DNA Project, was first introduced into Superman’s sidekick’s comic (Jimmy Olsen) by Jack Kirby as a federally funded wonderland that created all sorts of stage alien like genetic mutants. As public opinion – and real cloning science – has caught up with science fiction the Project’s portrayal has become more jaded. It should be familiar to fans of Justice League Unlimited as it was used as the secret agency behind much of the first two seasons stories. In the Young Justice universe the Project is based in Washington DC, but in the normal DC Universe it is buried in a vast underground facility beneath a mountain outside of Superman’s Metropolis.

• Dubbilex is a DNAlien created by Project Cadmus. He appears alien, but was always one of the more human characters with a genuine concern for the creatures that Cadmus created – he was after all one of them.
• Cadmus, as Aqualad describes, was originally a Greek legend. He was a prince responsible for bringing writing to the Greeks. He also slew a dragon and then planted its teeth as if they were seeds. Warriors sprouted out of the ground where they teeth had been planted.
• The YJ character of Marc Desmond is a combination of two comic book characters. The first is Paul Westfield, the Cadmus director who tried to clone Superman, the second is the Blockbuster,  a mindless brute who once fought that Batman. The look of this incarnation – grey skin, red eyes, bony protrusions - appears to be influenced by Doomsday (the monster that  killed Superman in the comics).
• The Guardian is Cadmus’s original security chief from the comics – he didn’t appear in JLU. He is the clone of James Harper, a 1940s police officer who also fought crime as the Guardian. He was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby and there are obvious parallels with Captain America (who the pair also created) when you see him use his shield.
• A gene-gnome – the little creature on the Guardian’s shoulder was originally a manipulative, mind controlling creature created by rogue Cadmus scientists. Here they appear to be a rank of more intelligent Cadmus workers and serve as the labs telepathic intercom system. They are also used by Desmond to control the Guardian.
• The comic book version of the scientist name checked at the end of this episode (Amanda Spence) was the daughter of Paul Westfield (the character Desmond replaced) and an agent for the Agenda (the agency that the Light might be). Her inclusion could be significant or it could be a tip of the hat. Time will tell.

Mount Justice

Mount Justice – nice name, a new one I think – is located is a placed called Happy Harbour, Rhode Island. It was a hollowed out mountain that held the Justice League’s original headquarters, a base called the Secret Sanctuary (which gets name checked in this episode). The League gave it up when they moved to the Satellite. It has since been used as a warehouse and hanger, and by a succession of groups including the Doom Patrol, the Justice Society, Young Justice, and various League factions – it tends to be the place they default back to when whatever current headquarters they are using gets destroyed (which invariably they do).

Misc. Notes

• “These aren’t your typical meddling Kids.” – Scooby dooby, doo!!!
• Desmond: “you’re not a real boy” is a reference to Pinocchio, the wooden puppet who wanted to be a real boy.
• Shown with the Justice League are Superman, Red Tornado, Captain Marvel, Zatara, and the Martian Manhunter, Captain Atom, Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman/girl, Green Lantern (Hal), Black Canary, Aquaman, Batman, Green Arrow, and Green Lantern (John).
• At one point Kid Flash calls Blockbuster the “incredible bulk” which is a reference to Marvel Comics’s Incredible Hulk who was also grey-skinned (originally).

Characters

Feature Characters

Young Justice

• Aqualad (Kaldur’ahm, appeared last episode)
• Kid Flash (Wally West, appeared last episode)
• Miss Martian (M’gann M’orzz, first Earth-16 appearance)
• Robin (Dick Grayson, appeared last episode)
• Superboy (appeared last episode)

Supporting Cast

The Justice League

• Aquaman (appeared last episode)
• Batman (appeared last episode)
• Black Canary (first Earth-16 appearance, does not speak)
• Captain Atom (first Earth-16 appearance, does not speak)
• Captain Marvel (first Earth-16 appearance, does not speak)
• Flash (appeared last episode)
• Green Arrow (appeared last episode, does not speak)
• Green Lantern Hal Jordan (first proper Earth-16 appearance, does not speak)
• Green Lantern John Stewart (first Earth-16 appearance, does not speak)
• Hawkgirl (first Earth-16 appearance, does not speak)
• Hawkman (first Earth-16 appearance, does not speak)
• Martian Manhunter (appeared last episode)
• Red Tornado (appeared last episode, does not speak)
• Superman (appeared last episode)
• Zatara (appeared last episode, does not speak)
• Wonder Woman (first proper Earth-16 appearance, does not speak)

