Is anyone else here reading Young Avengers?

[AdamYJ]

I know the concept seems kind of dumb when viewed at face value, but it's got to be one of the best books I'm reading right now. It stems out of the "Avengers Disassembled" story, while also drawing a whole lot from the classic Avengers. It's also just a lot of fun. Awesome book. I got issue #3 yesterday and I already can't wait for issue #4.

[Bearpod91]

i got #1 and thought it was cool having these new characters but i kept forgetting the release dates for the other issues so i'm stuck only with issue 1...

[Redhood]

I agree this is one of the best marvel books. every issue so far has a cliffhanger that makes me can't wait for the next issue. the plot is brillaint!

[Chad Bonin]

Definitely one of the weaker books I'm reading, but I'll give it the first arc.

Some books I can't wait to read (Astonishing X-Men, The New Avengers, Teen Titans, Anything Crisis...), others could sit in the pile for a few days...

[AdamYJ]

Definitely one of the weaker books I'm reading, but I'll give it the first arc.

Some books I can't wait to read (Astonishing X-Men, The New Avengers, Teen Titans, Anything Crisis...), others could sit in the pile for a few days...
To each their own.

I'll have to disagree with you, though. Of course, I probably have different tastes and a different pull list. Though I'll agree that Astonishing X-Men, New Avengers and Teen Titans are all good, I'm not really getting as excited about those books as I am about Young Avengers.

One of the things that really surprised me was the revelation of the Vision's Avengers Failsafe Program. It's probably one of the more interesting things to come out of the Vision's character for a while, even when he's dead (admit it, he was basically repeating the same patterns for the past few years). It makes a certain amount of sense that a logical android like Vision would cook up some back-up plans and failsafes in case something happened. I wonder how Asgardian and Hulkling are connected to Avengers history. I also wonder if we'll see anything come of the others names listed by the failsafe program.

[Chad Bonin]

Yeah, I liked the Vision "Failsafe" program, but it's not the newest idea on the block.

JLA- When the JLA are presumed dead in the hunt for Aquaman, Batman's computer locates a new team by automation. Green Arrow, The Atom, etc. Captain Marvel denied, but Nightwing led the team.

Sonic The Hedgehog- "Sonic has finally won it all!" had Dr. Robotnik's post-mortem plans kick off, with attempts to destroy the world if he could never succeed in winning it.
Like I said, I like the plot, but these types of post-mortem things I've seen before.

... and I'll probably use at one point.

[AdamYJ]

Well, it's very hard to find anything that people haven't used in a story before.

Besides, this was done in a rather interesting way. It's mainly because it was coming from Vision. Though it makes sense that he'd have these plans and they'd be hidden from everyone, he's not the first Avenger you'd expect. If it had been Black Panther, I would have been less surprised. He's been depicted as plotting and planning things secretly from the Avengers for the past couple of years.

Another one of the good things coming from issue 3 was that we finally got Stark's real reasons for disbanding the old Avengers. It's much better than the whole "no money left" excuse he's been handing out.


Anyway, this series is one of the few that has me consistently, pleasantly surprised. I think it helps that I had no preconceived notions about these characters and there was a sense of mystery there. We may get surprises in other comics, but in this one I'm not afraid that it'll irrepairably damage the characters. For example, I'm still afraid that the revelation about Superboy over in Teen Titans will eat the character alive.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

I remember being pleasantly surprised at how good the first issue preview was. I'm still not crazy about the revelation of Iron Lad (Iron Lad??!??)'s secret identity, but I just read a spoiler on who the Patriot is under the mask, and now I think I need to own the trade.

Apparently, he's been revealed as the son of Isaiah Bradley, the first Super Soldier Serum recipient, as revealed in Truth: Red White and Black

Also, for some reason, I think it's really cool that Cassie Lang is apparently going to take over as Ant-Girl, even if she seems to have aged 5-6 years since the last time we saw her. Maybe it's just that she looks good in the suit on the cover to YA #6.

