Young Avengers v2 #1 Discussion

[jetdragon]

So I said I wanted a discussion post with comment threads, which I guess means I get to make it, but I'm lazy so I'm just crossposting from my tumblr.

Comments

[redshirtdiary]

I know I am literally the only one who cares, but Billy lives in Chelsea now? Why does Billy live in Chelsea? Is this something that showed up in other YA books (Children's Crusade, maybe? I read some of the later books through my fingers.)? When Billy is introduced, he lived on the Upper West Side, which made complete sense despite being just a touch on the nose. Billy and Teddy living in a known "gay neighborhood" is...not bad, really. I'm not upset about the sudden switch. But I can't get over the feeling that it was supposed to be some inside reference to The Chelsea Boys, and I do kind of roll my eyes because we don't always live on the same block, writers, and I definitely am suspicious about his parents' motives.

Oh God, can you imagine that conversation? The Kaplans sitting the kids down and telling them they've decided to move from the UWS to Chelsea so Billy and Teddy could be surrounded by gay culture. Meanwhile, Billy's younger brothers plot to burn all of Billy's action figures in protest.

[jetdragon]

I have absolutely nothing to contribute to this, but the last sentence made me lol.

From the perspective of someone nowhere near NYC, I had the vague idea that "Upper East/West Side" = affluent, but I have no associations for Chelsea.

[redshirtdiary]

I've been wanting to write either that ficlet (titled Hi, Mom, We Exist Too) or Teddy and Billy being a little weirded out by the change in neighborhoods (titled We Now Live Two Doors Down From the Cockhead Bar and Grill

[traincat]

I know I am literally the only one who cares, but Billy lives in Chelsea now? Why does Billy live in Chelsea?

THANK YOU. You are not alone.

Billy's younger brothers must be so sick of all his superhero shenanigans. First aliens blow up a wall of their apartment, now they've moved to Chelsea.

[redshirtdiary]

And now they're "foster brothers". They really need to hold Billy down and beat him up with their Transformers.

(Though I really want one of them to (fake) confess some deep desire to, I don't know, grow an ironic beard and raise bees on his rooftop, just to see if Rebecca moves the family to Williamsburg.)

[traincat]

I was kind of confused by the foster parents line! I thought it was established that Billy was the reincarnated soul of William Maximoff and that technically the Kaplans were his birth parents too? Not exactly "foster" anything there. I know there was a Marvel Universe Guide not too long ago that said Billy and Tommy were adopted by the Kaplans and Shepherds, respectively, but that seems to have been nixed. IDK Marvel genetics.

(I want the Kaplans to be living in a different area of New York City every issue. Which I guess can't happen if they're, you know. Melted.)

[redshirtdiary]

I lean toward assuming Billy asking Teddy to call them that, since Billy was the one who was obsessed with the idea of Wanda being his mother. (And Teddy still calls his mother "Mom" even though she isn't his birth mother. So it'd make no sense for him to make that distinction unless Billy asked him to.)

So basically Billy is kind of being a tool about his parents, which...is very teenaged of him.

[traincat]

Oh I didn't even think of it that way. Could be! It would more or less fit, even if it would be totally terrible of Billy. :\ The Kaplans are really understanding if that's the case. I feel so bad for them!

[luminum]

I like that Teddy basically called Billy out on all his privilege, which has been symptomatic since the original run. Of course, he totally let him off the hook for it and Billy's takeaway from it was that he could fix it by swapping out his mom instead of assessing his lack of character, so...

Anyway, I haven't liked Billy since Children's Crusade, and his douchiness seems to be continuing with the whole "foster parents" bullshit.