Urban Knight

Hooo boy. I can tell this is going to be an interesting thing to write. But it's kind of been on my mind lately with the number of people upset over 'Kid Poison Ivy' in the Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League game. So what's my stance on this?

I think it does more harm than good. Ultimately. 

 I was eight years old when I first discovered Static. He was fourteen in the show. This was a guy I looked up to as a child because obviously - he was at a stage in his life I wasn't at yet. Teenagers are naturally cooler to you as a kid because they're more mature (relatively speaking) and are practically in training to be adults. They're on their way to heading to a part of life that you haven't even begun to tackle yet and they lay out something of a blueprint for you to follow - for you to imitate as you get older. 

Do you know how fucking weird it is to look at a fourteen-year-old Static in recent days and my grown ass just turned thirty-two last week? It's some motivational whiplash, lemme tell you.

I imagine this is one thing that upset people about Tom Holland's Spider-Man when he was introduced into the MCU. So many people complained about him being 'Iron Boy' and being so young, even though - this was the roots of the character. Spider-Man was just as much of a teen as Static was. As much of a teen as Dick Grayson was. Or Jubilee from X-Men. And I picked those last two very purposefully because they're well-established at this point as having grown up. They've moved onto the next stage of their life where they tackle issues as adults. 

Meanwhile, we look over to some of our favorite heroes and characters who seem to get the reset button hit on them every so often. Not allowed to become an adult. They stay kids. And as someone who's grown up with the character, this becomes understandably irritating.  Why can't I see this character grow with me?  Are we going to act like it's so important that they stay exactly the same as they were decades ago? Especially when there are characters that have been allowed to age and are doing better for it.

Now I'm not going to shit on Static/DC Comics/Milestone for this too much because a little-known fact is that he was held up in legal issues for the better part of a decade. It's a wonder things were done with him at all in the 2010s so yeah. Of course, he unironically stayed 'static' during this period. But I bring this issue up because I've seen it done very purposefully for very stupid reasons. Ekko from League of Legends comes to mind seeing as Taliyah somehow went from his age to being a young adult and Ekko is somehow still a teenager? It took Arcane for him to even be aged up to an adult and that's some WILD shit considering it (formerly) was set in a universe separate from League's own and it's before he even has his Z-Drive. The writers of Arcane looked at the characters of Vi, Jinx and Caitlyn and understood; 'Hold up. Ekko needs to grow up WITH them for this to feel like a natural world.' And this is even before he becomes the Ekko we know.  Think about that.

But as much as keeping Ekko 'The Boy who shattered time' has pissed me off over the years, nothing takes the cake like fucking Ash Ketchum. 

I had to google this because I legitimately stopped caring. But there's been twenty-five seasons of Pokemon. And in all this time...Ash somehow is still goddamn ten years old. You realize he was ten when I was five, right? Like any other kid I was part of the Pokemon craze back in the nineties and I used to love the shit out of Ash. Again. Relatability. Blueprint to look up to. But I've eclipsed this character by two decades. Hell, the character has more seasons of the show than his actual age. And you know honestly when I heard he finally won a championship as he had been trying to do for so long?

I didn't care. 

Why should I? He's never shown any growth, he's stayed the absolute same as he was in the nineties. I fell out of love with the anime some 15+ years ago because it stopped feeling like I was seeing Ash evolve and change with the times like I was doing. He was just a product. Perpetually kept young because the idea is that he would appeal to kids, more than actually feeling like a character. 

And don't get me wrong. I don't think you should never make characters that appeal to kids. You need to make them for cartoons - have them be the protagonist even. Ben 10, Aang, Naruto. But what's funny about who I just listed is that they all grew up. Sure. The kid versions of these characters are iconic as fuck. I still think fondly back to Naruto yelling 'Believe it!' at people who didn't take him seriously or Ben 10 with his corny ass 'It's hero time!' before he slapped the omnitrix. But guess what? I remember these things fondly because they happened in the past - in a time when things were different. 

You can't have fond memories like that if you're too concerned with doing them over and over and over again in the present. You need change to make you appreciate why the past is so beautiful. 