Villains

• Mark Desmond (Mark Desmond, appeared last episode, first appearance in the full Blockbuster)

The Light

Only including characters that are referenced in the Credits – there are too many blank spaces otherwise:

• L-1 (identity disguised, first Earth-16 appearance )
• L-3 (identity disguised, first Earth-16 appearance )

Other Characters

• Dr Spence (appeared last episode, named in passing in next episode)
• Dubbilex (appeared last episode)
• Guardian (appeared last episode)

Opinion

Highlights

Seeing the Secret Sanctuary on screen.

Oddities

Are you seriously telling me that Robin carries around sticks of chalk in his utility belt?

First Impressions

The first episode was brilliant just for showing us all the glamour and fun of the hero/sidekick team-ups, the Hall of Justice, the descent into Cadmus, and a hundred other cool bits. This second episode arguably has the tougher sell as its all ready got past the cool bits and needs to really focus on story and plot. The pursuit from Cadmus has a number of set pieces which work really well, but you don’t quite get a sense of dire urgency or threat. They are in danger yes, but it all still feels like a romp. This, I believe, is a good thing as it prevents the show descending into mock teen angst (let’s leave that for the X-Men).

Almost this entire episode is set in the dark Cadmus caverns or at night so it’s quite jarring when the flip is made to the bright, daylight Mount Justice. They really get their money out of the claustrophobic Cadmus setting and it’s very atmospheric, but it’s getting a bit overused by the end. The Mount Justice reveal was a real surprise and shows that they’re sticking to the premise of Young Justice quite closely. Something has to be said about the manner of Miss Martian’s inclusion. Parachuting in a character to the new group isn’t such a bad thing, but did it really have to be the sole female character?

Changes

• 2010-12-06 – Added Ask Greg credits

Episode Credits

Quotes

Flash: Calm down Kid.Kid Flash: Oh please! You’ll chat it up with the cops, with bystanders, with Cold even. No, no way. Today’s the day!

Green Arrow: Roy, you just need to be patient.Speedy: What I need is respect. They’re treating us like kids. Worst, sidekicks! We deserve better than this.

Synopsis “Independence Day Part One”

July 4th – In a chain of seemingly unrelated incidents Batman and Robin defeat Mister Freeze in Gotham City, Green Arrow and Speedy knock out Icicle Jr. in Star City, Aquaman and Aqualad take down Killer Frost at Pearl Harbour, and the Flash and Kid Flash stop Captain Cold’s robbery in Central City. All the young heroes are all impatient as “Today’s the day”, July 4th Independence Day, the day they get official access to the Justice League’s Hall of Justice.

Crowds of tourist watch as the adult heroes lead their sidekicks into the inner sanctum. They are met by the Martian Manhunter who tells them they now have access to the “gym, fully stocked galley, and the library”. The adult heroes are about to discuss the coincidence of four ice villains attacking on the same day, but Speedy is angry – he expected more than a “glorified back stage pass” and objects to being shut out of the League’s discussions. He surprises the other sidekicks by telling them that the Hall of Justice isn’t even the League’s real headquarters – it’s a publicity front for the tourists which the League uses as a teleportation rely to reach their real headquarters, a satellite called the Watchtower. Speedy then storms off in disgust when Batman refuses to let them go any further.

The League then get two simultaneous calls for help. Superman tells the League that there has been an explosion at Project Cadmus and Zatara tells them that Wotan is using the Amulet of Aten to blot out the Sun. Zatara requests a full League response and Batman messages all Leaguers to converge on his location. Kid Flash, Robin, and Aqualad want to help, but Batman orders them to stay put. They then realise that Speedy may have been right. Robin hacks the Justice League’s computers – “same system as the Batcave” – to find out more about Project Cadmus, but it’s entry just records that it’s a genetic laboratory. Batman has told them to stay away from Zatara’s emergency, but he hadn’t said anything about the Cadmus mission. The three boys then decide to take it upon themselves to solve Batman’s suspicions about Cadmus before the League returns.

