This past Tuesday, on October 25, Warner Bros. released Young Justice: Season 1, Volume 2 on DVD. This set collects episode 5-8 of the first season of the Cartoon Network show.
In case you haven’t seen Young Justice–and you really should, it’s excellent–here’s how Warner Bros. describes the show:
In Young Justice, being a teenager means proving yourself over and over—to peers, parents, teachers, mentors and, ultimately, to yourself. But what if you’re not just a normal teenager? What if you’re a teenage super hero? Are you ready to join the ranks of the great heroes and prove you’re worthy of the Justice League? That’s exactly what the members of Young Justice—Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian and Artemis—will found out, whether they have what it takes to be a proven hero. Based upon characters from DC Comics.
You can catch the show, as of right now, on Friday evenings on Cartoon Network.
Here are a couple of clips from the episodes featured in this set to get you in the mood. First, Superboy is pissed:
and second, Aqualad visits home (with Topo!):
The episodes that are featured in this set are:
Schooled
Superboy’s anger over his non-relationship with Superman is getting out of control. He refuses to train with Black Canary, and when the team faces an opponent that even the Justice League had trouble defeating, the Boy of Steel goes rogue.Infiltrator
Artemis faces an uphill battle winning over her new teammates as she tries to fill Red Arrow’s boots on a mission he initiated: saving a brilliant young scientist from the League of Shadows.Denial
When the team investigates the disappearance of Kent Nelson (formerly Doctor Fate), the scientific-minded Wally West is forced to confront his disbelief in magic while battling Abra Kadabra and Klarion the Witch Boy, for the ultra-powerful Helmet of Fate.Downtime
After a disastrous mission with the team, Aqualad returns to Atlantis to choose between a life on the surface world, or one beneath with the girl of his dreams, Aquagirl. But other forces of play make Aqualad’s decision for him.
I was able to take a look at a copy of Young Justice: Season 1, Volume 2 and I have a few thoughts.
First and foremost, Young Justice is a great cartoon. It continues the dominance that DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. have held in the superhero cartoon market that has been going on for over 20 years. And this one isn’t even produced by Bruce Timm and co. Producers Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti have done a wonderful job of taking different elements of the old DC Universe and adding in some new ideas and distilling them down to a really fun show. Young Justice is not only fun but it’s accessible for non-comic fans and has enough nods and Easter eggs to keep the Wednesday crowd happy. Plus it is bursting at the seams with characters from the DC Universe. Seriously. It’s not just Young Justice (who is basically a hybrid version of the Teen Titans) that is showcased here. The Justice League shows up a lot and apparently, like on Justice League Unlimited, everybody in the DC Universe is on that team. If you’re a fan of superhero cartoons you must watch Young Justice.
That having been said, there are some head scratching things about this DVD set. For one, it only features 4 episodes of a season that is supposed to be 26 episodes long. Will Warner Bros. be releasing 6-7 sets to encompass the season? That seems inefficient. It also makes the set seem light. It features the four episodes and two trailer for other cartoons. That’s it. No special features; no behind the scenes looks at the show. I’m not really a special features kind of guy, but I was surprised that this set didn’t feature anything of any consequence. In the end, despite the high quality of the episodes themselves, the set comes off like a place holder until some kind of full season or two half season sets are released (hopefully on Blu-ray too, because, c’mon).
If you want to own it on DVD you should click here or here. And keep your eyes peeled, we’re going to have a few of these to giveaway soon.
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The best action cartoon on TV? I think it is. Hopefully a feature packed Blu-Ray set is planned.
Warner has been doing this for their animated TV series for a number of years (including the Clone Wars). They will release a number of DVDs with a handful of episodes on each, then (maybe) eventually release a complete season.
It is a really great show. I think with the move to digital only sales (because it cuts out the middle man, and people seem to prefer it) the “DVD Extras” are going to be a thing of the past. I heard a movie critic talk about how digital delivery is ruining movies because they shoot them so you can watch on your phone. Pretty soon you’re going to be doing “iTunes reviews” for how well it looks on your phone or tablet. I’m sure there will always be a place for disc based sales, but just as phones have wiped out the portable gaming industry, even though their games are much simpler, iHomes are making disc based entertainment irrelevant.
I really don’t like this show. I just feels like it focuses far too much on the characters being annoying teenagers (“Hello Megan!”, the really hamfisted love triangles, etc. etc.). For my money, Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes is a much better show.
I have to agree with Mr.DamnDeadpool. The only character who doesn’t annoy me on this show is Superboy, and it’s only because they mostly play him strong and silent – so he doesn’t have to spew as much of the same kind of dialogue the others do. I think the hardest to endure are Robin (who’s so obnoxious!) and Aqualad (whose “calm strength” puts me to sleep). Comparing this series to JLU is an insult to the latter!
fantastic character designs and CHARACTERIZATION in that series
This show has so many things going for it. The designs are great, the voice actors are talented and fit the characters well, lots of bold and interesting ideas and plot points, and the animation is really top tier. But the one fatal flaw is that the dialog sounds like it’s written by a 4 year old. It gets really cheesy and cringeworthy more often than it should which is a shame considering it has so much going for it on paper.
loving this show. for my money better than any team book going. best action/comedy on tv right now.
I actually like this show better than the Avengers cartoon. I like the art style and darker colors. Avengers is too bright and the male characters are too bulky. I also really like the story and the characterization. I do wish that Robin was Tim instead of Dick; there’ve been a lot of Dick Grayson representations in cartoons, but only one Tim Drake. As a comics fan, it seems odd to me to have Dick Grayson as Robin when Conner Kent and Miss Martian are around.
Before anyone hates me, I do like the Avengers show, just not as much as this one.