La Ligue des justiciers: Nouvelle Génération

There has been no lack of series about the young, troubled, and super-powered set. Arguably, the very concept of the super-hero genre has been called a teen power fantasy. The hero IS the teenager, striking out at the world, righting wrongs in a way a kid never could.

And I can see that. I can also see the implications of that notion. Because teens are sometimes scared of themselves. Scared of the new thoughts and feelings they have, the older they get. Scared of the changes in how they perceive themselves and how they see the world.

Why, even Robin has days when Batman seems like a weird control freak rather than the beloved mentor who keeps Gotham City safe! There comes a time when a young super-hero wants to venture out with his peers.

This is the core premise behind Young Justice, the latest series based on DC Comics' vast and rich mythos of super-heroes. Heading the series is Greg Weisman, perhaps best known for his work on the cult classic Disney series "Gargoyles" and the highly popular "Spectacular Spider-Man" animated series.

His strengths are character development, intelligent and complex villains, and world-building. We get quite a lot of each in the first episode.

The partners (do NOT call them "sidekicks") of the sixteen-member strong Justice League are getting ready to take their first step into, well, the Big League. Access to the Hall of Justice. Participation in the missions that save the World, the Universe, All of Reality, etc.

But when the League does get an alert, they're left to pose for tourists and stay put. How infuriating.

Why, it's almost enough to make them want to sneak out and investigate a mysterious fire at a top secret genetic research facility! Which they do…only to find that someone's after-school science project involves cloning the most powerful hero on Earth, and transforming him into a loyal, brainwashed slave. My, my, my… The banter is crisp and funny, ranging from Robin's pondering on why people are always being over or underwhelmed, yet one never hears about someone just being "whelmed", to the classic bit about confusing codenames: Bystander #1: "Hey, look. It's Speedy!" Bystander #2: "Oh. Is he the Flash's sidekick?" Bystander #1: "No, he's Green Arrow's." Bystander #2: "…*…well, that makes NO sense at ALL." Most of the episode sets up the cast dynamic. Speedy is the hot-headed rebel. So rebellious, in fact, that he storms off in a rage a mere eight minutes into the episode. Robin is the tech geek. Kid Flash is the plucky comedy relief ™. Aqualad is the calm, natural leader who always finds his center, despite increasing misgivings about the world and his place in it. And Superboy is the freshly-minted son Superman never knew he had…much to each other's mutual confusion and anger.

I loved the usage of obscure characters from the DC mythos, such as Blockbuster, the Golden Guardian and Dubbilex the DNAlien. I loved the twist about the true goals of the eerie creatures being created by the Big Bads.

The Big Bads themselves, an ominous unseen council of ominous known as "The Light" managed to seem creepy and smart rather than cliché and trite. Always a plus.

If I have a complaint about the pilot, it's that the female members of them team were either absent entirely (Artemis won't join until episode six) or only made a cameo in the coda (Miss Martian, the sweet-natured niece of J'Onn J'Onzz, Manhunter From Mars). Hopefully they'll be given a prominent role in the actual series.

All in all an exciting, witty, satisfying pilot. The scope of the series looks ambitious, the animation budget seems to be sky high, and the young heroes are now basically the Black Ops branch of the Justice League! That's a notion as disturbing as it is awesome. I'm sure the moral ambiguity will be addressed.

Count me in for the regular series, coming out January of next year.

(Originally appeared at http://fourthdayuniverse.com/reports/ )

I've seen a couple of reviews that say the jump between the second season and the first is a huge mistake, and initially I would agree with those reviews. The team from the first season was the one I knew and loved, and for the first couple episodes, the decision seems to be a mistake. However, as they have fleshed out this seasons story line and developed these new characters, I have liked the series more and more. Impulse and Blue Beetle have turned into some of my favorite characters, and the plot twists throughout this season have been absolutely incredible. I know it might be hard to jump into the first few episodes of the second season, but if you give it a chance, you will enjoy it just as much of the first.

Season 1 and season 2 are just awesome, with complex plots and interesting stories. Overall you get a sense that this piece is for adults and not children. After flash point paradox this is the first piece by DC that I found super engaging.

Season 3 however is just pathetic. I have no idea who wrote it, the whole season is so boring I had to forward multiple times. The characters behave largely in a non-sensical manner. The whole season revolves around characters that anybody hardly gives a f about. The last episode told everything about how good this season was when Black Lightening was nominated as the leader of justice league, who displayed 0 leadership, 0 skill, 0 decision making and 0 usefulness throughout the season. I just really hope season 4 is like the first 2.

In short, season 1 and 2 => 10/10 ; season 3 => 3/10

DC has always been well known for making fantastic children's cartoons that can be aimed for the hardcore adult fans as-well, bringing nothing but top-notch shows. However, in recent years, it seems that the quality of DC cartoons have dropped. The two main shows that come to mind are "The Batman", a terrible show which is clearly aimed at the younger audience, and "Batman: The brave and bold", A decent cartoon that isn't on par with classic DC cartoons.

However, this cartoon has brought back the best parts of the best DC cartoons and combined them into one. The "Justice League" series was fantastic, but as the series went on it was clear that each episode focused on the development of particular characters (Especially in JL: Unlimited) which did not have an ultimate affect in the series. episode was a one-off that usually didn't require viewing of the previous or next episode. Young Justice saw this, and tried to do something new. Firstly, it made sure that the team stays small, like the early days of the Justice League, so that it could make these characters actually important to the plot lines. Secondly, it made each episode a one-off adventure that tied to a single string plot that brought each episode together. JL and JL:U did this a few times, but Young Justice has a clear sense of what's happening in the plot, and what the characters are going through. THIS is why I love Young Justice: it knows what it is trying to do, and it makes you constantly want more.

The cartoon style is an updated version of the Justice League's animation style, which shows both seriousness in the tone of the storyline, and the professionalism of the series as a whole. Teen Titans was a 'fun' series, but it was difficult sometimes to accept the serious moments amidst the childish artwork. That's not so much a complaint of Teen Titans, but I appreciate what Young Justice is doing and I prefer it.

Voice work is fine, and the music works. Both are easily above par. I actually think EVERY voice is great, even Batman's (even though I am a die-hard Conroy fan, Bruce Greenwood gives a voice I would definitely expect from Batman). There is one exception, though: I was not impressed by the Joker's voice, or his character. I could see they were trying to make him more "Sane", but that doesn't work, as the character should be the definition of insanity. However, he only appears once, and the other actors are really good.

If you look at my other reviews, you can see that I often give good scores in my reviews. Let me clarify that I am not always giving full marks to what I like, but I prefer to review great shows/movies which I think deserve to be praised. This is definitely a show that deserves to be praised, and I hope the show goes on to be very successful.

Bottom line: Fantastic. I would recommend to anyone, not just DC fans.

DC Universe finally got it right with this series; this is one animated series that I look forward to seeing the next episode. This is a more advanced and updated version of the comic book which I like a lot, and allowing the youngsters to go on covert missions learning how to be a team as they stumble through how to be heroes is a real watchable and enjoyable delight. Hopefully they won't stray too far from the storyline that they've set and allow us to see the progression of the cloned Super-Man Connor as well as Speedy or the Red Arrow, which will make this one of the best superhero action series since Super-Man and Batman. I think this will give other animators something to think about and will definitely put DC in the upper echelon rivaling the new Marvel series (TAWMH), keep up the good work.