Young Justice #14

Warlords Part 2

Brian Michael Bendis and David Walker Writers

John Timms (p. 1, 4-5, 10-19, 23) and Michael Avon Oeming (p. 2-3, 6-9, 20-22) Art

Gabe Eltaeb Colors

Wes Abbott Letters

Timms and Eltaeb Cover

David Lafuente and Germain Garcia Variant Cover

Brittany Holzherr Editor

Jamie S. Rich Group Editor

Superboy created by Jerry Siegel.

By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.

Our main cover shows the "real Young Justice," although I have no idea why they're called that. As far as I can tell, this is a grouping of four random heroes, who have never interacted with each other before. And Sideways and this version of Aqualad didn't even exist during the real Young Justice of the Peter David/Todd Nauck days. But the characters all do look pretty good here — Timms is as solid as ever, even if it is a bland background.

Our variant cover is adorable. It's unique, different and just plain fun. It somehow makes all the heroes look like kids without crossing over into "chibi" territory. I love it when a variant cover can offer such a fresh perspective.

We open with a recap page using the same image that closed out issue #12. Here's the text: "Drake, Superboy, Impulse, Wonder Girl, Jinny Hex, Amethyst, and Teen Lantern returned from the multiverse just in time to be scooped away to confront S.T.A.R. Labs ... the evil science corporation that sent Conner Kent away in the first place and seems to have done it again.

"Conner is trapped in a savage sword and sorcery world called Skartaris, where he has teamed up with their local hero Warlord to find a way out.

"Young Justice runs to the Hall of Justice for help, and instead of the Justice League, they end up with the Wonder Twins and Dial H for Hero. Along with their newest member, Naomi, they hatch a plan to rescue their friend Conner from the evil traps of S.T.A.R. Labs, and to shut down S.T.A.R. Labs once and for all.

"But Impulse shows up ... with impossible reinforcements!"

Our story begins just before the ending of last issue, with Impulse on his quest to gather even more heroes to save Superboy because apparently 11 just isn't enough. Bart first heads to North Gotham, where he finds Sideways defeating the Trickster. Surprisingly, Sideways recognizes Impulse and professes to being a huge fan of his. But Bart doesn't have time for chitchat, complaining that he's already wasted seven seconds looking for Sideways, whose teleportation powers are just what Bart needs for this mission. Sideways is eager to help Young Justice, so he promptly opens a portal for the two of them.

Bart's second stop is Blüdhaven, where Spoiler is beating up her dad (Cluemaster) and his men, demanding to know where ... someone ... is. We don't find out who Spoiler was looking for, but it apparently wasn't too important, since she immediately drops everything when Impulse and Sideways pop out of a portal. Spoiler also recognizes Impulse and asks where Robin is. Bart explains that Robin sent him to get her to help them save Conner (who Spoiler also apparently knows).

Stop number three is Amnesty Bay, where Aqualad is rescuing a fishing boat. He misidentifies Bart as Kid Flash, but Bart was still surprised that he even got that close. Aqualad says he's learned about him from the internet, but he doesn't know Sideways or Spoiler and hesitates for just a moment. But when Bart says they need his help with a Justice League-level emergency, Aqualad eagerly leaps into the portal.

The last stop is a random food court, where Cissie King-Jones is trying to eat her lunch. She's so surprised by the portal opening right in front of her, that she uses Bart's real name in front of everybody. Cissie reminds Bart that she doesn't "do Young Justice anymore," but Bart instantly changes her mind with just two words: "It's Conner."

That catches us up to the assembly of 15 teenaged superheroes in New Mexico, just outside the S.T.A.R. Labs secret laboratory complex known as The Constellation. Before any introductions can be made, a bunch of monsters suddenly start dropping out of portals in the sky. The monsters are surprising and numerous, but not particularly strong, as none of our heroes face any difficulty defeating the beasts. The chaos of the battle also offers Impulse the perfect opportunity to do some reconnaissance.

Tim then orders Impulse, Wonder Girl and Sideways to teleport to Superboy's location. Cassie objects, but Tim points out that if Conner is in trouble, she's the only one with the sheer power to help. So they teleport to Skartaris, where Superboy is about to be killed by a man wielding a kryptonite sword sent by Dr. Glory. There are also a bunch of lizard people holding off Warlord, prompting Bart to say, "Lizard people! Yum! I mean, ew!" Bart rushes to Conner's side and orders Sideways to teleport the sword away, while Cassie begins punching everything. She scoops up Superboy and has Sideways take them away, cutting off Bart before he can ask about Warlord, who got left behind.

The rest of our heroes, meanwhile, defeat all the monsters and easily make their way into Dr. Glory's office. She panics and offers to make a deal, claiming she can explain why they don't all remember each other.

Well, that was certainly fast-paced. But I don't know if it was necessarily exciting. There was lots of running around and fighting ... well, allusions to fighting, but could you really tell what anyone was doing at a single moment? I have a sneaking suspicion that Bendis' scripts rarely say anything more than "they fight and win" for his battle scenes. Look, 17 heroes are just too many to keep track of. There aren't enough double-page spreads to give anyone justice. Not to mention all the personal interactions and mystery-solving elements we're missing out on. I didn't hate this comic, but I didn't particularly like it. You can't just throw everything and the kitchen sink at me. Nothing sticks. Nothing gets processed. Except for one egregious moment.

It was downright insulting to bring Arrowette in here. I feel like Bendis didn't read a single issue of Young Justice, and just glanced at a few covers and thought the old fans would be thrilled to see Arrowette come back. Had he read the books, he would have known about Cissie's emotional decision to retire from being a superhero. That lifestyle opened up a dark, violent side in her that she never wanted to see again. So she held true to her decision — even when Imperiex threatened to destroy the world! Cissie volunteered strictly as a medic, but never put on her costume again. 

Until now. Without even a second's thought, Cissie throws on her old outfit, takes up her bow and arrow, and risks forfeiting all the emotional and mental progress she has made since the time she tried to kill a man. It was Superboy who stopped her. And now it's Superboy who destroyed Cissie's inspiring journey. And yes, I do say inspiring. Comic books are full of courageous, inspiring heroes of all types. But we need to acknowledge that it can also be inspirational to see someone know when they need to stop. When they need to take a temporary break or even walk away forever because it's causing them harm. And sadly, Bendis destroyed that beautiful story just for a cheap thrill.

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Next time, we'll take a quick peek at The Flash #752.