When the trio arrive at Cadmus building they find that it is still on fire. Kid Flash runs ahead to save two scientists, but he has to be pulled to safety by Robin. Aqualad then brings the scientists down to street level while Kid Flash and Robin head inside. Aqualad spots a strange inhuman figure disappear into an elevator and Robin recognises the make of elevator as the type of express elevator used in tall buildings – overkill for the two-story Cadmus building. Aqualad forces open the doors and they discover that the elevator shaft descends far underground – at least 27 stories before Robin’s grapple-wire runs out.

At sub-level 26 Robin overrides the security and they begin investigating. Kid Flash runs ahead and runs straight into a troop of elephant-sized creatures (“gene-trolls”). The creatures appear oblivious to the boys and continue on their way, but a smaller horned monkey-sized creature (a “gene-gnome”) does notice them. The Head of Cadmus, Doctor Desmond, is working on something called Project Blockbuster when his head of security, the Guardian, informs him that a gene-gnome sensed intruders. Desmond is dismissive as the alarms haven’t gone off, but agrees to Guardian’s request to investigate. Dubbilex, the horned figure earlier seen by Aqualad, suggests that the Guardian leave his own gene-gnome behind if he’s heading into danger, but Desmond objects and uses the creature’s telepathic link to sway the Guardian.

The boys find a collection of lightning creatures in jars and realise that Cadmus is using them to power their facility, keeping its existence hidden from the normal power grid. Robin hacks into their computers and discovers that Cadmus has created a virtual army of genetically engineered geneomorphs. He also discovers something called Project Kr, but they are interrupted by the Guardian and a squad of wolf-like geneomorphs whilst Robin downloads the Kr data. Both sides recognise each other, but the Guardian’s gene-gnome overrides his thoughts when Robin accuses him of breeding weapons. The Guardian then commands his geneomorphs to take them down.

Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad manage to escape to an elevator, but to the consternation of the others Robin takes them deeper into the facility – to Project Kr on sub-level 52. They find is a series of outlandish red caverns and Dubbilex waiting for them. His telekinetic attack keeps them on the run, but the teen heroes manage to make it into the Project Kr vault as an unwitting scientist leaves. Robin then locks the door behind them. Kid Flash brings up the lights and discovers Cadmus’s darkest secret – a sleeping teenage clone of Superman!

Robin hacks the Project Kr computers to discover that the boy is codenamed “Superboy” and that he has been force grown in sixteen weeks from DNA stolen from Superman. Cadmus intend to turn the boy into a weapon. Aqualad tries to signal the League for help, but they are too far underground for the signal to be received. Robin then sets Superboy free, but Desmond orders the gene-gnomes attached to Superboy’s pod to make him attack the teen heroes.  He proves to be stronger and faster than they are so even Aqualad’s constructs only put him down momentarily. Superboy forces the vault open and allows Desmond to enter.

[Continued in Part Two]

Continuity

• Setting: July 4th (“Independence Day”).
• The heroes are shown living in their classic fictional cities: Gotham City (Batman/Robin), Star City (Green Arrow/Speedy), Central City (Flash/Kid Flash). The time zones given for each city place Gotham on the east coast, Central City on central time (unsurprisingly), and Star City on the west coast.
• The Justice League have a public headquarters called the Hall of Justice in Washington DC which serves as a teleportation reply for their real secret headquarters which is an orbiting satellite called the Watchtower.

Commentary

Young Justice

Young Justice came about when Executive Vice-President for Creative Affairs at Warner Brothers Animation Sam Register paired Greg Weisman (Gargoyles, Spectacular Spiderman) and Brandon Vietti (Under the Red Hood) and asked them to come up with a new DC Universe show for Cartoon Network. They then had the unenviable task of charting a course between the phenomenally successful Justice League Unlimited franchise and the unique Teen Titans show. The end result was Young Justice, a show about younger heroes, but one set in and around a Justice League (YJ Press Announcement).

Weisman and Vietti collaborated with DC Entertainment Creative Affairs Officer Geoff Johns and DC Comics Co-Pubisher Dan Didio to establish their new show on Earth-16 in Universe-16 in the DC Multiverse proper. Earth-16 is a slightly younger version of the DC Universe. There were some superheroes in the 1940s, but Superman only appeared 10 years ago and the Justice League is only a few years old (SDCC 2010 Panel, Comic Book News Interview).

