Young Justice 2019 Impression

[armycat23]

Is anyone under the same impression that I am after 12 issues? That opinion being "meh"...and that's a compliment and being more generous than it deserves?

I really like the design and look of Superboy. I also like the reassembling of Tim, Cassie, Bart, and Sb. The art also seems respectable.

Other than that, there's not anything to really praise. It feels like a bunch of randomness, of jumping around realities with random characters joining in who have nothing better to do with their time. Any attempt at a back story is so rushed and disjointed that it feels out of place. Many singular issues could have been a good story arc, but it was quickly pushed aside to jump to another situation. Frankly, for the life of me, I can't figure out why these other characters(like jenny hex, green lantern,etc) are even still around.

You know that saying "too many cooks in the kitchen"? That's what it feels like. It feels like a competition, of sorts, to add or introduce as many characters as possible. Spoiler for issue 12....now they got the wonder twins and the new Dial for H(ero) added into it. Instead of building on the characters...on who they are and what makes them tick......new characters or situations get introduced instead. You might say, "Well they can do that later on". I would say, "How are you supposed to care about the characters in the present then?" also "They are going to be jamming in a lot of backstories in a later period of time".

In issue 12, Bart says a very corny "we're young justice" to civilians.....it's like this comic has to keep reminding the reader what this comic series is even supposed to be about. What's even funnier is that the newer characters, who have no previous ties to the old young justice group, just accept this as if they were initiated without their knowledge, nor knowing what "Young Jusice" really means.

With no clear motive, reasoning, or solid foundation after a year's worth of issues...……..I have to give it a 5.5 out of 10. You may say that is a harsh score, but after 12 issues there should be a understandable and respectable foundation in the series besides just comic characters repeatedly telling people who they are...……..and we still don't have a foundation with no clear sign it will show up in the near future either.

[walk]

I don't think you're alone, many of problems you have with series are ones I've had myself and the general consensus towards the book seems pretty underwhelming.

If you were to remove the novelty of having this team and these characters back after so long there wouldn't be much to recommend about the series by its own merits.

I also don't get why Bendis is inflating the team roster other than a financial insensitive that one of his new creations will take off and become a audience favourite, unlikely given how lacking in personality they've been so far.

Also yes how this book treats the team in regards to the larger continuity has been very inconsistent, sometimes it's treated like everything about them was forgotten and only existed pre-New 52 only then for someone to mention what a huge fan they are as if they've always been around, it's bizarre.

[Superlad93]

After 12 issues I'm done with this book.

This book is like a parody of all of Bendis' worst traits, and it feels like the enthusiasm, world building, and forethought for it have all gone to Legion, if that makes any sense.

So I'm good with dropping this and just reading Legion and the Superman books.

[king81992]

I've enjoyed it a lot.Probably the best thing Bendis has written in a long time.

[Rakzo]

Just like with most of Bendis' books is pretty hit and miss. I think he gets the character's voices fine enough and their interactions can be fun at times but the execution is lacking with lots of examples of bad dialogue, especially during the last issue which was just pure overexposition.

But hey, at least is not as blatantly boring as his Legion work.

[Ascended]

I'm enjoying it. It's not perfect, at all, but it's fun. And sometimes all I want from a comic is to be fun. YJ was that book for me back in the day, and it is again. So I'm not looking for a deep, well rounded narrative, I'm just looking for something that'll entertain me. And so far it has.

The core 4 look and sound like themselves. Not 100% perhaps but way more than they have in many years. And Bendis writes the best Bart I've seen in I don't know how long.

