Young Justice #20

Young Justice: Invasion – Volume One TP
Writers: Greg Weisman
Artists: Christopher Jones
Collects: Young Justice #20-25
$12.99 US, 160 pg

With Volumes 1-3 the collected tie-in comic for the Young Justice animated TV series in print, I had been hoping for some news on a Young Justice: Volume 4, but it seems instead that the last 6 issues will be collected as Young Justice Invasion: Volume 2.  It’s funny that they went that way – when we were talking about the comic making the jump to the timeframe from Season 2 of the show, there was talk of rebranding the comic as Young Justice: Invasion and getting a new #1 issue. But that didn’t happen – they just continued on with the existing title and numbering, just designating the “Invasion” storyline with a subtitle and numbering it as 1-6 of 6. I guess someone decided that Young Justice: Invasion Volume 1 was more marketable than Young Justice: Volume 4. Fair enough.

Young Justice #23

Young Justice #24

Young Justice #25

The book won’t be out until December. I’m not sure why there’s such a delay, but better late than never! Young Justice recently aired its final episode earlier this month on Cartoon Network. The series is set to remain in reruns for at least a couple more weeks before being shuffled out of the DC Nation programming block. A lot of people are looking for ways to show their support for the Young Justice series right now, and pre-ordering this would definitely be one way to do so! Or, you could just pick it up when it comes out because it’ll be a good read!

Until then, Volumes 1-3 of the COLLECTED Young Justice are available NOW!
Look for them at your local comic shop or bookstore, or order a copy online!

VOLUME 1 Collecting #0-06! $12.99

VOL. 2 – Training Day Collecting #07-13! $12.99

VOL. 3 – Creature Features Collecting #14-19! $12.99

Young Justice #24

Young Justice #24, the latest issue of the DC Comics title based on the current Cartoon Network animated series of the same name, arrives in comic book and hobby stores today. Young Justice #24 continues its initial arc featuring the characters and setting from the Young Justice: Invasion second-season story-arc. Official details and preview pages are available below.

Preview Page 1

Preview Page 2

Preview Page 3

 
YOUNG JUSTICE #24: INVASION 5 of 6
Written by Greg Weisman
Drawn by Christopher Jones
Color by Zac Atkinson
Cover by: Christopher Jones

• Deadshot attempts assassination!
• Batgirl fights alone against Match!
• Kylstar decimates Superboy and the Justice League!
• Nightwing’s team fails against Brainiac!

The cover price is $2.99US.
Be sure to pick the issue up at your local comics shop or in digital form!

And don’t miss the COLLECTED Young Justice!

YOUNG JUSTICE: VOLUME ONE
Features issues #0-6. Cover Price: $12.99

YOUNG JUSTICE: VOLUME TWO – TRAINING DAY
Features issues #7-13. Cover Price: $12.99

and coming NEXT MONTH:

YOUNG JUSTICE: VOLUME THREE – CREATURE FEATURES
Features issues #14-19! Cover Price: $12.99
Release Date: February 13th, 2013

Mine, all MIne! (Until February)

Young Justice #23

Young Justice #23, the latest issue of the DC Comics title based on the current Cartoon Network animated series of the same name, arrives in comic book and hobby stores today. Young Justice #23 continues its initial arc featuring the characters and setting from the Young Justice: Invasion second-season story-arc. Official details and preview pages are available below.

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Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

Kylstar has imprisoned Superboy and four of the most powerful members of the Justice League on the moon! After he refuses to let them go, our heroes have no choice but to fight Kylstar for their freedom. Will they be strong enough to defeat him? Meanwhile, Martian Manhunter, The Flash and The Atom travel to Brainiac’s spaceship to convince him to release Metropolis from his force field. Can they change his mind or are the city and the heroes trapped within it doomed?

The cover price is $2.99US.
Be sure to pick the issue up at your local comics shop or in digital form!

Young Justice: Invasion returns to Cartoon Network with new episodes on January 5.

And don’t miss the COLLECTED Young Justice!

YOUNG JUSTICE: VOLUME ONE
Features issues #0-6. Cover Price: $12.99

YOUNG JUSTICE: VOLUME TWO – TRAINING DAY
Features issues #7-13.  Cover Price: $12.99

and coming in 2013:

YOUNG JUSTICE: VOLUME THREE – CREATURE FEATURES
Features issues #14-19! Cover Price: $12.99
Release Date: February 13th, 2013

Young Justice #22 Cover

Young Justice #21, the latest issue of the DC Comics title based on the current Cartoon Network animated series of the same name, arrives in comic book and hobby stores TODAY.

In case you missed it, YOUNG JUSTICE has jumped five years ahead to mirror the hit Cartoon Network animated series, Young Justice: Invasion. The team’s new adventures continue in YOUNG JUSTICE #22.

Brainiac has trapped Metropolis within a force field and only the Young Justice team and the Justice League can save them! Little do they know, Lex Luthor’s secret weapon has just escaped and is ready to wreak havoc on the city. Can the teams save their friends and the citizens of Metropolis in time? Meanwhile, Superboy and four very powerful members of the League discover who has imprisoned them on the moon. Can they escape to help their friends on earth before it’s too late? Or will they be trapped in space forever?

YOUNG JUSTICE #22, in stores tomorrow, is written by Greg Weisman and illustrated by Christopher Jones.

