GUIDES – RELEASES – DVD – SEASON ONE, VOLUME THREE
Street Date: 02/21/12
Closed Captioning: Yes
MSRP: $14.97
Packaging Type: Eco Amaray Case
Media Quantity: 1
Disc Configuration: DVD 5
Product Language: English
Original Soundtrack Language: English
Run Time: 91 minutesAspect Ratio: Widescreen (16×9)
Sound Quality: English, Spanish, French
Subtitles: EnglishEpisodes:
Bereft
Targets
Terrors
Home Front
Synopsis: The third volume in the animated DC Universe cartoon. Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian and Artemis have become Young Justice – The Justice League’s secret weapon against the forces of evil. The teen heroes will take on under-the-radar missions that would be impossible for the Justice League to handle covertly. Red Tornado will be their supervisor; Black Canary will be in charge of their training and Batman will hand out their assignments. And of course, Young Justice will push their missions, often turning a simple assignment from Batman into something much larger, often discovering that what they’ve been tasked to do is just the tip of the iceberg.
Review:
Four more episodes from the acclaimed Young Justice animated series find their way on to this latest single-disc release from Warner Home Video and, no surprise, they’re just as excellent as any of the previous episodes. Gorgeous (sometimes jaw-dropping) animation, smart writing, likable characters, solid design work, and just so much more, I could easily gush about this show for quite some time. What’s even better is that we start to see the pay-off for a few of the slow-burning subplots, along with actual character growth. It’s great to see a show that, while easily accessible episode to episode, has figured out a way to allow the characters to breathe.
Young Justice is the classic DC Universe come to life. Yes, the show is focusing on a select group of characters, with plenty of others rotating in the background, but this show drips of the DC Universe. The world here feels really tangible. There’s weight to it. It’s not just a show where the setting doesn’t matter – actions have consequences. And as dense and complicated as the DC Universe can be, producers Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti are able to make it pretty open. There are times when fans may wonder who some of the characters are, but that’s a rarity. Die-hard DC fans, however, will notice a constant array of nods and homages in nearly every episode. It is easy to see how this show can seem overwhelming at times, especially given the expansive mythology of the DC Universe, but the creative team is able to use that to their advantage by dropping us into this obviously lived-in world and making these adventures, and this team, matter.
The Young Justice creative team has really found an ingenious little way to make this series appeal to the younger crowd but also bring in the older fans. Long-time fans will get a kick out of seeing what is obviously a very well thought-out premise for the series, steeped in DC mythology, and new viewers will undoubtedly be drawn in by the charismatic main characters. Countless DC heroes are paraded about, acting as mentors and figures to aspire to, allowing for a respectful portrayal of the older heroes. I find that some shows tend to pass the adults off as idiots, but we get none of that here. The older members of the Justice League aren’t the cookie-cutter one-dimensional “we’re the adults and you do as we say!” types, and the younger characters aren’t just looking for kicks, but heroes looking to prove they are ready to do what they’ve been trained for. The episodes included here allow us to get a deeper look at the main characters, definitely helps in making the series premise and its surrounding world a bit more easier to swallow and inviting.
The episodes included are fairly important, a couple of which showing the pay off or the inevitable evolution of ongoing subplots. Episodes that may seem somewhat like filler actually serve to set some foundation for character beats or upcoming plots. It doesn’t hurt that “Targets” and “Home Front” are easily two of the best Young Justice episodes to date.
And, as with the previous DVDs, we get yet another sparse release. Young Justice – Season One, Volume Three arrives in a standard single-disc Eco Amaray case. No inserts or substantial extras of any kind. Disc art is very, very basic (and pictured above) and menus are simple and easy to navigate. Outside of trailers and a digital comic of Young Justice #0, there are zero extras on this set. While the disc may lack bonus features, but the A/V quality here is pretty solid. Audio is a standard English Stereo mix and the video presentation is an anamorphic widescreen encode, resulting in a surprisingly stunning image. Still, this is a show aching for a Blu-ray release. And, personally, I think it’d be a big seller. But what we get here, though somewhat disappointing, is fine. Especially since, based on other Cartoon Network DVD releases from Warner Home Video, these “Season, Volume” releases are going to be the new norm. Still, I wouldn’t write off a Complete First Season release whenever Cartoon Network actually finishes airing the first season …
Overall, it’s a sparse release but one worth at least a rental. Collectors will definitely want to add this to their collections, as well as fans of the show, but the limited selection of episodes does hamper this release. Still, if you’re a fan of the series and want to see some Young Justice on DVD now, then this is a Recommended release. That being said, be mindful to try and find the lowest price. That might offset the low episode count. However, if you’re hoping for more in the future … then you may want to consider holding out for a more substantial release. Will we get that release … hard to say. It’s possible, and even likely, given the history of animation titles from Warner Home Video, but there’s no guarantee right now. Still, until then, I’d suggest picking up Young Justice – Season One, Volume Three. It’s a quality show that deserves the support, and we can only hope said support will lead to bigger and better releases.
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