Welcome back to Boomb Tube, where we recap your favorite comic book animated series! This week: Young Justice and Green Lantern become somehow sadder and Ultimate Spider-Man makes a lot of cat jokes.
Last week, Green Lantern ended with Aya being disintegrated by the Anti-Monitor. As sad and emotional as that was, this is a comic book adaptation so she came back ten minutes later. In a really great twist though, Aya survived by downloading her AI into a nearby derelict Manhunter unit and arrived on the Interceptor severly disfigured. Razer, her almost-boytoy who was just about to confess his love for her, looks at her, looks at himself, realizes that he was about to make out with a robot only because she looked like his dead wife, and quietly backed off. Even though their interactions were sweet and the robot/meatbag dynamic is hardly the creepiest relationship comics have seen (Here’s to you Hank Pym/Jocasta!), it’s great to see a show aimed at young kids deliver the message that some relationships just aren’t healthy, no matter how right it may feel in the moment. Unfortunately, Aya does not take to kindly to being dumped by Razer so she absorbs the ship’s power core and straight up blasts through The Anti-Monitor (The Anti-Monitor) and takes over his armor and his Manhunter army before declaring war on sentient life. Because this show may be sincere and poignant, but goddamn does it kick a lot of ass too.
Review Score: 9/10
This week, Young Justice focused on a group of kids who we’re not allowed to call The Runaways because Brian K. Vaughn but consist of some kids who were experimented on by The Reach. These kids include one Vergil Hawkins who everyone still refuses to call Static, a politically correct Apache Chief, and some other kids I don’t recognize. If you have any idea who they are please feel free to tell us in the comments! The Runaways, who we’re not allowed to call The Runaways because Brian K. Vaughan, escape from Project Cadmus where they were experimented upon by Cadmus for the League. They’re pursued by Cadmus but refuse to go back due to hating the experiments. Instead, they hang out with Blue Beetle who is friends with Tye, the PC Apache Chief from before. Jamie’s about to take them all to Green Beetle when Red Volcano attacks Cadmus in search for Amazo’s CPU which was just dropped off by the League. The Runaways and Beetle go back to help them fight when Beetle, recently freed from The Scarab’s grip, goes HAM and almost destroys Cadmus while fighting Red Volcano. Volcano is defeated and Beetle gets swept up by the ensuing press coverage while The Runaways run away. Lex Luthor shows up in a fly limo, his only mode of transport besides battle suit, and tells the kids how he arranged for Beetle to get distracted by the media and offers to be their patron. The kids agree and before you can think they’re making a terrible choice, Blue Beetle shows up with Green and Black Beetle to reveal that Green Lantern didn’t disable The Scarab; he activated it. Oops.
Review Score: 8/10
Over on Ultimate Spider-Man, White Tiger’s powers began fluctuating which lead to everyone, from the other characters to the viewers, to remember that she had powers. Due to Kraven showing up to hunt her down, White Tiger began turning feral and it was up to Spidey and the other teen heroes to save her. They all learned that Kraven actually hunted and murdered White Tiger’s father and grandfather, the other White Tigers, and is searching for Ava’s amulet. The amulet, it turns out, gives White Tiger her powers but it takes her a great deal of concentration to stay disciplined and not give in to “The Tiger”; the desire to give in now growing thanks to Kraven’s arrival. Spider-Man and his amazing friends help her resist, but the amulet ends up in Kraven’s hands anyway. Then, after Kraven puts on the amulet, it turns out that giving in to “The Tiger” isn’t the same as going feral, but literally turning into a tiger. I have absolutely no clue if that’s part of White Tiger’s comics continuity but I pray so. Spidey and White Tiger beat up the white tiger Kraven the day is saved. This sounds like an episode of Ultimate that took itself relatively serious, but that’s ruined by every other character’s “witty” remarks that sound like a middle aged man writing “kids these days”. There was one moment in particular, between Ava and Peter, where they had an awkward hug with hints of romantic tension that made both feel awkward which felt like an honest moment. Then Nova burst in on his iPhone’s camera and decalred “AW YEAH! THIS IS GOING ON THE INTERNET! THEY LOVE CAT VIDEOS!” I may be overexagerrating but I seriously hope this is what every teenager sounds like to older people.
Review Score 6/10
