Young Justice #1: Seven Crises

Young Justice is back!!!

The creative team featuring Bendis and Gleason deliver an incredibly fun story filled with plenty of spectacle and more importantly, heart.

Part reunion and part origin, Young Justice #1 offers a great balance for both longtime fans and those looking to jump in for the first time. Bendis doesn’t hold anything back, throwing readers into a conflict with Gemworld that encompasses the seven crises of Earth. One of the characters I was personally most excited to see, Jinny Hex, is the first member we are introduced to just before Gemworld’s attack. Her interactions with other members bring an entertaining charm to the story, but there are already signs of possible conflict that are quite interesting. Jinny’s use of a real gun seemed to trigger Tim Drake (pun fully intended), and knowing the history of both Batman and Jonah Hex, this is sure to cause more contention between their successors.

As each new member arrives to the battle, we see the team begin to take shape with a notable exception…Superboy! Those infiltrating from Gemworld demand to see Superman repeatedly, so as a reader, we begin to anticipate the arrival of a certain Kryptonian. He has been teased for months, exciting fans with the return of his punk leather jacket and when we finally see him in the issue, it works perfectly.

The grand visuals from Gleason and company certainly help to elevate the issue as it flows from one action-packed sequence to the next. Though each of the characters have their moments to shine, but Amethyst makes arguably the most memorable appearance holding Tim Drake at the end of her sword. The panel, similar to the reveal of Superboy, helps to offset the more lighthearted atmosphere and show that the series is capable of creating moments that are instant classics.

The Young Justice team managed to fend off the attack for now, but they were all seemingly teleported to different places during the invader’s escape. It will be interesting to see how the whole team manages to eventually unite, because although each of the members were shown, they weren’t actually all together. This isn’t uncommon for introductions featuring such a large team and this issue pulled it off in an interesting way, but I am still excited to see the whole team as one.

Overall, Young Justice #1 is a welcome return that is both exciting and emotional. This is a book that had a lot of hype surround its release, and luckily, it lived up to all of the expectations magnificently!