The adult Leaguers have become global megastars and their every action is closely watched and analysed by the media and badguys. Young Justice are their covert ops team – a group who can evade the media and operate outside of the spotlight that hampers the main Justice League. This is the first generation of the JLA’s apprentices so its Dick Grayson as Robin, Wally West as the Kid Flash, etc (Comic Book News Interview).

Robin, The Boy Wonder

• Alter Ego: Dick Grayson
• Age: 13 years
• Abilities/Powers: Trained by the Batman! Skills include stealth, computer hacking, and a natural gymnast.
• Weaponry: Explosive thowing discs. Utility belt. Wrist worn mini-computer.

It’s Dick Grayson. The laughter and happier demeanour it very much Dick, but the costume is based on the one designed by Neal Adam’s for Dick’s second successor (Tim Drake). It was Batman: The New Adventures which took that costume and removed the green to give the yellow/red/black version. Robin’s throwing discs are like those used by the Robin from Glen Murakami’s Teen Titans cartoon. The entire laughing from the shadows thing really reminds me of the Shadow.

At SDCC Greg Weisman described Robin as:

This is Dick Grayson, aged 13. He’s the youngest member of the group, but he’s also the guy with the most experience. He’s been doing this since he was 9-years old so he’s been doing it four years. He’s the guy with all the chops.

Robin is voiced by ex-boy band singer Jesse McCartney who described his character to CBR as a “prepubescent, cocky little kid” who ends up becoming the leader of the team.

Speedy

• Alter Ego: Roy Harper
• Age: 16+ ? years (probably older than Aqualad)
• Abilities/Powers: Master archer. Trained by Green Arrow.
• Weaponry: Composite longbow plus a variety of trick and explosive arrows.

This is the original Speedy – Roy Harper before he lost his arm, child, and any sense of reasonable character development. The use of the exploding arrows and Speedy’s serious personality harks back to his occasional appearances in the Teen Titans cartoon. This Roy is older than the other characters and that shows in his demands to be taken seriously as his own hero and not just as a side kick. His look is classic Golden/Silver Age.

Speedy is voiced by Crispin Freeman who voiced Superman in the Justice League Heroes videogame. The character is something of a red herring as he’s shown in the introduction and he’s part of the classic Teen Titans line-up, but he storms out during the second act. Production artwork teases that he’ll be back later in the series having become his own man.

Aqualad

• Alter Ego: Unrevealed
• Age: 16 years
• Abilities/Powers: Submarine adaptation (gill slits for underwater breathing, webbed hands for swimming, and enhanced strength/endurance for survival at depths). Trained by Aquaman.
• Weaponry: Backpack allows electrostatic manipulation of water.

This isn’t Garth – the original Aqualad. This Aquaboy was created specifically for this TV show. DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns was so taken with the character that he arranged to incorporate a version into the DC Universe proper.

Aqualad calls Aquaman “My King” which makes it seem that he’s more of a soldier than an equal. He is 16-years-old which makes him several years older than either Robin or Kid Flash. His costume more closely resembles Aquaman’s than the other comic book Aqualads/girls (green/orange and he’s even blond). You can clearly see gill slits (like a fish) on his neck showing how he can breathe underwater and webbing between his hands which presumably help him swim faster. Backpack isn’t explained, but it appears to electro-statically manipulate water to create limited Green Lantern like constructs.

Aqualad is voiced by Khary Payton who is best known as Cyborg from the earlier Teen Titans cartoon, he voices Cyborg in the upcoming DC Universe mmorpg. Khary has also voiced Tyr in Legion of Superheroes.

Kid Flash

• Alter Ego: Wally West
• Age: 14 years
• Abilities/Powers: Superspeed. Trained by the Flash.
• Weaponry: N/A

This is the Silver Age Flash and Kid Flash combo of Barry Allen and Wally West (green eyes, red hair). Very classic costumes. The Flash is shown with whited-out eyes which is a motif of the costume worn by Wally when he succeeded Barry as the Flash.

At SDCC Brandon Vietti described Kid Flash as

He is Wally West. He’s 15, he’s not as fast as the Flash. He has to accelerate and decelerate.