I'll finish this by saying I know some people are upset about the Child Ivy thing because she's not the 'I got those big rose buds I need you to pollinate' energy that adult Ivy has. And you can't do that with a child, obviously. So people are pissy. But I think some people have also just grown pretty irritated with the 'Reset' button in general too. It's being hit way more often than it used to be and it sucks. You lose some relatability with these characters you love. And what's worse? It seems like a select few get to stay adults while the others roll back to remaining children. Why am I watching Dick and Cyborg be adults and play with the League while Raven, Starfire and BeastBoy are still teens and are now being led around by Damian Wayne? This team doesn't exist anymore, but my point still stands. Why in the mainline comics was this EVER a thing? For someone like me who grew up with a lot of these characters and saw them as my contemporaries, it's hella jarring to see them lumped in the same age bracket as the newer characters. Almost like you're corrupting the experiences I saw them go through when they were my age. They were never that apparently. 

This could just be me being dramatic. But this IS something that's annoyed me in media for a while now. And I feel like we never talk about it. So at the very least, it's interesting to think about. I know one thing for sure though. We should never be holding these characters back just for the sake of keeping the status quo.  Because the status quo will eventually be gone - no matter how long you try to hold onto it. And in trying to do that, you're only robbing characters of something worth so much more. 

And it's growth we've come to admire in our own lives. Remember - growth only adds. It doesn't take away. 

I think this is what makes 6 feel so great. Ryu wasn't the only one who was feeling stagnant - the whole world was. For more than two decades we've been watching thematic reruns of the Street Fighter cast, with only a select few changing and evolving at a time. It's been agonizing. This whole franchise has been something representative of us the players growing and improving - yet we BARELY saw its cast do the same. 

'The Beauty in Growth is the Change.'

-Warning. Spoilers for Static Season 2.-

So.

We're here. At the end of Static Season 2.  And this has taken a little bit of time for me to sit down and write because honestly...I'm still processing a lot of what I felt about this season. And I wanna stress that is in a good way. I haven't gone into something with high expectations for a while and then walking out of it going 'That was legitimately better than what I thought it was going to be.' It just doesn't happen much anymore. Quality like this practically just doesn't exist.

So man. Where do I even start?

I'll start with a con. And I'll tell you why it hasn't even bugged me. I've been a big advocate of Static's more snarky and playful side ever since I learned of the character some twenty-plus years ago. And I'll admit the one thing that is not strong about Milestone Return's Static is that we rarely if ever see that side. It's there, but almost like with Young Justice; it feels somewhat suppressed and much more of a rare occurrence than a regular one. However I even feel filthy comparing him to YJ's version because Nikolas Draper Ivey and Vita Ayala understand Virgil's character vibe so well that it is just the 1 out of the 9/10 that they don't hit. Everything else is firing on all cylinders - Virgil's motivations, his relationships, the way he breaks a problem down, and his moral compass all feel super on-brand for him. And honestly? When I look over into the Icon and Rocket/Other Milestone books where Static is making appearances? I'd rather have this version of Virgil than the 'Annoyingly talks too much like a comic relief character' energy I see there. There is a smooth 'Steve Harvey/Anthony Mackie is cracking on you with a smirk' style that Milestone Returns doesn't seem to know how to nail with Static. And if Nikolas and Vita felt that they couldn't pull this off while writing what they needed to write? I don't blame them.  Better they stick to the tone of what they do know, because everything will still come off beautiful and nothing will feel forced. 

Now on that note, this Season also has an excuse in the fact that it's definitely dark. It's definitely somber.  I don't think Static as a franchise is a stranger to this. But I think the season knows what it is, and it makes sure not to ruin that vibe.  Now as much as I love Ya Boi, and I'm hyper-passionate for Virgil as a character, I have to be a real one and state expressly that the star of this season is really Ebon. He's a large part of what contributes to this season being so dark and it's amazing. Now I've never really gotten to talk about this...I know that Ebon has been a fan favorite of the Static fandom for years. He's beloved. He's constantly asked for and people wanna know if he'll show up in any Static media that arises. And to be 100 with you - I've always gotten slightly annoyed at seeing people ask for him so often. Yes, he had a VERY drippy look. Very drippy powerset for a villain, but I'd always seen him as just the basic bitch thug villain who got his ass humiliated by a teenager wearing stylish ski clothing on the regular. I'm not shitting you right now - I so seriously for the majority of my being a Static fan have just seen Ebon as lowkey being a joke. (Maybe not to The Botanist levels, but still.)

