Young Avengers: The Next Generation

I don't know if I've ever expressed this sentiment on The Other Worlds, but teen drama, when done well, is very entertaining. More times than not, teen drama is done poorly, overflowing with melodrama and forced sentiment (Smallville the Buffy movie), but when done right, it is incredible. The television Buffy, Veronica Mars, Runaways, and Robert Kirkman's Invincible are all great examples. After I got into Runaways, the same friend who turned me on to that series told me about Young Avengers, another Marvel Universe teenage superhero team. The two teams have so much in common, yet are very very different.

Most members of the Young Avengers are somehow related to members of the Avengers, Marvel's premier superhero team (within the story; I'd say the most well-known team to our world is the X-Men, but the Avengers are the mainstream team within the Marvel Universe, as opposed to the X-Men, who are feared by most humans in the story). In 2004, comics writer Brian Michael Bendis took over writing for The Avengers, and the first thing he did was dismantle the team in his Avengers: Disassembled storyline (a play on the rallying cry "Avengers assemble!"). In the story, three characters, Ant Man II, The Vision, and Hawkeye, were killed as a result of a mental breakdown suffered by the heroine Scarlet Witch, who had powers that could alter reality. The team broke up in response, and the New Avengers eventually rose from the ashes. But before they reformed, a group of teenagers began mimicking the appearance of four of the original Avengers and tried to fight crime. Iron Lad, Patriot, Asgardian (later Wiccan), and Hulkling wanted to follow in the footsteps of their fallen heroes. Later, they were joined by Stature, the daughter of the late Ant-Man II (the only Young Avenger who is actually related to the Avenger he/she is honoring), Speed, and Kate Bishop (the only character who has no relationship to any Avenger).

That there is one of the biggest differences between Young Avengers and Runaways: the Young Avengers honor and look up to the adult heroes who came before them, whereas the Runaways are inherently wary of authority figures. The Young Avengers are a much more traditional superhero team; they wear costumes, use codes names, and are relatively more powerful than the Runaways (though the Runaways are more resourceful). That doesn't mean that the Young Avengers don't have problems or varied personalities and motives. Bishop is very gung ho about being a hero based on her sheltered upbringing. Stature is rebelling against her superhero-hating mother and step-father, and identifies with her father. Speed isn't exactly as moral as some of the team's other characters. And Patriot... well, let's just say that he has problems that many role models have in our society these days. As for Wiccan and Hulkling, they share a secret that can make them social outcasts due to public opinion in our country. And yet these people with different outlooks on life and morality choose to work together to help people who can't help themselves.

There are only 12 issues (and 1 special) of the actual Young Avengers series; at this point, most of their appearances have been in other books. The writer, Allen Heinberg, does a lot of TV writing, and is known to be a bit of a perfectionist. This makes the issues very well-written, but it also causes delays adn his other committments have prevented him from continuing. Sadly, because the team has been so involved in events of the Marvel Universe, the team is in a much different place than they were when Heinberg left, and some of his hinted at plotlines may no longer be feasible.

One such plotline invovled the search for Wiccan and Speed's true Avengers predecessors. As I said, only Stature is related to the Avenger that she is honoring. The next closest is Patriot; at first glance, he looks like he is referencing Captain America, which is true, until he reveals that the famous Captain America is not who he is imitating. In fact, the US government experimented on black soldiers before perfecting the super-soldier serum that was administered to Steve Rogers, and Patriot's grandfather was the only surviving test subject. Speed takes after Quicksilver, but he took up that mantle after he had learned the truth of his lineage. Wiccan's original name was Asgardian because he dressed like Thor, Hulkling took after the Incredible Hulk, and Iron Lad after Iron Man. Iron Lad was the most removed from the Avengers (aside from Bishop, who later took up Hawkeye's mantle), but was still related to the Avengers in some way. Much of the plot of the series revolves around finding out the true origins of the Young Avengers, and the team learns that they are much more tied to the events of Avengers: Disassembled than anyone could have thought.

So far, there have been two crossovers between the Runaways and the Young Avengers (I have only read one), and there are more than a few parallels. The first crossover featured covers with like characters on them (each team has a magic user, each team has an alien, each team has a robot, each team has someone without any actual superpowers), and each team is rebelling in their own way. However, as I previously stated, the Runaways are rebelling against all adult control, whereas the Young Avengers rebel against adults who want to stop them from being heroes. The Young Avengers rebel to prove themselves. The two books hit many of the same themes because adolescence affects everyone in similar general ways, but the two books differ in the paths the characters take.

Up next: Parodies and flip-sides...