Why do they make these animated series if they are only gonna cancel them into 2 seasons? Same Thing happened with the Avengers show. Im pressed
There's sound logic behind cancelling Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes. This new Avenger show that they're making is going to be more in sync with the Avengers live action movies. I've not even really into Marvel animation or Marvel in general, for that matter, but I appreciate a good action cartoon and Avengers EMH was just that. I don't expect the new version "Avengers Assemble" or some such to be as good from a writing perspective.
Now, given this Disney logic or making a cartoon more like the live action movie franchise, there's the remote possibility that Time Warner might roll out a Justice League cartoon somewhere in the near future to coincide with the movie that's slated to come out in 2015, but again, if that were really the rationale at CN/Time Warner, then a new Superman cartoon would have been or will be in the works to coincide with Man of Steel.
Don't worry we have the new batman show to look forward to. I'm sure it's gonna be so original and different with Joker & Poison Ivy & Clayface etc etc
No, they're supposedly using third tier villains like Professor Pig and ish, and Katanna from "The Outsiders" is supposed to be Batman's sidekick, not Robin or Batgirl. I'm all for giving shows a chance, but this one screams "MESSSSSSS!" Batman Brave and The Bold worked because it was a campy love letter to silver age comics that didn't take itself too seriously. Even with craptastic villains and cheap CGI graphics, this new "Beware the Batman" is supposed to be as serious as a heart attack!
No, they're supposedly using third tier villains like Professor Pig and ish, and Katanna from "The Outsiders" is supposed to be Batman's sidekick, not Robin or Batgirl. I'm all for giving shows a chance, but this one screams "MESSSSSSS!" Batman Brave and The Bold worked because it was a campy love letter to silver age comics that didn't take itself too seriously. Even with craptastic villains and cheap CGI graphics, this new "Beware the Batman" is supposed to be as serious as a heart attack!
Yeah, that looks inspiring
My show. This was the only mature animated action show atm. I loved it.
Avatar is still too geared toward 12 year olds.
I hated the Brave and the Bold. it was so grossly cheesy.
So, it all ends this Saturday (3/16/13) when the last of YJ’s 46 episodes airs on Floptoon network . . .
And in honor of this occasion, I thought I’d spend the next week waxing poetic about why I was obsessed with this "kid’s" cartoon. Every day this week, I’ll be counting down to the series finale and updating this thread with a new reason why YJ was a tour de force.
No matter how this show ends come Saturday, this episode (YJ: Summit) more than suffices as a payoff for Young Justice Invasion’s complex story arc. Nearly every plotline in this serial drama was resolved in this one half hour episode. With the YJ team making real gains in their war against their foes (The Light and The Reach), undercover double agent, Kaldur’ahm, orchestrates a villain summit where the Light and Reach discuss their recent setbacks and contingency plans. All hell breaks loose when secret identities and true allegiances are revealed, setting off an emotional row between Kaldur and his super-villain father, Black Manta (more on them later this week), and a battle royal between the YJ team and their enemies ensues. The once mighty Light, whose “defeats” always seem to be trivial losses in a greater xanatos gambit, are truly humbled by what the YJ team has managed to pull off, and they have no choice but to retreat and admit that they underestimated “the children.”
If you’ve never seen a YJ episode. This is the one to watch! It had everything from betrayal and plot twists to awkward moments between exes (Miss. Martian and Lagoon Boy), sexual innuendo (Wally and Artemis), and a major action sequence featuring the entire YJ team in battle.
Oh, and in case you were wondering Teen Titans fans, yeah, the dude with the pony tail and the eye patch was supposed to be “Slade Wilson,” but this aint no Teen Titans, kiddos. YJ frequently references DC comic book cannon. So on this show, he’s not “Slade,” he’s the BAMF terminator, mercenary G himself. “It’s Deathstroke . . . Bitch!” And when he isn’t chopping you down with one of his blades, he grabs one of his nines and puts two in your chest (or your dome, depending on which way the wind blows).
