Young Avengers #6 – Review

By: Kieron Gillen (story), Kate Brown (art)

The Story: When David met Tommy.

The Review: I gave Batwoman #21 a bit of a hard time for abruptly switching from one storyline to a completely different one with little notice or reason.  No matter how good the interlude was (and it was actually very good), the timing just seemed all wrong for it.  I have no such hang-up here.  For one, Gillen wisely finished his first arc before making the switch, and no one minds a proper break between arcs (though some refer to them derisively as “filler”).

For another, Gillen also writes a very good interlude issue, starring a rather inspired combination of young heroes: the stolid, former Young X-Man Prodigy and the breezy, former Young Avenger Speed.  Instead of rubbing each other the wrong way, their opposing personalities instead bring out the most interesting parts of the other, generating a dynamic that feels easy and natural.  Maybe it’s David responding to Tommy’s friendliness, or Tommy responding to David’s loneliness, or both, but somehow together they seem more human and sincere than they ever were with their own teammates.

Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #1 – Review

by Allan Heinberg (writer), Jim Cheung (pencils & inks), Mark Morales (inks), Justin Ponsor (colors), and Cory Petit (letters)

The Story: A sudden outburst of power from Wiccan and a temporary loss of control sparks questions about his relation to the Scarlet Witch.

What’s Good: It’s great to see the gang back together again and certainly, the team dynamic is just as strong as ever.  This is thanks in no small part to to Heinberg’s dialogue, which is tight, natural, and humorous, and at different turns evocative and light-hearted.  It’s by far the best part of this issue, mostly because of how human it is and how well-managed the voices of the various team members are.  Each characters is well-defined and their close relationships with each other are clear just through Heinberg’s tone.  The conversations are a joy to read.

Of course, this issue also marks the return of Jim Cheung and, as expected, that means that this issue looks absolutely gorgeous.  Cheung’s style, to me, represents the pinnacle of what Marvel’s “house style” would look like, were there such a thing.  Everything is well defined and, well, heroic with a very light anime touch.  Essentially, this looks like the greatest Saturday morning action cartoon to never exist.

As far as the book’s plot goes, it takes a while to be really pulled in, but by the book’s final pages, the team’s dynamic and their new, troubling position had me eating out of Children’s Crusade’s hand.  While this issue in itself wasn’t the fastest or most engaging overall, in itself, I feel sure that this series as a whole, and most likely every issue after this one, will be awesome and of the standard we were expecting.  By the end of the book, I really, really wanted more and it wasn’t just due to the massive cliffhanger at the end.