Young Justice

Howdy. I wanted to write about a cartoon that has been constantly enjoyable and yes I am a forty something watching this. What of it? Not since Justice League has a cartoon been well thought out, written, voice cast and brilliant art. With primary characters hailing from Teen Titans, without the cutesy story-lines and pizza parties, a more serious approach is done still giving a blend of humor and drama. This is Young Justice.

I wonder why I get so many movies.  Oh right, I'm Batman.

With this young team of partners/sidekicks calling the shots on what to do and how to dispense justice, the Justice League feels their young partners are now ready to begin the next level and become closer to the League. Unfortunately, the Leaguers still hold secrets over them and this irks Speedy a.k.a. Red Arrow (Crispin Freeman of Naturo:Shippuden, For Honor, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, Doomfist Origin Story, Justice League Action) and he splits on Green Arrow.

The rest of the team consisting of Robin/Dick Grayson(Jesse McCartney of Pizza, Jesse McCartney: Get Your Shine On, Kingdom Hearts II, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Horton Hears a Who!, Tinker Bell and The Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft), Kid Flash/Wally West(Jason Spisak of Everything Must Go, Piranha 3D, Time Lapse,Young Justice and LEGO DC: Batman: Family Matters) and Caldur/Aqualad (Khary Payton of Dracula II: The Ascension, Batman: Arkham Underworld, Mafia III, Young Justice, The Lion Guard, DC Super Hero Girls: Legends of Atlantis and The Walking Dead) go and investigate a weird happening near their school. The project black ops funded cloning process called CADUMUS is less than legal, moral or ethical.

There's something squishy in my boot!

One of their projects is to create a Superman they can completely control for government black ops. Yeah a demigod with a kill switch. Comforting and clearly what tax dollars should be allocated for. Upon finding this Superboy (Nolan North of Uncharted, Uncharted 2, Deadpool, Hulk Vs, Spider-Man, Lego DC Super-Villains, The Lion Guard, Voltron: Legendary Defender and Marvel's Avengers), the team hold their own against villains and stand up for what is right with their mentors. Joining their motley crew is Meg'ann Marz or Miss Martian (Danica McKellar of The Wonder Years, Good Neighbor, The Year That Trembled, Justice League, Sex and the Teenage Mind, Static Shock, X-Men Legends, Inspector Mom and Young Justice) to round out the team.

As their adventures need a bit more stealth and motivation, Batman (Bruce Greenwood of Knots Landing, Passenger 57, Treacherous Beauties, Nowhere Man, Class of the Titans, Star Trek, Batman: Under the Red Hood, Star Trek Into the Darkness and Young Justice) trains the kids in martial arts, espionage, counter-terrorism and subterfuge. So this is a Titans team under Batman tutelage. Their levels just went up. Later new members join the ranks and get to learn how dangerous the really real world is and good and evil isn't so cut and dry. It's a high stakes game of patience, combat and execution of plans.

Not even warmed up, Robin.

Understand, there is more than a few Justice League based story-lines but the primary characters are this Young Justice team. Following them as they grow into their roles and still behave as teens and friends.

For the avid DC Fans, we get plenty of villain appearances, characters we thought the WB and DC forgot about, stakes, actions and consequences. Voice cast alone is worth this.

This is DC Comics at its best. Taking a hiatus due to ratings around Season 2, the gang has come back for Season 3 and is still going strong. Honestly I have not enjoyed DC like this since Justice League. Completely worthy of the hardened DC fans, casual viewers and all ages. You will get a lot from this 25 minute cartoon. Oh and kids, you may have to field questions like the following: "Which one is that one?" "Do all these kids have powers?" "How come they listen to that guy?" and so on.

So why are you down capes and tights?