Young Avengers #15 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

If last issue was the emotional good-bye, this issue is the plot wrap-up, where truths are revealed.  (To be fair, Noh-Varr gets in a few pages of emotional good-bye, saying how good Kate was for him.  We get a real sense of how much he cared for her.  Even if she doesn't get to see that emotion, at least we do.  It's a nice moment.  But, it feels sort of like the last six pages of last issue rather than the first six pages of this one.) 

In a way, this issue is all about David (though Loki would say that it's all about him).  David sends Loki into the night realizing this series' most important truth:  "Saving the world from yourself is the first, most necessary step."  (Loki really should get that emblazoned on a throw pillow.)  Later, Prodigy uses his genius to deduce that Patri-not is one of the Young Avengers sent from the future to make sure that everything happens in this series exactly the way that it happens.  Tommy was the bait to get the Young Avengers to travel the multiverse so that Billy could discover that he was the Demiurge and so that Loki would decide not to steal his powers.  It worked, though Gillen leaves unanswered the question of why it was necessary in the first place.  What happened in the future that leaves the outcome of the present in doubt?  (I'm guessing that it has something to do with Loki.)

The saddest part of this issue is the revelation that David is pretty sure that he's the one who gives up his humanity to become Patri-not.  It's not necessarily because of the fact that he may be right (which is obviously in and of itself sad), but also because he assumes that he would be the one to make that sacrifice.  It underlines the sense that David is a tragic character, at least in his own mind.  He doesn't get the guy and he has to give up his humanity at some point.  Tough breaks.  But, Gillen doesn't actually make it that simple.  Patri-not refuses to confirm David's hunch, so it's unclear if David really is a tragic character or if he's just being a little adolescent in assuming that he is.  After all, he's a little too young to be ruling out the possibility of a happy ending, just because he didn't get the boy this time.  But, I can understand why it doesn't feel that way to David, particularly since he may wind up being right that it is/was him after all.

I'll be honest in saying that I found the gaying-up of every character, including Kate and Noh-Varr, a little over the top.  I mean, I totally bought the idea that Loki would make a pass at David.  As Loki himself says, he's the patron god of certain sexual acts, so he's not exactly limited to a rigid definition of sexual identity.  Plus, David is probably the only person who accepts Loki for who he is and doesn't hold that against him.  If Loki was going to make a pass at anyone, it would be David, even if he rebuffs the offer, since good guys are his type.  Plus, the idea of the gay Avengers is appealing, obviously.  But, we want such a team to come together of its own, not to suddenly turn previously straight characters like Kate and Noh-Varr bisexual.  In a way, it almost cheapens America, Billy, David, and Teddy's sexualities.  It's not the totality of who they are, obviously, but it's part of who they are, in a way that it hasn't been part of who Kate and Noh-Varr are.  Changing that identity on the part of Kate and Noh-Varr makes it feel rushed to underline a point that this series already had made.  In the end, it's a weird way to end the series.

Though, to be fair, the actual end is, indeed, all about Loki.  He takes a photo of the Young Avengers walking through one of America's dimensional doorways and then posts a photo of the team in earlier days, looking at it wistfully.  In that way, he's acting as a surrogate not only for Gillen, whose love of these characters is clear to anyone who reads the letters column, but also for the reader.  As an adult, one of the tragedies of adolescence that I now recognize is your belief (usually woefully) that it'll last for ever.  As we've learned, Loki actually isn't an adolescent and his sadness comes from an adult sense that this moment that he shared with these people is over, never to be regained.  The reader and Gillen share this moment with him as we're all left to wonder what's next.

This series has been a bright shining sun of wonder in an otherwise predictable environment.  I can't possibly begin to express my appreciation for what Gillen and McKelvie did here.  I'll simply say that it's one of those comics that reminds me why I read comics, why they tell stories that can't be told in other media.  I look forward to re-reading this whole series one day and being remind all over again about truths that I had forgotten.  I think that's exactly what Gillen hoped would happen and I congratulate him on a job well done.

*** (three of five stars)

Young Avengers #14 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

"You're Billy &%&$%&%%^$^&$&$ Kaplan.  Own it."

I could probably just end this review there, but I'll continue.  This issue does what it promises, as the Young Avengers and their friends take stock of the events of this series so far and try to figure out how the pieces of their lives all fit together now.

