The Pendulum

Young Justice #12: "The Pendulum" is the 13th issue of the official Young Justice spin-off comic series. It was released on January 18, 2012.

Solicitation
There's a new menace in Gotham City: a creature so strange – and so versatile – that not even the combined might of the entire Young Justice team can stand against it. Witness the origin of...Clayface!

Tagline: In the clutches of Clayface

Synopsis
While searching the Gotham sewers with the Team, Aqualad thinks of Tula. Even though Miss Martian calls him to attention, he still does not have his head on the mission. He wonders how all of the current events happened.

Batman contacts the Team, and urges them to head to Gotham City. Kid Flash proposes waiting for Artemis to arrive, but there is no time to waste. They have to track—and not engage—a creature that's on the loose in Gotham City, until Batman can find a solution.

Lucius Fox calls Bruce over to the Wayne Foundation office because they received a mysterious canister. They had scanned it, but it's not toxic, explosive, or radioactive, just mud. As Bruce, Dick, and Lucius investigate, Clayface jumps out. He is confused and wonders how he got there. In fright, he dispatches the guards, and is about to attack Lucius when Batman and Robin arrive. They fight him, but are knocked outside. Clayface is able to counter their every move, and even withstands being tased. He escapes through a sewer lid, still wondering what happened.

As Clayface emerges from the Lazarus Pit, Sensei blames Talia. Clayface grabs Talia and asked her why she did this to him, but he does not get an answer. Sensei chops off his arm, allowing her to escape. Ra's al Ghul returns to the commotion, and Sensei informs him that the creature is Hagen. Ignoring the demands for rest from Ubu, Ra's confronts Hagen, and reminds him that he is a Shadow. He commands the creature to sleep, and Clayface promptly collapses. He asks Sensei to send it to Gotham City to bother Batman, as a punishment for stopping their previous plot. Talia calls acting out of spite beneath him, but he ignores her. He questions her on what happened to Hagen.

Talia asks her father for his blessings for her relationship with Matthew Hagen, but he is not fond of him. He feels that Matthew is beneath her, and he prefers her to be with Batman. Hagen is only a Shadow, and not a very good one. Talia tells him that Hagen is the one for her because he sees her as Talia—not Talia al Ghul. Ra's reluctantly agrees, but warns her that Shadows are shallow, and hide deep darkness.

She returns to Matthew and informs him of the good news. But his true motives arise: he does see her as the daughter of Ra's; he wants access to the Lazarus Pit. He needs the pit to cure him of terminal cancer. Heartbroken, Talia agrees to show him to the pit. After he is completely submerged, she closes the lid and locks it. Sensei, alarmed by Hagen's panicked knocks on the lid, asks Talia what is going on, but she reminds him that, as the daughter of his boss, her actions are not to be questioned.

A year earlier, Talia meets Batman near the Bat-signal. He rebukes her courtship, as he cannot be with her as long as her father continues his schemes. Talia is upset, and she cannot choose between the two men she loves most; but to Batman, it's not a choice. He walks away.

The Team is still looking through the sewers, when suddenly, Clayface pops up behind them and attacks them.

Title
The title of this issue, along with the previous issue, alludes to the short story The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allen Poe.

Characters

 * colspan="3"| Aqualad
 * colspan="3"| Batman
 * colspan="3"| Clayface
 * colspan="3"| Kid Flash
 * colspan="2"| Lucius Fox
 * colspan="3"| Miss Martian
 * colspan="3"| Robin
 * colspan="3"| Ra's al Ghul
 * colspan="3"| Sensei
 * colspan="3"| Superboy
 * colspan="3"| Talia al Ghul
 * colspan="3"| Tula (dream)
 * colspan="3"| Ubu
 * colspan="3"| Robin
 * colspan="3"| Ra's al Ghul
 * colspan="3"| Sensei
 * colspan="3"| Superboy
 * colspan="3"| Talia al Ghul
 * colspan="3"| Tula (dream)
 * colspan="3"| Ubu
 * colspan="3"| Superboy
 * colspan="3"| Talia al Ghul
 * colspan="3"| Tula (dream)
 * colspan="3"| Ubu
 * colspan="3"| Tula (dream)
 * colspan="3"| Ubu
 * colspan="3"| Ubu

Continuity

 * This story continues from the previous issue.
 * This story continues in the next issue.
 * Aqualad's homesickness started in #9, and results in his going back to Poseidonis in "Downtime".
 * The fight in the sewer is concluded in "Downtime".

Production notes

 * This issue was penciled by Luciano Vecchio instead of regular artist Christopher Jones. When Jones came on the project, they were already almost a month behind schedule, and could not make up for it. So it was decided to let #12 be done by a fill-in artist, and Jones went from #11 directly to #13.

Trivia

 * Ubu tells Ra's al Ghul that he "is healed, but not whole". This is a recurring concept in the Gospel of Luke (both chapters 8 and 17), where being healed stands for physical fitness, and being whole for spiritual health. said the same thing about himself in the Gargoyles comic "".
 * Robin once again plays with words; he omits the "dis" of "disheveled" to describe Clayface.

Goofs

 * Even though series creator and comic series writer Greg Weisman has reportedly stated that "Young Justice" is the name of the show and the young heroes team is merely referred to as "The Team", the solicitation for this issue calls them the "Young Justice team".
 * Miss Martian's eyes are miscolored green in the sewer scenes.
 * Miss Martian's belt buckle is red instead of gold.

Cultural references

 * Lucius makes reference to the 9/11 attacks, and the increased security precautions that went into effect after it.
 * The logo of the Wayne Foundation is similar to the Wayne Enterprises logo used in Batman Begins.

Unanswered questions

 * What happened to Talia's mother?