Woman of the Month: Artemis Crock

Artemis Crock from Young Justice

You guys know I’m a sucker for strong exteriors hiding vulnerable gooey centres, and there are few female characters out there that embody this better than Artemis from Young Justice. Granted, she’s certainly more spikes and sarcasm than nurture and niceness, but the show makes an interesting creative decision in that her attitude isn’t depicted as cool and edgy, but rather a little off-putting and detrimental to the team.

Not completely, but enough so there’s a bit of tension when she first joins the Young Justice ranks. She immediately butts heads with Wally, makes several inappropriate comments regarding Connor’s attractiveness, and isn’t particularly interested in following Aqualad’s rules (or anyone else’s). It was a clever way of feeding into the storyline of a potential spy within the group (her being the obvious contender), but also her growth into a more trusting, well-rounded person.

The first sign of her inner turmoil was when the team ends up stranded in the desert without their memories (long story), during which she gives a weary sigh and passes the whole thing off as an elaborate test concocted by her father. Then she casually tells Wally: “he probably wants me to kill you.” Yikes!

Turns out that her father and her sister are supervillains, which in turns leads to the role she takes in season two’s long-con: posing as a double-agent in disguise. Her fraught upbringing gives her an edge in this type of high stress undercover work, and for a few episodes she’s trying to keep several balls in the air regarding who knows her identity, who’s in on her faked death, and what the mission requires of her.

I recall some minor controversy back in the day when it came to Artemis’s ethnicity, as many couldn’t get their heads round the fact she was half-Vietnamese and a natural blonde. Show-runner Greg Weisman clarified the situation, divulging that Artemis’s design was based on a real person: Hanah Cook, the mixed-race daughter of one of the show’s directors/animators… who is in fact a natural blonde. Just the fact that Artemis’s design had to be backed up with “proof” of an Asian woman’s ability to have fair hair is sad, but it’s also an interesting behind-the-scenes tidbit that's worth sharing.

After the premature cancellation of Young Justice after its second season, it was a dream come true to learn that it would return for a third (and fourth), with all the original cast and crew members. I haven’t yet had a chance to settle in and binge-watch it to completion, but it’s at the top of my To Do list – and will probably warrant a blogpost all its own.