Welcome back to Whelmed Wednesday everyone! With so many new characters and special easter eggs introduced in Young Justice, we thought we'd start a new series highlighting these characters' comics history so we can all get better acquainted with them. Granted, the writers love to take libirties and put refreshing spins on the majority of these characters, but there's still plenty of useful information to be gleaned from their respective comics. As the fandom knows, a character with a name and a voice has a thought-out history on Earth-16, and much more often than not, a deeper connection to the DC universe at large. More can be written about either of those subjects, but today we are going to take a look at some of the Conservation of Characters that have happened in this latest arc of the show.
- Jason Bard: Starting off with likely the most polarizing choice, we have Artemis’ new boyfriend. Despite not having a double consonant name (Billy Batson, Guy Gardner, etc.) he first appeared in Detective Comics #392, published in 1969. He has often been tied to the both Gotham and the Gordons, namely Barbara. He also has a history of having been wounded in the line of duty and having to pursue other avenues of work. It is great to see that aspect remain and that representation on screen. Our prevailing theory is that he has dated Barbara in his YJ iteration, but that has yet to be fully confirmed.
- Onyx: Less controversial to the fandom and less trustworthy, we have Onyx Adams. She entered the DC Universe in Detective Comics #546, published in January of 1985. Originally working alongside Green Arrow, they both fought a monk named Lars who killed their mutual master of the monastery they both trained at. This was after her time in the League of Assassins and training under Lady Shiva, and after she had already gained a reputation as a street fighter and hit woman. It seem as if the some of the aspects of her past have been avoided, but is replaced by tying back to the Amazing-Man through a casual name drop.
- Rictus: We will round out this trio of Conserved Characters with Rictus. Probably our favorite pull because it seems to be a cut that is the deepest by far. From what we can tell, Rictus appeared in Red Hood and the Outlaws #21, published in August of 2013, and only shows up in a handful of issues in that run of comics. Using cybernetic enhancements to augment themselves, they were able to gain superhuman strength and stamina as well as density control. They were also tied to the League of Assassins and seem to have trained the Red Hood at one point. It remains to be seen if Jason Todd is officially in this season, or what Rictus’ role would be in his training. What does seem to be true is the possible use of Father Box tech to enhance themselves.
We can’t wait to dive deeper into the countless characters that have been and will be introduced as the season goes on, and maybe even dive deeper into older seasons as well.
Who is your favorite character to show up from the greater DC Universe? What character do you hope gets some screen time in the show? Let us know in the forum, or on our Twitter; we love hearing from you!