But not anymore. Because after this season I easily see him being the Doc Ock to Virgil's Spider-Man. 

I still want to sort of do a post one day about Holocaust vs Ebon and who makes the better adversary to Static. Trust me. But Shadows of Dakota has made this so much less one-sided now, I really want to see what Milestone Returns presents of Holocaust first before sitting down and prematurely giving my thoughts. Ebon has been changed so magnificently in the mythos now, there's just no way we can ever go back to the animated version again. Nik has made such history, that I think if anyone tells you they fiend for Ebon they're always going to bring up this version in some way, shape or form. He now has such a presence. He is legitimately terrifying, and to top it all off, you can follow his reasoning from start to finish. There is no rolling of your eyes, thinking this guy is just evil just to be evil. 'Man, you're so stupid, if you just realize what you're doing-' No. NO. You get why he's mad, why he has all this rage and why he's fucking people up. Many people have taken to saying that Ebon is basically Milestone/DC's version of Magneto now - and I think that's not a crazy thing to say. Just like Static is an analog for Spider-Man in many ways of his character, Ebon is that for Magneto at this point. And none of it feels unnatural. It feels like a good evolution of the character and I'm so down for seeing how this plays out later with the Meta Breed, Rubber-Band Man and so many other people in the Dakotaverse.  There's going to be some juicy commentary and influence on other characters that come about from this - I don't see how it couldn't unless you're willfully trying to screw things up. 

Now I could talk about Ebon for at least two more paragraphs but lemme move onto another evolution that I appreciated. And that is - Static's powers. 

Now for people who read my blog posts- this is nothing new. It has been a sore point of mine for years how Virgil's powers were showcased in Young Justice -  I think he still hasn't recovered from that fully and there are people out there who think Static is weaker than Black Lightning, Electro, Livewire and even Miles Morales? (I will never understand people's thinking on the latter but we won't go there.) So I appreciate it when a writer is interested in showing that Static is growing and becoming steadily stronger as he gets older. Say what you will about John Rozum on the New 52 Static Shock run. He was definitely writing Static as evolving to a point where you understood how he could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman. But speaking of the New 52 run...I think it makes me appreciate what Nikolas has done in Season 2 even more. See...John Rozum's answer to making Static evolve was just a little too...tankish.  Virule shot Static in the back? Virgil's EM field responds to the threat naturally and deflects the bullets. Got his arm chopped off? No problem...Virgil can heal from amputations or injury immediately as long as he can absorb electricity. (Or over a small period of wait time) This super-assassin just keeps regenerating his body no matter what you throw at him? Okay. Just have Virgil absorb a power station and covert it into an Alpha Ray Burst so that he could raze this fucker down at his cellular level like Gohan with Cell. And at this point, you're probably seeing what I'm talking about. Problems that Virgil came across were met with the answer that Static was supremely more powerful than the problem at hand and could just smack it aside like it was nothing, heal from it like it hadn't happened, or just straight up overwhelm it with sheer power. 

And the weird thing to consider after having said all this is that it's not like Virgil was never capable of these things. He's always been strong. And we never see Virgil on one page going 'I got a new bang baby power!' and we're left wondering how this shit relates to electromagnetism. No. There's nothing in the New 52 run that hasn't ever been hinted at or even seen for a hot second in the OG Milestone Run. (Yes. Even the healing. Check how fast Virgil is at full health after nearly dying to the SWARM in Issues 32-33!)

But Nik makes Virgil's evolution of his powers a part of his character. Static can tank and overpower characters for sure, yeah. But is that his M.O.? No, Virgil is a nerd, he's a thinker - he prefers to outsmart and counter his enemies instead of making them submit with raw strength. His new 'Light Mode' is 100% calculated because he's been in a fight with Ebon before and knew he had trouble conducting/shooting electricity at him in his weird shadow dimension. So he forgoes that to channel all that power into himself - enhance his speed and physicality so that he doesn't waste energy trying to fire bolts. Instead, he can just speed in, attack him with actual blows. His ability to hack into the brain now is also similarly introduced as effective workaround for his predicament, because he's really only forced to do it knowing that even if he beats the shit out of Ebon- it's not going to stop him. It even ends up becoming more of a Chekov Gun in the fight with Lennox next issue. And it pays off big time because the fight becomes not even about beating her physically - we're aware Static can probably wreck this woman in 500 different ways if he wants. But no. We see the creative tact from him...in that he uses his newfound technique to hack into her mind...and make her feel immensely guilty for all the blood she's spilled. Therefore doing an even better job than just electrocuting her, calling it a day and tossing her in the back of of a squad car.  Now he's made one of his enemies a non-threat without striking a single blow. Clean and super effective. We see Static using his brain to solve a problem that perhaps other superheroes might not have even thought of.

