Avengers: The Children's Crusade #2

Marvel Comics
Avengers: The Children's Crusade #2
By Zak Edwards
September 13, 2010 - 21:46

Marvel Comics
Writer(s): Allan Heinberg
Penciller(s): Jim Cheung
Inker(s): Mark Morales, Jim Cheung
Colourist(s): Justin Ponsor
Letterer(s): Cory Petit
Cover Artist(s): Jim Cheung, Ponsor; Travis Charest
$3.99 US

"A Wolverine Appearance? How novel"

Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung’s much anticipated and long awaited return to the Young Avengers has been, at least to this reviewer, quite a success so far. The book is as good as can be done with a series which has largely gained some infamy which kind of outweighs its merit. Not to say Young Avengers wasn’t amazing, the series is quite good, especially when compared to other teen superhero books on the market (comparisons to Runaways have been constant, although I would argue Vaughan’s Runaways is a better book personally). The creation of understated gay characters seemed like a bounding leap for the genre, which seemed to typically enjoy melodramatically ‘outing’ characters as a means to drive up sales. The plots themselves were convoluted but fit nicely into themes other teen literature usually discusses, including heritage and finding a place in a world that already exists, despite the experience being new to the people. Heinberg also had some great characters: flawed, heroic, and frequently combating each other. Young Avengers was a solid series and this one is shaping up to be its equal, containing the solid characterization, snappy dialogue, and themes of the former series. Mostly the point of this introduction has been to create a space in which I can discuss the merit of the book without the reverence to the Young Avengers series which seems to be clouding judgement about this series itself. Hopefully I can do that now.

Avengers: Children’s Crusade is continuing the themes and plot established in or hinted at in the second story arc of the Young Avengers, primarily the idea of heritage and the suspected parentage of two members: Wiccan and Speed. Wiccan and Speed are believed to be the twin sons of The Scarlet Witch, who is responsible for the decimation (Decimation?) of the mutant population in the mini-series/event “House of M” published about five years ago. The series is steeped heavily in recent Marvel history, a fact a can’t stress enough to newcomers, and relies on a fairly decent knowledge of the effects of The House of M event, as well as reactions to the event. While a lot of this is briefly explained in tiny info dumps throughout the issues so far, I could see someone getting quite lost in all the references. Luckily, Heinberg has still got a handle on both team dynamics and characterization to make the book entertaining and interesting. The team is divided on their recent allegiance to Magneto, both the possible grandfather of Wiccan and Speed, but more importantly quite the evil villain in his own right. A conversation between Patriot and his possible love interest, the female Hawkeye named Kate Bishop, is one of the better moments of the issue, showing both strong characters, particularly on behalf of Kate, and some promise of future tensions. Heinberg’s snappy dialogue, as seen on shows like The OC, is back. Heinberg really has an ear for dialogue, causing the book to fill up with welcome speech balloons. Avengers: The Children’s Crusade is, I would argue, just as good as the Young Avengers series, being both bright, witty, and full of strong teenage characters attempting to operate in an adult world. Heinberg and Cheung do not disappoint.

Especially Cheung! His high energy panelling, coupled with detailed and crisp visuals keeps the book reading as it should and plenty of action sequences to get caught up in. There are a considerable amount of one and two page spreads yet the issue never feels sparse. Cheung can also go from crazy fight sequences to close up, emotional shots without losing any timing or weight. So often, single moments in amongst a myriad of tense and quick action sequences can be lost because the eye is not asked to linger. Cheung avoids this problem effortlessly, creating a book that, as stated above, reads as it should. The Young Avengers is an action book with a considerable amount of drama and Cheung integrates this into his work seamlessly.

Grade: A- Fairly inaccessible, but just as good as the original.