Young Avengers-The Mr Brightside of Marvel Now

Young Avengers-The Mr Brightside of Marvel Now!

I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine about the ‘All new All Different’ era of

Marvel Comics. We disagreed about the actual success of the relaunch, but we agree on the

initial run of the Champions title. While the rise and fall of that era of Marvel Comics is a whole

post of its own, the conversation reminded me of another group of the ‘next generation’ of

heroes. The Young Avengers.

I loved the first run of Young Avengers by Allen Heinberg and Jim Cheung. It introduced a group

of young heroes in a way that hasn’t happened since Spider-Man swung in. I hold this run, as

well as “The Children’s Crusade” in high regard and see them as necessary reading for any fan

of the modern age of comics. The comic that really sticks out in my mind though is Kieron Gillen

and Jamie McKelvie run.

Image fans will recognize this duo as the team behind “The Wicked + The Divine”, a self-

contained modern epic of gods and men. Gillen is also a familiar name for Iron Man fans, a

phenomenal cosmic run. This run of Young Avengers is definitely cosmic, with twists and turns

through realms and realities page after page.

Gillen and McKelvie’s Young Avengers is one of the most unique and refreshing books to come

out of the Marvel Now imprint. A story with this kind of genre bending action and relentless

pace can only exist in a comic book, and it works beautifully. America Chavez returns to the

spotlight with the new Kid Loki to protect founding Young Avenger Wiccan from a sinister

extra-dimensional force, and joins a brilliant cast of characters like Hulking, Noh-Varr, and Kate

Bishop through all manner of realms and realities fight against the Demiurge.

This run perfectly fuses action, humor, horror, and romance into a near perfect book that

captures a youthful spirit appropriate for the team. Gillen has a strength in dialogue and

captures the essence of the characters not only as individuals, but with their relationship as a

team. This run is easy to be binged, and a total change of pace from what readers are used to

with young heroes. Simply put this book is fun and insane, and I loved the whole thing from

start to finish. I would give this run 8 Ziggy Stardust jumpsuits out of 10.

Young Avengers can be found complete in trade paperback at Comic Spot with single issues as

well.