The Billy/David/Teddy triangle (not surprisingly) has the happiest resolution:  Billy and David make a certain amount of peace and Billy tells Teddy that he couldn't have invented him because he couldn't have dreamed that he could love anyone as much as he does Teddy.  (Awww.)

Unfortunately, the Kate and Noh-Varr story doesn't have anywhere near as happy of a resolution.  In fact, it might actually become its own triangle, given the surprise appearance of Tommy, who interrupts a quiet moment between Kate and Noh-Varr and delivers Kate her New Year's kiss.  Tommy's presence goes unexplained, but I'm sure that we'll learn more next issue.

My favorite moment, though, is the one that involves the above quote.  Billy contemplates Teddy (looking pretty studily handsome) from a distance and wonders if David wouldn't be better for him and if he's being selfish keeping him.  At that moment, America tells him that he'll never be Captain America or Thor or Iron Man or his mom.  He has to be Billy Kaplan.  It's a great exhortation, to just be the best version of who you are, particularly since you happen to be pretty awesome in the first place.  Captain America might be more studily handsome than Billy, but he's not the Demiurge.  In other words, he's not Billy &%&$%&%%^$^&$&$ Kaplan.  Although it helps Billy, it doesn't America.  We learn that Billy not only created her, but her whole universe, the Utopian Parallel, the "purest incarnation of the Demiurge's breath, a land born of his final unwinding of magic."  But, she left this paradise after her moms died defending it.  Why'd she leave?  Because you can't make Utopia a better place.  She's on Earth to be like the people who inspired her, like her moms and Billy.  It's remarkably powerful, even though (or maybe because) America realizes that Billy, her maker, is an idiot, "like the rest of us."  As I said last issue, America is the character that I most hope shows up somewhere else so that we can learn more about her.

Overall, this issue feels valedictory, as, no doubt, will the next one.  In fact, I'm starting to feel like Gillen has done something really remarkable with this series, namely, make you realize that we might not need the Young Avengers anymore.  Maybe they're just Avengers now.  I'm not saying that they're adults, but this 15-issue season, as Gillen calls it, has left them different.  They can't go back to who they were, so it raises all sorts of questions about where they're going.  I can't wait to see.

**** (four of five stars)

Also, for posterity's sake, here's a copy of the playlist that Kieron Gillen recommends for this issue:

http://kierongillen.tumblr.com/post/70378127796/the-young-avengers-afterparty-playlist

Young Avengers #13 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I didn't know Prodigy before he appeared in this series, but, man, he's quickly becoming my favorite character.

Gillen goes the way that I hoped that he would go here, where Teddy decides that it's somewhat irrelevant whether Billy is causing him to be in love because he is, after all, in love.  Actually, I'm going to use the actual quote here, because it's so remarkably excellent:  "A magical power someone else has over you for no reason you can really justify but cascades through you until every cell calls out for his touch?  What do you think love is?"  That line, people.  That line justifies why I read comics.  Western literature has dedicated millions, if not billions, of pages to explore the meaning of love, but Kieron Gillen gets it righter than anyone.  At the end of the day, love is when you're a hybrid alien deciding that he's no longer worried whether his mutant boyfriend who serves as a magical messiah is forcing him to love him because the end result is still the same.  Props to David for realizing that.  Moreover, props to David for admitting that he didn't admit it earlier because he wanted to know what that feels like.

But, it's not all happy endings when it comes to love.  As painful as it was, I loved Noh-Varr confessing to Kate that Oubliette is the woman of his dreams.  It's such a real moment.  In fact, in some ways, it's that moment that allows us to appreciate the Billy and Teddy moment, since it reminds us how special the love that they have is (as terribly cheesy as that sounds).  In fact, given David, Noh-Varr, and Loki's confessions, this issue might as well be titled, "Honesty."

The rest of this issue is equally spectacular.  America is a force of nature here and I can't wait to learn more about her.  Loki realizes that he really did sub-consciously create Leah and the League of Exes as a result of his guilty conscience.  But, it's not as easy for him to shake loose that guilt, because he's not the same old Loki that he used to be.  You need no more proof of that than the fact that he's inspired to confess his evil deeds when America saves his life, sacrificing her powers (at least temporarily) in the process.