People who believe that OP characters like Superman can't be written well might wanna take notes from Nik.

This blew my mind when I read it. Not because of the fact that Virgil can hack into minds now, but because it was one of the most Doctor Who things I have ever seen Virgil do. And I've seen Virgil explain to (a mind-controlled) Cyborg that he should have killed him first and his trap sucks because he put him in it. That practically mirrors the Doctor's speech in Time of the Angels! So how the hell is THIS Static's most 'Doctor Who moment?! 

Nikolas understood the assignment. 

If it had been any other normal writer, I think they'd probably have had Virgil turn off her mind, make her pass out for the win and the day is saved because the bad lady has been stopped and is now jailed. And that wouldn't have been that horrible. It would have fit in Virgil's M.O. of always thinking of new ways to adapt his powers and then apply them to the situation. Which is just fine. But this? This was it. This is the stuff. This made it feel like 1000% I was watching Virgil grow and evolve. Not just get stronger like an anime character. Evolve in his creativity to problem solving as well. And that goes such a long way, my dudes.

I...feel like I should wrap it up there. Everything else that could be said is pretty surface-level. The visuals of the books were amazing as always. The dialogue was on point, the symbolism, etc. I'd say I'd be super fucking hype for the third season but the only reason I'm NOT is that as most of you probably know...this is Nikolas's Draper Ivey's final outing on Static. So now that he's established that he's so immensely good at writing Static...I'm extremely fucking apprehensive about where the book will GO from here. XD

But it's all good. I've eaten good with these first two seasons. Nik is a real one. I hope the people coming after this can follow the breadcrumbs he's set out and keep the vibe going. I don't know if Vita Ayala will still be writing for the book - truth be told I don't know how much of what they wrote was actually in Shadows of Dakota. But I assume they had a very good deal to do with what was in Season One and S1 was also pretty good so yeah - here's hoping. Because I'm sure if anyone can keep things at the high that Nik has setup? It would be the writer that synergized with him in the first place.

Nothing else left to say except this is an excellent start to a Static Renaissance. And at this point in time? I'm extremely happy with how things are going. 