Kid Flash is voiced by Jason Spisak.

The Justice League

The Justice League is shown head-quartered at the Hall of Justice. The Hall originated in the Super Friends cartoon in the 1970/80s before being brought into the comics continuity by Brad Meltzer in Justice League of America (vol. 2) . It was also shown as the League’s headquarters during the last season of Justice League Unlimited.

The entrance to the Hall shows the statues of the seven heroes (Aquaman, Flash, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the Martian Manhunter) who founded the League in the comics books. The numbers that the computer intones in its security scans are the order that the Leaguers joined the League in the comic books. Batman – 02, Aquaman – 06, Flash – 04, Martian Manhunter -07 were all founders. Green Arrow – 08 was the first non-founding member. Red Tornado – 16

• Aquaman – This is the classic Aquaman although he doesn’t do too much in the opener. His appearance – with the beard – does draw a parallel with the bombastic Aquaman who appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Aquaman is voiced by Phil LaMarr who voiced Green Lantern in Justice League Unlimited and Static in Static Shock.
• Batman is well, he’s Batman. Classic hard-ass Bats. Batman is voiced by Bruce Greenwood who also voiced Batman for the recent Batman: The Red Hood DVD.
• Flash - The speedsters are the last ones to arrive at the Hall which is a pick up of a running joke from the comics – how Barry Allen was the slowest man alive in his secret identity whereas he was the fastest man alive in his costumed identity. The reason he was always late was that he was stopping off to fight some crime or other. The Flash is voiced by CSI’s George Eads (Nick Stokes). Eads voiced Captain Atom in the first episode of Justice League Unlimited.
• Green Arrow - A more contemporary look for Green Arrow with the cowl and jerkin from the 1990s than the classic Silver Age look used for Speedy. Roy clearly states that he isn’t GA’s son. Green Arrow is voiced by Alan Tudyk who voiced Barry Allen in Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
• Martian Manhunter - The Manhunter featured heavily in Justice League Unlimited and the designers have opted to use altered his post-Infinite Crisis look. Green Arrow hints that the Manhunter has his own sidekick. The Martian Manhunter is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson who has something of career voicing DC characters. He gave voice to B’wana Beast in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Mister Tawky in The Return of Black Adam DVD, the Joker in The Batman, Trigon in Teen Titans, General Wells in Justice League, among others.
• Red Tornado - The android Red Tornado was the mentor of Young Justice in the Peter David written comic book. The look they’ve used for him here is the Air Elemental form that he had at that time. He pauses before leaving the young heroes – almost as if he’s sympathetic to their plight.
• Superman is, well, he’s Superman.
• Zatara is Giovanni Zatara, a stage magician turned real magician who uses reverse speak (“esrever kaeps”) to cast his spells. Zatara may be unfamiliar to many casual readers, but he’s actually one of DC’s older characters and made his first appearance in the same comic as Superman. He was also co-created by Gardner Fox, the co-creator of the Justice League. His more well known daughter, Zatanna, is normally shown as a contemporary of the Leaguers.

Cold villains

Four cold based villains are shown to showcase the four sidekicks, but the details of why they are attacking is not elaborated upon. They are all from the comics.

• Mister Freeze in Gotham City. “My family has other plans” could relate to his wife – Nora – who is in a cryogenic sleep after an unfortunate accident/disease. The processed voice makes me think of the Arnold Schwarzenegger Freeze from Batman and Robin.
• Icicle Jr. in Star City. Doesn’t identify himself, but he looks like the second Icicle (Cameron Mahkent, the son of the golden age villain). The original was an opponent of the Golden Age Green Lantern. Speedy calls him “junior” which may show that he is indeed the second Icicle on this Earth.
• Killer Frost in Pearl Harbor. Again she doesn’t identify herself, but this looks like the second Killer Frost (Louise Lincoln), but it’s hard to be sure because the comic book version changes her appearance so often. This particular look, with the darker blue hair, resembles the spunkier Frost from Justice League Unlimited.
• Captain Cold in Central City. A classic Flash villain from the Rogues Gallery. “Stealing ice.” – ice would be slang for diamonds. Is it my imagination of the villainous Captain putting on a little weight in this universe.