So, love saves the day.  We still have questions.  I mean, if Billy's not the Demiurge right now, when will he become it?  After all, in the amazing sequence drawn by Kelvie, where he's walking on the pages of previous issues giving birth to the past and present, we see him essentially decide not to become lord of all reality.  He seems to shelve that power for now, but where does it go?  Will Loki make a play for it?  Speaking of Loki, what does a carbon copy of an original evil do?  Should he watch "Blade Runner?"

I'm just letting you all know that I'm going to be devastated when this series ends in a few issues.  We have so much here, so much potential, and it's just really sad that it's not going to be realized.  I'm just left hoping characters like Miss America manage to show up somewhere else.  Fingers crossed.

***** (five of five stars)

Young Avengers #12 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

If I'm following correctly, Leah is possibly the incarnation of Kid Loki (the original one) brought to life as a result of his missing power.  Is that right?  I guess we'll see.

As the above comment implies, I'll admit that it's a little hard to follow, mostly due to the vague hints about Loki's perpetual machinations (or, at least, our constant expectations of them).  For example, it took me a second read to realize what the lie that Miss America regrets that she and Loki had to tell Billy was.  On my first read, I thought that she was just referring to another of Loki's as-yet-unrevealed schemes and confirming that she may be complicit in it.  However, I'm glad that I re-read that, since it's not the case.  Instead, it was that Loki lied to Billy when he told him that committing suicide wouldn't stop Mother.  It would've and Loki stopping Billy because he believed that "this story has a happier ending than that" casts Loki in a more heroic light than we usually see.  Of course, I still don't fully trust that he was acting so benevolently, but it would be nice if it were true.  Also, I'm still not really sure that I'm right in the first paragraph, even though Kieron's letters-page comments make it seem like I should be surer.

In addition to some more clarity, it would've been nice to see the Young Avengers interact a little more with the other teenage heroes, since they serve mostly as extras for most of this issue.  Kieron squanders a real opportunity in that way, though I guess that it's possible to see such interactions in future issues.  (I'd like to have seen Striker awkwardly hit on Velocidad, at the very least.)  That said, Kate's, "Avengers assemble, I guess" was pretty freaking awesome.

Overall, it's a weaker-than-usual issue for this series, which still makes it a stronger-than-usual issue for most series.

*** (three of five stars)

Young Avengers #11 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

OK, so it's clear that we're approaching the denouement.  But, before we get there, Gillen has a few treats for us along the way.  I thought the transformation of Kid Loki into Teenage Loki was brilliant, something that Gillen has clearly planned from the start.  It was getting a little awkward for a group of teenage superheroes to have an eight-year-old with them; just imagine the trouble a teenage Loki could cause.  Moreover, Kate's quarter-life crisis was hilarious, a nod to the adults in the room that, despite the reverence this series and the readers clearly hold for these kids, they're still self-indulgent at times in a way that they themselves don't fully grasp.  Conversely, Gillen reminds us that it's said adolescent angst that not only brought this team together, but also enables Prodigy to assemble all the Marvel Universe's teen heroes to fight the oncoming horde of alternate versions of the Young Avengers sent to Earth by Mother.  They're flipsides of the same coin and it's impressive that Gillen is able to navigate that fine line between self-indulgence and community so deftly.  (That said, I'm not entirely sure the import of Noh-Varr shaving his beard.  Is it because this Oubliette woman asks him to do so?  If so, I hope Kate really stomps her.)  But, it's really Billy and Loki's budding rivalry that takes the cake here, with the two of them increasingly uncomfortable with the bond that they have to share to achieve their goals.  I don't know how it's all going to end, but I'm sure that it's going to be awesome and troubling all at the same time.  Just like adolescence.

*** (three of five stars)

Young Avengers #10 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Gillen gets expositional here, but in a pretty awesome way.  We learn that we're in this mess because Loki made a deal with Mother to deliver Billy to her, but, Loki being Loki, he never agreed not to interfere in her plans to devour him.  Instead, he used Mother as a threat to get the Younger Avenger together, because he eventually wants to steal Billy's powers when he's at the peak of them.  This information is delivered not only via banter with Mother, but also (ingeniously) a game of questions where Loki tries to find out how they found themselves in Leah's dimension after escaping Mother.  Speaking of Leah, she tries to recruit Billy for a team of Stalker Avengers (exes of the various Young Avengers) and, when he refuses, she transports him to New York, where Mother attacks.  Seriously, it's all remarkably neat and tidy, particularly given that we're pulling together nine issues of events.  Hopefully, Teddy now understands that Leah was manipulating him and finds the Young Avengers to warn them about the Stalker Avengers.  (Hopefully he also realizes that Loki was manipulating him and that Billy isn't making him love him.  Fingers crossed)

