Young Justice Reading Order

They are the next generation of superheroes and want to have their own adventures, far away from their mentor. They are the Young Justice! The team was founded by Robin (Tim Drake), Superboy (Kon-El), and Impulse (Bart Allen) but will soon become a beacon for the young superheroes in the DC Universe.

Created by Todd Dezago and artist Todd Nauck, the Young Justice made its first appearance in 1998, in Young Justice: Secret #1 at a time when the Teen Titans had become the Titans and they were no current superheroes’ teen team.

The team’s base was established in the empty JLA headquarters in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island, where they met Red Tornado. The sentient android stayed with the team as an adult supervisor and adviser. Soon enough, some new members were added to the team: Wonder Girl (Cassandra “Cassie” Sandsmark), Arrowette (Cissie King-Jones), and Secret (Greta Hayes). Other heroes would come and go from the team: Empress, Li’l Lobo/Slobo, The Ray, but also Teen Lantern, Jinny Hex, and Amethyst. Red Tornado was also eventually replaced with civilian Snapper Carr.

If Young Justice was created on paper, the team made also a name for itself on television, thanks to the Young Justice animated television series, launched in 2010 on Cartoon Network. It is not an adaptation of the comic book series (and not in continuity), but the adventures of another version of the team from another Earth. And there are tie-ins to the television adventures!

To know more about the Young Justice, let’s dive into this reading order!

Young Justice Reading Order

Young Justice by Peter David and Todd Nauck (1998-2003)

The team was formed by Superboy, Robin, and Impulse. Our three young heroes met before creating the Young Justice. Let’s take a look at their first team-up before everything else:

• WF3: World’s Finest Three (Superboy/Robin) #1-2 — This is the first team-up between Robin and Superboy who work together to take down Poison Ivy and Metallo. 
• Robin Plus Impulse #1 — You guessed it, Robin and Impulse team up to stop a former spy of the Soviet Union
• Superboy and the Ravers #7 — Kon-El and Bart Allen first met at… a Flash Festival!

It’s also important to notice that our three heroes had their own series during that period, so events happening in Young Justice can be affected by, or simply reflected in the following titles:

• Impulse (Volume 1) (1995-2002)
• Robin (Volume 2) (1993-2009) — For more info on Tim Drake, see also his dedicated reading order!
• Superboy (Volume 4) (1994-2002) — For more info on Conner Kent, see also his dedicated reading order!

Robin, Superboy, and Impulse work together for the first time in Young Justice: Secret #1, before being reunited in JLA: World Without Grown-ups (also written by Todd Dezago). This is after those events that they form the Young Justice, a title penned by Peter David and Todd Nauck. Under the guidance of the stoic, wise Red Tornado, the three teen heroes begin their quest to make a name for themselves, apart from their famous friends. They were soon joined by three new members—shy but powerful Wonder Girl, champion archer Arrowette and mystical Secret. 

It’s new! Discover the Young Justice in Omnibus!

• Young Justice Omnibus Vol. 1
  Collects Young Justice #1-19; Young Justice #1,000,000; JLA: World Without Grown-Ups #1-2; Young Justice: The Secret #1; Young Justice Secret Files #1; Secret Origins 80-Page Giant #1; Young Justice in No Man’s Land #1; Supergirl #36-37; Superboy #74; Young Justice:, Sins of Youth #1-2; Sins of Youth Secret Files #1; Sins of Youth: JLA Jr. #1; Sins of Youth: Aquaboy/Lagoon Man #1; Sins of Youth: Batboy and Robin #1; Sins of Youth: Kid Flash/Impulse #1; Sins of Youth: Starwoman and the JSA #1; Sins of Youth: Superman Jr./Superboy Sr. #1; Sins of Youth: Wonder Girls #1; and Sins of Youth: The Secret/Deadboy #1.
• Young Justice Omnibus Vol. 2 Coming Soon, we hope…

All those classic stories collected in:

• Young Justice Book One
  Collects Young Justice #1–7, #1,000,000, JLA: World Without Grown-ups #1–2, Secret Origins 80-Page Giant #1, Young Justice: The Secret #1, Young Justice: Secret Files #1.
  • Young Justice #1,000,000 is part of DC One Million.
• Young Justice Book Two
  Collects Young Justice #8–17, Young Justice 80-Page Giant #1, Young Justice in No Man’s Land #1, Supergirl #36–37; bonus material from Young Justice Secret Files #1.
  • Young Justice in No Man’s Land #1 takes place during the Bat-event No Man’s Land
  • After YJ #14-15, the team appears in Impulse #56
• Young Justice Book Three
  Collects Young Justice #18-19, Young Justice: Sins of Youth #1-2, Young Justice: Sins of Youth Secret Files #1, Superboy Vol. 4 #74, Sins of Youth: JLA Jr. #1, Sins of Youth: Aquaboy/Lagoon Man #1, Sins of Youth: Batboy and Robin #1, Sins of Youth: Kid Flash/Impulse #1, Sins of Youth: Starwoman and the JSA Jr. #1, Sins of Youth: Superman Jr./Superboy Sr. #1, Sins of Youth: Wonder Girls #1, Sins of Youth: The Secret/Deadboy #1.
• Young Justice Book Four
  Collects Young Justice #20-32
• Young Justice Book Five
  Collects Young Justice #33-43, Young Justice: Our Worlds At War #1; material from Impulse #77, Superboy Vol. 4 #91
  • Young Justice: Our Worlds At War #1 and Young Justice #35 are part of the event Our Worlds at War.
  • Impulse #78 takes place before YJ #38.
  • YJ #38 is part of Joker: Last Laugh.
  • Spyboy/Young Justice is an intercompany cross-over where Spyboy and Young Justice team up to defeat the villainous REMbrandt and Annie Mae. Takes place before YJ #41.
• Young Justice Book 6
  Collects Young Justice #44-55, Impulse #85, Robin #101, and Superboy #99
  • Impulse #86 takes place before Young Justice 45
• Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day #1-3
  Collected in Teen Titans / Outsiders: The Death and Return of Donna Troy or The Outsiders by Judd Winick Book One. This limited series marks the end of the Young Justice.

---

Following the tragic loss of Titans Lilith and Donna Troy, the Young Justice was disbanded. Our young heroes felt responsible and stop communicating with one another. When Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy decide to form the new Teen Titans, they send invitations to some young heroes: Wonder Girl, Robin, Superboy, and Impulse. They become part of the new Teen Titans, written by Geoff Johns (until issue #46). There is no Teen Titans reading order for the moment, but you can check the recent Omnibus: Teen Titans by Geoff Johns Omnibus

Young Justice, The Return by Brian Michael Bendis and Patrick Gleason (2019-2020)

Since the end of the Young Justice, a lot of things and crises happened in the DC Universe. Some young heroes died and came back to life, the universe was rebooted in New 52 as the result of Flashpoint which gave us some confusing stories for your main heroes, mostly part of Teen Titans but with different stories (or even name!). And then the Universe was once again relaunched for Rebirth and a few years later, the Young Justice made their comeback…

Written by Brian Michael Bendis, the new Young Justice series reintroduces the pre-New-52 Conner Kent and Bart Allen to the main DC continuity and reunites the main team members. This is unfortunately during this time that Tim Drake takes the horrible codename Drake. The Young Justice is also joined by Amethyst and Teen Lantern, and team-up with Naomi, Jayna & Zan from Wonder Twins, and Miguel Montez & Summer Pickens from Dial H For Hero.

• Young Justice Vol. 1: Gemworld
  Collects Young Justice Vol. 3 #1-6
• Young Justice Vol. 2: Lost in the Multiverse
  Collects Young Justice Vol. 3 #7-12
• Young Justice Vol. 3: Warriors and Warlords
  Collects Young Justice Vol. 3 #13-20
  • Between YJ #16 & #17, the Young Justice appears in the Superman Metropolis Doom storyline (Action Comics #1017-1021), collected in Superman: Action Comics: Metropolis Burning.

Young Justice Infinite Frontier (2022-)

The World of DC Comics is affected by a Dark Crisis following the events of Justice League #75 and the fall of the Justice League members. For the occasion, the Young Justice is reunited, though they are not right not all on good terms. Then Tim Drake, Impulse, and Superboy go missing during the Justice League’s funeral. The only person concerned enough to find them? Cassie Sandsmark, a.k.a Wonder Girl. But…the three boys of Young Justice aren’t on this Earth anymore…they’re on the world of their dreams, one they may never want to leave!

• Dark Crisis: Young Justice (2022-) #1-3