Young Justice

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Young Justice

Cover art for Young Justice #40, by Todd Nauck and Lary Stucker.
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance Young Justice: The Secret #1 (June 1998)
Created by Todd DeZago (writer)
Todd Nauck (artist)
In story information
Base(s) Justice League Cave; Catskill Mountain Hotel
Member(s) Robin
Superboy
Impulse
Wonder Girl
Secret
Arrowette
Empress
CM3
Beast Boy
Flamebird
Batgirl
Lagoon Boy
L'il Lobo/Slo-bo
The Ray

Young Justice is a fictional DC Comics superhero team consisting of teenaged heroes. The team first appeared in Young Justice: The Secret (June 1998). Artist Todd Nauck has drawn almost all of the comics featuring the group; Todd DeZago wrote their early adventures, and their ongoing series was written almost entirely by Peter David.

The team was formed at a time when DC's usual teen hero group the Teen Titans had become the Titans, a group consisting of now adult former Teen Titans. Like the original Teen Titans, Young Justice was centered around three previously established teen heroes, Superboy, Robin and Impulse, but grew to encompass most teenaged heroes in the DC Universe.

In the 2003 mini-series Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day, both groups disbanded and members of each formed two new teams of Teen Titans and Outsiders.

[edit] Fictional history

The team was first formed in a one-shot, part of the "Girlfrenzy" Fifth week event, called Young Justice: The Secret, written by Todd DeZago, where they first encountered the mysterious superheroine Secret. They next appeared together in the Justice League miniseries, World Without Grown-Ups, also written by Dezago, in which a magical being moved all adults to an alternate world. This was when they first stumbled upon the abandoned Justice League Cave in Happy Harbor (formerly called "The Secret Sanctuary").

When the ongoing title began in September 1998, the three heroes had formed a clubhouse in the Cave. However, in the first issue, they woke the robot superhero Red Tornado who continued to be a recurring character throughout the series' run, acting as something of a mentor. From issue 4, the group doubled in number with the addition of 3 teen superheroines: the second Wonder Girl, Secret, and Arrowette.

One of the key events of the series was the Young Justice: Sins of Youth fifth week event in March 2000 (takes place between Young Justice 19 and Young Justice 20), which reversed the ages of young and old heroes thanks to Klarion the Witch-Boy and Doiby Dickles, former sidekick of Alan Scott and member of Old Justice. During this event, Superboy's girlfriend Tana Moon was killed, Wonder Girl decided to no longer use her wig, and Jack Knight (Starman) decided to give the Cosmic Rod to Courtney Whitmore, the second Star-Spangled Kid, who later became Stargirl. It also marked the transition between the original six and the new cast, with Empress joining right after this storyline and Li'l Lobo being created by it.

Li'l Lobo was Lobo who was transformed into a teenager by the events of Sins of Youth. In this state, he joined Young Justice and during Our Worlds at War accompanied them to Apokolips, where he was killed in combat. However, the aforementioned magical accident had restored his ability to regrow from a single drop of blood, and millions of Lobos rushed into battle with Apokoliptian soldiers, whom the Lobos quickly defeated. The Lobos then turned on each other, and the surviving Lobo regrew to adulthood. Any memory he may have of his days as a member of Young Justice will most likely be thought of as nothing more than a bad dream.

An additional teenage Lobo remained, having hidden from the fight; he rejoined Young Justice and chose to rename himself Slo-bo. Soon this clone began to degrade, first going blind. Before he could die, however, Darkseid teleported him to the headquarters of Young Justice One Million in the 853rd Century, turning him into a (still aware) statue in the process.

All four series featuring Young Justice characters took part in the World Without Young Justice crossover in April 2002. It ran through Young Justice #44, Impulse #85, Robin #101, Superboy #99, and concluded in Young Justice #45.

The series ended with #55, at which time the membership was Superboy, Robin, Impulse, Wonder Girl, Slo-Bo, Empress, Snapper Carr and the Ray, as well as many reserves. In the follow up miniseries Young Justice/Titans: Graduation Day, the group disbanded. Robin, Superboy, Impulse, and Wonder Girl went on to form a new team of Teen Titans. Past Young Justice members such as Secret, Empress, Snapper, Ray, and Arrowette either retired or moved on to other teams.

[edit] Awards

The 1,000,000 issue of the series was a part of the DC One Million storyline, which was a top votegetter for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Story for 1999. Said story involved Justice Legion T, an 854th Century trio of young heroes: Robin the Toy Wonder (a robotic Robin), Superboy OMAC (One Millionth Actual Clone, a play on the classic OMAC character) and Impulse (a Speed Force-influenced energy being, presumably either personified by the spirits of previous persons who used the heroic name, or else the living embodiment of random thoughts lost in the Speed Force).

[edit] External links