You know, it’s always bugged me that there’s a good chunk of people that automatically assume that Static on the weaker end of the power scope. And I could never really figure out why. He’s never taken any real major Ls; he’s beaten people even I have blinked my eyes at, and wondered just how he pulled it off. You’d think that people would overestimate him if anything. You see it with Batman and Spider-Man all the time. So why not the guy who controls freaking Electromagnetism? Well there’s a couple of things.  I think the biggest one that I’ve come to discern is portrayal. I talked about in a prior post about how Young Justice Static is one of the shittier versions of Static shown in media thus far. And in that post it I focused heavily on his personality. But I did make sure to mention that his powers are very shoddily done. And it’s true. He’s the most sorry excuse for Static I’ve ever seen - he does the barest mimnimum of moving metal around. And in the third season (The one where he’s supposed to be more experienced) he tosses little ball bearings that he doesn’t even control. Just fires them like a little weakass railgun. So naturally anyone watching Virgil for the first time isn’t going to realize this dude can often channel lightning so potent he can split a car in half on a whim. Or that he has electromagnetic barriers that rival those of a Green Lantern’s. OR that he can levitate people like a telekinetic. And cling them to walls like they’ve been superglued to the surface. Now I hear you thinking: “Oh, these are cool aspects of his powers for sure. But he had these in his own show. Naturally he’d be the stongest in his own show and you’d see things more advanced than what he normally does.” ...What if I told you animated Static is a weak version of Static too? Matter of fact >to date<  he is the second to last ‘weakest.’  The DCAU was no stranger to nerfing it’s characters. Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash - they’re all considerably weaker than their comic counterparts. Static wasn’t exempt to this. He had more strength limits on what he could and couldn’t lift (In the first and second season mostly.) He ran out of ‘juice’ often, something that comic Static never had happen. And then of course there’s the infamous ‘the water shorted me out!’ weakness. A weakness I’m pretty sure is exclusive to DCAU Static and not part of his other animated counterpart. And after telling you this, I’m still able to safely say that DCAU Static could take YJ Static out back and whup his ass like his daddy - no sweat.  What I’m getting at is that DCAU Static is already a toned down version of Virgil. Even with weaknesses tacked on to keep him too OP and keep the audience concerned for his wellbeing in a show - he’s still too much for his YJ counterpart. A counterpart that is in a show with other heroes that either par their own DCAU selves...or even show elements of being beyond them.  Yeah. I can’t much blame people for getting the idea Static’s much weaker than he is. We’re not going to throw any shade at Static Shock because it does an AMAZING portrayal of Virgil and I absolutely understand why they nerfed him in-universe. It’s effectively just a side-effect for ANYONE residing in it. But Young Justice? It’s contribution to Static is not just needless...it’s extreme. Imagine if someone showed Green Lantern as just being able to fly and shoot lasers from their rings. Nothing else. That is the powerset he/she’s got.  One would imagine you might be missing the point of Green Lantern and you’ve declawed them for absolutely no reason. Speaking of missing the point, that’s kind of the last aspect I want to talk about. When I often tell people what Static’s powers are, I expressly say “Electromagnetism.” I don’t say ‘He controls eletricity’ or ‘He’s a lightning guy’. Even though these things are true.  There’s a reason for that. Electricty generation and manipulation, while pretty cool powers in their own right - are kind of limited. They’re usually stuck in the realm of just shooting lightning, absorbing lightning, flying via lightning and maybe...MAYBE...turning your body into electricity so you can zap around at fast speeds and go through wires, sockets, technology and the like. (And yes. They do INFLUENCE electromagnetism from time to time. But they don’t directly control eletromagnetism itself.) Electromagnetism however is within the realm of almost every physical phenemona known to man. It’s one of the the four fundemental forces of nature. You would be hard pressed to find something in the world that’s Virgil’s powers could not affect in some way - yes. That even goes for what his supposed weakness is - insulators. Because insulators are just a means to trap charge and keep it from conducting. A la - a little lightning catcher so that Lil’ Lightning doesn’t go into you. And at this point you’re probably realizing (Or have already realized, I’m not gonna assume everyone reading this is ignorant) that all an insulator does really is keep an eletrokinetic from tasing you.  And Virgil can do SO much more than just attack a person with a zap, they might actually prefer he just do that, than get creative.  People largely miss the science behind Virgil’s powers. Which is wild considering that is a big element of Virgil’s character himself. He’s often very powerful and dangerous to his opponents just because he’s fully aware of what electromagnetism can do on the battlefield. And it’s a big part of why he’s taken out foes at such a young age that he likely shouldn’t have been able to fuck with otherwise. This leads me to a statement that might piss some people off, but instead of throwing a bunch of physics jargon at you? It’ll get the point across.  If Virgil had twenty years experience, Magneto would be afraid of him.  I’m not joking. Magneto has an intimdating presence and has done some stupidly OP things, but people drop out the fact that Magento has been using his powers for some 60+ years and often holds little care for humans. So he’ll  easily ‘flex on them’ so that they know who’s superior. Virgil however is often a 14-15 year old kid that’s only been in the hero game for a hot second. Often does not cut loose because he does care about humans and civilians. And even still...he’s done things that could make Magneto sweat. In short, anything Magento has ever done. Any terrifying, extreme super display of power he has ever provided - Static is capable of that. In terms of raw power - Static may need age on him in some cases to execute. But the means to do exactly whatever Magento has ever done? It’s there. In fact, Static has addtional powers that Magneto has never shown. Healing Factor? Psionic Immunity? Magneto doesn’t have this wild shit. And it’s not strange. Magneto controls magnetic fields. A lot of his applications to do the crazier things are largely workarounds with his powers.  For Static it’s just natural.  And not to put a finer point on it, but even Static’s Artist, Nikolas Draper Ivey confirmed all this on Twitter:  

You know I didn't really think I'd be writing a post about Virgil anytime soon. Not with OW2 hitting in October, and Street Fighter 6 primed to come out in 2023 of next year. Hell...the only thing happening with Static soon will be the much anticipated Season 2 of the milestone Static relaunch. And I'll really want to read all of that first before talking about it in any sort of vein on here. So what prompted me to talk about this subject just out of the clear blue?

