Robin Lewis
Jan 27, 2008, 02:04 pm
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/4images/details.php?image_id=11732" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/marvel/yap1t.jpg" hspace=10 align=left alt="Young Avengers Presents #1: Patriot"></a>Reviewer: Robin Lewis, lucillerobin@aol.com
It's been a while, guys.
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Penciler: Paco Medina
Inker: Juan Vlasco
Colorist: Nathan Fairbairn
Cover Art: Jim Cheung, John Dell & Justin Ponsor
Production: Brad Johansen
Letterer: VC's Cory Petit
Associate Editor: Molly Lazer
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Guiding Lights: Allan Heinberg & Jim Cheung
Published by: Marvel (http://www.marvel.com)
After a widely praised and tragically foreshortened introductory run, the Young Avengers are back. Whatever the reasons behind that run being condensed and then abruptly cancelled, it was clear that, for once, Marvel had actually managed to launch a new team book and build a respectably large and loyal audience for a comic with all-new characters. This doesn't happen often. The Heroes for Hire have all been fired, The Order has proved that even if a book is written well and drawn beautifully, people aren't going to buy it because who the hell are The Order, and the New Warriors are getting close to the point of no return. The Young Avengers had a bit more of an advantage with their mysterious links to the Earth's Mightiest Heroes and a large campaign of hype leading up to the run helpfully boosting sales, but its success was notable and most certainly out of the ordinary. Which makes it all the more tragic that the head of steam it had built up was almost entirely spent by its sudden absence from the shelves. The occasional mini or one-shot special aside, the cast have been relegated to guest-star roles in other books, but now they're here in a new six-part series that isn't a crossover tie-in and appears to have no agenda beyond giving the rookies room to live and breathe again. It's a welcome return.
Each issue of this series appears to focus on one of the team, but as is quickly obvious the others will be showing up in the background. Here Patriot is ostensibly our lead, but there's space enough for Wiccan and the new Hawkeye to get their share of the limelight. The creative teams are rotating with each issue as well, and on the first issue as well as drafting in Paco Madina on art duties Marvel have utilised that one piece of free time Ed Brubaker was only wasting by eating and sleeping by getting him to write it. You can see their reasoning: if you're going to get someone to write a character steeped in the history of Captain America, get the guy who's writing what may be the definitive run of Cap stories.
Since the end of the Civil War most of the Young Avengers have presumably been at something of a loose end. Stature joined the Initiative, but the rest of them just sort of melted away into limbo. Patriot has been catching up on his schooling, using his natural charm and diplomacy to reason with the less thoughtful members of his class by punching them in the face. He's getting A's in class and everything, but it's plain he's in need of some exercise. He's also in need of some guidance. His first choice as a mentor was murdered on some courthouse steps, and his grandfather is a bedridden old man. The obvious substitute duly enters his life, and, with some help from a couple of his teammates, Patriot tracks him down and starts learning a little more about Cap and those others who've tried on a uniform that was meant to symbolise America. And that's basically it. There's a little action in there to satisfy convention and break things up a little, but it's basically a character piece about getting under Patriot's skin and seeing what makes him tick. Which is fair enough, especially so since it feels like it's been an age since any of the team got a decent bit of facetime.
Brubaker plainly enjoys the opportunity to dig around one corner of the Cap mythos he hasn't really touched upon in his own book, and makes his customary good use of past continuity in developing present characters. Patriot's occasional discomfort with his position as a black kid calling himself 'Patriot' in a country he's presently finding doesn't much want him around is a fruitful avenue to explore in terms of character development. Brubaker raises some pertinent questions about Patriot's place in the grand scheme of things in the post Civil War USA, and even finds time for a pleasing little dig at the infamous and much-ridiculed Sally Floyd speech about Cap being out of touch with America. What's not to love? Paco Medina's art does its job as well. There are a couple of panels where his bodies have their proportions all out of whack, but his storytelling is great, and his facial expressions convey what they need to. If Jim Cheung's too busy to draw the ongoing, they could certainly do worse than get Medina to take over.
This isn't the return of the ongoing Young Avengers book we'd all like, and with Heinberg apparently unavailable for a regular comic right now that prospect appears to be further away than ever. But if the rest of this mini-series manages to match up to the quality of this first issue it'll certainly do for now. You won't find the epic fun of the original book here, but there's plenty here to keep fans of that fine comic satisfied.
