Young Justice #1-6

Young Justice #1-6

Originally released in 1998

Written by Peter David

Art by Todd Nauck

DC tends to be roughly divided into generations of heroes - the Justice Society, the Justice League, the Teen Titans... However, there's an era in the 90s and 2000s that focuses on a generation that I know very little about - the era where Tim Drake was Robin, and he was part of a team known as Young Justice.

Starting out, the team consists of three characters - Robin (Tim Drake), Superboy (Kon-El, who has an ability called "tactile telekinesis", which seems to be an explanation for how Superman can lift up heavy objects while defying the laws of physics, and will remind everyone about it at every opportunity), and Impulse (Bart Allen, Barry Allen's distant descendant who lives up to his name by being reckless and impulsive).  From the start, it's clear that the book is aiming for a lighter tone, going by the nightmares that the boys have which seem to be mocking Peter David's other comic runs such as Aquaman.

The first few issues are episodic in nature, focusing on the three young men as they accidentally revive Red Tornado, uncover a sentient alien vehicle with ties to the New Gods called the Super-Cycle, and meddle in the timeline of Mr. Mxyzptlk.  Mxy is summoned through time and space, arriving during his youth as a serious scholar, and it's up to Young Justice to set him on the path to being a nigh-omnipotent prankster or else time and space will be destroyed.

There's also a subplot where Red Tornado visits his estranged daughter, helping her get payback on some bullies who look strangely familiar.  The series jumps between the numbered issues and several one-off stories, so I'm not sure if this plotline is continued in a one-off. (it doesn't get much focus here outside of issue 3)

Issues four and five double the size of the team, adding Arrowette (not sure if she has any connection to Green Arrow or if she's just a fan), Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandsmark, who seems new to being a superhero), and Secret (I didn't learn much about her from these issues, fittingly enough, though her powers make her like a ghost).  They also add a recurring villain to face the team, a young man called Harm.  His real name is Billy, he wants to become the world's greatest super-villain, and he has his parents living in fear.

He's skilled enough to beat Robin in a fight, and he has some kind of control over machines that allows him to take control over the Red Tornado and use him to try and assassinate the Pope.  The book is well-written, though it can be a little cheesy at times.

Out of the original team, Robin is clearly the brains of the operation. (when Red Tornado refers to Impulse, Superboy, and Robin as the id, ego, and superego respectively and explains why, Superboy complains that he should be the superego because it has "super" in the name)  The team got more interesting after issue 4 where more members were added and the dynamic between the team got more complex - I felt like, if the series had stuck with the original three members for too long, then things would have gotten boring or predictable. (Impulse rushes in, Robin is cautious and plans things out, Superboy's somewhere between the two)

I like the brief bonding moments that we get between Wonder Girl and Arrowette, and when the Justice League arrives in issue six to administer a test that quickly goes off the rails, it leads to some nice character moments for both teams. It's off to a good start, though I feel like I'd be better off with reading solo series if I wanted to get a better idea of what the characters are like. (I only vaguely know how Cassie is connected to Wonder Woman after reading this, I'm not sure if Kon-El is a clone of Superman or if that's a different Superboy, and I still don't know if Arrowette has any connection to Green Arrow)