Comic Book Review: 'Young Avengers' #2
Posted March 3rd, 2013 by Ben Silverio
After an awesome first issue, the brand new team of Young Avengers under the direction of Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie is back for more. Consisting of Wiccan, Hulkling, Miss America, Marvel Boy, Hawkeye, and Kid Loki, this new team of teen heroes is getting into all sorts of trouble on and off of this world and so far it's been quite an interesting ride. In this new issue guest starring the Uncanny Avengers, things get even more interesting as the team really starts to take shape and their first threat becomes more apparent.
Back in 'Young Avengers' #1, we were reintroduced to the premiere team of young heroes in the Marvel Universe and we caught up with them after the original team disbanded after the events of 'Avengers: The Children's Crusade'. We found Kate Bishop shacking up with Noh-Varr in his satellite orbiting Earth. We saw that Teddy Altman moved in with his boyfriend, Billy Kaplan (and his parents). And we were introduced to America Chavez, who seems to be pretty peeved at the young God of Mischief (but then again, who doesn't get peeved by that guy every once in a while). Though we covered all the members of the team, we focused on Teddy, who appears to have resumed his super-heroic activities behind his partner's back. On top of that, while he appreciates the Kaplans and what they've done for him, he misses his own mother. Eager to make his boyfriend happy, Billy sets out to do something nice for Teddy: Bring his mother back to life.
As we saw at the end of the last issue, yes, Ms. Altman had returned, but she's not the same. In this issue, Billy and Teddy discover this anomaly and try to remedy the mistake, but without much success. Then, after the Uncanny Avengers weren't much help, Kid Loki steps in to set them on the right track.
I dug the whole vibe of this issue. It was like a 'Leave It To Beaver' episode mixed with 'The Stepford Wives' and superheroes. Clearly something is up with the adults, but only the kids realize it. Like I said in my previous review, this series sounds like an ABC Family show, but it sounds like a really good ABC Family show. I'm curious to see how this all plays out and what exactly is behind this 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'-esque story.
The artwork in this book continued the trend of awesome looking and clever pages and panels started in the first issue. First, when you first open the book, the recap page is a replica of Tumblr! Fans on the micro-blogging site explode over 'Young Avengers', and the two creators utilize the site on a daily basis to interact with their fans, so I found it hysterical that they made reference to it in the book. In the story itself, McKelvie plays around with the panels in a way that breaks the fourth wall. When "Ms. Altman" puts Billy and Teddy in their "new rooms", the look of those pages are really cool because of their simplicity and minimalistic nature. I notice that simple and minimalist is starting to become a reoccurring theme in all of the Avengers books, too. My only discrepancy with those pages in particular in this book is that I wish they were side by side in the book. There was an ad in between for 'Wolverine' #1 that was kinda distracting and I feel like those pages would've been more effective if they were presented next to each other. Aside from that, it was all as awesome as the first installment of the series.
Oh! Another thing that I missed from the first issue was the recommended song choice on the credits page like they did with the first one where Marvel Boy was listening to The Ronettes. Sure, you can't do that with every issue, and Gillen gave everyone a 'Young Avengers' playlist on his blog, but I thought it would've been cool if that happened every time. If I had to pick, I'd say 'Parents Just Don't Understand' by The Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff would be the theme of this issue.
Basically, Gillen and McKelvie have captured the essence of the teenage superhero and have bottled it up in this series to share with the masses. I look forward to picking up this book each month because it's easily one of my favorite titles to read right now, let alone one of my favorite 'Avengers' titles on the shelves currently. Anyone who had their doubts about reviving the team in a new series has absolutely nothing to worry about.
Final Issue:
YOUNG AVENGERS #1
Written by Kieron Gillen
Art by Jamie McKelvie, Mike Norton, & Matthew Wilson
Billy Kaplan
Hulkling
Jamie McKelvie
Kate Bishop
Loki Laufeyson
Marvel Boy
Noh-Varr
Teddy Altman
Ben Silverio
Ben F. Silverio received a degree from Drexel University in the Screenwriting and Playwriting Program with a minor in Television Production. While at Drexel, Ben co-founded and co-hosted a film review show called The Pretentious Film Majors, which has evolved into a multi-format form of entertainment including blogs, podcasts on iTunes, articles in the school paper, and a potential tv show. Now armed with an extremely expensive piece of paper, Ben can begin climbing the treacherous ladder of the entertainment industry, which he hopes to do while streaming WWE wrestling matches, reading Marvel comics, and blogging about the excessive amount of movies and tv shows that he watches, all on the iPhone that is permanently attached to his hand.
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