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YOUNG AVENGERS
or HOW SEVEN TEENAGE DORKS TRIED TO SAVE THE WORLD AND KINDA SUCCEEDED
or HOW ARE YOU PEOPLE NOT READING THIS ALREADY I'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT IT FOR MONTHS OH FINE HERE HAVE DOWNLOAD LINKS
- a pimp-post in 5 parts -
Reason #1: Beautiful Art
Jim Cheung is a mother-effin' genius. His characters are extremely expressive, his panels brilliantly laid out, action and angles are dynamic like the BEST of superhero action drawings are, and the details and scenery can be really breathtaking. He's accompanied by Justin Posner who is a truly brilliant colourist. Like, seriously, the scans I am providing here barely do justice to how beautiful the colours are in person (which is one very good reason to go out and buy this if you like it).
Of relevance to my f-list, I think Cheung's art is a very good way to start into Western comics for people who have been mostly fed a diet of anime. There's a lot of emphasis on eyes in his art, and everyone is PRETTY, so it's a good place to start if you usually find yourself put-off by grittiness in Western comics.
Also: OH GOD PROPORTIONS THAT ARE SORT OF LOGICAL THANK YOU.
---
Reason #2: Strong, Funny Writing
Writing is so often the down-fall of comics. Usually, it's hackneyed or over-wrought or cliche or anvilicious, but YA isn't. I mean, yes, sometimes the themes are spelled out for you, but the dialogue is crisp, the characters have real voices, and the emphasis is on banter rather than melodrama.
BANTER. OH MY GOD DO THEY EVER BANTER. Allan Heinberg created Young Avengers and wrote most of Season 1, and he used to be a writer for The O.C.. Whether you liked that show or hated it, you can't deny that the patter was pretty fabulous, and he's brought that to Young Avengers too. The characters are fun! The characters have fun. There's character- and team-building between the action, and you get a genuine sense in a very short time that these are rounded people who honestly like each other, and that is such a refreshing thing in Western comics, I can't even begin to tell you.
some text redacted to avoid spoooilers
And it's really accessible! Marvel Universe is a huge, scary place, but Young Avengers is the story of a team that's just starting out, and there's really nothing that three minutes on Wikipedia can't fix for you in it's 12 issue, first season run.
---
Reason #3: A Story With Actual Themes and Stuff
I freely admit to a bias when it comes to stories about growing up -- that's why I gravitate to stories about teenagers as frequently as I do -- but Young Avengers has used the essential issues that come from growing up as a backbone for superhero adventure. This isn't just a case of "Which villian are we going to fight this week?" Everything in YA seems to circle around the question of creating an identity for yourself when you're balancing on the edge between childhood and adulthood and what role your past and where you come from ought to play in who you become. Which is, honestly, a stroke of brilliance and makes the whole story much more compelling and cohesive, in my opinion.
---
Reason #4: Female Characters Who Can, And Will, Kick Your Ass
While the ladies are still outnumbered on the team, fairly substantially, both Kate Bishop and Cassie Lang are incredibly developed and interesting people. They're both heroes in their own right and save at least as much as they get saved.
Kate Bishop is, in a lot of ways, the leader of the group, and she's smart and charismatic and determined. She's afraid of things, sure, but she doesn't let that stop her ever. (And she's the centre of a love triangle if you like that kind of thing?)
Cassie Lang, on the other hand, is tied for team sweetheart, but she's also the person who is mostly likely to try to beat you up if you mess with her friends. In recent plotlines, it's become pretty obvious that her personal morality and sense of what a superhero should be is at odds with most of the rest of the team, and that's lent depth and interest to her character that was, admittedly, a little lacking in the beginning. (And she's in a relationship with a robot if you like that kind of thing?)
---
Reason #5: Teddy "Hulkling" Altman and Billy "Wiccan" Kaplan
I don't think I've kept it secret that Teddy and Billy are kind of one of my favourite things ever? I don't want to get into too many specific because a lot of the details about them are revealed as plot twists, and I don't want to give things away. Suffice to say, when the short-tempered, impulsive muscle of the team turned out to be the sweet, charming, secret woobie too, and his canon boyfriend turned out to be the ironic, sarcastic, pessimistic, over-thinking, cerebral one, I fell hard.