Our new additions.....I'm not a fan but I don't actively dislike them. Hex is easily my favorite of the new 3 and I'm enjoying the ridiculousness of her having a trunk full of artifacts collected by Jonah. That's just a weird, fun idea that helps me ignore the fact that some random, untrained country girl, no matter how self-sufficient she is, shouldn't be here. I've never cared for Amethyst or her setting/world despite being a big fan of sword-n-sorcery fantasy, but Bendis is doing a better job than most at making me not hate her. And Teen Lantern is an idea DC never should have allowed but I don't think she's ever going to gain traction outside of Bendis' book and the character herself bounces off the others in a vaguely fun way, so I can tolerate her and ignore the idea that a kid was somehow able to hack a Lantern ring.

And everyone saying Bendis was hoping to get another break out success like Miles is certainly right. Fortunately we got Naomi, and I'm guessing her success means Bendis won't feel as much of a need to push the new YJ kids beyond this title.

There's no world building here at all, but I'm fine with that. Odds are any status quo this book established would be up-ended by 5G anyway. I love alternate earth stories so the second arc was right up my alley, and issue 7 was so much fun I think it might be one of the best single issues of 2019. The Gemworld arc didn't wow me and was never going to since I don't care much for Gemworld, but it wasn't bad and I probably enjoyed it as much as I could have, and it was interesting to see how earth's Crisis events impact other realities (which Doomsday Clock delved into as well).

Conner being stuck in Warlord's world (Skataris? Is that the name?) is either a painfully redundant story or it's showing that YJ will be the team exploring the multiverse. I think I'd be okay with that. This generation and team need a hook and purpose (which they haven't had for a long time), and while I'd rather be reading multiverse adventures in a Wally West or Justice Incarnate book I'll take YJ being the ones to do it. As an added bonus, this might keep the book from getting derailed by crossovers. And I know Flash Forward is doing the multiverse thing but that's a mini and who knows how they'll screw Wally over in the end?

The only real points I can bitch about is the glacial progression of subplots and the total lack of character moments. It's been 12 issues and we haven't heard a thing about what's going on with Cassie or why Zeus showed up, no one's talking about the fact that Conner was completely wiped from reality, etc. But that's typical Bendis and I knew it'd be like this going in. I did, however, expect these characters to sit down and have a damn conversation by now. I'm getting annoyed by that but it's not at the point where I'm pissed about it.

[Darkcrusade25]

Yeah after seeing the Titans and Teen Titans getting screwed over and then given "serious" storylines where it was still mediocre, I'm just glad YJ is at least fun. I really don't care for explanations about "WHERE HAS XYZ BEEN?".

I'm just glad the JL hasn't shut them down and force the team to de-friend each other in real life.

Or that none of them get along with each other and they are taking dark turns as a team.

[married guy]

After 12 issues I'm done with this book.

This book is like a parody of all of Bendis' worst traits, and it feels like the enthusiasm, world building, and forethought for it have all gone to Legion, if that makes any sense.

I'm with you on this.
I gave it a year and it's just not doing it for me. There's too many good books out there to spend my money on.
I'm gutted too. I really wanted to love this book.

[armycat23]

If you were to remove the novelty of having this team and these characters back after so long there wouldn't be much to recommend about the series by its own merits.

This is the truest definition of the book that I've seen thus far. I grew up with the original Young Justice comic, Superboy/Robin's comics, Teen Titan series where they joined (Which was actually pretty good up to the point that Conner died).

This? This is not Young Justice. I don't mind some liberties like going to different realities or planets because SB/Tim/etc did that in other comic series as well....but at least it made sense then. It wasn't shallow fluff that had no serious repricussions. The old Young Justice was a series about a group of friends who had a bond, even before the series started. It's so weird hearing Amethyst calling Conner her friend and hasn't spoken more than a couple of sentences to him. It's so …….what's the word? Forced.

It's like how people complained about the Justice League Movie. People said that they should have done it like Marvel and built up the characters before jamming them all together. This comic has done as little of that as possible. This series is, if for nothing else, a cash grab only by the names and characters...…….and lacking in any substantial merit(as Walk implied in the quote).

[armycat23]

There's no world building here at all, but I'm fine with that.