New-ish Comics! (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Batman/Superman #3:  This issue would've been great if not for the completely unlikely story involving a young Bruce playing baseball with a young Clark in Smallville.  Pak and Lee have been telling a story that's often difficult to follow, requiring a re-reading (or two) to get a full sense of the story.  However, that effort is generally rewarded with a greater appreciation of the story.  Unfortunately, with the random flashbacks to an imagined childhood, it made this process all the more difficult, since it prevented them from focusing on the story at hand.  For example, I'm still unclear on why the government was developing a crystal meant to take down Superman.  In fact, I'm not entirely sure which Superman (of the two) is the target.  Moreover, the crystal's connection to Darkseid is left virtually unexplored.  Pak really could've used the four or five pages spent on the childhood digression to clarify the actual story.  The whole thing reeks of editorial interference.  Hopefully, we can just forget about it and get some answers next issue.

Captain America #10:  Honestly?  I can think of few multiple-issue runs that were anywhere near the same level as this one.  The only ones that come to mind are the Kang War ("Avengers" #41-#55) and the Black Mirror ("Detective Comics" #871-#881).  Remender kept us guessing to the very last minute, when you weren't sure if the "ghost" helping the Phrox was going to be Ian or Sharon.  The revelation that it was Ian (and the brilliance of branding him "Nomad") literally made me gasp.  Moreover, his resurrection of sorts reminds you just how much Remender leaves on the table.  Dimension Z is a weird place, where you truly believe that a child can survive getting shot at point-blank range and falling into a chemical-fueled river.  If you believe that, you also believe that Sharon Carter may be alive (and possibly Zola's host) or that Steve Rogers might really have lived ten years without aging more than a few minutes.  The consequences didn't just completely disappear at the end of this arc, wrapped into a neat package.

As such, Steve's status quo is completely unclear at this point.  After all, who does he mourn first?  Ian?  Sharon?  Himself?  What are the physical repercussion of his ten years in Dimension Z?  Did he actually age?  When he briefly returned to Dimension Z from the tunnel, the ruins of the destroyed battle-station had already aged, seemingly implying that Steve is a decade older.  How does that work?  Also, how does he handle Jet Black?

But, we have next month to worry about those questions.  For now, it's time to bask in Remender delivering the quintessential Captain America story.  Remender made this storya bout Cap and his faith in himself.  He reminds us of that faith in this issue, when Cap tells his mutate clone that a few derogatory comments about his mother aren't going to make him doubt the lessons that he learned from her.  Moreover, Remender reminds us that this faith in himself is bigger than Cap, that it inspires the entirety of the Marvel Universe; here, this faith inspires Ian in exactly the way that Cap hoped, leaving behind his legacy in Dimension Z even if he's unaware of it.  Moreover, Sharon is perfect here.  Remender treats her as the bad-ass that she's always been, completely in charge of the situation and doing what needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.  Even Brubaker, who freed her from the "Gal Friday" role that she often played, rarely portrayed her as strong as she is here.  It's one of the few times where I've felt sad at losing a character but actually OK with the way that their story ends.

Can we also just talk about the craft on display here?  Remender's amazing narration of the epilogue, where you had no idea where it was going until you arrived at the Nomad revelation?  JR JR's insane landscapes and even more insane Zola?  This entire arc was a tour de force in terms of the talents of everyone involved.

It's a big, crazy, epic story.  You're left wanting so much more; I found myself hoping that we're going to get a Dimension Z series that follows Nomad.  But, Remender isn't rushing anything.  I was hestitant about this story in the first few issues, but Remender has finally give Cap the sort of ongoing series that he deserves.  I can't wait to see where we go from here.

Captain Marvel #15:  The obvious problem with this issue, which Sana herself acknowledges in the letters page, is that you feel like you're not missing one issue, but several.  First, we're presented Carol's memory-loss as a fait accompli, despite the fact that it wasn't particularly clear at the end of last issue that it was the repercussion of severing her telepathic link with Yon-Rogg.  Moreover, Carol is notably not in New York, but somewhere in deep space with the Avengers, fighting the Builders.  I stopped reading "Avengers," but I am reading "Infinity" and I don't remember this ground being covered in issue #1.  (When exactly did Earth join the Galactic Council?  Do they no longer consider it an irrelevant back-water?  Of course, I had trouble following "Infinity" #1, so maybe it's just me.)

