Young Justice #47

Fighting Maad Part One: M.I.A.

Peter David – Writer
Todd Nauck – Penciller
Lary Stucker – Inker
Ken Lopez – Letterer
Jason Wright – Colors
Digital Chameleon – Separations
Tom Palmer, Jr. – Assistant Editor
Eddie Berganza – Editor

Our cover by Nauck and Stucker is actually a rather odd one. And since Impulse doesn't appear in this story, the cover is all we're going to talk about today. First, the composition. The background is extremely vague — nonsensical even — showing a generic computer-generated house tilted at a bizarre angel. And sitting on top of this background, with no regard or relation to what's behind them, are the four biggest stars of Young Justice, frozen in rather bland poses. Don't get me wrong, Nauck has drawn them all wonderfully. They just look like something you'd see on a box of macaroni and cheese or fruit snacks. However, I do believe there was a method to this madness, but to explain that, I need to provide some background.

Since Impulse left Young Justice, there were two issues that I strongly considered reviewing, but decided not to, as Impulse technically wasn't in them. One of them focused on Secret, showing us that she really is Greta Hayes, younger sister of Billy Hayes, who killed her in his process of becoming Harm. During a flashback, Greta's dolls transformed into Young Justice dolls. In the end, I figured an Impulse doll isn't a compelling enough reason for a full review.

The other issue had an even weaker reason to be reviewed. It announced the arrival of the Ray to the team, showing him shredding the costumes of Impulse and Robin. I only mention this because of the significance of Ray joining Young Justice. At 19 years old (and incredibly powerful), he immediately began arguing that he should be the leader of the team. After World Without Young Justice, Robin rejoined the team. He explained that the main source of conflict before was his secret identity, but since Bedlam kind of exposed that, he's ready to come back with no hard feelings. However, Robin assumed he'd naturally resume his leadership role, not realizing his absence created a power struggle between Wonder Girl, Superboy and the Ray.

In real life, Peter David set this all up with an actual vote for readers to choose the leader. In the comics, Robin, Wonder Girl, Superboy and the Ray overwhelmed the few remaining members of Young Justice by begging for their votes. This included Cissie and Traya, but, sadly, not Impulse, who did not follow Robin's lead of rejoining the team after the fight with Bedlam. (You'd think somebody would have called Bart.) Since it took a while for the votes in real life to be counted, the first couple of issues after this "election" had the occasional panel where somebody would mention the "fearless leader," but we wouldn't see exactly who they were talking to. It's only natural that Nauck wouldn't have been able to change the panels in time to show who won the election. But I think he did have that ability with this cover.

According to Eddie Berganza, Wonder Girl won with 35% of the vote, just edging Robin's 32%. Superboy picked up 15%, the Ray earned a measly 8%, with the remaining 10% going to Impulse, even though he wasn't even on the team. Berganza attributed Impulse's and Superboy's votes to fan sympathy, since their individual titles were both facing cancellation. I think Berganza (and DC as a whole) overlooked Impulse's fanbase.

Anyway, I believe that David and Nauck knew that issue #47 would come out after the vote results came in, so he created these generic, interchangeable poses for the top candidates. Had Robin won, it would have been an easy Photoshop trick to put him in the middle, slightly larger than his teammates, and next to the words, "Follow the Leader!" Keep in mind, this is just my pure speculation — I don't have any inside information — but this does make the most sense to me. But what I find odd is Impulse's inclusion here instead of the Ray. Was that because Impulse technically earned more votes than Ray? That may be the case, but it feels a bit misleading, because Impulse is still a couple of issues away from actually coming back to Young Justice.

And thus ends perhaps my longest review of a cover. The story is interesting, as it finally brings back the bad guy we saw at the Australia Games way back when. The Baron, who had killed Anita's mom, is now wrapping up the job by going after Anita's dad, Agent Donald Fite. It is compelling stuff, but, alas, Impulse is not involved, so we'll leave it at that.

There aren't any letters to the editor for this issue, so we'll head straight to the ads:

Corn gone wrong. Corn Nuts. Surprisingly hardcore corn snacks in eight mean flavors.

Stretch your tongue. Fruitopia.

Fight fire with fire. Reign of Fire.

Enter the Tang and DC "Get Drawn into a Comic Book" sweepstakes.

A coupon for a free Twix Peanut Butter.

There's new blood in Blüdhaven! Nightwing.

Call ATT Collect to win a trip to the X Games.

The new, more powerful Gundams. Careful where you build them.

Toonami DC sweepstakes, with prizes including a Frank Miller-autographed DK2 collection.

Another contest, this one from MAD magazine, offering CDs, shirts, and toilet paper.

Speed is not your only weapon. Looney Tunes Space Race for PlayStation 2.

All my friends crush you! Neurotica.

New Power Stripe. Powered up protection.

got milk? with Zhang Ziyi.

Next time, Bart will try to save Carol in the ... sigh ... penultimate issue of Impulse!