Young Justice #12

Lost in the Multiverse Finale

Brian Michael Bendis Script

John Timms Art

Gabe Eltaeb Colors

Wes Abbott Letters

Timms and Eltaeb Cover

Nick Bradshaw and Alex Sinclair Variant Cover

Brittany Holzherr Associate Editor

Mike Cotton Editor

Brian Cunningham Group Editor

Superboy created by Jerry Siegel.

By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.

Our cover shows Young Justice involved in an actual fight scene — one that has even damaged our heroes to the point of having a few small scrapes in their costumes (which is by far the most damage they've sustained in the past year). Joining our heroes are Naomi and the Wonder Twins, who do show up in this issue, but Miguel from Dial H for Heroes, who also shows up, is absent from the cover. Superboy also is prominently featured in the foreground, but he spends this whole issue trapped on Skartaris with Warlord. The text on the cover also says our heroes are assaulting S.T.A.R. Labs, which also does not happen in this issue. So, all in all, I'm a bit disappointed by this cover.

Our variant, sadly isn't much better. Everybody is awkwardly laying on top of each other. And by everybody, I mean 10 beautiful teenagers wearing skin-tight clothing. And was Naomi always barefoot?! Apparently so, but I never noticed. So yeah, this cover just feels weird.

Our story begins with Wonder Girl and Teen Lantern visiting the home of the Justice League, the Hall of Justice. (Tim thought it would be a good idea to send them there after Superboy took off.) Unfortunately, Keli's hacked piece of alien technology sets off the security alarm, and the two girls are trapped in an energy bubble. In another bit of unfortunate news, the Justice League is away, leaving only the Wonder Twins to deal with our heroes. The Wonder Twins have never heard of Young Justice, so they're treated to the usual recap page, this time with art lazily lifted from the cover of Young Justice #10.

Let's cut ahead to Impulse's return to the team. He apparently went on a doughnut run ... which took several hours. Tim seems doubtful that it would take Bart this long, but he claims there was a line at the shop. Tim tells Bart that Conner is missing, so he sent Cassie and Keli to the Hall of Justice because he thought Bart had gone back to Central City. Bart says he thought the mission was over, but when Tim insists he go check on the girls, Bart immediately heads out with a serious look on his face, abandoning his half-eaten doughnut.

Bart zooms into the Hall of Justice, shouting that everything the girls have said is true. Jayna is shocked to see a "tinier Flash," and Bart immediately frees Teen Lantern and Wonder Girl by telling the supercomputer "Hall of Justice I.D. Code FlashCode-87Fish-56ThrottleSpeed." The computer welcomes Bart as Barry Allen, but oddly brings us a picture of Bart. Cassie gives Bart a hug and Keli asks about the "Barry," but Bart just says, "Sshh! It worked, didn't it?"

Dr. Glory of S.T.A.R. Labs then calls, ranting and raving (and lying) about Naomi. Mostly, she's mad she can't complain to the Justice League directly. After she hangs up, the Wonder Twins reaffirm to our heroes that the Justice League really is away on an important mission. Bart asks if this includes Justice League Dark — a question that is ignored. However, the Wonder Twins do want to activate something Superman promised they could use only for emergencies. When the supercomputer denies them access, Bart overrides it with his same code. He then heroically tells the Wonder Twins, "Welcome to Young Justice."

Before too long, our heroes come flying back to Port Oswego, Oregon, to regroup with the team. And they are literally flying — in Wonder Woman's famed invisible jet (which is really that invisible, due to all the dust in the air). Tim blames himself for this extravagant entrance, knowing it was a mistake to send Impulse alone. Bart introduces everybody to the Wonder Twins, when suddenly Miguel and Summer from Dial H for Hero appear out of nowhere.

Miguel recognizes some of the members of Young Justice, and Tim recognizes the H-Dial, saying he's even spun it himself before (???). Summer says the H-Dial suddenly overcharged and brought them here, and the Wonder Twins' technology from the Hall of Justice shows that someone has overcharged the dimensional rift that brought Young Justice home. Bart suggests that the only possible suspect (Dr. Glory of S.T.A.R. Labs) is behind this. He also says he "follows" the Dial H for Heroes (???). Anyway, everybody instantly decides that they need to take down Dr. Glory at once (and possibly rescue Superboy). Miguel spins the H-Dial and turns into a rip-off of Spider-Man (because Bendis wrote Spider-Man for a long time).

The Wonder Comics line got off to a strong start. Dial H for Hero was charming and fantastically illustrated. Wonder Twins was deep and insightful, yet entertaining. I haven't read Naomi yet, but I've heard good things. And Young Justice, of course, was fun and amazing, but really started to wear on my nerves by this point. All these books came courtesy of Brian Michael Bendis (although he didn't write them all, thankfully). I still don't understand the need for a separate "Wonder Comics" brand, but I am glad we got this comics. But I'm not glad that Bendis shoe-horned everyone into Young Justice for a mega crossover. 

Young Justice's biggest weakness was having too many characters. Adding more characters to the mix only exacerbates the problem and delays the long-waited answers to all our pressing questions. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to try to enjoy what I can. In the meantime, here are the house ads:

This 13-year-old just inherited his grandmother's Green Lantern ring. No pressure. Green Lantern: Legacy.

A lost kingdom. A dark secret. A brave princess. Amethyst. Followed by a six-page preview of its first issue. (If she can get her own series, why can't Impulse?)

A DC Nation interview with Shannon and Dean Hale, writers of Diana: Princess of the Amazons.

Next time, we'll take a quick look at Flash Forward #5.