But, DeConncik actually, somehow, manages to move you past all that.  She embraces the chaos, showing Carol as somewhat thankful that she's lost her memories, because the lack of emotional investment makes it easier to deal with the insanity around her.  In fact, DeConnick seems to be speaking to the reader and Carol on the same level, promising all of us answers so long as we make it thorugh the "Infinity" business.  It's remarkably clever, just as we've all come to expect from this series.

Scarlet Spider #21:  Buddy's going to be OK, right?  Right?  I mean, everyone's going to be OK, right?  Kaine is going to remember that he's a hero now and save everyone, right?

Unlike the past few issues, Kraven is a villain from Kaine's past whose presence here makes sense.  After all, it's Kaine who led to his defeat at Spider-Man's hands during "Grim Hunt."  Kraven's not likely to forget that easily.  Moreover, under normal circumstance, I'd be totally fine with Kraven posing as Ben Reilly in order to torture Kaine, since it's exactly the type of crazy that you'd expect from Kraven.  However, on the heels of the cross-over event with "Superior Spider-Man Team-Up," I have to say that it didn't work the way that I think Yost hoped that it would.  I spent most of the issue worried that it was a continuation of the Jackal's plot, something Yost clearly wanted us to think to make the revelation that it was Kraven all the more impactful.  But, instead, it proved to be distracting, since it not only reminded me of a plot that I find overplayed but also makes you wonder what the Jackal is doing now that he's returned to the background and when some other remnant of the Clone Saga is going to darken Kaine's door.  So, although it was clever, it would've been even better had it not come on the heels of the "Clone Saga 2.0" story that we just had.

Regardless, I'm definitely anxious to see where we go from here, both in Kaine's confrontation with Kraven and the status of his supporting cast.  Interestingly, unlike the Assassins Guild or the Clone Saga, Kraven is a ghost of Kaine's past as a hero, not as a villain, and I wonder if it'll play out differently than the other stories have.

Thanos Rising #5:  Aaron makes it pretty clear here that he doesn't believe that Death has guided Thanos through the years; Thanos himself is responsible for his actions.  In fact, if Aaron raises any questions here, it's not whether Thanos really sees Death, but it's if his construction of Death is a sign of mental illness or a convenient excuse for his behavior.  In other words, is Thanos mad or, as Monitor says, is he really just selfish?  Either way, we emerge with a more complete and sympathetic view of Thanos here, though one that actually somehow makes him more responsible for his crimes.  It's been a complicated story for a complicated character and Aaron really did a great job of giving us a definitive approach to a character who's too often been used simply as a powerful bugaboo.  "Infinity" is unlikely to add any nuance to the character, so I finished this issue glad for this mini-series and a chance to understand Thanos better.

Young Avengers #9:  Ugh.  Heart-breaking.  I mean, OK, I trust Kieron GIllen and I really believe that he has no intention of keeping Billy and Teddy apart forever.  Moreover, as Teddy himself implies here, Billy's decision to let Teddy go seems to signify that he's not making Teddy love him.  I mean, I don't think that we're ever going to get a definitive answer to that question, since it essentially requires proving a negative, that Billy isn't making Teddy love him.  But, if he were, it would seem unlikely that he would allow Teddy to go.  Instead, it seems more likely that he believes that Teddy loves him and equally believes that Teddy will return to him, a conclusion that we all hope Teddy will also make.  Because I trust Gillen, I also know that Teddy has to go through this journey.  They are, after all, just kids and the people who live the kind of life that they live don't just get to marry their high-school sweetheart and live happily ever after.  For them to be happy, Teddy needs to believe that Billy isn't making him love him and that requires some time on his own for a while.  (I mean, if Billy is really an multidimensional messiah, he can probably make Teddy love him from afar, but, really, let's not go too far down that road.)

Young Avengers #8 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

GET YOUR HANDS OFF TEDDY!

