Young Justice - Fictional History

Fictional History

Robin, Superboy, and Impulse first join together in a one-shot, part of the "GirlFrenzy" Fifth week event, called Young Justice: The Secret, written by Todd DeZago, where they first encounter the mysterious superheroine Secret and free her from captivity of the DEO (Department of Extranormal Operations). They next appear together in the Justice League miniseries, World Without Grown-Ups, also written by DeZago, in which a magical being, commanded by new child villain Bedlam, moves all adults to an alternate world. This is when they first stumble upon the abandoned Justice League Cave in Happy Harbor (formerly called "The Secret Sanctuary"), which would later become their headquarters, re-christened the "Justice Cave." After managing to thwart Bedlam's adolescent paradise, the three boys agree that they were effective as a team and should officially band together as their own group.

When the ongoing title begins in September 1998, the three heroes have formed a clubhouse in the Cave. However, in the first issue, they awaken the android superhero Red Tornado from a self-imposed dormancy; Red Tornado would remain a supporting character in the title, acting as a mentor/chaperone to the foundling team, feeling that his interaction with the boisterous teens will help salvage what he felt was left of his humanity. In issue 4, the group doubles in number with the addition of three teen superheroines: the second Wonder Girl (Cassandra Sandsmark), struggling to make her mark as a serious crimefighter, the ethereal and mysterious Secret (Greta Hayes, but nicknamed "Suzie" throughout most of the series), and Arrowette (Cissie King-Jones), attempting to humiliate her estranged domineering mother, the retired Miss Arrowette, by outshining her own brief super-heroic career. The stern and calculating Robin and the cocky and brazen Superboy occasionally compete for leadership; Robin is the one most commonly deferred to, though routinely teased by the others for what they consider his over-pragmatic nature, initially refusing to share his face or his true identity with any of them; a slightly jealous Wonder Girl overcomes her initial distaste for Arrowette and the two quickly become close friends; Wonder Girl's schoolgirl crush on Superboy slowly begins to develop into genuine feelings shared between the two of them for one another; the team as a whole usually find the ability to trust in Impulse in spite of his whimsical character, yielding mixed results in various adventures; Secret, amnesiac to her true identity and past history, is accepted for her innocent nature and forms a kinship with Wonder Girl and Arrowette, and later on in the series she develops a crush on Robin.

In their earliest adventures, the team mostly faced threats of varying severity; from the Mighty Endowed, an archaeologist named Nina Dowd ("N. Dowd") who was transformed into a top-heavy feline figure too well endowed to support her own weight, to the deadly Harm. This man was an aspiring super-villain bent on battling and killing young metahumans for "practice," later revealed to be Secret's adopted brother in her previous life. Harm was responsible for her death and subsequent transfiguration. Young Justice discovers and "adopts" the Super-Cycle, a sentient vehicle capable of flight from New Genesis which they come to rely as their primary means of transportation. They are also persistently badgered by APES (All Purpose Enforcement Squad) Agents Donald Fite and Ishido Maad (loosely coined as "Fite n' Maad"). Writer Peter David, in a column about jokes he was not allowed to do, revealed that he had considered naming the two "Nuck" and "Futz", but had been overruled by DC editors who did not like the combination "Nuck'n'Futz". These men are acting on behalf of the Department of Extranormal Operations. They are seeking to recapture Secret; instead she leads a revolt that frees all of their other captives.

Red Tornado faces losing custody of his adoptive daughter, Traya. He flees the state with her, placing the team in a legal predicament because they assisted him. Traya is eventually returned to her mother after she is awakened from her coma by Secret, while Red Tornado is temporarily impounded. Arrowette suffers the murder of a close friend at her school and nearly kills the attacker. This places the team in further trouble with the government. It helps stir an already-ensuing media blitz aimed at all young super-heroes turning public sway towards the opinion that all teenage heroes are too reckless and more of an endangerment to society than a protection. This situation is further exacerbated when Young Justice, in an attempt to free Secret who had been taken captive by the DEO, inadvertently defaces Mount Rushmore. These events quickly give rise to building tensions between Young Justice and their adult counterparts in the Justice League, and a rising amount of petitioning in Washington against "underage" crime-fighters, spurred by the newly formed team of Golden Age sidekicks, Old Justice. Remorseful over her lack of restraint, and feeling burnt-out on a life that was mostly forced on her by her mother in the first place, Cissie retires as Arrowette and quits the team in the midst of these events, much to the dismay of her best friend Wonder Girl (who would go on to continually pester Cissie for some time later about rejoining the team). In the midst of these events, unbeknownst to the team, Superboy is taken captive and detained by the villainous Agenda, while his villainous counterpart, Match, is implanted within the team. Shortly after, they meet and are aided by a mysterious new heroine, the enigmatic Empress, later revealed to be Anita Fite, daughter of Donald Fite, one of the agents who had previously plagued the team up through this point. The team soon becomes targeted by a federally-operated group of metahumans known as the Pointmen, and is forced to flee their headquarters in Happy Harbor, now officially wanted by the government.