Review: YOUNG JUSTICE #8
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Script: Brian Michael Bendis
Art: John Timms
Colors: Gabe Eltaeb
Letters: Wes Abbott
Reviewed By: Ari Bard
Summary
In Young Justice #8, our favorite heroes have to fight for their lives against their evil doppelgangers on Earth-3. See these young heroes go head to head with their villainous counterparts as they try to get back home. Additionally, Robin may have come to a revelation.
Positives
Last time we saw our heroes, they had just landed on Earth-3, a very unfriendly Earth, after bouncing through multiple Earths in the multiverse on their quest to get home. You may know this Earth from the Justice League’s battles with the Crime Syndicate, but they have their own Young Justice counterparts as well! It’s fun seeing these battles take place, and Timms definitely shows that action scenes are his strength. It’s an exciting and kinetic issue that reaches a level of motion and dynamicism close to the levels that Gleason did on issue one, especially with the panels containing Kid Flash and Speed Zone. As usual, however, no exciting action sequence in Young Justice would be complete without the witty banter to accompany it.
Eltaeb’s color work is also excellent here. This seems to be his first regular gig since rebirth, but he certainly deserves more work. The exciting purples and indigos are gorgeous to look at while also being hidden in shadows to provide the looming sense of darkness that’s always present on Earth-3. The streaks of speed force when Kid Flash is battling Speed Zone are impressive as well. Wes Abbott also has plenty of room to shine with some excellent SFX work.
Negatives
Okay, most of the names are just awful. Amaxon Thunder? Yuck. Also Drake is a very poor choice for Tim’s new name. Yes a drake is an aggressive bird, but it’s definitely not aggressive in a heroic way, but rather a more problematic way. Additionally, Earth-3 Spoiler, or Batwoman in this case, is narrating the majority of this issue without any good reason as to why. Since we don’t know this character or why she’s good in a world where most of there heroes as we know them are evil, her emotional narration just doesn’t hit home. She’s also not even in the issue all that much, so you probably don’t put the color scheme of the captions together with the character until the very end of the issue. In general, there are plenty of choices in this issue where if you ask yourself, “Why was it done this way?”, you simply won’t be able to find a logical answer. Bendis has certainly found a comfortable groove in this adventure around the multiverse, but one might question if that’s how things should be. Just because we’re talking about kids here doesn’t mean that this team and Young Justice as a whole shouldn’t matter. Every comic should have a large purpose or message that carries through the title, and unfortunately, this series seems to have lost it’s way.
Verdict
Young Justice #8 is a lukewarm issue that proves to be the artists’ best issue while being one of Bendis’s worst. The action and playful banter are fun, but some of the Earth-3 names, and decisions do not serve the story well.