YJ keeps it gutter! They have real guns that fire real bullets . People bleed and literally get stabbed in the back!
Where they do that at? Only on YJ, the trillest kids cartoon on Saturday morning !
Hmm . . . on second thought, maybe it’s a good thing that this isn’t going to be on anymore for the kids . In retrospect, it is kind of amazing how some of this got past the censors (LOL).
So, it all ends this Saturday (3/16/13) when the last of YJ’s 46 episodes airs on Floptoon network . . .
And in honor of this occasion, I thought I’d spend the next week waxing poetic about why I was obsessed with this "kids" cartoon. Every day this week, I’ll be counting down to the series finale and updating this thread with a new reason why YJ was a tour de force.
Reason #6
Treatment of People of Color . . .
I’m black, so this reason is near and dear to me. For starters, I was beyond geeked when I heard that some of Dwayne McDuffie’s (may he rest in peace) Milestone Comics characters (Icon, Rocket, Virgil Hawkins) were going to appear on the show. For those who don’t know, McDuffie’s written for and created some of DC’s/ WB’s most popular animated shows like Justice League/JL Unlimited, Static Shock, and Ben 10.
Now, a lot of people had beef with Rocket’s speech pattern and vernacular, given that, at the time, she was the only black female regular on the show, (I mean, why the only black chick on the show gotta be ghetto?). Many thought she sounded too “inner city,” even though in the "Icon" comic book, Rocket was a teen mom from . . . the inner city.
But it was all good because the next season, another black female regular was added, Karen Beecher, code name Bumblebee, and she was more middle classy and bookish.
On YJ, Karen’s a top student at her college and a research assistant to Ray Palmer (The Atom). Just as there was articulate, verbose Kaldur’ahm (Obama junior) as Aqualad, there was also Malcolm Duncan, Karen’s boyfriend, who would later join the team and become the hero, “Guardian.” Sure, Mal wasn’t quite as clever and erudite as Karen and Kaldur were, but he was heroic, none the less, and one of the sub plots this season revolved around Mal and Karen’s relationship troubles.
Hero archer Artemis and her older, assassin sister Jade (Cheshire) were both half white HAPA’s (Half-Asian/Pacific Islander), and when Artemis and Wally go to Stanford for college, Wally takes a Vietnamese lit class (probably as a nod to his girlfriend’s Asian heritage).
Much of season 2 plotline revolved around Hispanic, Jaime Reyes (Blue Beetle)
One of his friends, Tye Longshadow (Native American), was one of the kidnapped teenagers that (season 2 villains) “The Reach” experimented on. Tye and three other teens (Virgil Hawkins, Eduardo Dorado Jr., and Asami Koizumi) formed their own superhero team, called “The Runaways.”
There were so many people of color on this show, and they were all so varied. Some smart, some not so smart, some funny, some not, some heroic, some villainous, but they were allowed to be fully actualized people just like the white characters.
So, it all ends this Saturday (3/16/13) when the last of YJ’s 46 episodes airs on Floptoon network . . .
And in honor of this occasion, I thought I’d spend the next week waxing poetic about why I was obsessed with this "kids" cartoon. Every day this week, I’ll be counting down to the series finale and updating this thread with a new reason why YJ was the bees knees.
Reason #5
Das Villains . . .
Cuz these shows would be pretty boring without them, and of course, since this is a Greg Weisman (Disney’s Gargoyles, Spectacular Spiderman) show, the villains have to be extra slick wit it.
For the first season, the villains were a shadowy cartel called “The Light.” Season two, the Light partnered with planet conquering, alien villains called “The Reach.” Villains can usually be split into two camps,
Camp A: (The Reach) villains who do evil out of sheer greed or senseless cruelty
and
Camp B: (The Light) ideologue villains, the ones who feel that the world/universe is chaotic or lacking in some way and will only be fixed when everyone is subjugated under the villains’ yoke.
Lead by Vandal Savage, The Light does evil in the name of social Darwinism and believes that the Justice League/YJ team and their sympathizers coddle the weak with their ethics and heroism, keeping mankind from evolving and fulfilling its full potential. With The Light in power, society would be engineered in such a way where only the “fittest” would survive.
