Young Justice #6 Ends A War And Begins A Journey
by Tony Thornley
It’s not often that teen heroes actually save the entire planet. But Young Justice has been building towards that and it happens in a big way this issue.
Brian Michael Bendis, John Timms, Gabe Eltaeb and Wes Abbott wrap up the kids’ return, tie up some loose ends and send them careening towards their next adventure.
Young Justice has just been beaten by Dark Opal, and they have no idea what’s next. However, Amethyst may have a plan. Unfortunately, it will doom her and her role in Gemworld entirely.
Bendis’ script shine when it focuses on these kids and how they relate and interact with one another. He understands his team, their relationships, and plays with that both in the interpersonal and heroic ways. It leads to an exciting conclusion and conflict to wrap the arc.
However, the story does have two glaring issues. First, the explanation of what really happened with Superboy’s time on Gemworld is a little too convenient, and seems just like contortions just to avoid character assassination. Secondly, this issue feels very rushed, jumping from point to point that previous issues could have covered if they weren’t so decompressed. That’s not just in the main plot, but setting up characters, as Teen Lantern finally gets an abbreviated introduction.
Timms brings in tons of energy on his pages, but also does some smart things throughout the issue. In the Superboy flashback he tweaks his style subtly to match the flashbacks from earlier in arc, without wholesale dropping his own style. He also pulls back quite a bit to show the scale of the threats of the final battle, setting the camera back and playing with perspective to show how big of a mess the team has gotten into. With Eltaeb’s great colors, it’s a fun package to wrap up the arc.
The team is back together, loose ends are tied up and they’re headed back to the DCU. I can’t see what happens to Young Justice next.
Young Justice #6 is available now from DC Comics.