Ahem.  Sorry.  I didn't quite mean to shout that part.  It is, however, an accurate reflection of how I felt at the end of this issue, when Prodigy kisses Teddy.  I trust Kieron Gillen to do the right thing by Billy and Teddy, and, to that extent, I accept that they might not be together when we eventually learn what the "right thing" is for them.  But, it doesn't mean that I have to like it.

We've got a lot of stuff happening here, but trying to get a firm grasp of the plot is a bit like hugging Jell-O.  We learn that Billy may be some sort of deity on a planet inhabited by incredibly cute creatures in one Universe and that Noh-Varr is possibly destined to create a new Kree Empire that spreads across several galaxies in several other Universes.  Unfortunately, Loki implies that Billy probably shouldn't know too much about his alternate self and it's clear that the Kree Empires aren't all necessarily happy places depending on which Universe it is.  Again, trying to draw conclusions about Billy or Noh-Varr from either revelation is difficult, like reading a fortune-cookie fortune in a different language where you only understand two words:  "future" and a word that means either "despair" or "hope."  It's another sign of the long game that Gillen is playing, hinting at about dark possibly futures, but not tipping his hat to say whether the team members will meet these challenges successfully.  (We also learn that Noh-Varr fell in love with a girl on Earth at some point in the past, though which Earth is unclear.  In the meantime, lest we worry too much about him, Noh-Varr discovers country music and adorably grows a beard.)

At the same time, we're still running across the Multiverse in search of Patriot, who may or may not be working for the Mother.  Also, based on the smears on their faces, Loki, Prodigy, and Teddy possibly have some sort of disease, maybe related to Loki's comments about spore to Miss America.

Curiouser and curiouser!

Young Avengers #7 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Nothing has me more concerned in comics than the possibility that Billy is subconsciously making Teddy love him other than the possibility that Billy isn’t subconsciously making Teddy love him but Teddy won’t be able to get passed worrying that he is.  Every since Loki mentioned that the likelihood of a gay, handsome Skrull prince rescuing Billy from his boring life was extremely low for everyone without reality-warping powers, it’s all I can think about every time I see them together, an obsession that Teddy also unfortunately shares.  Enough of that, though.  It’s too depressing.

Jamie McKelvie continues to do awesome, amazing things on this title.  Using the Tumblr format to recap the last three months was genius and I think that it really firmly establishes him as the most inventive artist out there right now, even more than Capullo on “Batman.”  Of course, it helps when he gets to work with the stories that Gillen hands him.  This series is best when it shows the kids having normal lives, like going to a Dazzler concert on the far side of the Moon or taunting the Norse God of Mischief over the use of the word “smooching.”  (OK, normal lives for them.)  Gillen doesn’t just focus on the bonds that Billy, Kate, and Teddy have to one another.  Here, we see how well Noh-Varr is integrating into the group, urging Teddy to talk to Billy, and how poorly Miss America is, as everyone realizes how little they know about her when she summons a dimensional portal.

Returning to Noh-Varr for a moment, he really is the break-out character of this series so far.  Everyone else had pretty firmly established personalities coming into this title, but Noh-Varr was pretty much a blank slate.  Gillen has infused him with so much life – from his love of girl bands to his relationship with Kate – that it’s hard to believe how boring he was under Bendis.  He often drives the funnier moments of this series (such as Kate and his “Pancakes?/Pancakes.” exchange), but, as previously mentioned, he also provides a certain older-brother stability that the Young Avengers have always lacked.  This series lives and breathes by its detailed character-studies and team-dynamic depictions and Noh-Varr’s character, in and of itself in addition to its interaction with the other characters, shows that Gillen totally gets that.

That said, the plot also isn’t half-bad.  I’m glad that Gillen is making us wait to get to the bottom of Speed’s disappearance and a chase through the multiverse brings the two plot lines that we've seen so far on this series together rather nicely.  The addition of Prodigy’s deductive abilities should keep Loki on his toes and I can’t wait to get to the bottom of this mysterious (and seriously creepy) villain.  Great, great stuff.

Young Avengers #6 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Jesus Christ, what the Hell was that?  Here I am, thinking I'm reading a tale of two young recovering superheroes finding someone to help them talk through their problems and maybe get their heads back in the game, when everything all of sudden goes batshit crazy.  Who's randomly animating Patriot's suit?  Why Patriot's suit?  Why rob the company where Prodigy and Speed were working?  Did it have to do with them?  The suit didn't really make an effort to hide itself, looking straight into the security cameras, so it seems like the theft was motivated by drawing out Prodigy and/or Speed.  But, why?  Did it want one, the other, or both?  What did it do to Speed?  What did it want Prodigy to do with the suit?  Why did it tell Prodigy that he was in denial?  Plus, where were Prodigy and Speed working?  A place that ran a superhero/super-villain technical-support line and assembled unspecified technical products?  Shady much?  Questions, questions, questions.  Man, I love this series.