Would I still read YA without Billy and Teddy's relationship? Yup. Definitely. But I might not love it enough to take the time to, say, make this post. Their relationship is beautifully handled. Unlike a lot of mainstream romance, YA doesn't feel the need to complicate their relationship with constant break-ups and fights. It's healthy and equal and caring and yet still interesting. They are nicely balanced between actually showing their feelings for each other but not making a big, exploitive fuss over it.
And they talk like boys! And they are morons! AND THEY ARE TEAMMATES AND THEY ARE IN LOVE AND IT IS WONDERFUL. READ IT.
---
So, yeah, THAT'S MY PITCH. The series obviously does have its problems (short run with a long-delayed and still missing season two, many of the recent developments occurred in crossover arcs which can be hard to appreciate unless you're willing to read ALL OF MARVEL EVER, heartwarming attempts at resolving Marvel's skeezy race issues do not preclude the fact that YA still occasionally has skeezy race issues, some of the guest artists bite), but it is a wonderful series that I think some of you would really like, AND I AM GIVING IT TO YOU TO TRY, so. Yeah. Please give it a whirl?
Season One
Issue 1
Issue 2
Issue 3
Issue 4
Issue 5
Issue 6
Issue 7
Issue 8
Special
Issue 9
Issue 10
Issue 11
Issue 12
Presents
Presents 1
Presents 2
Presents 3
Presents 4
Presents 5
Presents 6
Young Avengers and Runaways: Civil War
Issue 1
Issue 2
Issue 3
Issue 4
Civil War
Note: Not really a Young Avengers comic and a little hard to follow if you don't know Marvelverse as a whole, but some important stuff goes down for the Young Avengers here, including Cassie leaving the team, Billy going to jail, and Teddy being a badass. The "Presents" issues actually take place a while after the last issue of Civil War.
Issue 1
Issue 2
Issue 3
Issue 4
Issue 5
Issue 6
Issue 7
Young Avengers and Runaways: Secret Invasion
Issue 1
Issue 2
Issue 3
Secret Invasion To come.
Dark Reign: Young Avengers To come.
Issue 1
Issue 2
Issue 3 (not yet released)
Issue 4 (not yet released)
Issue 5 (not yet released)
ETA: OH YEAH. You need a special program to view these files. But it is free and easy to download and stuff.
ETA2: Or Comical if you're on Mac. Thanks for the tip, themarinator!
or HOW SEVEN TEENAGE DORKS TRIED TO SAVE THE WORLD AND KINDA SUCCEEDED
or HOW ARE YOU PEOPLE NOT READING THIS ALREADY I'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT IT FOR MONTHS OH FINE HERE HAVE DOWNLOAD LINKS
- a pimp-post in 5 parts -
Reason #1: Beautiful Art
Jim Cheung is a mother-effin' genius. His characters are extremely expressive, his panels brilliantly laid out, action and angles are dynamic like the BEST of superhero action drawings are, and the details and scenery can be really breathtaking. He's accompanied by Justin Posner who is a truly brilliant colourist. Like, seriously, the scans I am providing here barely do justice to how beautiful the colours are in person (which is one very good reason to go out and buy this if you like it).
Of relevance to my f-list, I think Cheung's art is a very good way to start into Western comics for people who have been mostly fed a diet of anime. There's a lot of emphasis on eyes in his art, and everyone is PRETTY, so it's a good place to start if you usually find yourself put-off by grittiness in Western comics.
Also: OH GOD PROPORTIONS THAT ARE SORT OF LOGICAL THANK YOU.
---
Reason #2: Strong, Funny Writing
Writing is so often the down-fall of comics. Usually, it's hackneyed or over-wrought or cliche or anvilicious, but YA isn't. I mean, yes, sometimes the themes are spelled out for you, but the dialogue is crisp, the characters have real voices, and the emphasis is on banter rather than melodrama.
BANTER. OH MY GOD DO THEY EVER BANTER. Allan Heinberg created Young Avengers and wrote most of Season 1, and he used to be a writer for The O.C.. Whether you liked that show or hated it, you can't deny that the patter was pretty fabulous, and he's brought that to Young Avengers too. The characters are fun! The characters have fun. There's character- and team-building between the action, and you get a genuine sense in a very short time that these are rounded people who honestly like each other, and that is such a refreshing thing in Western comics, I can't even begin to tell you.
some text redacted to avoid spoooilers
And it's really accessible! Marvel Universe is a huge, scary place, but Young Avengers is the story of a team that's just starting out, and there's really nothing that three minutes on Wikipedia can't fix for you in it's 12 issue, first season run.