And no depth, character development, goals(besides getting back....and as of #12, taking down Star Labs....which we all know isn't going to happen).

Worst of all, there is no true bonding outside of the main 4(even that is minimal as they barely interact with each other since reality jumping). You might as well replace the other characters(hex, GL, amethyst) with any other character and nothing would be lost.

The only thing this series does in abundance is say the name "Young Justice"

[Blue22]

Everyone's pretty much already said what I was thinking. Of the many titles DC carelessly gave to Bendis', this was the one I was both looking forward to and enjoyed the most....at first.

But we're 12 issues in now and yet nothing is happening and no one is doing anything. This series is just...boring. I'd rather another year of Glass' Titans than this, and most of y'all know how I feel about that series xD

But I think what's really the most disappointing thing about YJ right now is the complete lack of care or interest in the founding four (which is weird considering how much Bendis loves Tim). They feel like complete after thoughts when them coming back together was supposed to be the main draw of the book! Meanwhile we have these three new girls that he keeps trying to push.
And each one of them is their own special flavor of unwanted or uninteresting (both in Jinny's case). I've said it before but I don't mind repeating it: This series would have been SO much better if it had at least started out with JUST Tim, Conner, Bart, and Cassie. Take some time to get them reestablished as a team and as friends. Then bring in the superfluous new recruits if you must.

[armycat23]

Everyone's pretty much already said what I was thinking. Of the many titles DC carelessly gave to Bendis', this was the one I was both looking forward to and enjoyed the most....at first.

But we're 12 issues in now and yet nothing is happening and no one is doing anything. This series is just...boring. I'd rather another year of Glass' Titans than this, and most of y'all know how I feel about that series xD

But I think what's really the most disappointing thing about YJ right now is the complete lack of care or interest in the founding four (which is weird considering how much Bendis loves Tim). They feel like complete after thoughts when them coming back together was supposed to be the main draw of the book! Meanwhile we have these three new girls that he keeps trying to push.
And each one of them is their own special flavor of unwanted or uninteresting (both in Jinny's case). I've said it before but I don't mind repeating it: This series would have been SO much better if it had at least started out with JUST Tim, Conner, Bart, and Cassie. Take some time to get them reestablished as a team and as friends. Then bring in the superfluous new recruits if you must.

4 new girls as of issue 11. Jinny, amathyst, gl, and this other girl in the yellow costume. That's a rate of a new person to the team every 2-3 issues.

I agree with it being boring. I don't see how it's "fun" to others.........anymore than I would see it being fun to watch random commercials. This comic is like watching commercials and eagerly waiting for a "main" programming to start....but it never comes.

The dialogue nor the action is overly impressive, so I guess this "fun" is simply based on the fact that they never stop moving from one place to the next. ugh

[walk]

This is the truest definition of the book that I've seen thus far. I grew up with the original Young Justice comic, Superboy/Robin's comics, Teen Titan series where they joined (Which was actually pretty good up to the point that Conner died).

This? This is not Young Justice. I don't mind some liberties like going to different realities or planets because SB/Tim/etc did that in other comic series as well....but at least it made sense then. It wasn't shallow fluff that had no serious repricussions. The old Young Justice was a series about a group of friends who had a bond, even before the series started. It's so weird hearing Amethyst calling Conner her friend and hasn't spoken more than a couple of sentences to him. It's so …….what's the word? Forced.

It's like how people complained about the Justice League Movie. People said that they should have done it like Marvel and built up the characters before jamming them all together. This comic has done as little of that as possible. This series is, if for nothing else, a cash grab only by the names and characters...…….and lacking in any substantial merit(as Walk implied in the quote).

I do think it ultimately comes down to this new series having no real theme to any of it, despite how wacky and out-there the old series got it did have a lot to say about things like adolesence, growing up, friendship and forging one path in life.

