After a far-too-long absence, we pick up the story(s) for the second half of this series taking us into outer-space, Russia, funfairs and the curious domesticity of a first Thanksgiving for a number of characters. I still have no idea what’s going on in terms of a big picture, but it’s such fun finding out…

Television animation is a fairly misunderstood beast – often because over the years, from the shorts of the 50s, the adventures of the 60s, and the cheap pap of the 70s and 80s, it was disposable and unimaginative (obviously there are exceptions but they’re few and far between). It really wasn’t until Bruce Timm’s Batman: The Animated Series that people began to see just what could be created on a small-screen budget. Sadly, whilst Timm himself was able to keep the quality of his passionate love of the medium through The New Adventures of Batman, both incarnations of Justice League, Batman Beyond and The Zeta Project, TV never really challenged itself to build upon the rebirth he gave them, both in terms of storytelling or detailed animation.

What this third series of Young Justice has given us however is a beautiful melding of directing, storyboarding, animating and music that enables the stories on display to be told both as an exciting adventure thrillride as well as that rarest of animation beasts, a powerful set of emotional vignettes. Never has this been more evident in the closing moments of Leverage and especially the pre-credits sequence for Illusion of Control where characters tell us how they feel, the sense of sadness or excitement, a feeling of anticipation and fear – all told without a single line of dialogue being uttered. If these three episodes offer us nothing else, these two brief but powerful segments of pure animated artistry are worth the price of admission alone.

But of course, all three episodes often significantly more than just that. Influence is more a Justice League story than a Young Justice one, with Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Hawkwoman (huzzah not Hawkgirl any longer) out in deep space, facing slaughter on Thanager and then facing an attack from Darkseid’s forces head on, led by Big Barda and her Furies, backed up by Granny Goodness and Desaad. But woven into that are beats of the Outsiders, other members of Young Justice and the world at large seeing (without realising it) just what the League are fighting for. And for Easter egg fans, they throw in some nods to previous animated classics: we see the original Justice League series logo and the Batman: The Animated Series Commissioner Gordon, plus at one point Superman echoes his 1960s Filmation counterpart by saying “Great Scott” in fab impersonation of Bud Collyer. Finally, moving away from animation but still said with a knowing DC wink and smile, G Gordon Godfrey looks straight into the camera and asks “Who Watches the Watchmen?”.

Leverage is a straightforward ‘secret mission’ episode as Tigress takes her Gamma team on an illicit mission to Russia to investigate the local Justice League-alikes, the Rocket Red Brigade. The Rockets look curiously like the MCU version of Iron Man, a peculiar misstep for this series because by the time your head stops going “hang on that’s Iron Man” you’ve missed half the plot. And sadly, there’s another misstep (or two) in this instalment, which pains me because I loathe having to criticise performances – could no one in the voice directing department find any Australian actors. Seriously – Captain Boomerang’s accent is not great but oh dear, Windfall’s is a huge mistake guys!

The episode also brings into focus El Dorado, the young meta-human from the tail end of Season 2 working at the Taos Project alongside his dad, trying to help other young meta-humans get to grips with their new powers. And back in the world of Young Justice itself, Halo is having revealing flashbacks to her life as Gabrielle…

Finally, Illusion of Control, sees El Dorado’s team, aided by Beast Boy (emerging by the way as the standout character of this third series) attacked at the fairground by what appears to be Count Vertigo – but as a swift kick to the balls later shows us (has that particular painful punishment ever been shown in a ‘kids’ cartoon before?), it’s in fact master illusionist Psimon. There’s some lovely character work here as behind everything going on amidst the action, we see Static feeling very lonely and in need of a girlfriend – which is then echoed in the family environs of Thanksgiving where an equally lonely Cyborg refuses to join in, despite Forager’s attempts to make him feel part of the gang. This in turn is offset against Tigress’s continuing to enjoy her new role as tutor to the younger heroes until her wheelchair-bound mother Paula, the former villain Huntress, discovers the truth and lectures her. And to top it off, suggests Tigress shags with her dead sister’s husband! We’re back into the soap opera territory that, when well-balanced, can add a lot of weight to these people.

Verdict: All in all, these three episodes are a resoundingly high quality return for this third run of Young Justice and surely confirmation of a fourth run can’t be far away – everyone involved in this, both crew, cast and especially the loyal viewers deserves to be rewarded to be able to access a further animation series of such high quality. 11/10!

Gary Russell