There’s a point where a studio produces enough brilliant animated TV series that you stop asking how many times lightning can strike the same place. DC’s animation department has reached that point. If anything, the question now is when will they screw up? Young Justice suggests not any time soon. Taking the formula of Teen Titans and upgrading it to something closer to the caliber of their Batman, Superman, or Justice League animated series, they’ve come close to striking gold once again, but as of the second volume of the first season the writers and voice actors are still searching for the right tone for this new series. The episodes that followed these four, which are episodes 5 through 8, succeed in that and the show has since hit its stride. It’s unfortunate then that Warner Brothers insists on releasing the season as bite-size volume sets where a bundle of subpar episodes has the potential to scare off curious viewers unimpressed by the sample the second volume has to offer.
The fourth episode left off with the team completing its first official mission and selecting Aqualad as its leader, and for the most part, that’s where the overarching story progression hits the pause button. What follows are four standalone episodes with minimal bearing on future events or the team dynamic. If there’s really any difference to be had at the end of this second volume collection, it’s that Superboy is no longer just an angsty teenage version of the Incredible Hulk (though that quality is prone to resurface time and again), the introduction of Artemis (a female Green Arrow), we get a little bit of backstory on Aqualad, the Red Arrow (formerly known as Speedy) further asserts his independence, and the helmet of Doctor Fate is introduced as a mystical plot device.
The episodes and their plots are as follows:
“Schooled” – The superpower absorbing Amaze-O reconstructs after a defeat by the Justice League and Young Justice has to take it down inside Robin’s school.
“Infiltrator” – Under duress of the League of Shadows, a scientist creates a nanotechnology that dissolves all matter while also soaking up any digitally stored data. (It’s an alternate take on a Justice League plot.)
“Denial” – Klarion the Witch employs Abra Kadabra to aid him in his plan to snag the helmet of Doctor Fate from his former vessel, Kent Nelson.
“Downtime” – Aqualad takes some time off and heads back to Atlantis where he and some childhood friends fend off an attack on the kingdom.
Even if the animation wasn’t as great as it is or if the writing didn’t even out until the episodes immediately following these, Young Justice can always boast a stellar voice cast of Nolan North, Danica McKellar, Jason Spisak, Jesse McCartney, Bruce Greenwood, Alan Tudyk, and Phil LaMarr.
DVD Bonus Features
None.
"Young Justice: Season 1, Volume 2" is on sale October 25, 2011 and is not rated. Action, Adventure, Animation. Directed by Jay Oliva, Michael Chang. Written by Greg Weisman, Nicole Dubuc, Kevin Hopps. Starring Alan Tudyk, Bruce Greenwood, Jesse McCartney, Nolan North, Phil LaMarr, Khary Payton, Jason Spisak, Danica Mckellar, Stephanie Lemelin.
