Young Justice #0 - March 2011

"Stopover" by Kevin Hopps, Greg Weisman, and Mike Norton.

It's Young Justice Friday!

Hey Aquamaniacs, this is Shrine Correspondent Andy Luckett with a new series of reviews about the companion comic to the Young Justice TV show on Cartoon Network. While YJ is on hiatus, Rob and I thought it would be a good idea to cover some of these stories as they are published.

Oddly, this series began publication earlier this year with a #0 issue (which I don't think I've seen DC do since Zero Hour maybe?) so that seems like a decent place to start. This issue, entitled "Stopover", is written by Kevin Hopps and Greg Weisman, two of the writers on the TV show, and the art is by Mike Norton, doing a fine job capturing the vibe of the series' visuals.

This issue opens up with a familiar scene, as the Justice League (with Aquaman out front) rendezvous with the fledgeling Young Justice group after their rescue of Superboy from the Cadmus holding facility:

After Robin pleads with Batman to give the new trio a chance to prove themselves, the Dark Knight asks for a three-day period to decide. Kid Flash takes the now-homeless Superboy home with him, Robin follows Batman back to Gotham, and Aqualad returns to the sea with his mentor, where Aquaman reveals that he supports Aqualad's decision to help form a new team.

Back at Kid Flash's house, he and Superboy receive a credit card from Batman with the note "For Expenses" (and you just know Batman's cards have a super-high limit). So of course, Wally and Superboy head off to the mall to get Superboy some new clothes to replace his torn Cadmus suit. At the Central City Mall, we meet two powerful punk siblings, Tommy and Tuppence, the Terror Twins:

As the Terror Twins throw their weight around and draw the attention of Wally and Superboy, a fight ensues through the mall, with the two young heroes using some hankerchiefs, Vigilante-style, to hide their identities:

As the fight spills out of the mall and into the parking lot, the Terror Twins turn tail and run. Kid Flash and Superboy turn around to see:

Flash and Superman inform them that Batman has made his decision, and to report to their new Happy Harbor headquarters the next day. When they report, Batman lays out the rules:

...to be continued!


This issue was fine for a zero issue, with a decent setup of the team's formation that skirts around the edges of what was shown on the early episodes of the show. Most of the action centers around Wally and Superboy in their civilian identities fighting the Terror Twins, which is not the most exciting scenario, but there is a nice one page scene between Aquaman and Aqualad which shows in a few panels why Aqualad respects his mentor so much (unfortunately though this is pretty much the extent of Aqualad's appearance in this issue). So overall, this issue may not have been completely necessary, but it gives the reader some nice extra information before the series continues.