Young Justice: Invasion “Before the Dawn” Review


This will be my first review here on UTF, so I’m a bit nervous, but here I go.  Note: There will be spoilers.

Young Justice, which has been airing on Cartoon Network since 2010, has quickly become a fan-favorite show. Many people call it DC’s best animated series since Batman: TAS and/or Justice League Unlimited (some even saying that Young Justice has surpassed them). A recent hiatus angered fans, but that is a whole different story. Anyway, I have been greatly enjoying the show so far, but what about this episode?

In the last episode, Aqualad (Khary Payton) and his group infiltrated Mount Justice, beat up our heroes, and kidnapped Beast Boy (Logan Grove), Blue Beetle (Eric Lopez), and Impulse (Jason Marsden), all before blowing up the mountain. They work fast.

In this episode, Nightwing (Jesse McCartney) leads the team on a rescue mission. This won’t be easy though; they must infiltrate the alien ship, sneak past (or beat down) the guards, and than escape after (hopefully) not being noticed. And the plan begins, and the awesomeness starts. The rescue mission is handled well; if Nightwing hasn’t proven his leadership yet, he never will. Each member of the team has their own role in the plan, and it is thorough. However, even the best made plans can go awry.

One thing I love about this episode (and the whole series) is that there is always so much going on; the plot can be very intricate (some would say complicated). While the rescue mission is going on, Blue Beetle finds, to his horror, that another scarab, Black Beetle (Kevin Grevioux) has arrived on Earth, and he wants to remove the scarab from his body, which will kill the host. Meanwhile, Impulse has his own interest in Blue Beetle; in Impulse’s future, Blue Beetle is an evil tyrant.

Meanwhile, Miss Martian (Danica McKeller) has a confrontation with Aqualad, which leaves him in a catatonic state, which leaves MM in a guilty state. The whole thing climaxes with a brutal fight between Black Beetle and the team.

The whole episode is edge-of-your-seat, and the action scenes really stand out. If this weren’t TV-PG, the fight may have had less edge. My only complaint regards Miss Martian. I get that she would feel guilty after frying Aqualad’s brain, but she becomes useless, and then gets one-shotted while acting like a zombie. Otherwise, an almost flawless episode. The animation is crisp, the action scenes are fluid, and the writing and voice acting are near perfection.