Misc

• One of the crowd makes the old quip about why isn’t the sidekick called Speedy the Flash’s sidekick.
• Speedy says the League used a Zeta-Beam transporter – this is the teleportation beam that Adam Strange uses to get back and forth to Rann.
• The Shozer of Water? I really can’t understand Zatara’s accent. Apparently it’s the “Sorcerer Wotan”. The Amulet of Aten – Aten was an Egyptian Sun God.
• The name of Project Cadmus’s above ground offices is “Cadmus Advanced Laborabory Research.
• Project Krypton is on sub-level 52. That number has taken on special meaning in the DC Universe since the year-long series 52. The meaning of the number was a mystery until the final issue revealed that it was the number of parallel-universes in the DC Multiverse. The Earth shown in this cartoon, Earth-16, is in one of those parallel-universes. That means that the version of the DC Universe shown in Young Justice is part of the canonical DC Multiverse – the system of parallel universes that make up DC’s core comic-book publishing platform.

I’ll leave all the Cadmus/Superboy stuff until part two.

Characters

Feature Characters

Young Justice

• Aqualad (Kaldur’ahm, first Earth-16 appearance)
• Kid Flash (Wally West, first Earth-16 appearance)
• Robin (Dick Grayson, first Earth-16 appearance)
• Superboy (first Earth-16 appearance )

Supporting Cast

The Justice League

• Aquaman (first Earth-16 appearance, Security Code 06 )
• Batman (first Earth-16 appearance, Security Code 02)
• Flash (first Earth-16 appearance, Security Code 04)
• Green Arrow (first Earth-16 appearance, Security Code 08)
• Green Lantern Hal Jordan (a statue in Hall of Justice entrance)
• Martian Manhunter (first Earth-16 appearance, Security Code 07)
• Red Tornado (first Earth-16 appearance, Security Code 16)
• Superman (first Earth-16 appearance, on monitor screen)
• Zatara (first Earth-16 appearance, on monitor screen)
• Wonder Woman (a statue in Hall of Justice entrance)

Villains

• Mark Desmond (first Earth-16 appearance )
• Wotan (first Earth-16 reference, behind-the-scenes, uses the Amulet of Aten to blot out the Sun and occupy the Justice League )

The Cold Villains

• Captain Cold (first Earth-16 appearance )
• Icicle Jr (first Earth-16 appearance )
• Killer Frost (first Earth-16 appearance )
• Mister Freeze (first Earth-16 appearance )

Guest Stars

• Speedy (first Earth-16 appearance, does not join Young Justice)

Other Characters

• Dr Spence (first Earth-16 appearance, the woman who accidentally lets YJ into Project-Kr, named in passing in next episode)
• Dubbilex (first Earth-16 appearance )
• Guardian (first Earth-16 appearance )

Opinion

Highlights

All of it.

Oddities

I have never understood tourists in superhero team’s headquarters.

First Impressions

The Justice League as presented in this cartoon is very recognisable to anybody who had been watching DC cartoons over the years. Aquaman has the beard, Green Arrow has the heart, Batman’s hardass, and the Flash is the one with the sense of humour. None of it is extreme enough to make any of them a central character, but it’s all deft enough that you don’t have to think about their characterisation. You know who they are and can focus your attention on the new characters.

The inclusion of these four sidekicks and the loss of one of them was an interesting red-herring that probably worked best if you hadn’t read too much about the line-up. I found the new Aqualad to be an interesting character. His relationship with Aquaman is far more formal, less familiar than the other sidekicks. He’s the one with something to prove, he’s also the one with the biggest claim to be leader. Nevertheless, it’s Robin who makes the running for most of this episode. He’s the inquisitive one and the one with the skills to drive the plot forward. This Robin is as cocky as the Teen Titans Robin, but is a bit more charming with it.

The animation is brilliant. The style is very familiar from the DC DVD series, but it appears richer here. The background in particular are rich and atmospheric.

Changes

• 2010-12-06 – Added Ask Greg credits.

One new character the producers developed for the show is the new Aqualad, who also recently debuted in the DC Universe proper. “Phil Bourassa, who is our lead character designer on the show, did the original design for Aqualad and Brandon and I basically created him; Geoff [Johns]came in and really liked the character and we talked about him a lot,” Vietti recalled. Those discussions eventually led to Johns introducing the character in his “Brightest Day” series – although slightly altered from his cartoon counterpart.

