Young Justice #14 – Brian Michael Bendis, David Walker, Writers; John Timms, Michael Avon Oeming, Artists; Gabe Eltaeb, Colorist
Ratings:
Ray – 9/10
Ray: After several issues where this comic struggled to find the right pacing, the addition of David Walker as co-writer has kicked it into high gear with Young Justice #14, the second wildly entertaining issue in a row.
Superboy has been thrown into Skartaris, where he now fights alongside Warlord against a mad sorcerer with a Kryptonite sword. That’s all part of the plan of the evil Dr. Glory to eliminate the one witness to what she’s planning – and to stop her, Young Justice has called in some reinforcements. And by that, I mean that Bart Allen runs around recruiting other teen heroes mid-mission. This includes an excited Sideways, a mid-punching Spoiler, a confused Aqualad, and a long-retired Cissie King-Jones, who is pulled away mid-shift from her waitress job to put on her costume again.
Impulse is hilarious as always, and seeing this diverse group of young heroes join the squad is a lot of fun. I also like that the writers acknowledge that Cissie is NOT likely to casually jump back in the costume.
The back half of Young Justice #14 is jam-packed and full of action and spectacular splash pages. While Michael Avon Oeming handles the Skartaris segments (and the switch is a little jarring when you see the same character in both styles) while John Timms covers a massive battle as Dr. Glory air-drops an army of giant monsters on the newly expanded teen superhero team.
Bendis throwing out a lot of dialogue and snark mid-battle is nothing new, but it works better here with a crew of young heroes. Naomi’s attempt to befriend giant monsters was a particularly nice touch. The best scene of the issue, though, goes to a cleverly rotating page of Impulse spying on Dr. Glory that works in a spiral. By the end of the issue, one crisis has been resolved (with a hilarious last line from Travis Morgan), but a new one emerges as Bendis and Walker get ready to answer the series’ biggest mystery. After many years of the DCU’s teen heroes floundering, it is SO good to have an a-list book serving them well again.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
