Because today (6/14/13) is an unofficial holiday for DC Universe fans, because I should finish what I start, and because I never did include a “Reason #1” for why Young Justice is a candidate for cartoon G.O.A.T.. So, without further ado . . .
Reason #1
The Boy of Steel’s Story Arc
Ah, Superboy . . .
The writers did a really good job of taking Conner Kent from this understandably angry, yet sympathetic character to this intuitive, highly ethical leader. In the first two episodes, when we meet Superboy, we discover that he’s the product of a secret cloning experiment using Superman’s DNA.
Daddy drama
And speaking of the Man of Steel, YJ had to have been the first DCAU cartoon to make Supes look like an immature dick, and I didn’t quite think that was possible. Batman is supposed to be the emotionally unavailable one, not Superman. Of course, it’s not exactly hard to see why Superman would have issues with Superboy, seeing as that SM was probably genetically raped and Conner was “born” without his consent. I think a lot of us in the fandom who either read or were familiar with the “Son of the Bat” series were expecting Clark to quickly get over the circumstances surrounding his progeny and accept him, the way Bruce Wayne did for Damian Wayne (God rest his comic book soul).
(4:25-6:27)
All of the members of the YJ team had primary mentors (Miss Martian/Martian Manhunter, Robin/Batman, Aqualad/Aquaman, etc.) except for Conner because Clark didn’t care to acknowledge that he and Conner shared the same DNA until the last episode of season one. It wasn’t Conner’s fault that he was created, nor was it Clark’s fault, but Conner came to exist anyway. Someone needed to be the adult in their situation, and people were expecting that adult to be Clark Kent, not his teenaged clone.
But like I said before, Conner’s constant raging . . .
was understandable.
Not to mention that Conner would always live in his father shadow regardless of whether or not he was cool with his Pops. This was especially difficult for Conner to grapple with because he lacked several of his father’s famous powers, and as the series progressed it was revealed that Conner’s diminished capacity was caused by the second contributor to his genetic matrix. And just when you thought Conner’s family tree couldn’t get any more complicated, it did (Season 1: Episode 22 "Agendas").
He’s a complicated man, and no one understands him but his Martian woman.
Conner settled into his new home (Mt. Justice), new school, and became familiar with his new teammates, particularly M’gann M’orzz(Miss Martian). In many ways, they were an ideal pair. Both understood what it was like to be alienated (see reason #4), and Conner appreciated how M’gann saw past his anti-social, loner tendencies and angst. In season two we learned that Connor was a veritable Dorian Gray that would only age internally, not on the outside. M’gann’s Martian physiology caused her to age slower than humans. So, while chronologically she was 48, biologically, she was 16/17. Because Conner was mentally controlled in captivity, once freed, he developed a phobia of telepathy and was weary of M’gann’s psychic powers, but as time progressed, the intimacy between them had become so great that her touch in his mind was practically erotic. Theirs was the pairing that launched a thousand (Super-Martian) ships and kept the shippers in denial even after their (relation)ship hit the skids in season 2.
Superboy’s love for M’gann cannot be overemphasized. Saying that M’gann had problems is an understatement (See Reason #4), but Conner stuck by her through most of them. He stuck by her after he found out she was lying about her true Martian form. Conner even overlooked the fact that M’gann’s attraction to him wasn’t entirely innocent. In the YJ version of “Single White Female,” M’gann jacked her human identity from a 70’s tv sitcom character, and “coincidentally” Conner bore a striking resemblance to the male love interest cast on the show.
Let my people go
A loose end of the series that wasn’t tied before cancellation was the “genomorph” storyline. When Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash broke into the secret, underground lair of Cadmus labs, they not only stumbled across Superboy, they also discovered an array of genetically engineered creatures called genomorphs. The genomorphs were a diverse lot, differing in size and ability. Some were bred as beasts of burden, while others were clones of humans or a Kryptonian hybrid in the case of Superboy, etc.. Tired of being slaves to their creators (“The Light” See reason 5 for details), one of the genomorphs, (“Double X”) deliberately set a fire that brought Superboy to the attention of the Justice League, with the hope that Superboy would escape and become a champion for genomorph-kind.
From Season 1,Episode 2: Fireworks
Quote:
Double X: Perhaps for the sake of all genomorphs, our brother Superboy should make up his own mind
Superboy: It was you.
Double X: Yes, brother. I set the fire and lured your friends to Cadmus, woke them when they were in danger.
Superboy: And guided me . . . why?
