#timkon were supposed to be the focus but now its blurred cassie

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band au that i kept saying i was gonna draw lmao

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Young Justice #1

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

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 The core YJ four are back! Let’s dive in…

I love the Kon variant cover! Gorgeous and true to Kon’s flirtatiousness in the 90s.

We start on Gemworld. Not a corner of the DC Universe I spend a lot of time in.  The most I read of Amethyst was her brief time in the five years later era of the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Other characters from Gemworld are Dark Opal and Flaw & Child. I think Mordru has a connection to the planet.

Amethyst is similar to Captain Marvel in that she is a child/young teen who assumes an adult form as a super-hero. Dark Opal is her arch-enemy.

I remember Amethyst receiving a reboot in the New 52. I don’t know the details as I’ve never read the relevant issues.

Dark Opal’s son informs his father: “I believe I may have figured out what has happened to us…There is a map. A map that we cannot draw. A map that we simply cannot see. This map – it connects us to earth…Have you ever heard of an earth crisis? It is what they call it when an unnatural event changes the Earth against its natural evolution…They say the Earth has survived seven of these crises. Every time a crisis happens to the earth, everything the earth touches, it seems…is affected.”

Seven Crises? Let’s see, we have…

1)      The Crisis on Infinite Earths

2)      Zero Hour

3)      Infinite Crisis

4)      Final Crisis

5)      Flashpoint

The final two are up for debate.  Contenders could be Dr. Manhattan’s machinations (Doomsday Clock), the Superman Reborn storyline, Mon-El’s attack on the Time Trapper that re-set the timeline, or the various “Crisis on Multiple Earths” storylines.

Jinny Hex arrives in Metropolis. She needs Superman’s aid with a mysterious thing she has in her car. I’m assuming this mysterious thing is from her debut in the Wal-Mart only titles.

Jinny is rather blah. Westerns aren’t my thing so I don’t have any interest in a modern-day Western hero.

Dark Opal’s minions, led by his son, arrive in Metropolis. They demand Superman appear at once. Unfortunately, Superman is nowhere to be found.

Robin (Tim Drake) arrives on the scene to aid Jinny.

“Yer…Robin.”

“Well, one of them!”

Tim’s in his traditional green, red, and yellow with only one “R” on the chest emblem.  Why has Tim reverted to the Robin codename? And how loud will Damian yell when he finds out?”

We flashback to a few minutes ago. Tim has arrived in Metropolis via motorcycle. Stephanie Brown (Spoiler) is nowhere to be seen. We last saw Tim in early 2018 – he and Stephanie were leaving Gotham City for parts unknown.

The newly-arrived Tim encounters Cassie Sandsmark (Wonder Girl).

Cassie is working and going to school in the fall.

“You have a job?”

“Well, we can’t all hit the Wayne Foundation Life Lottery.”

“You know, I’ll take that sass from just about anyone else in my life but not Zeus’ granddaughter!”

“No allowance in it.”

Wayne Foundation Lottery – Did Bruce adopt Tim or not? Are Tim’s parents still alive or not? Are they still in the Witness Protection Program?

Zeus’s grand-daughter – We’re sticking with Cassie’s New 52 origin? The daughter of Lennox Sandsmark and Helena? Weird choice considering how much reversion the boys underwent.

Cue the arrival of the Gemworld minions. Tim does a quick-change into his uniform and launches himself into action but Cassie demurs: “I can’t right now.”

Maggie Sawyer and the MCU are attacked by the Gemworld gang but are removed from the action in a red and yellow blur.

Yep, Impulse is back. And he’s back to his hyper, talkative self.

Impulse admits he was on his way to Canada to join Alpha Flight when the Metropolis attack caught his attention.

Cassie leaps into action to save Tim’s life.

Tim asks Cassie if she is okay.

“I’ll freak out later.”

“We’ll talk about it.”

Teen Lantern joins the fight. We now have seven Green Lanterns from earth. It’s a bit ridiculous.

Bart proclaims Young Justice is back.

The Gemworld gang retreat: “You can tell Superman we accept his forfeit of this battle.”

The above is my favorite line of the issue. This is how all villains should fight Superman: teleport in, talk trash, destroy some property, teleport out before Superman arrives, claim victory on the way out.

Bart is hyped about Young Justice’s return: “This is exactly how things like this happen. A need is met!”

Tim demands “Not without Conner!”

Tim should only know Conner from his future self. And he shouldn’t know Bart at all. Cassie and Tim’s friendship seems to continue from the ending of the previous Teen Titans series. Tim clearly has an established friendship with Bart so when did it happen?

Cassie’s only interaction with Bart is to tell others to “ignore him”. Does she have any memories of Conner and Bart – the real versions, not the wannabe New 52 creations?

The group dive into the teleportation portal but land in different locations.

Tim awakens to Amethyst holding a sword to his throat.  Amethyst has a different appearance than the New 52 Amethyst.

Bart encounters Superboy on the planet. Conner’s rocking his classic 90’s attire but is sporting a scruffy beard. Conner’s build is between his slender 90s appearance and his very muscular Teen Titans physique.

Conner’s bears hints at the “locked in at 16 years old” storyline won’t be pursued in the Rebirth era. And that’s fine with me.

Conner! Tim! Cassie! Bart! And other characters I don’t care about. I’ve said it before but I wish the first year of the new title focused on the core four of Young Justice.  We have many unanswered questions on the characters’ current status and relations with each other – this should be the focus of the title.  Instead, we’ll be side-tracked with Jinny Hex, Teen Lantern, and Amethyst. Why?

Teen Lantern may have potential. Diversity is always a good thing but the powers couldn’t have been more original than yet another Green Lantern?

Jinny Hex…Western-themed heroes, especially ones in modern times, will always have an uphill battle in catching my attention.

Amethyst…I’m not sure if she’ll be permanent cast member but I suppose magic would be useful.  

My one wish for the title is Bendis making TimKon official.  Please! I doubt DC will have the guts but it would be nice.