The Light was super diverse: Ra’s Al-Ghul, Klarion the witch Boy,Vandal Savage, Black Manta. They use force, tech, bribes, PR tactics, etc. to influence global and intergalactic politics to achieve their means.
There’s even a woman among their ranks too, and she’s no hench wench.
Aint no one but the Queen Bee
. . . the ruthless, murdering dictator of the Middle Eastern Republic of Bialya (Ask Beast Boy what happened to his moms)
And of course, in DC, a villain party aint a party without the original magnificent bastard, himself. All hail tha god, Lex Luthor.
(Start at 1:45)
Tailored suit, always hopping out of limos chauffeured by his bad bitch body guard (Mercy Graves), Lex was swaggin’ for the whole series and always cool as a cucumber, never letting the lessors see him sweat. When one of those little basic @ss YJ hero hoes put his hands on the Lord’s power suit, Lex calmly told the young man to unhand him and that if the hero wanted to apprehend Lex that he needed to call his lawyers. Your wack, cartoon villain fave could never, ever, ever, ever . . . (Only a Don!)
So, it all ends this Saturday (3/16/13) when the last of YJ’s 46 episodes airs on Floptoon network . . .
And in honor of this occasion, I thought I’d spend the next week waxing poetic about why I was obsessed with this "kids" cartoon. Every day this week, I’ll be counting down to the series finale and updating this thread with a new reason why YJ was all that and a bag of crisps.
Reason #4
Those Crazy Kids, their Real World Problems, and Adult Situations . . .
As I alluded to in Reason #7 with the real gun toting Deathstroke; on YJ, they go crazy with them choppers (LOL)! That said, I can’t remember the last time, or if I’ve ever seen a kids’ cartoon quite this edgy and liberal. The problems and situations that YJ alluded to within the lives of the characters were quite sophisticated for the show’s alleged “target demo” (6-11 year old boys). For instance there was . . .
An unmarried couple openly shacking up . . .
Season 2 of YJ takes place five years in the future. Wally and Artemis have retired from the hero game and decamped for college in Palo Alto (presumably Stanford U.). One night, Wally returns to his apartment, after trying to reach out to a friend, and Artemis pops out of the bedroom, no less, in her nighty and embraces her man.
Suggestions of substance abuse . . .
This storyline came right out of the comic book cannon. Roy Harper (aka Speedy, aka Red Arrow, aka Arsenal) battled a heroin addiction in the comics. During season one of YJ, Red Arrow discovers and struggles with his true origins. During season 2, we see the former protégé of Green Arrow looking, (for lack of a better term) strung out, unshaven, out of shape, and hitting rock bottom as he steals money to finance his “problems.” Black Canary, Nightwing, Green Arrow, Wally, and Guardian stage an intervention for Red Arrow, and Canary alludes to how surprising Roy’s turn for the worse is because he always viewed his body as a temple (hint, hint).
(0:00 - 0:54 and 2:37 - 3:01)
Struggles with domestic violence . . .
When Jaime Reyes’ (Blue Beetle) best friend (and future “Runaway”) Tye Longshadow suddenly disappears, Jaime goes to Tye’s house to investigate. While there, Jaime learns that Shelly Longshadow (Tye’s mom) has a live-in boyfriend (Maurice) that is abusive to both Tye and his mother. Shelly displays all the signs and tendencies of a battered woman. She’s fidgety, always looks over her shoulder in fear, has a shaky voice, and constantly makes excuses for her abuser.
(start at 3:00)
Tye wasn’t the only one with family problems. Artemis tried to hide her family background from the YJ team.
Her father is the Sportsmaster, a renowned, hired gun (almost as bad as Deathstroke) and enforcer who, when he wasn’t incarcerated, “working,” or neglecting them, put his daughters through hell to hone their skills. Artemis’ sister Jade is/was (Cheshire) one of the deadliest assassins in the “League of Shadows,” and her mother also used to be a Shadow (Tigress) as well before something went awry and Tigress was paralyzed from the waist down. Artemis strived to be the first member of her family not to do hard prison time or be on someone’s most wanted list.
