Credits

• Writer: Allen Heinberg
• Art: Jim Cheung

Quick Summary

The story kicks off in the office of J. Jonah Jameson at the Daily Bugle. Reporter Kat Farrell and super-hero liaison, Jessica Jones talk about the appearance of four young heroes nicknamed: the Young Avengers.

The three discuss the similarities and differences of Patriot, Iron Lad, Asgardian and Hulkling and their predecessors. Patriot is apparently always barking orders, Iron Lad's armor is more advanced then Iron Man's, Asgardian is a junior Thor and Hulkling is actually polite and not mean. The three also discovered that Patriot's costume is similar to Bucky's costume, Captain America's former partner, which raises even more questions on who these new super heroes are. Kat and Jessica are given the assignment to find out more about them, and are soon confronted by Iron Man and Captain America on the situation.

Meanwhile, at a wedding in down town New York, the entire church has been taken hostage by a group of men and the Young Avengers show up to stop them. A fight breaks out that goes less then stellar for both parties until the Young Avengers get the upper hand thanks to one of the wedding party members attacking her captor. It isn't long after that the police try to take the Young Avengers into custody and they flee the scene, but not before Jessica Jones who has learned about the situation gives them one of her cards before they leave.

A short time later at the now ruined Avengers' Mansion, the team splits apart for the night, Iron Lad is questioned by his other teammates if what they are doing is right and the fact they have come together to apparently stop Kang the Conqueror before he shows up again. Patriot then leaves to get home before his grandmother learns he is gone and Asgardian and Hulkling leave as well, leaving Iron Lad at the mansion. He soon is confronted by Iron Man, Captain America and Jessica Jones, and is both shocked and honored to meet them. Iron Man is puzzled by Iron Lad's armor which is neural-kinetic and at least 10 years more advanced (than his). Iron Lad reveals that his armor is really 1,000 years more advanced and removes his mask to reveal that he is from the 30th century and his name is Kang!

Commentary

Wow, just wow, now this is what a new #1 super hero comic is suppose to be. Mystery, great characters, action, heroic saves, bigger mysteries, continuity and then a shocking final page to make you come back for more. Allan Heinberg, who is probably best known for writing the O.C on Fox, just hits it out of the park in one issue. He gives the set up for the Young Avengers very nicely and the reader learns about the team as the story moves along.

I can tell you right now, Iron Lad is my favorite. He's what I've wanted in an Iron Man character the last few years. Heroic, great armor that does some cool stuff and still has a lot of mystery built into it. His motivations and of course his identity just threw me for a loop. The set up is very basic, these teen heroes have been formed to stop Kang, the Conqueror who is apparently going to show up soon because the original Avengers are now broken up. So, it's up to Iron Lad and the rest of this group to stop Kang when he shows up. The only problem is: the rest of the team isn't quite sure if they really need to take Iron Lad serious.

The art in this book is great, Jim Cheung just brings all the characters to life. The actions scenes flow really nice, facial expression on the Daily Bugle staff seeing Captain America show up with Iron Man is great stuff. The pacing is also rendered really nice with John Dell's inks. I don't see this book as Marvel's Teen Titans at all, this set up is completely different and the characters while we don't know much about them yet, are doing this for different motivations. They are more like side kicks trying to fill in for their mentors' roles and are either doing it well or not. The script is tight, the dialogue is great and I'm coming back for issue 2. I'll see you then!

--Ryan Read