Double X: Because you are our hope, the genomorph hero. You will blaze a trail for all our brothers, showing us the way to freedom.
Unlike Double X and most of the genomorphs, Superboy could pass as human, had white, male cis-gendered privilege, and was the “son of God” (Superman), as it were, making him the perfect ambassador for his “race.” The genomorphs were revisited in episode 22 of season one (“Agendas”), when they started disappearing and built their own underground city where they could lead their lives freely. “Agendas” was an important episode for Conner’s character development because it made him confront his identity as a genomorph, his moral/philosophical code, and his identity as the son of his two parents. The Conner-genomorph plotline easily drew parallels to the Biblical book of Exodus, with Conner as a would be Moses being groomed to lead his Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. The writers even used Dr. King allusions when Double X talked to Superboy about Genomorph City.
Quote:
Double X: Welcome brother to Genomorph City.
Superboy: So, you’re responsible for the missing genomorphs.
Double X: I am. One by one, I have liberated them, brought them here to a new life, where all our brothers can be free. Of course, I have a dream that one day the world you live in will accept us. . .
The change
Somewhere along the line of the five year time span between season one and season two, Conner Kent calmed down and Clark Kent started acting like the Superman we all know and love. Clark accepted Conner as his “little brother,” and Pa Kent welcomed him to the family as “one of his boys.” Some of those good, Smallville values started rubbing off on Conner because he gave up M’gann’s good cooking and kinky, Martian mind melding just for the sake of taking a stand and doing the right thing. We got some more insight into how Conner grew as a soilder in episode 4 of season two (“Salvage ”) when, instead of running interference for someone else, Conner lead his own special op with personal intel that he himself had gathered and scolded one of the youngings (Blue Beetle) for not doing his research before entering the field.
Out of all the original characters, Conner’s saga, IMO, was the most complete. His storyline actually ended happily, which, if you watch this show and see how it ends, is no small feat. Conner was even rewarded for sticking to his guns where M’gann was concerned. I could go on about how YJ was head and shoulders above anything animated on TV, but I’ve already said too much. So, there you have it, reasons one through seven.
Go see "Man of Steel", so they’ll make a Justice League movie or (gasp) a Wonder Woman movie (dare to dream). Check for "Young Justice: Legacy" (video game) due out this fall. All the writers from the show are working on it. So, from a writing perspective, I'm expecting no less than Paul Dini/ "Batman: Arkham Asylum" type on-pointness). Oh, and buy YJ on DVD. So a decade from now, Floptoon Network will reboot it off the strength of the game and episode compilation sales .
I disagree, and I'm saying this as someone with all five seasons and the animated movie on dvd. Teen Titans was cute, but I like my DC shows to skew towards an older demo, which is what YJ does. YJ rivals Justice League Unlimited in terms of character development and plot line complexity. The issues YJ grapples with are really poignant. For example, take M'gann's story arc which has been really fascinating. Her self loathing problems (wanting to be green when she's really white, and being able to pass as green) parallel modern day race privilege, and now the show is delving into ethics and moral relativism with M'gann and how she uses her powers. The villains of the show aren't just out to conquer for the sake of conquest, they do so under the banner of social darwanism. Teen Titans never did any of this.
I disagree, and I'm saying this as someone with all five seasons and the animated movie on dvd. Teen Titans was cute, but I like my DC shows to skew towards an older demo, which is what YJ does. YJ rivals Justice League Unlimited in terms of character development and plot line complexity. The issues YJ grapples with are really poignant. For example, take M'gann's story arc which has been really fascinating. Her self loathing problems (wanting to be green when she's really white, and being able to pass as green) parallel modern day race privilege, and now the show is delving into ethics and moral relativism with M'gann and how she uses her powers. The villains of the show aren't just out to conquer for the sake of conquest, they do so under the banner of social darwanism. Teen Titans never did any of this.
Yessss!!!
Young Justice is more of a comic book, that's what I love about it, more like the Manga to Anime translation then past Comic book to Cartoon shows.
Young Justice is more of a comic book, that's what I love about it, more like the Manga to Anime translation then past Comic book to Cartoon shows.
I'm so excited!!
ITA. The show has been quite racy for a Saturday morning kids show, but the writers are subtle about it. It's obvious that Artemis and Wally are living together despite being unwed. I aint never seen that on a cartoon before. In the "Salvage" episode, they even hinted at the "Red Arrow recovering heroine addict" storyline from the comic book cannon.