This Saturday at 10 am on Cartoon Network, the DC Nation block of animated programs launches into all new episodes of Young Justice: Invasion and Green Lantern: The Animated Series. Of course, the icing on this animated cake of awesomeness is that we’ll also get brand-new installments of DC Nation shorts. That’s right. More Mad Presents... That's What Super Friends Are For! More The Batman of Shanghai!
Okay, some of you are likely freaking out with us right now while the rest of you are looking at us strangely. Well, don't back out of the room slowly just yet and ignore the crazed look in our eyes for a moment because we're about the give you 5.2 Reasons that DC Nation Is the Greatest Thing in the History of Everything Ever!
Nope. That title is a bit unruly and just makes us sound more crazy-go-nuts. Okay, let's try that again.
The return of the DC Nation has a lot of us pretty excited. Sure it reminds us of watching Saturday morning cartoons during our younger years, but also... well, here's the 5.2 Reasons We Love DC Nation!
1. All Ages Means All Ages
These days, when someone hears the term "all ages," they tend to interpret it as meaning "just for kids." Admittedly, sometimes this is the case. But other times, like with Young Justice and Green Lantern, all ages means literally that. While the show is perfect for younger fans—ripe with action and adventure—there are plenty of sophisticated themes and complex characters that will entice older viewers as well. Characters die, one guy loses a limb, and there are jokes that will give older viewers quite a laugh (especially one from Artemis about something being "not in a fun way").
2. Intricate Plots
Storytelling is a tricky thing. Sometimes you get all this build-up that never pays off and lets you down (we're lost on an example of that one), but other times you get mind-blowing revelations that compel you to go back and re-watch earlier episodes to catch the clues that were there all along. Young Justice especially has this in spades. Heck, even the opening scene from the first episode, which has the teen heroes taking down ice-themed villains, actually has a pay off near the end of the season.
3. Complex Characters
Throughout the course of the first 13 episodes of Green Lantern, viewers saw Razer go from villainous Red Lantern to courageous hero and Kilowog went from being badass to being even more awesomely badass (dude took on an armada!). Young Justice is no slouch in this department either. Every character goes from misleadingly one-note in the first episode to deeply and incredibly complex—none more so than Miss Martian. We must have sat with our jaw on the floor for an hour after viewing the episode "Image." Literally mind-blowing—as in a character actually got his mind blown. Ha! Jokes are fun... Seriously, though, that episode was crazy.
4. Something for the Fans
As comic fans, we get a bit of a thrill from noticing and pointing out things regular viewers might miss. The creators of Green Lantern and Young Justice love this fact as both shows are filled with hidden Easter Eggs and nods to comics and continuity. One episode of Green Lantern was practically straight up an adaptation of "Mogo Doesn't Socialize" and even the preview image below of the upcoming episode of Young Justice has a little nod to comic continuity:
5. DC Nation Shorts
We mentioned these earlier during our intro, but we really want to stress how awesome these are. They're delightfully hilarious and as comic fans it sort of amazes in the best way possibly that cartoons starring Animal Man and Plastic Man exists. Last season we saw great stuff like New Teen Titans and DC's World's Funnest (from Aardman, the animation studio behind Wallace and Gromit), and this season already has lined up Thunder & Lightning, Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld and a new series of shorts mashing up the Justice League with the animal kingdom.
5.1 Dick Grayson is Absolutely Awesome
5.2 Lauren Faust's Super Best Friends Forever
