Review: Young Justice #19
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writers: Brian Michael Bendis and David Walker
Artists:Â Scott Godlewski
Colorist:Â Gabe Eltabe
Letterer:Â Wes Abbott
Reviewer:Â Tony Farina
Summary
Wonder Girl calls Young Justice together to help her with a family problem. Seems the pantheon of Greek gods is having a hard time with some of Cassie’s choices. She’s taking a stand to change rules as old as the heavens! And she is going to need her team by her side to do it.
Positives
Young Justice #19 is beautifully drawn by Scott Godlewski and expertly colored by Gabe Eltaeb. In fact, Eltaeb steals a lot of the show. Wonder comics are supposed to be geared toward teenagers and the bright colors and vibrant pages are sure eye catching. Since most of them will be reading this digitally, like I did, I think they will be rewarded by turning up the brightness. It is really stunning. There are a TON of splash pages and they almost all work. The best one comes later in the book when the whole team is together and chaos rains down while Bart has a close up with a mouthful of food. I laughed out loud.
This book works when the humor is earned. It also works when the emotional resonance is felt. Cassie’s story is compelling. We feel for her. The target audience will too. Moving into adulthood means making hard choices. I will not spoil all of that here, but I am proud of Cassie and I think you will be too.
Negatives
Young Justice #19 suffers once again from having too much going on and having too many “see before” notes. The set up, reading Cassie’s life in a scroll was interesting, but it just filled the story with far too much exposition because she is also telling us her story in other panels from a time we have yet to see. It just was a convoluted mess. I know that they have to get 10 pounds of story in a 5 pound book, so this was the best solution.
Verdict
Young Justice #19 is pretty good. That is not going to get this review on the cover of the collected works, but considering that this series is so up and down, pretty good is high praise. The team knows this book is ending so they are doing everything they can to set up the future of these characters. Cassie is a great a great character so I look forward to seeing her around the DC Universe.
