Young Avengers

I have had some difficulty getting into the new Marvel Now Young Avengers series mainly because I just don't care about the characters (aside from Kid Loki), because there is so little character development. Even though I have stuck mostly to reading the Marvel crossover events, I decided to pick up this original Young Avengers collection, which debuted after Avengers Disassembled, because three of them appear in both series. I can now see why it is so highly rated and I have a new appreciation for the Marvel Now series.It's not easy to get readers interested in brand new heroes, especially when they are "modeled" after some iconic ones. But, Heinberg does a brilliant job not only of building a plausible origin story for these young heroes, but one that seamlessly fits into the larger Marvel universe. The story opens with four young heroes fumbling through crime-fighting: Iron Lad, Patriot, Hulkling and Asgardian. Kate Bishop comes onto the scene when she saves Patriot during the team's "rescue" of a wedding party she is in. Cassie Lang finds Kate at the hospital after the event and they decide to join this new team (Speed joins close to the end). The identity of Iron Lad is at the core of the plot for the first half of the book. His team doesn't know who he really is, but when he tells Captain America and Iron Man, the stakes become much higher. The plot of the second half is built around the truth of Hulkling's origin. Both stories have big players involved and give this new team a valid reason to exist.I was afraid the story would get bogged down in teen angst, but the writer cleverly kept the teens realistic (as superheroes can be) with fears of parental disapproval and bickering among themselves as the main source of tension outside of the action-laden encounters. And the action scenes are truly exciting and well done. Captain America and Iron man are justifiably concerned that these young heroes are a danger to themselves and others, and want to force them to disband. It was downright funny when Cap decides to tell on the kids to their parents! In fact, there is a lot of humor in the story. But what I liked most about the book is that the characters grow and develop throughout. Even the hints at romance among the team members were subtly handled and enjoyable. There are some dark moments as well. Kate Bishop's revelation at the end to Jessica Jones is startling, and makes me appreciate her character even more. And, the team has to deal with serious consequences, like death. I really liked this group, and even the arrogant brat Patriot grew on me by the end when his attitude was given a basis.The two main plots are fully resolved by the end of the collection, but a few threads are left that lead directly into Avengers: The Children's Crusade wherein Wiccan and Speed's origin will be expanded on. Overall, this was a thrilling, fast-paced, but solidly built series. The new Marvel Now series is not nearly as good, but Heinberg set a high bar. I have hope that the new series eventually fulfills its potential.

I just read Alan Heinberg's Young Avengers for, oh, I'd say the millionth time. I have to tell you it gets better and richer and with every reading.The great thing about YA is how brilliantly Heinberg confounds your expectations as to what this book is going to be. When you first hear about the characters he introduces, they don't sound too promising. Hulkling? Iron Lad? A young Vision? It has the potential to be the worst kind of derivative drivel.But Heinberg takes what could have been a purely commercial attempt to profit off these established names and creates characters that are truly fresh and unique. Yes, they all have ties to the existing Marvel Universe, but the true nature of those ties turns out to be very different than what you may have expected. In fact, the reveals continue well into the second volume of these stories, and they just get better and better.The plotting and pacing of Young Avengers is fantastic - block out some time when you first pick it up, because you won't want to stop until you've read all 13 issues.You'll also love the snappy dialogue - Heinberg's writing reminds me of some of the best episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The Young Avengers speak in a language that's frank, slangy, and often very funny - how can they be so clever even when fighting baddies? Their jokes are like Spider-Man's, only not lame.Heinberg show tremendous courage in many of his choices here. One of the characters with the most potential, who is set up as one of the series' leads, comes to a surprisingly unfortunate end. Another turns out to be getting his powers from a different source than he or she claimed - and an illegal source, at that.I also applaud Heinberg's decision to allow two of his male characters to fall in love. They discover their feelings in a way that seems natural, and without the usual angst that young gay characters are forced to suffer, especially in this age where MTV serves up as many queer images as Logo. No, these boys are more concerned with being grounded for using their powers than they are about being persecuted for being gay. Refreshing!Plus, the boys' relationship sets up one of the best jokes I've ever read in a comic book - the offhand explanation as to why an openly gay superhero might not want to go with "Asguardian" as a codename.I tend to read comics more for the story than for the art, but Jim Cheung leads a stellar collection of artists in a book that's a great feast for the eyes.As an aside, my 7-year-old son was pretty Iron Man crazed, especially during all the hype for the new movie. But after I showed him Young Avengers (he's too young to read much of it, but he loves the pictures) he now proclaims himself "Iron Lad!"I hope Heinberg keeps bringing us more adventures of this team - he has at least one reader who'd be only too happy to grow up with these as his favorite heroes.Scott Sherman, author, First You Fall: A Kevin Connor Mystery