A complex racial allegory . . .
When we first meet M’gann M’orzz(Miss Martian), we learn that she is the shape shifting, red headed, emerald skinned, telekinetic, telepathic niece of the Martian Manhunter (J’onn J’onzz). She also bakes cookies for her teammates, is perky, polite, seemingly always smiling, and eager to please. We eventually learn that much of what we think of M’gann’s true persona is very much a facade, one that she adopted as a coping mechanism. For M’gann’s authentic skin isn’t green like her uncle’s at all. She’s actually a white Martian, and on Mars, green Martians are the majority, while white Martians are an oppressed minority. Being white on Mars was so unbearable that M’gann flees Mars and joins her uncle on Earth. Up until the last episode of the first season, it was also uncertain whether or not her uncle even knew that she was white. Being on Earth may have helped M’gann escape racism on Mars, but the psychological effects of that racism still lingered. When blending into the Earth populous, among those who do not know she’s an alien, M’gann fashions herself into the appearance of a red-headed, Caucasian, teen actress from an obscure 1970’s sitcom.
But even though she’s no longer on Mars and is quite literally millions of miles away from racism against white Martians, she wears green skin when among friends and when on the hero job as "Miss Martian." M’gann spends practically every episode of season one “passing” as green and living in fear of being exposed as white. When one of her enemies, Psimon, threatens to expose her true identity, M’gann lashes out and abuses her powerful telepathic abilities to intentionally put Psimon into a coma and psychically render her teammates unconscious so they won’t notice what she did. Even after the truth finally comes out about M’gann’s true, white Martian form, none of her YJ friends seem to care. Despite this, she continues to wear green skin in season 2, because as she explained in season one(Episode 21/ Image), “I do it for me. This is who I am, inside.” (Lawd Jesus, take the wheel!)
M’gann’s indentity trouble plotline is the most poignant, complex allegory on race that I’ve seen on TV since I don’t when. White M’gann passes for green and lives in fear of being exposed as white, much like blacks who could pass for white did in the US before the civil rights movement. Martian racism has traumatized M’gann to the point where she hates her true form and views being green as superior to being white. I’ve even heard arguments that M’gann’s storyline is a transgender allegory because she feels as if she was assigned the wrong body (white) at birth and has since “transitioned” into what she feels is the correct one (green). I personally do not agree with the “M’gann is trans” theory because her problems have nothing to do with gender and everything to do with skin color. Trans-women do not gain privilege by forfeiting their male gendered identities the way white M’gann gains race privilege on Mars by passing for green. It’s that very, systemic privilege that motivates M’gann to disavow her true identity and pass a member of her planet’s dominant racial group.
Provocative stuff like this is why Young Justice was truly on some next level ish, and this is just the tip of the ice-berg. I didn’t even get into Superboy. To think that this epicness is going to be replaced by a "Teen Titans" reboot . . . I just, I, I. . .
So, it all ends this Saturday (3/16/13) when the last of YJ’s 46 episodes airs on Floptoon network . . .
And in honor of this occasion, I thought I’d spend the next week waxing poetic about why I was obsessed with this "kids" cartoon. Every day this week, I’ll be counting down to the series finale and updating this thread with a new reason why YJ was the truth and all others are lies.
Reason #3
The Comic Book Tie-In . . .
Each YJ episode is only a half hour long, so it was nice to have the comic book to provide extended backstories and adventures that weren’t included on the tv show.
For instance, inquiring minds wanted to know what happened to Superboy during the interim between breaking out of his pod at Cadmus labs and moving into Mount Justice? I mean, he couldn’t exactly stay with Superman because the “Man of Steel” wasn’t trying to hear that . . . like, at all.
It was all good though, because Wally (Kid Flash) invited SB to his house for a sleepover.
And how exactly did Artemis get recruited for the team?
