Batman: The Brave and the Bold - "The Battle of the Superheroes!"

The good. A fantastic and welcome return of the show, for what I believe it's its final season. We get "introduced" to the whole universe of Metropolis characters, hero and villains in classic fights that were very enjoyable to watch with the likes of Metallo, Mister Mxyzptlk, Toyman and Braniac (not sure about the who the guy with the ray gun inside Kandor is). In terms of writing and directing, this is the most efficient episode Jones and Melching have put out together as a team (excellent comedic and action timing, great lines, real sense of danger - heck, even Pharaoh in the intro seems menacing).

The bad. As much as I loved finally getting to see Supes animated in this particular show, the voice casting (usually spot-on in this show) was just weird for both Supes and Lex. Other than that, not much to complain here, since this sets up a nice beginning for this coming season.

Favorite quotes:

• “Superman has turned into a real d…” 
• “Earthquake!” followed by little crowd screaming, explosion and smoke fills up Kandor's bottle. 
• "Superventriloquism!" 
• “... and I thought Batmite was a weird one” 

Random thoughts:

• The choice of armor worn by Batman was clearly no accident, and it really made me want a "Dark Knight Returns" animated feature, since it will be years before Zack Snyder gets hired to bring it to the big screen. 
• Was that earthquake joke on Kandor a little bit too soon? Only time will tell. 

Final grade: A-

Young Justice - "Bereft"

The Good. Michael Chang does wonders to keep the action rolling as director of this episode. I have been a fan of his work in Batman The Brave and the Bold, where he mixes action and humor in what I consider the best episodes of that show. In his third take on the Young Justice series, he does just that. From the segue of the team trying to switch their suits' color like Kid Flash (which leads to the best punchline from Artemis in the whole series thus far), to Robin's fight sequence (which could have happened on any alley of Gotham or Bludhaven). Storywise, a few reveals were very exciting, like the boom tube appearance towards the episode's end and a few teasers from Artemis' previous life. 

The Bad. After the stunning run the series has had since its start, this episode feels a little bit like a lull. If the memory loss had served a higher purpose, like really emphasizing what would have been different with the team members without everything they have learned in the past two months. I would have loved to get a better glimpse of what Artemis' previous life was like in the reconstruction of their memories. Just a glimpse for teaser’s sake! She did seem pretty appalled to have something resembling a Green Arrow costume on her, so that will hopefully lead into something more.

Personal highlights:

- I'll say it again: BOOM TUBES! (and in partnership with The Light)

- Tactile telekinesis gets introduced - or at least it seems to be that way, considering the artifact's activity and ability to communicate with Superboy got enhanced only with Superboy’s biorythms, to which Psimon muses “Interesting”. 

- I'm curious to see if the appearance of Psimon is a precedent to the Fearsome Five.

- Ninja clans? Interesting reference to Artemis’ dad’s “stupid tests”, although I would have preferred “games” (if indeed her father is Sportsmaster). 

- Also, kind of interesting to see Superboy as a version of Hulk in this episode. The grunts, the attacks on the tanks, and the pants-only attire- all it was missing was a "Superboy Smash!" or a "Superboy is strongest there is!"

Final Grade: B-