Monday Memories #52 - Young Justice #31

Each Monday this past year I've been taking a look back at a random comic, prestige format issue, graphic novel or collection of reprints from amongst my 3,000 or so comics that date from 1962 to 2003 - I figured anything in the last ten years would be too recent to hark back to.

The comics were chosen completely at random and apart from a four week lead-in period, even I didn't know what I'd be looking at in the weeks ahead!

And now here we are, number 52, one entire year's worth of posts completed. What am I going to do on a Monday now . . . ?

YOUNG JUSTICE #31 - May 2001

There was a time, not that long ago, when Superboy, Robin and Impulse hung round together before they joined the Teen Titans, when they - along with Wonder Girl, Arrowette and the Secret - were known as Young Justice. And oh, those days were fun . . .

This issue begins with Superboy shouting at Impulse to be quiet as he's trying to watch a very important TV show:

Yep, the Cheerleader Championship as hosted by Terri Jewel Jackson, otherwise known as TV's Wendy the Werewolf Slayer and on whom Superboy has a major crush.

Annoyed at Superboy for shouting at him, Impulse heads out the door and into a series of vignettes including rescuing a lady tied to a train track from the cloaked and top hatted villain standing over her. Her reaction, though, isn't what he expected:

Next is a Librarian's Book Fair (cue all of them Shhhhing him); a mime troupe; a deaf guy; a wax modle of the Flash; and even a bunch of monks on a picnic:

He ends up at the arena hosting the Cheerleader Championships only to find the mimes from earlier robbing the place. As he chases them inside, the leader takes Terri Jewel Jackson hostage and holds a gun to her head - not a problem for the fastest kid around who not only empties the bullets from the gun but also gets the girl as Superboy watches from home:

It's a splendid issue told entirely (well, with the exception of two words) silently. What little dialogue Impulse has is pictorial allowing the wonderful art of Todd Nauck and Lary Stucker to shine, making the most of their comedic stylings.

The entire series was fun and I still miss it - I don't think there's anything similar in the New 52 at the moment which is a darn shame. Epic, dark stories are all well and good but in a shared universe the size of DC's, surely there's room for some gently silliness every now and then? (And yes, I'm all too well aware of Larfleeze . . . which really should be better than it is.)