Young Justice #1 Review

If It Doesn't Fit, Force It!

Written By: Brian Michael Bendis

Art By: Patrick Gleason, Alejandro Sanchez, DC Lettering

Cover Price: $4.99

Release Date: January 9, 2019

It's finally here, the imprint and the book that is going to get some of fans' favorite young heroes back together again for the first time since....... Well since the New 52 happened.  Will it all make sense and will it be something that can bring some of the hope, legacy and optimism back to DC Comics?  Well, there's only one way to find out.  Let's jump into this issue and see what Brian Michael Bendis has in store for us with his Wonder Comics Imprint.  Let's check it out.

Right off the bat I have to wonder what kind of back peddling and work that this new imprint will have to do because to get our heroes together they first will have to face a Gemworld invasion of Metropolis that has come because of all the damage that the different Crises of Earth have done to their realm.  Yeah, we've had different writers talk about different things as to which Crisis events took place since our continuity was rebooted after Flashpoint, but this story seems to say that each and everyone has happened and that's only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to continuity in this story.

Now since this is an Imprint you can say to yourself that Brian Michael Bendis can do anything he wants, but he specifically told IGN "They're all the characters from main continuity," Bendis laughed.  "These are the main continuity, from-the-other-books characters.  Man universe, main timeline characters."  With that I have to wonder why the hell classic Bart Allen shows up here without any explanation to where he's been or why Wally West and Barry Allen had to break the Speed Force Barrier in The Flash #50 for him to show up out of nowhere.  Yet still, everyone knows him and he seems to have been a member of Young Justice with our other heroes before.  Again, like the Crisis situation, I'd like to say that this is all the problems that we have with the continuity of this book, but since it was said in Detective Comics when the Tim Drake of Tomorrow showed up that our current Tim Drake has no idea who Conner Kent is....... That too is just swept under the rug and never discussed.  It's all fight the Gemworld invaders and getting the band that we've never seen in this continuity back together again.

All in all, I know I'm talking a lot about continuity, but that's very important to me.  As for the story, well, it's a pretty simple fight, where all the heroes we want to see show up and they're pretty fun for the most part.  We have Tim Drake, who may just be going by Robin again, Bart Allen Impulse, Cassie Sandsmark Wonder Girl, Jinny Hex and a new and strange character that I hope makes sense later on, Teen Lantern.  It's a pretty simple first issue though and as for the art......... I love Patrick Gleason's takes on the characters, but I'm not a fan of the panel progression in this book because of the way that they're smashed together.  It just leaves a lot to be desired when you want to understand what's going on in the action and are left just scratching your head at what you're looking at.  So yeah, not the best first impression from a book that I've really been looking forward to, but I remain hopeful because like I said in my opening paragraph, I want this to be the book that brings the hope, legacy and optimism back to DC Comics, but as of right now........ It's just a book that is throwing characters together all willy nilly whether it makes sense or not and while this might change later on, right now it just seems lazy and forced.

Bits and Pieces:

While I really enjoy aspects of this book and the way the characters look, this continuity is a mess and Brian Michael Bendis is just smashing things together whether they make sense to the greater continuity or not.  With that, the panel layout left a lot to be desired in my mind and my first impression of this book isn't the beacon of hope that I thought it would be.

6.5/10