Tag Young Justice

Unpopular Opinions: Superboy

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OK, I know that by saying the following that I’m going to risk ticking off every fan of the Young Justice animated series, but here it is: I didn’t (and still don’t) like the YJ version of Superboy. At all.

I had become a fan of Superboy (Kon EL) ever since I read the DC vs Marvel comic book mini series, and ever since then, I’ve been wanting to see Superman’s clone Conner make his animated TV debut. Alas, what we got was this.

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“Frustrated grunt!”

It’s bad enough that the shows’ producers went with the T-shirt and jeans look for the character, which doesn’t even look like a super hero costume. It looks like he’s fighting in street clothes. Still, it’s better than his costume in the Amalgam universe where he was fused with Spider-Man to become Spiderboy.

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No, just no.

YJ gave Superboy a completely different personality than the one that he had in the comics. This Superboy doesn’t make wise cracks. He has no sense of humor. Instead of having tactile telekinesis power that mimics Superman’s power of flight, he just is able to leap considerable distances.He broods all the time and starts dating Miss Martian…and later gets dumped by her.

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Ugh! Teen soap opera drama. Pass me Mr. Bucket!

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THIS is the Superboy that I wanted to see on the small screen. The Kryptonian Kid. The one with the tactile telekinesis powers and the cool black jacket. Stylin’!

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The Conner from the comics was cool. he was cocky and over confident. I imagined someone like Edward Furlong (circa Terminator 2) doing Conner’s voice.

But no, we don’t get the interesting version of Superboy. That would have been too good. Instead we get stuck with this hot headed brooding lame-o with leaping powers. He was like the Hulk, only without the charisma.

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“‘Ooh! Look at how dark and tormented I am!’ Sheesh, what a whiner!”

So now, DC reset it’s universe a couple more times since then and it seems that there’s yet another Superboy out there; Jonathan Samuel Kent, the son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane. I haven’t read any of the current comics yet, so I don’t have a strong opinion on this character yet, positive or negative, nor do I have any idea where Kon-El fits in with this continuity, or if he’s there at all.

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Hmm…The costume’s OK. I like the jacket with the S shield on it, and the red sneakers are a nice touch. This is starting to sound like a Pop Dream…

I’ll have to read the Rebirth comics before I state how I feel about this version of Superboy, but he already has the advantage of not being the Young Justice version.

I don’t know if we’ll get a Superboy on Cartoon Network’s Justice League Action or on any other DC animated series, but if we do, please don’t let it be the Young Justice version. Even if it’s not Conner Kent, let it at least be a Superboy who doesn’t need to wear nicotine patches for his powers, one who knows what jokes are and who actually SMILES sometimes.

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OK, that’s cute. I’ll give you that one, DC.

 

Talkin’ Nerdy: Myth Debunking

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I’d like to briefly address a popular myth that’s been circulating on the web for some time now, concerning the late DC animated series from the equally late DC Nation block, Young Justice.

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Namely:

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“I’m still pissed that Cartoon Network canceled the Young Justice TV series in favor of Teen Titans GO!“

UmmNo

I understand that folks are still lamenting the loss of Young Justice (though not me personally; the show lost me after the time-skip–way too many ongoing plots, shoehorned-in characters and an endless supply of “What a twist!” plot curves going on for me to bother trying to keep track of, but I digress) and I’m no fan of Teen Titans GO! either, but people really need to stop saying that, because it isn’t true. Like, at all. While I agree TTGO! is an easy show to rag on, it’s not the reason why YJ was canceled.

Young Justice got the finger because it wasn’t getting the desired ratings Cartoon Network wanted; kids by and large weren’t tuning in to YJ (the network’s lack of promotion and encores for the show obviously didn’t help) and eventually Mattel, the toy company that produced the YJ action figure line, withdrew their support of the show; not a good thing, considering that action cartoons typically require more detailed and intricate animation, backgrounds and production values and as such, action cartoons depend largely on toy and merchandise sales for survival. Meanwhile, elsewhere on the DC Nation block, the New Teen Titans shorts, which portrayed chibi versions of the TT characters engaging in wacky Looney Tunes style slapstick, were proving to be very popular with young fans, and since the current Cartoon Network is all in favor of producing comedy cartoons for kids, it was later greenlit into Teen Titans GO!

So the termination of Young Justice was due to low ratings, poor merch sales and lack of financial support; it had zilch to do with rise of Teen Titans GO! Young Justice‘s fate was sealed before Teen Titans GO! was ever a thing, and TTGO! was going to happen, whether Young Justice stuck around or not.

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Consider this myth BUSTED.

Why Miss Martian is Awesome!

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  1. She’s a Martian. Space aliens are automatically cool.
  2. She’s the niece of J’onn J’onzz, aka The Martian Manhunter. So she got her through nepotism. What of it?
  3. She’s green, and green women are hot. This was proven years ago on Star Trek.
  4. She can fly.
  5. Her outfit resembles a Japanese schoolgirl’s sailor suit. I like that.
  6. She has a cheerful and upbeat attitude, despite the fact that it’s not easy being green.
  7. She can wipe someone’s mind clean like a dirty ashtray. Not that she would do that, but it’s cool to know that you could.
  8. For some reason, I really like that she has freckles.
  9. Her civilian name is M’gann M’rzz. Imagine someone having to write that name on a value club card.
  10. That adorable mini skirt.
  11. She once dated Superboy (Kon El).
  12. She can shapeshift. Anyone who can assume the form of a dragon is OK in my book!