Preview Page 1

Preview Page 2

Preview Page 3

Preview Page 4

Preview Page 5

And don’t forget to grab your copy of the COLLECTED Young Justice! If you know a Young Justice fan, they make great gifts!

In stores NOW:

YOUNG JUSTICE: VOLUME ONE
Features issues #0-6. Cover Price: $12.99

YOUNG JUSTICE: VOLUME TWO – TRAINING DAY
Features issues #7-13. Cover Price: $12.99

and coming in 2013:

YOUNG JUSTICE: VOLUME THREE – CREATURE FEATURES
Features issues #14-19!
Release Date: February 13th, 2013 Cover Price: $12.99

This was another issue where we were able to sort through some cover ideas in email conversation so I didn’t have to do a bunch of sketches that weren’t going to be used. Since I knew our villain was a redesigned (by me) Kylstar, I thought it would be fun to do a close up of our bad guy and show the heroes facing him reflected in the facets of his crystalline form. Of course, we’d used that trick a couple of times before, most notably on the cover to Young Justice #09 which showed the team reflected on the surface of the metallic body of Captain Atom. (Check out Creating a Cover: Young Justice #9 for more information on that!)

Young Justice #09 cover

Of course then it occurred to me – Kylstar is a Captain Atom villain! There’s a connection! Which means this could be an homage! Or at least that provided an excuse…

Young Justice #23 cover layout

This is the “proof of concept” sketch I submitted for approval, based on email discussions with my editor Sarah Gaydos and series writer Greg Weisman. I posed Kylstar as similarly to Captain Atom as his very different proportions would allow. I also brought his hand up into the shot to further mimic the Captain Atom image. Having his hand in the frame also gave me more facets to play with for images.

On the Captain Atom cover I had one image of the team reflected across his body. With Kylstar, I thought it would be fun to have fragmented images of the heroes repeating across his various facets. I wanted to strategically feature good reflections of the heroes, but then fill other facets with random fragments of reflections. I didn’t want this to become a flat, two-dimensional mosaic of reflections, so I planned the shot to use edge lighting on the facets at fairly oblique angles to bring out the dimensionality of the Kylstar figure, while using the facets facing us more flat-on for the reflections.

This concept was enthusiastically approved, so it was time to actually draw the cover!

Young Justice #23 cover – inks

Notice that I repositioned Kylstar slightly in the finished artwork. The changes are subtle, but I was trying to maximize the dynamics of the composition. I made more obvious changes to what reflections went where.

You can see that some portions of this artwork are in black and others are in grey. The black image featuring Kylstar was drawn as one piece of artwork, and the reflections of the heroes seen here in gray were drawn separately. This allowed me to play with the placement of the reflections and have bits of the reflections repeat on different Kylstar facets. The artwork was submitted to colorist Zac Atkinson with the reflections as a separate layer, hopefully making it easier for him to work with them at the coloring stage. Or at least giving him the option of isolating them more easily, depending on his process.

YJ #23 cover tones & reflections

I wanted to make sure that my original intent for how this should be treated tonally was communicated, so I applied the approach from my original proof-of-concept sketch to the inks to create this reference guide which I also sent to Zac.

Young Justice #23

Here is the stunning result of Zac’s coloring. I especially love the treatment he gave to Kylstar’s eyes. I’d originally imagined them a cyan color, but I think the burning yellow-orange makes for a great contrast with the cool blues of the rest of the image.

Look for more of Kylstar in coming issues of Young Justice! Issue #20 will be out THIS WEDNESDAY, which represents the comic’s shift to the Season 2 / Young Justice: Invasion time-frame. You can find Young Justice at your local comics shop or in digital form!

Young Justice #23

YOUNG JUSTICE #23
Written by GREG WEISMAN
Art and cover by CHRISTOPHER JONES
Color by ZAC ATKINSON
On sale December 19 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED E

• Batgirl takes on Match — alone!
• Alpha Squad infiltrates Brainiac’s ship as it hovers above Metropolis!
• Superboy and the Justice League battle their captor, Kylstar!

That’s the info from the official DC solicitation. The action is getting pretty epic, I can assure you! I’m still having a great time drawing the new Season 2 Young Justice characters, plus all the amazing guest heroes and villains! This is the full reveal of the cover I was teasing a few weeks ago, showing the villain Kylstar. He’s an existing character – a lesser-known bad guy from Greg Weisman’s days on Captain Atom – but he’s been given a bit of a Young Justice makeover. And the Justice League are in trouble! The Invasion continues!

Young Justice #19 is still on the stands, and #20 will be out THIS WEDNESDAY! You can find Young Justice at your local comics shop or in digital form!

Young Justice #22

YOUNG JUSTICE #22
Written by GREG WEISMAN
Art and cover by CHRISTOPHER JONES
Color by ZAC ATKINSON
On sale NOVEMBER 21 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED E

• The Invasion continues!
• Earth’s greatest heroes are kidnapped by Kylstar!
• Brainiac has Metropolis under glass and Lex Luthor’s secret weapon is on the loose!

Those are the things DC chose to plug in the solicitation, but the online Dick/Babs “shippers” are already geeking out over the Nightwing/Batgirl moment captured on the cover!

I’m having a great time drawing all the new Season 2 Young Justice characters, plus all the amazing guest heroes and villains! Young Justice #18 is still on the stands, and #19 will be out soon. You can find Young Justice at your local comics shop or in digital form!