I think it's because with Season 1 of the Static comic wrapping up and Season 4 of Young Justice wrapping up, I can sit back and think about how they went down more clearly. And the more I've thought about how they went down...I realize there was some clear character assassination. That we don't really talk about. We know we don't care for YJ Static. But do we really know why?

Let's get the obvious out of the way: Young Justice's Static is not much of a smartmouth. He's not very flippant. He's BARELY playful. And usually whenever there is an attempt for him to be humorous it's caught up in the idea of him being an awkward to the rest of the group. Now on the flip side, (Milestone Returns) Static is not much of a smartass at the begining either. But there's a little bit of a different angle to it. See Milestone Returns Static is is a little edgy. He's a little angry and no nonense. But within the context of the story there's a lot of sense in it. We see that he's been constantly bullied and made fun of. And now all these people are bothering him while he's trying to figure himself out. This includes his friends and family. This Virgil doesn't have much of a secret idenity when compared to the prior Statics. And he just wants a second to process how the hell his life is going to play out now.  But instead he has his asshole opressor showing up to his front door to burn his house down. For that alone, the fact that this Virgil is more snarly than snarky for the first quarter of the season? Isn't all that surprising. But alright. Maybe YJ Static has something like that going on with him too. And that's why he's so standoffish in all the apperances we see him in.

No. He has absolutely no reason.

And let's detail that for a second. Because YJ Static could have had a viable grounds for being more subdued than we see usually see Virgil. But it's actually  actively undone. See there's a little bit in Season 2 where all the kids involved with the Reach were going to therapy. Virgil wasn't not an exception. And he has a little bit of angst when talking about what he went through. But then within the same season...we find out that Virgil doesn't want to be cured of his powers. He likes them. And this even tracks when he tells Black Canary he didn't 'have it as bad as the other kids.' Season 2 ends with Virgil joining the team. After Black Lightning tells him he has a knack for superheroing. So effectively...YJ Virgil has no problems trying to figure out what the hell he's going to do. He doesn't need quiet, space, or relief from his own powers. Homeboy has found his calling. In a way...this should be one of the happiest Statics we've ever seen - obviously his parents know he's a superhero. He has teammates to watch his back and pick up slack. But he doesn't seem like the happiest Static you've ever seen. In fact he seems like a Static that's just there.

Because that's >in fact< just what he is.

Milestone Returns Static doesn't offend me, because it legitimately was a choice to make him feel more human and less of a Saturday Cartoon Hero. Young Justice Static is just there to...just be there. The writers haven't thought about him one bit. And you can see this more clearly when you think about how Virgil has NO hard distinguishing personality traits to be shown. He's never shown to have an interest in science. Never not once talks to any of the scientists at S.T.A.R or in passing makes a scientific obseveration about the situation. (Which in contrast is what we see someone like Wally West do as early as Episode 4 of Season One.) He never talks geek with Beast Boy or...even shows that he's into comics or D&D. His ONLY personality traits are that he 'has a common sense of humor' and that he likes girls. These are traits that go on basically anyone. His funniest line: "Yeaaaah, this is a sympathy bump," to Cassie; made me chuckle. But I'll still tell you that 90% of the cast could say this - and it wouldn't be unfitting. It's generic. Whereas if you took what I think was Virgil's most smile worthy moment in Milestone Returns:

-there's no one else but Virgil who is going to say that memey shit.

Not to put a finer point on it, but this is what I highly appreciate about Milestone Returns Virgil. There wasn't a line in relauch that surpassed Dwayne McDuffie's: "Kawarimi: Ancient ninja art of misdirection. All you need is something some idiot can mistake you for...and some idiot." But that's not what I'm reading the book for. I don't wanna laugh harder than I did at Static in the past - I just want to see the spirit be captured. And Season 1 does that. At the end of the issues you've seen Virgil's wisecracking. You've seen his science loving analytical brain. You've seen his swag. His love of geekdom. All these things that identify Virgil are there in some fashion, some reference. But Young Justice can't even be assed to try and give his character an idenity through his own signature brand of humor. It's the one thing they lightly touch on, but it's as generic as his powers even go. They make no effort for the character of Static/Virgil at all, aside from trying to get the little brownie points from - I assume Static fans like myself. Just so they can say: 'Hey. He's in the show. He's there. Happy?' And it's token as hell. Not even from a RACE aspect; I say that sheerly from a fan aspect.