Seemed like the whole fandom knew that Black Manta was Kaldur’ahm's biological father. Too bad Kaldur didn’t know.
BTW, this is Kaldur’s “father” and mother. Don’t his moms look like Bey?
And did you know that Rocket and Nightwing (Dick Grayson) used to date?
Did you know that Nightwing and Zatanna used to date?
Did you know that Nightwing and Bette Kane were sleeping together?
Did you know that the only reason why he and Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) weren’t officially “together,” after they made out in the closet (spin the bottle) at his high school birthday party, was because she didn’t want to deal with his parade of chicks?
Anywho, dew come back tomorrow for Reason # . . . wait, what number are we on? Oh, Reason #2. Yeah, and I’m gonna try to keep it together for Reason #2 because it’s about my fave (see the avi), and just thinking about his absence from the DC Universe is making me . . . well . . .
OP Updated with Reason #2 . This one was hard to write because I love them so . . .
I don’t think I’ll be posting Reason #1 tomorrow. I’ll probably do that on Sunday afternoon or Monday morning after I’ve had a chance to digest Saturday’s series finale. Have a good weekend! Happy St. Patty's Day! Hope you enjoyed the posts.
I mean, damn. I know I have "YJ Fangirl in Mourning" as my custom title, but I didn't mean it quite so literally. I won't include any spoilers until I can link to the episode in full, but wow . . . that was some real @ss ish. I need to go outside and decompress. That episode kind of killed my Saturday buzz, and ironically, I wasn't even emotionally invested in "that character," but I am today. I'll be thinking about what my "Reason #1" will be for quite some time after watching that. I'm running a half-marathon tomorrow, so I'll have plenty of time to gather my thoughts during the run.
So, it all ends this Saturday (3/16/13) when the last of YJ’s 46 episodes airs on Floptoon network . . .
And in honor of this occasion, I thought I’d spend the next week waxing poetic about why I was obsessed with this "kids" cartoon. Every day this week, I’ll be counting down to the series finale and updating this thread with a new reason why YJ was ****ing flawless.
Reason #2
Black Manta and Manta Jr. . . .
Alright, can we just take a moment to appreciate their infinite beauty?
Ok, back to the post . . .
So, ya’ll know I’m here for Kaldur, but up until YJ, I didn’t know I was here for his daddy (Black Manta) too. Like, for real, I started buying back issues of Aquaman comics so I could try to catch up. The YJ writers dipped into the cannon archives to revisit Manta’s Black Nationalist undertones. On YJ, Manta has “African” masks and statues decorating his cabin on the “Manta Ray” submarine. So on Saturday’s episode, during the summit, when “The Reach” enforcer told “The Light” that “The Reach” were the new rulers (masters) of the Earth (a plantation), Black Manta rose up and let em’ know, “No agreement exists that makes a slave out of Black Manta!” At that point, I had to press pause on the DVR, stand up and raise a fist in the air, cuz that was truly on some black power ish, right thurr.
Of all the Batman comics, the only one that I read monthly is Batman and Robin, and that’s because of the father/son relationship (Damian and Bruce are so cute as the dynamic duo). When it comes to fan-fiction, I pretty much read superhero romance stories exclusively. Of course, I like action in my superhero comics, but I like personal relationships (cattiness, infighting, romance, sex) even more. I’m a girl, and like that mushy stuff.
And that’s what the Manta/Manta Jr. subplot was, heartwarming and mushy. Manta never hesitated to put himself in harm’s way for his son. I mean, you could feel the love that Manta had for his boy, the pride he had when undercover Kaldur was “killing,” “robbing,” “blowing ish up,” running those special ops, and leading teams for The Light.
You could feel Manta’s anguish when he thought Kaldur was permanently injured and the tenderness Manta showed while standing at his son’s bedside or keeping constant vigil over Kaldur from a live video feed patched into his cabin.
Even though they were villains (or playing a villain in Kaldur’s case), Manta/Jr. was one of those rare examples on TV of a positive black father/son relationship.
