Young Justice (TV series)

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Fandom
Name: Young Justice
Abbreviation(s): YJ
Creator: Greg Weisman, Brandon Vietti
Date(s):
Medium: animated TV series
Country of Origin: USA
External Links: Cartoon Network
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Young Justice is an animated TV series based in the DC Comics universe. It's been pointed out that in the first season the team has many similarities to the Teen Titans,[1] perhaps more than to the original '90s comic series. However, it is considered a separate universe from the other animated DC cartoons, as Earth-16. In its second season, the team in Young Justice becomes very similar to the original '90s comic series (The second season takes place five years after the first).

The third season started airing on DC Universe, DC's streaming platform, on January 4, 2019. It focuses on meta-human trafficking.

Canon

The first season introduces us first to Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Speedy who all want recognition and a promotion to full-fledged superheroes instead of their "sidekick" status. In a mission to prove themselves, they discover a clone of Superman, named Superboy. This leads them to create their own team, Young Justice, which is based in Mount Justice, a mountain that is hollowed out and was formerly a Justice League HQ. Miss Martian makes up their last member to join in the beginning of the season. Eventually Zatanna Zatara and Artemis join the team.

The second season, titled Young Justice: Invasion, has a new team in place of the original one, although Miss Martian, Superboy and Dick Grayson as Nightwing remains on the team. Wally and Artemis are no longer active on the team, although still appear in the series, and Zatanna is part of the Justice League team. Kaldur'ahm is Nightwing's mole in his father Black Manta's organization in order to infiltrate the Light. The new members include Blue Beetle, Beast Boy, Batgirl, Bumblebee, Guardian, Lagoon Boy, Robin, Wonder Girl, Impulse, Arsenal (the original Roy), and eventually Virgil Hawkins (Static).

The third season, titled Young Justice: Outsiders takes place two years after Young Justice: Invasion. It focuses on meta-human trafficking and introduces three new major characters named Prince Brion Markov, Halo, and Forager.

The fourth season, titled Young Justice: Phantoms takes place one year after Young Justice: Outsiders. It focuses on the original team members from the first season and how their experiences have affected them now that ten years have passed in-universe since the series began.

Fandom

It has an anonymous kink meme on Livejournal, which is required to be based on the animated series; it allows crossovers, but the team members have to be the animated ones.[2]

Superboy, Miss Martian, and Aqualad's misunderstandings of human culture are a popular theme to explore through fic, either for shipping or as a gen topic. Batman's role as mentor to the group also appears in many stories.

Black fans have pointed out that much of the show's fandom is racist.[3]

Shipping

The most popular slash pairings are Kid Flash/Robin and Superboy/Robin, as well as Bart Allen/Jaime Reyes after season 2.

Popular het pairings are Artemis Crock/Wally West and Miss Martian/Superboy.

The most popular femslash pairing is Artemis Crock/Zatanna Zatara

Pairing Names

The fandom is notable for being heavily based on Tumblr, a site that doesn't allow the use of / in tagging. This meant that the most common way of listing a pairing (Character A/Character B) was not possible. As a result, the fandom has come up with a wide range of pairing names.

Controversy

fwip's notes: and megan was never allowed to babysit again. HELLO, MEGAN, its called pedophilia and its a crime.

The fandom is very active on Tumblr, where fans have gotten into heated debates about several issues. Fans are divided as to whether Wally's treatment of M'gann is sexual harassment.[4][5][6] M'gann is criticized by some people for her romantic interest in Superboy.[7]

The show was cancelled suddenly, and fans started various fan campaigns to save it. It appears that the show had been cancelled because young women were the largest viewer demographic instead of boys. See this Tumblr reblog of a podcast transcript from Fatman on Batman in December 2013.)

It was announced on November 8, 2016 that Young Justice would return for a third season.

“The affection that fans have had for Young Justice, and their rallying cry for more episodes, has always resonated with us,” said Warner Bros. Animation President Sam Register. “We are excited to bring the show back for this loyal fanbase and to provide an opportunity for new viewers to discover this excellent series.”

The third season of Young Justice is now airing on DC's streaming platform DC Universe, where the other two seasons are housed, along with additional Young Justice programming. There is Young Justice Enhanced which is a show where the creators do commentary of certain episodes, Bringing Back Young Justice with Whitney Moore, a documentary series about the process behind bringing back the show, the series tie in comics that started in 2011, the new Young Justice: Outsiders tie in comics, and access to the original Young Justice comics from 1998.

Notable Fanworks

Fics

The fandom has a number of stories that are both highly influential and popular.

  • New Kid On The Block by x_meets_y and it's sequels, Summary: Wally gained superspeed but instead of becoming Flash's sidekick, he became a thief.
  • Strays available on LJ also on AO3 by blackash26, Summary: Batman is very happy with the way that Robin has picked up his training, his methods and his habits. Generally. But his protege showing up at the Batcave with two small children, Tim and Jason, clinging to him proves he's adopted one trait Batman would have rather he hadn't. It seems the batfamily has an incurable penchant for picking up strays, and Tim and Jason are only the beginning. This fic has become something of a shared world, complete with future!fic and crossovers with the main DCU universe.
  • Minor Situation by hinn_raven, Summary: Gotham Academy is attacked by terroists while Batman is out in space with the Justice League. It's up to Artemis to round of the Team and save everybody. Except why is Dick Grayson getting involved and just how many siblings does he have anyways?
  • Twist Your Hair by kingburu was a phenomenon in Roy/Wally circles. Summary: Changes happen fast, even for a speedster. When he falls for someone else for the first time in years, sometimes it's easier jumping hurdles and spraining ankles on one track than switching to another.
  • World's Best Proxy Parent by Fiercest
  • Linchpin by Tiger Lily Roar (Teen) The Heroes of the world have a *BIG* problem when Robin - yes, Robin - is kidnapped from Gotham City Academy. The big deal, other than the obvious? He was Dick Grayson at the time! (2012)

Vids

Fanart

Archives and Fannish Links

Recs

LiveJournal Communities

Deviantart

Tumblr

Resources

References

  1. ^ Young Justice Episode 8 - Downtime post/discussion at Scans Daily, accessed March 12, 2011
  2. ^ yj_anon_meme (Accessed March 12, 2011)
  3. ^ "The Moment you realized Fandom was racist…" by mikeymagee
  4. ^ okay, I've had it (Accessed March 12, 2011)
  5. ^ On YJ and sexual harassment (Accessed March 12, 2011)
  6. ^ untitled post (Accessed March 12, 2011)
  7. ^ untitled post, untitled post (Accessed March 12, 2011)
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