…and how the show will be episodic (separate, self-contained episodes), but with strong continuity and arcs.

WOW.  Ok… I am beyond thrilled to announce that I was recently cast in the new animated series, YOUNG JUSTICE LEAGUE, based on the famous (and awesome!?) DC Comics. I seriously could not be more excited about being welcomed into this amazing family… what a fantastic way to start the new year! I will be voicing the character of Arrowette (see ridiculously hot avatar below!!! um, could I love her anymore?) as well as several supporting cast members… Due to the extreme popularity of this series, however, that’s about all I can say… for now. So excited, this is really a dream come true for me, I have ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A SATURDAY MORNING CARTOOON!!! Woohoo!

The decision to call the series Young Justice League is probably to distance it from the Teen Titans cartoon. For several years now we’ve seen the growth of an equivalent young(ish) Justice League in Smallville so that may also factor into this.

There have been two younger-character teams in the DC Universe, Teen Titans and Young Justice. The Titans began as a team made up of the teenage sidekicks (Robin, Speedy, Wonder Girl, Aqualad, etc) of the heroes in the Justice League (Batman, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, etc).Over time the Titans introduced more original characters and became a distinct group in their own right. It was this later version of the Teen Titans that was adapted for Glen Murakami’s Teen Titans cartoon (the heavily anime influenced one). Young Justice was a recreation of the original Teen Titans concept and was tied more closely to the understanding that these were characters who would one day inherit the mantle of the full Justice League.

Updated several hours later to add: It would appear that Ms Lemelin spoke too soon as she’s taken down the above post from her blog (somebody wants to control when the series is announced). Rich Johnson at Bleeding Cool has received rumours that the official announcement is due at Comic Con and that the team will include Miss Martian, Aqualad, Nightwing, Impulse, Arrowette, and Connor Kent.

And to add what I posted on twitter: A Young Justice League cartoon could work quite well as a rift on the Smallville League or the Wolverine and the X-Men style. I’d love it if it was tied into the DC Animated Universe, but that’s probably wishful thinking. Every reaction I’ve read to the leak about Young Justice League has been incredibly positive. I really hope Lemelin didn’t get into trouble.

Updated again on 3rd Feb: Bleeding Cool has followed up their original post with the the following picture of an Aqualad, but didn’t name a source for it

However, Dan’s World identified the source as the twitter account of a gentleman called T-Rich (TdashRich). He was reading for the role of Aqualad back in November, but we don’t know if he got the gig. This is Tequan Richmond, the actor who plays Drew Rock from Everybody Hates Chris.

Peter David, the writer of the now defunct Young Justice comic book, has been pestered by people asking if he’s involved in the new cartoon.On his blog he commented that,

You know as much as I know about it. Some of you may know more. No, I’m not scheduled to write for it, no, I haven’t been approached, yes, if they did, I’d leap at it ’cause I loved working with those characters.

Updated on the 4th Feb: Titans Tower had a slightly different take on this story with a forum post they had found about Cartoon Network’s plans for for 2010/11. The quoted post said,

WB has 3 NEW series on their slate, Mystery INC- the new Scooby show, Young Justice, and Bruce Timms CG Green Lantern for 4Q 2011. ALL for Cartoon Network.

[...]

It’s Sorta THE Young Justice. They will be going out with this BIG TIME at Comic Con. From what I saw, it’s Martian Girl, Aqualad, Nightwing, Impulse, Arrowette, and Connor Kent. The poster gives me the tone that it’s a cross between JLU and TT. I liked the look a lot. It’s not quite Timm-style, but it’s not All Murikami’d out like Teen Titans.

This is similar to the roster reported by Bleeding Cool (probably where they were quoting from). However, the quoted forum post now appears to have been edited with the usual “I’ve probably said to much already.”

The bottom line: So far we know that a new Young Justice League series based on the Young Justice concept is being developed by WB Animation for Cartoon Network, the emphasis is that this appears to be an ongoing series and not a direct-to-DVD feature. Arrowette is voiced by Steph Lemelin and Tequan Richmond has read for the role of Aqualad. Other characters include Martian Girl, Nightwing, Connor Kent, and Impulse. A big announcement is expected during July’s Comic Con.