Broken Frontier

The Young Avengers go off in search of recruiting other teen superheroes in an effort to save the life of one of their own.

I know this title has been under some scrutiny for an erratic publishing schedule, but that’s mostly due to writer Allan Heinberg’s availability. But despite that obvious little glitch, this near perfect title delivers the goods every time out, and this issue is no exception.

The story picks right up where the last issue left off as the team heads straight to Stark Tower in search of the senior team. Much to their chagrin, they only find Jarvis and the newly reformed Vision Jr. playing a game of chess. The team barges in and demands to hold council with the Avengers, but Jarvis informs them the team is away on a mission. The team, appearing desperate, refuses to accept that and they decide to go on ahead without the help of the Avengers.

With the Vision’s aid the team employs one of Tony Stark’s computers to access compiled files on known super powered individuals. They ultimately locate a teen said to have super speed coupled with the added ability to generate explosive discharges, and everyone agrees he’s the perfect candidate to join their ranks. So off they go to break this kid out of juvie, and the team gets more than they bargained for in the process. They ultimately irk the wrath of several armed guards, in addition to having a couple of mandroids join the fray. The battle becomes intense, but with the combined strength of the group they overcome the confrontation and head out totally unaware of a greater threat that awaits them at the end of the issue.

Again, this story was as solid as the last one was, and it’s clear that writer Allan Heinberg has a tight grasp of story and structure. He’s given all his characters a special quality that makes you care for them every time out, and that’s an amazing feat to be had in this genre. I think it takes a great writer to be able to carve these kinds of endearing qualities so quickly, and that’s what makes this title the best book Marvel has on their publishing schedule.

But with all good writers, there’s a talented artist to compliment such splendid storytelling. From what I can see the Young Avengers wouldn’t be the best book on Marvel’s publishing schedule without the superb style of artist Jimmy Cheung. His work is rivaling new genius and already he’s producing top quality pencils at such an early time in his career. I truly can’t wait to see how much more his work will grow and adapt as the years move forward, but I think it’s safe to say he’s helped to make this book something special.

So if you like books with excellent characters and strong artwork to boot, then I totally recommend Young Avengers to you. It’s really an amazing book every time out and clearly Marvel has made a believer out of me.