We’re back with more Young Justice: Invasion as part of our 2018 Summer TV Binge this week as we get the Flash Family on the silver screen for the first time and more as we move into the second quartile of season two. Let’s dive in!
1. The name’s Bart Allen
This episode is one of my favorites in the whole series, I’m just going to lay that card on the table here and now. I think it’s super fun, and Bart Allen, aka Impulse making his debut only just adds to the fun. I love Bart. When I started getting into comics, some of the first things that I read were Geoff Johns and Mike McKone’s “Teen Titans” run with Bart as Kid Flash alongside Tim Drake, Conner Kent, Cassie Sandsmark, Gar, Raven and Starfire, most of which are represented in this show. Bart is such a fun character who has all the wonder and curiosity of Barry and the heart and passion of Wally. It’s a shame he’s been underutilized in comics recently.
Aside from being in a few episodes of Smallville, we haven’t seen a true version of Bart Allen outside of the comics. In this episode he is a fun foil to Nightwing, Barry and Neutron; focused but definitely fun and super excited about meeting all of his ancestors. The man out of time trope, coming in the reverse direction it usually does where it’s someone from the future stranded in the present is a story trope that I usually really enjoy, and so watching Impulse unmask the members of the Team he meets and go all future speak on everyone just puts a smile on my face. Wally is definitely my Flash, having grown up watching Justice League, but Bart is definitely a close second.
2. Flash family forever
Speaking of smiles, how bout that Flash family??? To have Barry and Iris throw Jay and Joan Garrick a 70th wedding anniversary is perfect, and for both Wally and Bart to crash just makes it better. I squeal a little every time because it’s just so much fun to have all the legacy heroes together mentoring, celebrating and inspiring one another. The Flash family is one of the greatest examples of legacy in all of comicdom with all the mentoring from generation to generation and how truly familial it is. Speaking of family, Bart meets his dad and aunt as Iris announces she’s pregnant so bring on Don and Dawn!
Moving from this to the fight scene was also a really wonderful transition as Barry and Bart are way faster than Wally and he struggles to keep up. Barry saves a woman and tells her to head to the corner of Gardner and Fox Streets,a good nod to Jay Garrick co-creator Gardner Fox. Bart totally earns his keep in the fight, and even Jay gets in on the action a little but which I love! I love Jay Garrick’s costume, and I just think the older Justice Society people being around every now and again is great no matter what medium. This show has kept the Justice League members and periphery characters at a distant and really focused just on the Team, rightfully so. It’s good then to get a focus on Barry and the rest of the Flash family and bring in new voices from the League.
3. Why’d you bring the baby?
The subplot of this episode follows up on Red Arrow’s intervention a couple episodes ago as Cheshire revealed to him that she knew where the original Roy Harper was being kept. Roy and Cheshire embark on a quest to liberate him, but there is just one problem, Cheshire brings their kid and it almost gets them killed. I realize it’s for a gag, that’s fine, it’s just the one thing about this episode that over and over again strikes me as odd. But this wouldn’t be the first mama fights with baby scene by a long shot.
4. Metagenes and modes
Crash, modes, and metagenes combine to equal all the fancy future lingo we get in this episode. Or maybe not really fancy future lingo, just words Bart uses and the mysterious aliens watching Neutron also use. It took me multiple watches to realize that the alien words and Bart’s words were connected to the dystopian future Bart seems to come from. Yeah I realize that’s pretty sad.
Continued belowWhat is cool about this, is that this is the first use of the word metagene in this show. The metagene is the DC equivalent of the mutant gene, the thing that when tapped into gives most of Earth’s heroes their powers. Harvesting kids for their metagene powers is what the Kroloteans were up to, and seems to be what these new people have going for them. Bring on more metas!
5. Crashing the mode
The episode begins and ends with Bart coming back to the past, and does the pretty standard giving you part of the story before giving you the full narrative by episode’s end. Bart came back to the past to stop Neutron who would’ve killed Barry Allen and kicked off the horrible future he comes from 40 years in the future. He also knew he was set for a one-way trip. The last scene with Neutron with serious Bart was really cool, and a great forecast for what we have coming since even after saving Barry and fixing Neutron, the future is still bleak. Just means Bart gets to stick around.
That’s it for this week! Sound off in the comments below and come back next week as Kaldur goes toe to toe with the team and the plot continues to thicken.
