The Young Avengers are kind of like those really awesome cousins that you only get to see at weddings and funerals. And with their ever shifting lineup: it’s like that old girlfriend your cousin had years ago that you will never see again. The Young Avengers have never found their footing with monthlies. Their first volume was a 13 issue miniseries. Then they grouped up with the beloved Runaways for a series of event related tie-ins for Secret Invasion and Civil War. They were rewarded another 9 issue maxi series, "The Children’s Crusade" and another mini during the Dark Reign event. With their Marvel Now! relaunch, things looked promising.
Writer Kieron Gillen and artist Jamie McKelvie had a lot of fun on their 15 issue run. The characters were current, fluid, young, and had a lot of sexy time. Prodigy (of the X-Men) was introduced to the fold along with (often shirtless) Marvel Boy, (often angry) Miss America, and (often fan favorite) Loki. It was a good story, very much catering to the social media crowd and very, very gay friendly. The feels were short lived and the volume (coined “season”) ended in January.
The group has won Harvey Awards and GLAAD Awards since they arrived on the scene, being rewarded a posthumous award last month for “Outstanding Comic Book” by GLAAD for Gillen and McKelvie’s work on the series.
Like any good Marvel event, Original Sin will saturate the shelves with multiple spin offs and one shots. Marvel recently announced a new five issue biweekly series starting in June to complement the series: Original Sins, with an S, “everybody has one…” And as Marvel has proved, it isn’t a Marvel event without participation from the Young Avengers (Fear Itself? Homophobia? Kidding...). They will share the spotlight in the anthology series and have a good chunk of the action (Think: 52 but Marvel with 47 less issues). Deathlock, Lockjaw, and our favorite Avengers are headlining but all of them are missing from the cover art. ..so far.
Ryan North of Dinosaur Comics and Adventure Time fame is writing the YA portions with Ramon Villalobos (What If? Age of Ultron #2) providing the art. The solicitations say it’s classified but in an Interview with CBR, North divulged his plans to pit Hulkling, Marvel Boy, and Prodigy up against The Hood. “The fact that Wiccan’s not there on this mission- and that Prodigy is—will be part of this too,” he promises, the other members will have appearances as well. Prodigy was a big deal for Hulking and Wiccan’s relationship- this doesn’t bode well.
Jake Thomas, editor, revealed a bit more at C2E2 this past weekend. “It’s going to be sort of a bro story. We’ll have the guys from the Young Avengers getting involved in a pretty significant problem. They have to decide whether they want to get involved with the heroes or with a Marvel villain who’s stepping in to play a pretty big part.” A bro story? With Kate Bishop busy being awesome in Hawkeye, Cassie Lang/Stature currently deceased, and Miss America trying for Miss Universe( Kidding, again) female membership is lacking these days. Bro would suggest a different, more distant relationship for Hulkling, Marvel Boy, and Prodigy-who have all had same-sex experiences and liked it.
North concludes:
“This will be a pretty dense, high-action story, but with the same Young Avengers feel/feels you remember.I think the most important part of the YA is the team: the people on it and how they connect with each other. And these people like each other! They're a team because they choose to be a team, not because they have to. I'm interested in exploring their relationships and having a good time hanging out with these people. Being a superhero is amazing (everyone should try it) -- so I'm trying to make this a fun and amazing story.”
Hopefully the team’s glue remains intact. But after these five issues, where and when will we see our “cousins” again?
“Original Sins” hits the shelves in June.