Last Saturday’s episode was dated June 19, 2016, which coincidently happens to be Father’s Day, and Kaldur blows his cover, leaving Manta to reckon with his son’s betrayal. The subsequent dialogue and battle that occurs between these two encapsulates the tension and nuance in their relationship.
(4:33- end)
Quote:
Manta: I cannot comprehend this betrayal, Kaldur. How could you?
Kaldur: I admit to being conflicted, Father. I have seen your noble side, but you left me no choice. As long as you waste your gifts on villainy, I will stand against you.
Manta: It seems I have been too permissive. Clearly, boy, you require - - discipline.
(1:01-1:59)
Quote:
Manta: Ignorant boy, this is not a world, a universe, in which a free man can afford to be soft! I will teach you to be ruthless Kaldur’ahm, even if I must beat that lesson into your skull!
(after Kaldur defeats his father)
Kaldur: I believe that was fairly ruthless, Father. I hope it made you proud.
Kaldur knows that he’s on a mission and has to stop his father, but at the same time, he’s at odds with his mission because he’s bonded with the same man that he has to defeat. A loving father to the very end, Manta views Kaldur’s treachery, not as a damning offense punishable by death, but as a lack of discipline on Kaldur’s part, one that can be remedied with a beat down. Kaldur eventually bests his father in battle, but based on the glances he gives his Pop, once the battle’s won, Kaldur clearly had regrets about what he had to do to his father for the sake of the mission.
I’m almost pissed at Kaldur’s mother and stepfather for raising him as well as they did and at Aquaman for pimping him for the “forces of good” and putting Kaldur on the hero hoe stroll, because Kaldur was truly at his best on the show raising hell beside Black Manta.
What’s really got me pressed about this show’s cancellation is the idea of a DC Universe without this version (Earth 16) of Kaldur’ahm or any version of him for that matter. He is just that fascinating. What I’d give to find out what went down between Black Manta and Sha’lain’a (Kaldur’s mother). What went on between Sha’lain’a and Calvin Durham to make him switch sides and go from being one of Black Manta’s lieutenants to a peaceful citizen of Atlantis who would later raise Kaldur’ahm as his own son? Kaldur doesn’t have his own book ala Superboy or Nightwing, and the YJ comic book tie-in was cancelled. Black Manta is and will continue to be a recurring villain in the Aquaman comics, but what of Kaldur? Will he join the Teen Titans or make cameos in Aquaman? Does it just end here?
I’ll admit that Kaldur’ahm in season one of YJ left much to be desired. While I loved featuring his pretty face in my atrl avis, I initially felt that his character on the show was poorly developed. He even seemed very Marty Stu-ish to me. By all accounts, Kaldur lead a charmed, sheltered life in Atlantis. He was raised in a happy, nuclear family, was very handsome, and capable enough to earn a place at Atalantis’ most prestigious conservatory. By happenstance, Kaldur helps Aquaman defeat Ocean Master in battle and gets an invitation to become Aquaman’s protégé, Aqualad. Being Aqualad gives Kaldur the opportunity to indulge in another elite activity, visiting the surface world. In addition to being able to pal around with royalty, he had a hot girlfriend (Tula) and a cool best friend (Garth). Kaldur’s demeanor is always reserved and controlled in season one, even when he finds out that his hot girlfriend and his cool best friend have been trysting behind his back in the two months since he relocated to the surface world. But rather than lash out at them, threaten to cut bitches, etc., he calmly wishes them well, and only alludes to his heartbreak in passing for the rest of the season.
The changes that took place in season two made Kaldur so much more compelling, and the fact that he maintained his focus and nobility throughout his undercover mission, when he could have easily betrayed his YJ teammates, made me adore him even more. What I hope is that he has some happy moments in tomorrow’s series finale, because if anyone deserves it, it’s he.
This was the only mature animated action show atm. I loved it. 
! OP updated to say good bye.
. . .
. People bleed and literally get stabbed in the back! 
!
. In retrospect, it is kind of amazing how some of this got past the censors (LOL).
. This one was hard to write because I love them so . . .