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avnone.jpg
Buy Young Avengers Presents #1: Patriot online now from X-WORLD and save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopexd.asp?id=25711)
It's been a while, guys.
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Penciler: Paco Medina
Inker: Juan Vlasco
Colorist: Nathan Fairbairn
Cover Art: Jim Cheung, John Dell & Justin Ponsor
Production: Brad Johansen
Letterer: VC's Cory Petit
Associate Editor: Molly Lazer
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Guiding Lights: Allan Heinberg & Jim Cheung
Published by: Marvel (http://www.marvel.com)
After a widely praised and tragically foreshortened introductory run, the Young Avengers are back. Whatever the reasons behind that run being condensed and then abruptly cancelled, it was clear that, for once, Marvel had actually managed to launch a new team book and build a respectably large and loyal audience for a comic with all-new characters. This doesn't happen often. The Heroes for Hire have all been fired, The Order has proved that even if a book is written well and drawn beautifully, people aren't going to buy it because who the hell are The Order, and the New Warriors are getting close to the point of no return. The Young Avengers had a bit more of an advantage with their mysterious links to the Earth's Mightiest Heroes and a large campaign of hype leading up to the run helpfully boosting sales, but its success was notable and most certainly out of the ordinary. Which makes it all the more tragic that the head of steam it had built up was almost entirely spent by its sudden absence from the shelves. The occasional mini or one-shot special aside, the cast have been relegated to guest-star roles in other books, but now they're here in a new six-part series that isn't a crossover tie-in and appears to have no agenda beyond giving the rookies room to live and breathe again. It's a welcome return.
Each issue of this series appears to focus on one of the team, but as is quickly obvious the others will be showing up in the background. Here Patriot is ostensibly our lead, but there's space enough for Wiccan and the new Hawkeye to get their share of the limelight. The creative teams are rotating with each issue as well, and on the first issue as well as drafting in Paco Madina on art duties Marvel have utilised that one piece of free time Ed Brubaker was only wasting by eating and sleeping by getting him to write it. You can see their reasoning: if you're going to get someone to write a character steeped in the history of Captain America, get the guy who's writing what may be the definitive run of Cap stories.
Since the end of the Civil War most of the Young Avengers have presumably been at something of a loose end. Stature joined the Initiative, but the rest of them just sort of melted away into limbo. Patriot has been catching up on his schooling, using his natural charm and diplomacy to reason with the less thoughtful members of his class by punching them in the face. He's getting A's in class and everything, but it's plain he's in need of some exercise. He's also in need of some guidance. His first choice as a mentor was murdered on some courthouse steps, and his grandfather is a bedridden old man. The obvious substitute duly enters his life, and, with some help from a couple of his teammates, Patriot tracks him down and starts learning a little more about Cap and those others who've tried on a uniform that was meant to symbolise America. And that's basically it. There's a little action in there to satisfy convention and break things up a little, but it's basically a character piece about getting under Patriot's skin and seeing what makes him tick. Which is fair enough, especially so since it feels like it's been an age since any of the team got a decent bit of facetime.
Brubaker plainly enjoys the opportunity to dig around one corner of the Cap mythos he hasn't really touched upon in his own book, and makes his customary good use of past continuity in developing present characters. Patriot's occasional discomfort with his position as a black kid calling himself 'Patriot' in a country he's presently finding doesn't much want him around is a fruitful avenue to explore in terms of character development. Brubaker raises some pertinent questions about Patriot's place in the grand scheme of things in the post Civil War USA, and even finds time for a pleasing little dig at the infamous and much-ridiculed Sally Floyd speech about Cap being out of touch with America. What's not to love? Paco Medina's art does its job as well. There are a couple of panels where his bodies have their proportions all out of whack, but his storytelling is great, and his facial expressions convey what they need to. If Jim Cheung's too busy to draw the ongoing, they could certainly do worse than get Medina to take over.
This isn't the return of the ongoing Young Avengers book we'd all like, and with Heinberg apparently unavailable for a regular comic right now that prospect appears to be further away than ever. But if the rest of this mini-series manages to match up to the quality of this first issue it'll certainly do for now. You won't find the epic fun of the original book here, but there's plenty here to keep fans of that fine comic satisfied.
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avnone.jpg
Buy Young Avengers Presents #1: Patriot online now from X-WORLD and save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopexd.asp?id=25711)