Young Justice: Outsiders Go Public

It appears that the series has shifted to once a week episodes. However, I will be continuing to review YOUNG JUSTICE: OUTSIDERS in thematic batches of three or four just like last time since the stories appear to be told in arcs anyway. So here we have a review of episodes seventeen to nineteen.

From ‘First Impressions’ to ‘Elder Wisdom’, we get to see a new batch of heroes go public led by Beast Boy. Appropriately, the group is called ‘Outsiders’.

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The new more public team is composed of Wonder Girl, Static, Blue Beetle, Kid Flash, Geo-Force and Beast Boy. Later they’d be joined by Ted with his teleportation powers who now uses the name El Dorado. Beast Boy made a realization that all this hiding from the public is working against the heroes so he proposed the creation of a team that children can relate and emulate. At first, the original members of Young Justice were skeptical about it, but agreed to the new team (this is how they started off anyway). The team would still report to the Justice League in secret, but publicly this would be an independent group. Beast Boy’s instincts proved right here, and the team was welcomed by the younger public audience to a flood of social media likes and shares.

The Outsiders first appearance against Intergang was received with high marks over the internet. This created the #WeAreAllOutsiders phenomenon that spread like wildfire online. This came as a surprise to the adult heroes, but not to Beast Boy and the rest of the Outsiders. Tara of course reports to Slade that the Outsiders are still part of the Justice League.

Image is not mine and used for review purposes under the conditions of free use.

We also get to see the Outsiders aided by Zatanna against Klarion, and their fame skyrockets to a popularity greater than the Justice League. But, not everything is peachy with the group. Not all of the new blood decide to go public, and have their own issues to face. For one, Violet discovers that she is dying because of the continual use of her powers. Then, Tara faces her own internal demons when she is trained by Artemis. She is starting to feel a difference in care and approach between Slade and her new mentors. I feel she is beginning to question her loyalties.

To add, we have two face-offs in ‘Elder Wisdom’. Lex Luthor comes into play to publicly question the involvement of young heroes in dangerous situations. This leads to a confrontation between some members of the Outsiders (El Dorado, Kid Flash, and Wonder Girl) to face their parental figures. Unfortunately for Lex, the two sides decide that this is all for the best, and the adult support quashes Lex’s plan to insist on unmasking of super heroes and registration such as what happened in the past. Sorry Lex, these kids are better at this part of the public arena than you.

Also in ‘Elder Wisdom’, Violet confronts Tara and Brion. She reveals to them that Gabriel (the former persona of her body) had a hand in the murder of their parents. The siblings don’t take this lightly, and Violet decides to leave the her friends without their knowledge.

Finally, there’s a deviousness on the part of the heroes as Batman and Miss Martian staged a confrontation between the Outsiders and Dr Ivo to boost the popularity of the public group. The Outsiders have no knowledge of this setup. Wonder Woman questions this move as they are becoming like the enemy they are trying to defeat.

All in all, this appears to be a win for the Outsiders public group. Though, Lex Luthor appears to have other plans to make the loss into an advantage by embracing this new challenge to The Light’s authority.

YOUNG JUSTICE: OUTSIDERS continues its epic run with a new twist on the story. Currently, the heroes are taken aback by the strategy of their enemies in the public eye. That status quo is changing with a new approach by the Justice League’s younger counterparts. There’s a lot of behind the scenes manipulation, but the balance of power appears to be shifting.If anything, YOUNG JUSTICE: OUTSIDERS is showing us that there is more than one way to win the hearts of the public as it continues to do so as well with the viewers of this series.