Young Justice: Targets #1 – Greg Weisman, Writer; Christopher Jones, Artist; Jason Wright, Colorist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: Ever since Young Justice jumped over to streaming, the show has been somewhat controversial. Most of the established team became supporting characters and the focus shifted heavily to more obscure characters like Halo and Forage. The continued time jumps meant we lost touch with characters, and the allowances for more adult content led to some extreme and fairly grim material. So this digital-first series, taking place between the fourth season and a hopeful fifth season, has a lot on its shoulders. It picks up after the events of the finale, as Beast Boy is recovering from his recent bout with depression that led him to push away just about everyone around him—including his long-time girlfriend Perdita.
Now Perdita is coming to the United States on a diplomatic mission, and Beast Boy is one of her escorts as she tours STAR Labs. Kudos to Weisman for another deep cut as he brings back the incredibly obscure Superboy supporting character Serling Roquette. It’s also good to see the return of Bowhunter Security, featuring three different Harpers and a reformed Clayface. Overall, this first issue’s main story is pretty solid, featuring a lot of action courtesy of an escaped Count Vertigo, targeting his rival for leadership. The presence of Green Arrow and Black Canary in an unexpected role is a surprise as well, and it sets up some interesting stuff for future issues. However, I was a little surprised we got so little of the central characters.
The short backup by the same creative team focuses on Red Arrow, and reveals the hidden backstory from before the start of the show—as he was tasked with protecting Perdita’s father from an assassin. The assassin involved is a surprise and adds another despicable act to the character’s backstory. The way Roy was taken advantage of is a shocking twist as well. Overall, this issue has many of the same strengths and weaknesses as the main series. It’s definitely not the series we left before the second time jump.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