---
Reason #3: A Story With Actual Themes and Stuff
I freely admit to a bias when it comes to stories about growing up -- that's why I gravitate to stories about teenagers as frequently as I do -- but Young Avengers has used the essential issues that come from growing up as a backbone for superhero adventure. This isn't just a case of "Which villian are we going to fight this week?" Everything in YA seems to circle around the question of creating an identity for yourself when you're balancing on the edge between childhood and adulthood and what role your past and where you come from ought to play in who you become. Which is, honestly, a stroke of brilliance and makes the whole story much more compelling and cohesive, in my opinion.
---
Reason #4: Female Characters Who Can, And Will, Kick Your Ass
While the ladies are still outnumbered on the team, fairly substantially, both Kate Bishop and Cassie Lang are incredibly developed and interesting people. They're both heroes in their own right and save at least as much as they get saved.
Kate Bishop is, in a lot of ways, the leader of the group, and she's smart and charismatic and determined. She's afraid of things, sure, but she doesn't let that stop her ever. (And she's the centre of a love triangle if you like that kind of thing?)
Cassie Lang, on the other hand, is tied for team sweetheart, but she's also the person who is mostly likely to try to beat you up if you mess with her friends. In recent plotlines, it's become pretty obvious that her personal morality and sense of what a superhero should be is at odds with most of the rest of the team, and that's lent depth and interest to her character that was, admittedly, a little lacking in the beginning. (And she's in a relationship with a robot if you like that kind of thing?)
---
Reason #5: Teddy "Hulkling" Altman and Billy "Wiccan" Kaplan
I don't think I've kept it secret that Teddy and Billy are kind of one of my favourite things ever? I don't want to get into too many specific because a lot of the details about them are revealed as plot twists, and I don't want to give things away. Suffice to say, when the short-tempered, impulsive muscle of the team turned out to be the sweet, charming, secret woobie too, and his canon boyfriend turned out to be the ironic, sarcastic, pessimistic, over-thinking, cerebral one, I fell hard.
Would I still read YA without Billy and Teddy's relationship? Yup. Definitely. But I might not love it enough to take the time to, say, make this post. Their relationship is beautifully handled. Unlike a lot of mainstream romance, YA doesn't feel the need to complicate their relationship with constant break-ups and fights. It's healthy and equal and caring and yet still interesting. They are nicely balanced between actually showing their feelings for each other but not making a big, exploitive fuss over it.
And they talk like boys! And they are morons! AND THEY ARE TEAMMATES AND THEY ARE IN LOVE AND IT IS WONDERFUL. READ IT.
---
So, yeah, THAT'S MY PITCH. The series obviously does have its problems (short run with a long-delayed and still missing season two, many of the recent developments occurred in crossover arcs which can be hard to appreciate unless you're willing to read ALL OF MARVEL EVER, heartwarming attempts at resolving Marvel's skeezy race issues do not preclude the fact that YA still occasionally has skeezy race issues, some of the guest artists bite), but it is a wonderful series that I think some of you would really like, AND I AM GIVING IT TO YOU TO TRY, so. Yeah. Please give it a whirl?
Season One
Issue 1
Issue 2
Issue 3
Issue 4
Issue 5
Issue 6
Issue 7
Issue 8
Special
Issue 9
Issue 10
Issue 11
Issue 12
Presents
Presents 1
Presents 2
Presents 3
Presents 4
Presents 5
Presents 6
Young Avengers and Runaways: Civil War
Issue 1
Issue 2
Issue 3
Issue 4
Civil War
Note: Not really a Young Avengers comic and a little hard to follow if you don't know Marvelverse as a whole, but some important stuff goes down for the Young Avengers here, including Cassie leaving the team, Billy going to jail, and Teddy being a badass. The "Presents" issues actually take place a while after the last issue of Civil War.
Issue 1
Issue 2
Issue 3
Issue 4
Issue 5
Issue 6
Issue 7
Young Avengers and Runaways: Secret Invasion
Issue 1
Issue 2
Issue 3
Secret Invasion To come.
Dark Reign: Young Avengers To come.
Issue 1
Issue 2
Issue 3 (not yet released)
Issue 4 (not yet released)
Issue 5 (not yet released)
ETA: OH YEAH. You need a special program to view these files. But it is free and easy to download and stuff.
ETA2: Or Comical if you're on Mac. Thanks for the tip, themarinator!