The Trades - Comic Book Review: Young Avengers #4

ARTICLE

Comic Book Review: Young Avengers #4
by R.J. Carter
Published: May 15, 2005

Story	Creative Team	Publisher	Target Audience	Price	Grade
"Sidekicks" part four	Allan Heinberg Jim Cheung John Dell Mark Morales	Marvel	PSR: Parental Supervision Recommended	$2.99 US $4.25 CAN	A+
For more information: Marvel Comics link

Cover by Cheung and Dell

Never trust anyone over thirty.

That used to be a motto of the youth of a nation. And it's probably going to become the rallying cry for the Young Avengers as they find their trust in Captain America and Iron Man sorely misplaced. Imprisoned in a "training facility" until their parents can come reclaim them, the team is unaware of the recent arrival outside of Kang the Conqueror.

Kang's appearance is more than just a simple comic book plot device to keep the older heroes busy until the new kids can effect their escape. Kang has come looking for Iron Lad--who just happens to be a younger version of Kang, also from the future. And while the Avengers are initially in full defensive mode, Kang reasons (!) with them that if Iron Lad doesn't go back and become the man he was destined to be, then...

Kang: If I don't return young Kang to his proper place in the time-stream...
Captain America: Then he'll never become Kang the Conqueror.
Iron Man: And you will cease to exist.
Jessica: Yeah, I'm not seeing a downside.
Kang: The "downside" is that reality, as you know it, will cease to exist. If I never become Kang the Conqueror, then the Avengers and I will never have met.
Iron Man: I think we can live with that, Kang.
Kang: Think again. Because if Avengers history changes, so must its present. Look around you. It's changing already.

So by the time our heroes escape (did you doubt they would?) with some help from Kate, their unwanted ally, the Avengers are quite willing to do the unthinkable: hand Iron Lad over to their enemy. Which doesn't sit well with the Young Avengers, particularly Iron Lad. Trust me, folks, when this issue's over you're going to be out of breath!

Oh yeah. It's on!

Young Avengers continues to be one of the strongest Marvel titles each and every month. The storyline is thrilling, the character dynamics are controversial, and the whole "in on the ground floor of something big" feeling just pervades the entire series thus far. Hienberg and company have done something that no other creative team working under the auspices of the Mighty Marvel banner have done in years: created a team of never-before-seen characters and catapulted them into something that readers care about. These are teen heroes the way they should be written--the idealism of Captain America and Superman with the maturity of Impulse and Speedball. Young Avengers has earned a spot on my regular subscription list, and one can only hope that the current management at Marvel is in talks with their Distinguished Competition about a near-future crossover with another team of titanic teenaged heroes.

Recommendation: Continuously entertaining.

In stores Wednesday, May 18, 2005.

Advance comics are provided courtesy of The Comic Book Store of Little Rock. Michael Tierney, proprietor, even has his own book out, Wild Stars. Check it out.