-- Ed/Ace

[staticblue]

You know, Ive been out of comics for a few years now (when I entered college, I lost the time and funds to collect them). Im now thinking of getting back into the game. I was going to start with New Avengers, but now I think, Ill add YA to the list as well. I have a few questions though:

1. Who are the people on the team (and are joining)? what are their names, real names, and powers?

2. whats the motive for them coming together?

[AdamYJ]

You know, Ive been out of comics for a few years now (when I entered college, I lost the time and funds to collect them). Im now thinking of getting back into the game. I was going to start with New Avengers, but now I think, Ill add YA to the list as well. I have a few questions though:

1. Who are the people on the team (and are joining)? what are their names, real names, and powers?

2. whats the motive for them coming together?
I'm going to put this in a spoiler block just in case. One of the great things about this series was all the surprises it throws at you. So, you may want to avoid highlighting that black box and just buy the first three issues. Don't say I didn't warn you.

1) Iron Lad- A young man from the 30th Century who may grow up to be the time travelling despot Kang the Conqueror. He fled to the modern day in the hopes of bringing the Avengers back together to stop the evil, adult version of himself from turning him into a killer. He's a teenager determined to become who he wants instead of what Kang wants him to be. His armor is more advanced than Iron Man's.

Patriot- Elijah Bradley. The grandson of the first person to ever have the super-soldier serum tested on him, a black soldier named Isaiah Bradley. He gained his grandfather's super-soldier abilities from a blood transfusion. He also appears to be bulletproof. Major chip on his shoulder.

Asgardian- Billy Kaplan. Possesses lightning powers as well as some other undefined abilities. Patterns himself after Thor. Not much else is known.

Hulkling- Teddy Altman. Super strength and a rapid healing factor. He appears to be a teenage version of the Hulk. Not much else is known.

Cassie Lang- Codename to be determined (probably Ant-Girl). The daughter of late Avenger Ant-Man, aka Scott Lang. Has exhibited the ability to change into a giant. May also be able to shrink.

Kate Bishop- Codename to be determined. A very smart and resourceful young lady who saved the four original Young Avengers at a hostage situation.

2) They were originally brought together to stop Kang from getting to Iron Lad. Each of Iron Lad's original three companions was found through the Avengers Failsafe Program. A program created by the Vision to put together the next wave of Avengers should they ever be destroyed or disbanded. Each person in the program is supposed to have a tie to the Avengers or their history.

[Slade_Wilson]

I woudn't have had a big of a problem with this had:

1. They not tried to capitalize on the Titans and be younger versions of the Avengers. With Patriot and Ant Girl it's excusable, But the others could have been origional.

2. The fact that the Avengers HAVE in fact reformed(they just look random and unorthodox, but that said just see my new thread on the subject.)

3. They could have gone about the whole Fill in the Avengers void other ways then this. There are a huge selection of teen and young heroes in the Marvel U that they could have revamped and brought back.New Warriors and Slingers come to mind.You could have also did a new title with a team that had a short stint in the comics(I would have Brought the Idea of the Redeemers back and do a suicide squad like spin on them)

[randomguy]

I approached the book 100% ready to get my hate on, but it's really defied all my expectations for it. Sure, the names are silly, and the concept reeks of being an editorial mandate, but Heinberg has done some really amazing things on the book. It has every reason to stink, but instead it's got great dialogue, good characters, some very clever handling of Marvel continuity (Patriot's identity being one that particularly impressed me), and a good sense of direction.

That's, and there's Jim Cheung's art, which is fantastic. When the biggest quibble I have with the entire book is that Cassie Lang seems a little too old, you know you've got a winner on your hands.

I think Young Avengers is the second best thing to come out of "Avengers Disassembled" (Captain America being the first), and I'm quite pleased with it overall. In many ways, it's a much better book for old-school Avengers fans than New Avengers is. It continues the legacy and feeling of the Avengers in a much more enjoyable way than NA does.

Admittedly, when it comes to teenage Marvel superhero groups, I prefer Runaways, but Young Avengers is quite fun also.

[AdamYJ]

I woudn't have had a big of a problem with this had:

1. They not tried to capitalize on the Titans and be younger versions of the Avengers. With Patriot and Ant Girl it's excusable, But the others could have been origional.

