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It’s time for the long awaited (sorry) return of Stay Tooned Sundays! (Yay!) We start with some cool news updates that transpired since last time. The first of these is that a new Teen Titans cartoon will be coming to your TV very soon. The new show is very similar to the previous incarnation of the Titans. This is great news for fans of the old show and a great start for new ones. Secondly, look for Avengers EMH and Green Lantern TAS to be returning (finally!) with new episodes after their long hiatuses. Lastly, speaking of new things, Young Justice Season One Volume Three was just released this past week on DVD, so let’s talk about it.

Title: Young Justice
Company: Warner Bros. Entertainment
Distributed by: Warner Home Video
US Release Date: February 21, 2012
Length: 90 mins.
Rating: Not Rated
Volume: Season One: Volume Three

In the third volume of this hit teen superhero show, we are given four new episodes to add to our collections. For those that did not check out our previous coverage of this show (click here), it’s about the Justice League members’ sidekicks teaming up under Batman’s guidance to take on situations that are not PC enough for the JL to be involved in. The team is led by Aqualad and consists of Robin, Superboy, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, and Artemis, with Speedy… err, Red Arrow as a ‘reserve” non-member.

In this set of episodes we get “Bereft,” an episode in which the team finds themselves without their memories in a strange land on a communications black out. Only by working together and trusting in each other (random strangers) can the young superheroes regain their memories and complete the mission. In “Targets,” Red Arrow is spotlighted in a mostly solo adventure where he must protect Lex Luthor (Yes, LEX LUTHOR!) from an assassination attempt in order to prevent a war. The next episode, “Terrors,” actually plays as a sequel to the premier episode where each of the sidekicks helped to capture a different ice-powered villain. The Justice League was looking into why all four of these ice-powered villains attacked at the same time, and this episode finally reveals their true motives. Finally, in “Home Front” Robin and Artemis, the only two non-powered team members, must rescue the others from some “relatives” of Red Tornado.

I found each of these episodes to be both exciting and entertaining. The cast members have really seemed to find their characters, especially Danica McKellar who does a terrific job bringing Miss Martian to life as the heart of the show. In fact, her “love story” sub-plot with Superboy that runs through all of these episodes accounts for some of my favorite moments. In particular, Miss Martian and Superboy’s first day of school in “Targets” is just great! All of the stories in these episodes have plenty of character development for all of our heroes. The series works great as stand alone episodes, but each episode still connects to the show’s overall mythology with the mysterious group “The Light” always being involved in some way, and now with Aqualad uncovering a possible traitor in their mists. Another thing long time DC fans will enjoy is all of the various cameos that appear in these episodes. Look for characters such as Amanda Waller, Hugo Strange, Lex Luthor, Ra’s Al Ghul, Riddler, and Barbra Gordon to make appearances.

If you are looking to fill your DC animation fix, look no further than Young Justice. With great characters, humor, and action packed stories, this volume is sure to keep you entertained! While the disc is lacking in special features, it does have a cool digital comic and previews to Green Lantern The Animated Series. With new episodes returning March 5 on Cartoon Network, this is the perfect time to pick up Young Justice Season One: Volume Three and get caught up on this great series.

Nick Zamora
nickz@comicattack.net