Thoughtnami

Dang, so Young Justice really was going an extra mile or two by introducing a more diverse cast of nonexistent characters and going out of the way to insert fresh ones as well. Most impressive. I knew I liked it for a good reason!

Oh, a lot of those characters existed. Bumblebee and Mal Duncan were the among first Black superheros at DC Comics back in the 70s, and the “runaways” were pastiches of Super Friends characters (as were Marvin White and Wendy Harris) , while Static, representing the Black Vulcan of the group, was already preexisting.

I do love the fact they put Static (even though that name was never said, everybody knew that’s who he was), Rocket, and Icon on the series, introducing those Milestone characters to an audience who would never know about them in the first place. 

That’s the one thing I hated about the New 52. Even though they claimed to be a more diverse universe (pointing at Cyborg’s inclusion in Justice League and the Batwing, Static Shock, and Voodoo books as further proof), a lot of the original universe’s diverse characters were completely purged, including the fairly new versions of Azrael, The Question, and Aqualad.

I’m still ticked this is the last time we’ll see Wally West in anything for quite a while. 

But I’ve digressed long enough.

Just a note, Miss Martian does exist (only referenced in a background cameo) and Tim Drake was never Robin III (Dick Grayson was Robin I, Jason Todd was Robin II, Tim Drake was/is Red Robin, and Damian Wayne was Robin IV). But, hey, close.

Re: Miss Martian - I’ll allow it, though for all we know, it could have been Martian Manhunter in disguise. He is one to shapeshift to female forms from time to time.

Re: Robin III - Well, in the main comics continuity, yes, but on the series, Tim Drake was the third Robin. The second Robin, Jason Todd, was seen in a memorial hologram beneath the Hall of Justice. He died in battle in an fight unseen by the masses.

Additionally, Arsenal, but he had a debatable position on the teams.

Red Arrow was on the Justice League, not the nameless sidekick team, and his clone Arsenal also wasn’t on the team. But yes, the original Roy Harper still exists in the New 52 DC Universe. 

Want to see adventures of your favorite Young Justice heroes after the show and comics end? Well, you’re in luck. DC Comics will likely not have anything featuring the characters you’ve enjoyed since the series premiered.

(I didn’t say you were in GOOD luck)

If you’re looking for the “classic lineup,” only Dick Grayson and Superboy (Connor Kent) are alive and existing in the current DC Comics “New 52” Universe. As for the others:

Wally West (Kid Flash): Doesn’t exist.

Miss Martian: Aside from a few possible cameos, hasn’t been seen in action in any regular series since 2011.

Artemis Crock: Dead. Her death was a motivator for the other heroes to be inspired to fight. Yep. Fridged.

Kaldur’ahm (Aqualad): The Powers-That-Be promised he’d be in the new Teen Titans book, but that was almost two years ago, and no sign, so … he currently doesn’t exist. 

As for the members of the team after the five-year jump, you’ll have better luck.  Cassie Sandmark (Wonder Girl), Barbara Gordon (Batgirl), Tim Drake (Robin III, yes, Robin III), Garfield Logan (Beast Boy), Bart Allen (Impluse), Jaime Reyes (Blue Beetle), and Zatanna Zatara in the mainline DC books.

Raquel Erwin (Rocket) is in the New 52 continuity of DC Comics as is “runaway” member Virgil Hawkins (Static), but aren’t in the books at this time due to DC not really giving a damn about the Milestone characters in the first place unknown reasons between Milestone Media (owners of the characters) and DC Comics (publishers of the characters). La’Gann (Lagoon Boy), Mal Duncan (Guardian II)  and Karen Beecher (Bumblebee) don’t exist in the New 52 DCU. 

The “runaways” (Tye Longshadow [Apache Chief], Asami “Sam” Koizuni [Samurai], and Eduardo “Ed” Dorado Jr.[El Dorado]) aren’t in the New 52 DCU either.

Still going to miss Young Justice. Such diversity and great characters. 

… it would be nicer if they put some of the many OTHER new non-Teen Titans DC Nation shorts that’s already done.

Otherwise, it kind of cements the belief they only want to see the more comedic Teen Titans Go instead of Young Justice every week. 

Here’s what I don’t understand about the whole DC Nation removal by Cartoon Network, besides the obvious (you know, the fact they removed the block two weeks after it returned):

Why are people blaming Young Justice’s inclusion of Stephanie Brown and the Milestone characters for it?

I’m scratching my head about why DC Comics seem to get rid of anything involving Stephanie Brown, a character who has gone by many monikers, including Spoiler, Robin, and Batgirl. They replaced her as Nightwing in the Smallville comics (they replaced her with Barbara Gordon), and hasn’t really appeared in the New 52 DC Comics universe.

Of course, neither has Cassandra Cain, but it seems more people tend to care more about Stephanie because … um, line please?

But then the fact that people are blaming the fact that there’s some kind of situation with the rights with the Milestone characters. Two of them, Icon and Rocket, previously appeared on the series, and another, Virgil Hawkins (better known by most folks as Static but erroneously referred to by many as Static Shock), was scheduled to be in the new episode. And if Milestone Media is having issues with the way DC Comics is handling their properties … more power to them! After the barely-there merger of the Dakota and DC Universes and the travesty that was Static Shock (mired by a lot of behind-the-scenes drama), DC Comics treated those properties like crap.

Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti gave Icon and Rocket their biggest audience by putting them on Young Justice, but now, maybe Milestone is looking to bring those characters elsewhere in another platform especially considering DC Comics isn’t willing or even thinking of giving those characters another showcase any time soon in any medium. It’s weird.

But right now, as far as I’ve been studying the situation, neither of those cases are the reason Cartoon Network scrapped DC Nation until at least January. Want to know why?

Because Green Lantern’s gone too.

Green Lantern didn’t have any issues that could have proven problematic as rights issues or some weird hang-up about a character some folks have an issue with for some odd reason. DC Comics owns everything about Green Lantern lock, stock, and barrel.

If there was an issue with ONE show, they wouldn’t get rid of BOTH shows.

It wasn’t a ratings issue either. Both Green Lantern and Young Justice have been strong performers for the network’s Saturday morning block, even against heavy-hitters like Spongebob Squarepants and Phineas and Ferb. 

It has nothing to do with Cartoon Network’s poorly-managed 20th anniversary programming (I’ll explain why it’s poorly-managed on another site later on).  Otherwise, they’d bring it back in November, not January.

So, what’s the real reason for why DC Nation was scrapped until January? Nobody knows. But I have a theory:

Cartoon Network paid a lot of money for a series that just isn’t working out for them.

The series spinoff of How to Train Your Dragon, Dragons: Riders of Berk, hasn’t been doing well on Cartoon Network’s lineup. The series recently moved from Tuesday nights to Wednesday nights. And they’re not doing well there either. So, and this is me doing some critical thinking, they started airing reruns on Saturday mornings after Clone Wars to try to siphon that series’ audience to watch that show. If audience numbers grow, Cartoon Network would more likely move the premiere of the new episodes to Saturday mornings after Clone Wars, probably in November. And by the time the series finishes its first season of 20 episodes on Saturday morning, DC Nation will return in its slot, and they’ll have an audience for Dragons when the second cycle of 20 episodes air. 

Call me strange for thinking about this theory, but aside from declaring the programmers of Cartoon Network to be complete idiots, I have nothing else.

Just a theory, mind you.