Young Justice: Outsiders's 17th episode, "First Impression," saw Beast Boy forming the Outsiders: A group of young heroes who choose to operate publicly so that they can make a difference and hopefully spark a grassroots revolution, allaying the fears of an untrusting public manipulated by the villains of The Light. Headlining the team are Beast Boy, Wonder Girl, Geo-Force, Static, Blue Beetle and Kid Flash. The episode also features some pretty great references to older DC comics and fellow Warner Bros. property Scooby Doo!: Mystery Incorporated.
After settling into their new base, the Outsiders spring into action to save Brooklyn, Maine, from The Reach, the alien invaders from the show's previous season. As the Outsiders work to stop Reach ships, the events are covered by three youngsters: Gaby Gabrielli, Antonia "Big Words" Rodriguez and Tommi Tompkins. The trio are also helped by gruff Sheriff Patrick Maguire. Brooklyn mayor Thomas Tompkins -- father of Tommi -- does not take kindly to these heroes making trouble, and he tells the girls that they need to stop their “Newsgirl Legion” antics.
This group features the first major reference of the episode. Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the Newsboy Legion first appeared in Star Spangled Comics #7. The group of four newsboys (Tommy Tompkins, Big Words, Gabby and Scrapper) got into all sorts of trouble. Young Justice, already known for incorporating underutilized comic book characters and properties, puts a new spin on the Newsboys by gender bending them into the Newsgirls, with Scrapper’s role in the new show seemingly taken by the Sheriff. Not only does Young Justice put an interesting twist on the characters in regards to gender, but the show also brings the group into the modern era in regards to their occupation. Instead of selling newspapers, the three girls livestream the news from their phones.
The references don't stop there. Perhaps taking a cue from the fact that these kids get into trouble trying to uncover the truth, “First Impression” also gives several nods to Scooby Doo!: Mystery Incorporated. First off, the girls take some subtle visual cues from Scooby Doo characters. Tommi Tompkins wears colors like Fred, while Gabby and Big Words are akin to Daphne and Velma, respectively. Additionally, Mayor Tompkins resembles Mayor Jones from Mystery Incorporated, and Sheriff Maguire appears similar to Sheriff Bronson Stone.
If that weren’t enough, “First Impression” tosses in a couple classic Scooby Doo tropes for good measure. Big Words drops and then fumbles for her glasses, just like Velma often does. But the most obvious example is near the end of the episode, when the heroes have caught the villains responsible for the Reach attack. The villain lets loose a “I would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for those meddling heroes” line.
Gender bending both the Newsboy Legion and the Scooby Gang is another clever way the DC Universe series works to subvert expectations while also paying homage to older properties. The references work, and definitely pay off for fans hunting for the various Easter eggs and other treasures for which the series is known.
New episodes of Young Justice: Outsiders premiere Tuesdays throughout the summer on DC Universe.
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