Young Justice #5

Seven Crises Part 5

Brian Michael Bendis Script
John Timms, Kris Anka & Evan "Doc" Shaner Art
Gabe Eltaeb Colors
Wes Abbott Letters
Patrick Gleason & Alejandro Sanchez Cover
Kris Anka Variant Cover
Brittany Holzherr Associate Editor
Mike Cotton Editor
Brian Cunningham Group Editor
Superman created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster.
By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.
Superboy created by Jerry Siegel.
By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.

Our cover is sadly the last we'll see of Patrick Gleason on this series. He did such a great job of reimagining Young Justice — and especially Impulse — but he only lasted four issues and five covers. Why'd he leave? He apparently wanted to draw Spider-Man more than Young Justice. It breaks my heart, but I am happy to say John Timms is a competent replacement.

Anyway, this is another odd, symbolic cover. All of our heroes are happily represented in big pink gems, but those gems are coming crashing down on top of Amethyst. I guess it's supposed to show that Amethyst has these new friends, but their safety and well-being is a fragile prospect. Or maybe I'm overthinking it. I don't know. I'm not a huge fan of this cover. The variant cover is cooler, but DC once again refused to include it with their digital download. Since it doesn't include Impulse, I'll skip it here.

Our story actually begins with a recap page, which is quite helpful, considering this sprawling cast of characters and subplots Brian Michael Bendis has thrown at us. Here's what it says:

"Robin, Superboy, Impulse, Wonder Girl, Jinny Hex, Teen Lantern and Amethyst have come together just in time to be scooped away to the magical dark land of Gemworld, a dark realm of sword and sorcery that is attached to and in conflict with the Earth whether the Earth knows it or not.

"Young Justice has been reunited with Conner Kent and Impulse escaping the prisons of the Dark Lord Opal.

"Meanwhile, there are so many questions as to where the team has been and how they even remember each other!"

With the recap out of the way, we pick up with our heroes fighting their way past more of Dark Opal's guards. Impulse asks if Gemworld is connected to the Fourth World, and Robin admits he doesn't know, but says that was a "solid question." Bart quietly points out that he gets one every once in a while. Jinny, Robin and Amethyst jump in her truck, and our team bursts free of the prison. Bart admits to everyone that he's having the time of his life, but he has never been less sure of where he physically is — and he has been to some "weeeeeird-ass places." But instead of going into his untold adventures in the Speed Force, Bart jokes about Burbank being one of those places.

Our heroes don't get too far before Dark Opal himself halts their escape with a big blast of magic. And to everyone's surprise, he pull out a big chunk of kryptonite for Superboy. But this exciting development is dramatically interrupted by a flashback.

Two days ago, Tim Drake was found making out with Stephanie Brown on the hood of his car outside the Hall of Justice in Washington, D.C. But Tim isn't just looking for a romantic getaway with his girlfriend — he's actually meeting with Zatanna to help him figure out what's going on with his memories and visions of alternate realities. Zatanna places her hands on his head and says, "Wohs em hturt." At first, Tim only gets a brief glimpse of Cissie King-Jones rubbing Impulse's head as she leaves the team. But what catches Tim's attention is Superboy in the background. His eyes pop open and he says, "Conner?" Suddenly, there's an explosion of the entire original Young Justice in all its glory.

And Tim sees everybody. The old Justice League lineup with Wally West and Kyle Rayner, Slo-Bo, Empress, Red Tornado and his adopted daughter, Traya, Snapper Carr, the Ray, Secret, Arrowette and even the Super-Cycle. And, of course, front and center are the main four: Superboy, Robin, Wonder Girl and Impulse.

The vision was quite a bit for Tim to take in, causing him to cry out in pain. He realizes he had a whole other life — one that wasn't an alternate reality. Zatanna figures that's right, but she says they need to call in more help, specifically from Madame Xanadu and Batman. We then suddenly return to the present standoff with Dark Opal.

Superboy tries to make a deal with the Dark Lord, but Impulse promptly steals the kryptonite and races it far away. Once he returns, our heroes begin fighting back. But everything begins shaking violently and Amethyst realizes that Opal's power is ripping reality apart.

We return to our flashback, where Tim has put on his Robin uniform and is reporting back to Stephanie after spending some more time with Zatanna. It's unclear whether Madame Xanadu was able to help them, but we do know that Batman and Superman are currently away. Robin tells Stephanie the team he saw was called Young Justice, and his best friend's name is Conner Kent. He says Stephanie was there, too, as Spoiler. Unfortunately, Zatanna has no idea how he forgot this chapter in his life, so Robin decides to go to Metropolis to try to find Conner, promising to be back in three days.




There are still tons and tons of questions. But we do know for sure that somehow, someway, all the old Young Justice stories by Peter David and Todd Nauck did happen and do still count. And that's a comforting thought. That two-page splash by Doc Shaner was a beautiful, thrilling burst of excitement. For the first time in years, DC threw a bone to us fans of those old stories and characters. And that revelation really overshadows everything else that happened in this issue. I mean, I like how Impulse wisely took the kryptonite away, but there isn't really much more to talk about. Let's check out the new ads:

What is The Batman Who Laughs planning? How will Lex Luthor turn the world toward doom? Who is Leviathan? Secrets will be revealed in ... Year of the Villain.

The final days of the Dark Knight. Batman: Last Knight on Earth, accompanied with six preview pages and an interview with its writer, Scott Snyder.

Next time, we'll check out a quick cameo in Batman #71. I think. I haven't read it, yet. If there's nothing there, then we'll move on to Young Justice #6.