And it's very transparent this is how they felt about Static. Because as I touched on a second ago, they had what is really one of the most powerful characters in the show and boil said powers down to two traits. Did you ever think Static was just a guy that zaps people and moves metal around? Guess what? So does Young Justice. And these two traits are even portrayed in the most bland and unworthy way you'd ever see of the character. Quite literally> making him the weakest Static we've ever seen.

But this is going into a post for another day. I have a lot to say on that subject. Maybe not even nessecarily just to do with Young Justice. But with an >assumption< that people make about Static in general. Young Justice however certainly didn't help make people not dive into those wild assumptions. But I feel like it's more of an issue of Static being a little too powerful in the eyes of inexperienced writers and thinking he needs to be toned down for the sake of being vulnerable or interesting.

So I've wanted to talk about this series for a while. Especially since more than a year ago I was trashing the preview that we got of it. I still sort of stand by what I said in that post. A lot of what I saw wasn't vibing with me. And it looked like things were headed in another dumpster fire of a direction. But oh boy will I admit that I was wrong in prediction. And this is why I really wanted to wait until this arc of comics had been written and wrapped up. Yes, within the first issue of Season One my mind did a complete 180. I went from a fan that had a lot of worry for the reboot of this franchise for being excited for what we'd have in store. And you know what? That is still partially there. The characterization of Vita Ayala partnered with the art of Nikolas Draper Ivey have breathed new life back into the franchise. This was desperately what the Static brand has needed, and I feel they have proven they are certainly the ones to tackle such a beloved character and it's supporting characters. That being said, I won't say I won't have my share of issues. Or I should probably say 'issue'. Because honestly a lot of the other things I would point out would fit neatly into the nitpicking category. And considering the amazing work the writer and artist have done wouldn't be fair to them. They 100% deserve all the praise they've gotten from working on the series and don't need to hear the trifle details that didn't work with one longtime fan. And I'm being completely non-sarcastic here - some things are just not worth bringing up when people have done such an excellent job. Except this one thing. And it's because I'm legitimately a bit worried about it taking over the future of the comic. It wasn't noticeable at the very start of Season One and if I'm going to be completely honest I feel it's because it's basically absent up until the fifth issue. Static: Season One lets you know right off the bat even in the Milestone Returns: Zero (Infinite Addition) this is it's own take on the Static series and that is INCREDIBLY hard to do without also alienating the prior fanbase. It's done beautifully up until near the end of the season until you start to realize...it's feeling a little bit too much like the saturday cartoon show. I couldn't put my finger on why that sort of gnawed at me when reading (specifically the last issue). But it dawned on me before long, the more I thought about it. The series is starting to play things too safe. Now this is where I will admit...it gets difficult. I was one of the fans screaming to have Static's iconic suit to return. I even did a post about how I'd love to see the villains from the TV show become canon immigrants. But in looking at the final issue and seeing Virgil's civilian attire return, seeing the Meta Breed fight with the very same designs they had in the cartoon...I started to feel a bit of tonal whiplash. It was like Season One was starting to stray away from the things that gave it it's identity and became concerned with convincing you that it's just like the animated series of the 2000's. And I don't think it did it any favors. Legitimately the series has been fire for telling you 'This is how things play out now.' 'This is the bad blood between Virgil and Francis now.' 'These are the people that know about Virgil's secret and support him in day to day life now.' And while some of those things may have been hard pills to swallow for some...they legit made this new series feel unique. Have it's own creative flair. It's own take. There was already the familiarity such as Virgil being a smartass quipper and being a mad scientific tactician with his powers. And it's things like that and balancing his social life that make us remember it's a Static story. But then pulling in the REST of the the vibe from the Animated series starts to become too much. And it almost feels like the series is afraid of losing it's audience if it doesn't remind us of it's origins. I don't want to see Season 2 go this route. Toss more at us that basically nudges the reader in the