Young Justice #10: Introducing Jinny Hex… and Drake

Some might find it easy to review things when they’re so familiar with a writer, but when it’s Brian Michael Bendis, it’s always wise to take things book by book as they tend to vary in quality. This issue, while focusing on the Young Justice team regrouping to escape Earth-3, also acts as the backstory for the newest of DC’s young heroes: Jinny Hex.

I have criticized BMB for dropping backstory in the middle of these issues where I felt they weren’t needed, but it’s part of his style and works excellent here. The issue cuts between the current day events of the team doing their best to repel the young evildoers with John Timms’ art and Jinny Hex’s past with Nick Derington’s art. It’s almost seamless as he finally addresses what’s in the box she’s been towing driving in her truck since issue one.

Jinny Hex is revealed to be a tough, caring and emotional kid. She shoots robbers as they try to stick up a store, helps her mother out in their auto repair shop and gets angry at her possible girlfriend for tickling another. Eventually she discovers that her Great-Great Grandfather was a hero of sorts and his trunk is full of knickknacks, of which help the team make their final escape from Earth-3.

Of course…I have some issues with this otherwise fun and enjoyable book and that is everything with Tim Drake’s new identity. John Timms’ art is fun, stylistic and action packed, but his design of Tim’s costume (and I think Dave Stewart’s choice of colors, I don’t really know whose decision it was) is…controversial to say politely. I am not a fan of the brown or the decision to change his name to that of a kind of duck. It will likely grow on readers as time goes on, but hopefully doesn’t last forever.