Post by goldenfist on Jan 24, 2008 16:59:08 GMT -5
Here's Ign's review of Young Avengers.
Young Avengers came out of the gate an underdog due to its corny title and codenames (Iron Lad and Hulkling spring to mind) but managed to impress a lot of people and tell some great stories along the way. Unfortunately scheduling issues have sidelined the book for the foreseeable future, and as a result some of Marvel's best new characters have been relegated to the occasional inconsequential one-shot, mini-series, or cameo. Young Avengers Presents goes some of the way towards bringing the heroes back into the forefront and examining what makes them tick on a fundamental level. Ed Brubaker spotlights Patriot in this first issue, which spins directly out of his Civil War one-shot Winter Soldier: Winter Kills. In the process of tracking Bucky, Eli tries to figure out what it means to have the codename "Patriot" while being a young black kid in America and remembering what happened to his grandfather, the "black Captain America."
Race is a central theme in this issue, and it can come off as tasteless if not handled correctly. Thankfully Brubaker is very professional and actually uses the hot-button topic to make a larger point about what patriotism really means. If nothing else, Young Avengers Presents #1 is an intelligent book with a moral. But by the same token, it does come off a bit preachy towards the end when Captain America's legacy is discussed. And Bucky's characterization is frankly at odds with his portrayal in the pages of Captain America which is strange, considering Brubaker writes that as well as this issue. It just seems that Winter Soldier is around for Eli to bounce ideas off of rather than because he fits the story. Still, in spite of those things I came out of this issue liking Eli more as a character, and that's probably the most you could ask for from a project like this. A couple of other Young Avengers pop their heads around the corner, but this isn't a YA book -- it's first and foremost about Patriot, and does what it set out to do with minimal flash or fanfare.
Paco Medina lends his pencils to this issue and while I've never been the biggest fan of his work, this might be the best and most polished I've ever seen it. His oddly-proportioned faces pop up here and there but his Patriot is uniformly great-looking, which is the most important part.
I have a feeling we won't be getting any answers to the big questions from Young Avengers Presents, like status quo and membership post-Civil War, but when the proper series does eventually start up again, fans will probably have a heightened appreciation for its stars.
Review Score:8.2 Impressive
Young Avengers came out of the gate an underdog due to its corny title and codenames (Iron Lad and Hulkling spring to mind) but managed to impress a lot of people and tell some great stories along the way. Unfortunately scheduling issues have sidelined the book for the foreseeable future, and as a result some of Marvel's best new characters have been relegated to the occasional inconsequential one-shot, mini-series, or cameo. Young Avengers Presents goes some of the way towards bringing the heroes back into the forefront and examining what makes them tick on a fundamental level. Ed Brubaker spotlights Patriot in this first issue, which spins directly out of his Civil War one-shot Winter Soldier: Winter Kills. In the process of tracking Bucky, Eli tries to figure out what it means to have the codename "Patriot" while being a young black kid in America and remembering what happened to his grandfather, the "black Captain America."
Race is a central theme in this issue, and it can come off as tasteless if not handled correctly. Thankfully Brubaker is very professional and actually uses the hot-button topic to make a larger point about what patriotism really means. If nothing else, Young Avengers Presents #1 is an intelligent book with a moral. But by the same token, it does come off a bit preachy towards the end when Captain America's legacy is discussed. And Bucky's characterization is frankly at odds with his portrayal in the pages of Captain America which is strange, considering Brubaker writes that as well as this issue. It just seems that Winter Soldier is around for Eli to bounce ideas off of rather than because he fits the story. Still, in spite of those things I came out of this issue liking Eli more as a character, and that's probably the most you could ask for from a project like this. A couple of other Young Avengers pop their heads around the corner, but this isn't a YA book -- it's first and foremost about Patriot, and does what it set out to do with minimal flash or fanfare.
Paco Medina lends his pencils to this issue and while I've never been the biggest fan of his work, this might be the best and most polished I've ever seen it. His oddly-proportioned faces pop up here and there but his Patriot is uniformly great-looking, which is the most important part.
I have a feeling we won't be getting any answers to the big questions from Young Avengers Presents, like status quo and membership post-Civil War, but when the proper series does eventually start up again, fans will probably have a heightened appreciation for its stars.
Review Score:8.2 Impressive