Review: YOUNG AVENGERS #2

YOUNG AVENGERS #2
Written by Kieron Gillen
Art by Jamie McKelvie, Mike Norton
Release Date: February 27, 2013
Price: $2.99
Publisher: Marvel Comics

young-avengers2The sophomore issue of the critically acclaimed Marvel NOW! series is here, how does it stack up?

Very damn well.

Kieron Gillen is firing on all cylinders with his writing of this Young Avengers cast of characters, bringing snappy and energetic dialogue to a superhero universe filled with a lot of stoic speeches and phrasing. These characters speak like the teens they are, without being completely annoying, and I have to applaud Gillen for finding such strong voices for them. The banter between characters in this issue is extremely impressive, with the text bouncing back and forth as a conversation would. You can hear these characters having these discussions and the book is so much stronger for it. Gillen writes Teddy and Wiccan well, but this issue really kicks into high gear when Loki makes his entrance. Loki, by Gillen’s hand, is one of the most likable characters in all of comics and his one-liners in this issue are absolutely fabulous. Gillen is locked in to what makes Kid Loki tick, and it is an absolute pleasure to read this character in this issue. He’s still the Trickster he will always be, but there is an innocence about him that makes him extremely likable, unlike all previous forms of the character. The banter in the diner was some of my favourite this month, and I welcome more of that whenever I can get my hands on it. The story did take a twist at the end which jumbled some of the flow of the book, but I guess I’ll just have to see where it goes before I pass final judgment. It felt a little counter productive to what the issue had been building toward, but definitely holds an interesting twist.

Jamie McKelvie’s art in this issue is superb. Teddy’s “Mom” is the perfect creepy Stepford crazy sociopath villain for this tale and McKelvie did a great job choosing shots to highlight that creepiness in an almost Hitchcock way. Everything is clean and perfect, but also completely wrong, which is not an easy feeling to convey through art. His characters are crisp and well penciled, and his work with Mike Norton doing some fill-ins is a process that I still find to be seamless and fascinating. The two work very well together and the issue retains a completely cohesive feel. This issue also features some of the best layouts I’ve seen in recent memory and the pages where Loki appears with Wiccan were absolutely brilliant. This comic is easy on the eyes and he is never better than when he is working with Kieron Gillen.

The synergy of these two creators leaps from the page to keep Young Avengers at the top of the pile as far as quality. This is another strong offering and I look forward to digging into issue #3.

Verdict: 9.0/10

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