What's disappointing is that there a very interesting one in basic premise itself in the fact that these group of friends are reconnecting after a long absence, that's rich subject to explore seeing how people react, adjust and try to regain their past bonds after so much time has passed and things in their lives have changed.

The fact that Conner has family when he's friends find him again should be a thing but it's ultimately just a misdirection with no real emotional weight to any of it.

Instead of Tim deciding a whole new look and identity for seemingly no reason have it be because after seeing how much his friends have grown spurs him on to make a big change in his life himself. It just helps add a bit of texture and meaining to these things.

I think a single new character could've worked. Use them as the audience surrogate for newcomers, the one who asks who everyone is and about the old team to bring them up to speed and through their questioning you could see them actually bond and become friends with the team and hopefully learn more about them as well as opposed to giving them a flashback several months after the fact.

But yes it's the actual bonding that has been missing that really leaves the book lacking any real heart, it's not enough to just say that these people are suddenly now friends because a certain amount of issues have passed you have to show it.

Little moments like when Bart can't stabilze after phasing everyone through the floor and starts to uncharacteristically freak-out only for Cissie to suddenly confess she's in love with him shocking him out of it, once he calms down she cooly admits she wasn't serious but thought it might work.

Again it's not even that big a thing in the issue itself but it tells you so much about these characters and their friendship and this current run has been almost devoid of those sort of interactions trading them instead for a lot quippy, empty banter that's largely interchangeable leaving everyone feeling kind of flat and lifeless.

[armycat23]

I do think it ultimately comes down to this new series having no real theme to any of it, despite how wacky and out-there the old series got it did have a lot to say about things like adolesence, growing up, friendship and forging one path in life.

What's disappointing is that there a very interesting one in basic premise itself in the fact that these group of friends are reconnecting after a long absence, that's rich subject to explore seeing how people react, adjust and try to regain their past bonds after so much time has passed and things in their lives have changed.

The fact that Conner has family when he's friends find him again should be a thing but it's ultimately just a misdirection with no real emotional weight to any of it.

Instead of Tim deciding a whole new look and identity for seemingly no reason have it be because after seeing how much his friends have grown spurs him on to make a big change in his life himself. It just helps add a bit of texture and meaining to these things.

I think a single new character could've worked. Use them as the audience surrogate for newcomers, the one who asks who everyone is and about the old team to bring them up to speed and through their questioning you could see them actually bond and become friends with the team and hopefully learn more about them as well as opposed to giving them a flashback several months after the fact.

But yes it's the actual bonding that has been missing that really leaves the book lacking any real heart, it's not enough to just say that these people are suddenly now friends because a certain amount of issues have passed you have to show it.

Little moments like when Bart can't stabilze after phasing everyone through the floor and starts to uncharacteristically freak-out only for Cissie to suddenly confess she's in love with him shocking him out of it, once he calms down she cooly admits she wasn't serious but thought it might work.

Again it's not even that big a thing in the issue itself but it tells you so much about these characters and their friendship and this current run has been almost devoid of those sort of interactions trading them instead for a lot quippy, empty banter that's largely interchangeable leaving everyone feeling kind of flat and lifeless.

.
I agree with that the basic premise of them meeting each other was good. It's a shame that instead of building on it, it was thrown to the wayside and I don't know if we will ever get another frame of time just focused on the main 4 bonding and remincing. It's such a wasted opportunity.

I was disappointed that the "Superboy is married and has a kid" angle was discarded as well. That could have been an awesome development into his character. Superboy has been depicted at times as cocky/goofy or serious, depending on the writer/comic. However, nobody else has gone into a new territory like this before....and it ups up being fake. Another opportunity was lost.


"trading them instead for a lot quippy, empty banter that's largely interchangeable leaving everyone feeling kind of flat and lifeless."

That's it EXACTLY. You could rotate who said what to whom and it wouldn't feel like it was any different.

[Aahz]

I find the way the characters talk in this book incredibly annoying, and there is way to much talking.