Young Justice, along with Princess Amethyst, exiled into the Multiverse, are up against their evil counterparts. Can they survive long enough to get their bearings and figure out how to get home? Find out in Young Justice #8!
YOUNG JUSTICE #8
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: John Timms
Colorist: Gabe Eltaeb
Letterer: Wes Abbott
Editor: Mike Cotton
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 11, 2019
Previously in Young Justice: Our young heroes get to Gemworld, one way or another, where they join forces and assist Princess Amethyst against Lord Opal, whose powers were tearing the world apart. The Court of Gemworld, who collectively are not fond of Amethyst to begin with, banish her and all the other young heroes to the Multiverse and back to Earth…but not the Earth they actually came from!
OPENING WITH A BASH
Young Justice #8 is the beginning of a new story arc as the youthful heroes find themselves on Earth-3 and Cassie, specifically, comes face to face with her evil counterpart, Amaxon Thunder, who punches her around with gleeful abandon. We get a handy running commentary in the background which fills us in on the situation here, as Amethyst and Jinny Hex run into Luthor-El, who attacks to add emphasis to his question of whether they happen to have a map of the multiverse.
That’s about half the plot right there; this is the high-action opening to a story arc where we get to meet the characters while they have a giant slug-a-thon. Sit back, enjoy the ride, and pay attention to the tidbits that drop. Red Robin fights his counterpart, who goes by the name Drake, which is quite clever. Impulse (racing against Speed Zone) pops through intermittently to save people and gripe about his evil counterpart.
We do get a nice twist in that in this world, the Crime Syndicate has gone missing. Amaxon Thunder and her cohorts have filled the void, and what room there is around the edges is going to the gangs, which include the Snapper Carrs. Jinny Hex meets her own evil twin, someone who appears to know more about the stuff in her trunk than she does. As the background narration continues, we gradually learn that there is someone out there on this Earth, someone who tries to resist, tries to fight back, in some small way, on their own. There’s a cool reveal to be had there too.
BLISTERING ACTION
As mentioned above, Young Justice #8 is basically one huge fight scene, and it is very well-choreographed. There are lots of characters to introduce and not all that many pages. The fight feels like it fills the city, but it has clear transitions between characters.
Everything is put to use on this story. There are creative panel breaks, contrast between splashes and smaller panels, a gorgeous silhouette sequence, and lots of sound effects, especially when the Snapper Carrs show up. I like the costume designs too. It’s clear whose counterpart is whose, but there are enough differences that they stand out.
As someone who has not been reading Young Justice all that long, and as someone who frankly is not up to speed on the multiverse, I was very pleased with how easy it was to keep track of everybody and what was going on.
BOTTOM LINE: OUT OF ONE WORLD OF TROUBLE INTO ANOTHER
If you’re curious about Young Justice #8, this is a good jumping on point. The fight is dynamic; we get a few plot hooks to draw us in; the art is terrific. Even though it’s pretty crazy, and even if you don’t know who everyone is, this issue will bring you right up to speed.
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Young Justice #8
It’s evil twins galore on Earth-3 for Young Justice!
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Writing7
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Art9
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Coloring8
By day, she’s a mild-mannered bureaucrat and Ms. Know-It-All. By night, she’s a dance teacher and RPG player (although admittedly not on the same nights). On the weekends, she may be found judging Magic, playing Guild Wars 2 (badly), or following other creative pursuits. Holy Lack of Copious Free Time, Batman! While she’s always wished she had teleportation as her superpower, she suspects that super-speed would be much more practical because then she’d have time to finish up those steampunk costumes she’s also working on.