2. The fact that the Avengers HAVE in fact reformed(they just look random and unorthodox, but that said just see my new thread on the subject.)

3. They could have gone about the whole Fill in the Avengers void other ways then this. There are a huge selection of teen and young heroes in the Marvel U that they could have revamped and brought back.New Warriors and Slingers come to mind.You could have also did a new title with a team that had a short stint in the comics(I would have Brought the Idea of the Redeemers back and do a suicide squad like spin on them)
I don't care. I like the book. It's fun.

In terms of your #1 point, I kind of understand what you're saying. It does look like they're trying to capitalize on Teen Titans at first glance. Though, it could also be that they wanted to give teen drama writer and comic fan Allan Heinberg his own series and they just happened to be revamping the Avengers franchise at the time.

Anyway, I think part of what makes this series good is that they are able to work the sidekick angle in an interesting way. You get that rather early on in issue #1. It stems largely from the fact that teen sidekicks are pretty much taboo for the major heroes of the Marvel Universe. When Jonah Jameson, Jessica Jones and Kat Farrel are commenting on the similarity between Patriot's costume and Bucky's. For practically the first time, we see how Bucky's death affected the rest of the Marvel Universe. Jameson's line about how Cap took a 14 year old boy behind enemy lines and got him killed sticks with you.

It's a very interesting premise in contrast to the Teen Titans actually. In Teen Titans, those kids have been a round for a while and are kind of the established proteges of the JLA. In Young Avengers, it turns out that the Avengers have left a legacy behind them quite unintentionally and, for better or for worse, here they are.

[Chad Bonin]

In Teen Titans, those kids have been a round for a while and are kind of the established proteges of the JLA.The last issue of Teen Titans kinda swapped that up...

[wonderfly]

I woudn't have had a big of a problem with this had:

1. They not tried to capitalize on the Titans and be younger versions of the Avengers. With Patriot and Ant Girl it's excusable, But the others could have been origional.


I don't believe they were intentionally trying to create a Teen Titans rip off. Yes, the book came about by means of Editorial mandate, but Allan Hienberg stated that they started to offer old teen characters, but Allan decided to create his own. And it doesn't sound like he wanted to mimic the Teen Titans. As was pointed out, the Titans have characters in their team who are not young JLA clones.



3. They could have gone about the whole Fill in the Avengers void other ways then this. There are a huge selection of teen and young heroes in the Marvel U that they could have revamped and brought back.New Warriors and Slingers come to mind.You could have also did a new title with a team that had a short stint in the comics(I would have Brought the Idea of the Redeemers back and do a suicide squad like spin on them)
Characters from New Warriors and Slingers are appearing in Runaways currently, (and they actually fit well into that type of book). I see Young Avengers as being a more traditional Teen book, (as compared to Runaways) yet it's unique enough to form it's own little world. It's not terribly original, but it handles the concept of "Teen Teams" well.

[Chad Bonin]

You say he was offered current teen characters; any mention of who?

And honestly, I'm slightly surprised we haven't seen hide nor hair of a New X-Men on the team. I could see a Young Avengers team, without creating characters, be a New X-Men, Julie from Power Pack, various other teen characters from the past...

... waitaminute, ain't that happening in Runaways?

[AdamYJ]

You say he was offered current teen characters; any mention of who?

And honestly, I'm slightly surprised we haven't seen hide nor hair of a New X-Men on the team. I could see a Young Avengers team, without creating characters, be a New X-Men, Julie from Power Pack, various other teen characters from the past...

... waitaminute, ain't that happening in Runaways?
I remember that in various interviews, he said that basically all they did was give him the title for the book and told him to run with it. They said he could use old characters or create new ones or whatever he wanted. What he elected to do was create a whole bunch of new characters that had a tie to the Avengers or Avengers history. I think it was actually kind of a smart move, because he tied the group directly into Avengers canon. If he had just put random existing teen heroes together on the team, how would that be anymore "Young Avengers" than it is "New Warriors" or whatever.

I'm glad he elected to create new characters. Every once in a while, new characters do have to be created, y'know?