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One Hot Panel: Young Justice #14...now with more young justice

By Zack Quaintance — “Jeez, DC Comics sure has a lot of young superheroes just sort of lying around and not doing anything in any regular capacity,”…is what writers Brian Michael Bendis & David F. Walker and artist John Timms must have said when they conceived of the current story arc in the publisher’s youth superhero title, Young Justice. For a few issues now, the story has steadily been pulling in more and more youthful heroes from the publisher’s deep bench — and now we get to see them all together.

The result is visual fireworks. That’s kind of an empty hyperbolic phrase (hey, this is superhero comics we’re talking about), so I’ll elaborate. Young Justice #14’s critical mass of superheroes enables Timms (who is colored here by Gabe Eltaeb) to draw a number of memorable, colorful spreads that are just brimming with characters and kinetic energy.

These spreads are so good, in fact, that it has led Young Justice #14 to be this week’s selection for One Hot Panel, our weekly art showcase that is inexplicably named after one of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ lesser albums from the mid ‘90s. Enough rambling, though…let’s get on to these panels. Enjoy!

In Young Justice #14, artist John Timms and colorist Gabe Eltaeb team up for a number of excellent two-page spreads. Not one…

Not two…

Not three…

But four, excellent two-page spreads here!

And preponderance of hot panels aside, Young Justice #14 is really just an all-around strong issue, all the way up to the point where the STAR Labs lady promises to clear up the question that’s been hanging over this team and this series from the start….where have these characters been and why don’t they remember each other!? Great stuff.

Young Justice #14
Writers:
Brian Michael Bendis & David F. Walker
Artists: John Timms & Michael Avon Oeming
Colorist: Gabe Eltaeb
Letterer: Wes Abbott
Publisher: DC Comics - Wonder Comics
Solicit: Now that Young Justice has figured out who the bad guys are, it's time to bring the fight to S.T.A.R. Labs' front door! But the combined forces of Dial H for Hero, the Wonder Twins, Naomi, and the entire Young Justice roster may not be enough to defeat these evil scientists. It's time to call in some super-powered backup...the new Young Justice! Plus, how will Superman revealing his secret identity affect Conner Kent?

Click here for past installments of One Hot Panel.

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.