Young Avengers #5 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

OK, this issue is just as good as a good issue in a regular series, which, given how amazing this series has been, means that it feels something like a disappointment, if I'm being honest.

First, Gillen reveals that Kid Loki is actually Adult Loki, who destroyed Kid Loki's soul and took up residence in his body.  I'm not sure if we saw this story told elsewhere (like "Journey into Mystery") and Gillen is just recapping, but it definitely adds a layer of lurking intrigue to the story.  Moreover, unlike Peter Parker's annoying presence as a ghost in "Superior Spider-Man," Kid Loki's ghost serves a helpful role here, prodding Adult Loki into good behavior.  Adult Loki also confirms that Kid Loki's body somehow also "confounds" his nature, making him seemingly more susceptible to good impulses (and Kid Loki's prodding)  than he would normally be.  I think we're probably going to need more of an explanation than that, but, for the moment, I'm willing to accept that Adult Loki can't be as mischievously evil as he would normally be and happy to enjoy the idea of watching Adult Loki forced to act as a good guy.

However, this reveal isn't the issue's biggest.  Instead, we learn that Kid Loki's diminished powers means that Adult Loki can't completely banish Mother.  As a result, the kids have to avoid places where their parents are (or were) in order not to...well, I'm not entirely sure.  Kid Loki explains that Mother "subverts parents to her side," so I'm not entirely sure why she wouldn't do so with or without the Young Avengers near.  Like, if Billy flees to Los Angeles, why wouldn't she just re-appear, take control of his parents again, and then go after him?  I'm not sure how his presence (or the other Young Avengers') is necessary for her to re-appear.  I wish Gillen had done a better job of explaining that part, since, without it, it just feels like an overly convenient plot device.

So, it was a regular issue.  But, it doesn't detract from a pretty damn spectacular opening arc or how excited I am to see where we go from here.

Young Avengers #4 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

OMG, how could this comic be even more awesome than it was last issue?  "Come with me if you want to be awesome," indeed.

The problem with reviewing this series is that the best aspect of it -- the witty banter -- is almost impossible to describe.  First, Gillen delivers it in a way that makes it feel totally organic.  We're just watching a bunch of young friends having the time of their lives on a road trip.  I mean, sure, they're on the road trip because they're actually escaping an interdimensional parasite and their car is a Kree spaceship.  But, it's a road trip all the same.  But, beyond just being organic, the banter is so amazing because it's based on the complicated interplay of the characters' personalities, both individually and collectively.  You've got to understand Teddy, Kate, and Noh Varr to understand why their conversation -- "Your boyfriend is so cute!"/"He's totally faking it."/"My faking it is total." -- is hilarious.  To try to dissect it seems to dishonor it, so I'm going to avoid doing it.  Just trust me.  The banter it is witty.

But, this issue is more than just witty banter.  Loki is at his level best here, pointing out something that never dawned on me but completely devastated me:  Billy, the gay human mutant, just happened to go the same school as Teddy, the gay Skrull prince.  What are the chances?  Pretty good, as Loki notes, when one of the people involved is a reality warper.  Gillen suddenly throws BIlly and Teddy's relationship into question not in a soap-opera way, but in a way that totally gets to the core of this series.  Maybe BIlly did summon up his "improbably dashing prince" because he doesn't have full control over his powers.  Gillen isn't driving a wedge between them simply to add in some dramatic tension; he's really digging to the core of the characters.  As scared as I am that something's going to happen to Billy and Teddy, Gillen handles this twist so brilliantly that I trust him completely, regardless of the outcome.

But, lest we think it's all teenage angst and drama, we also get some serious ass-kicking.  The music-video battle scene this issue is spectacular and made me sad.  Why did it make me sad?  It made me sad because one day Gillen and McKelvie won't be working on this series together and just the thought of it is enough to make me want to eat Ben & Jerry's on the couch while listening to the Ronettes.  The drums, the drums.

Next month is too far away.

Young Avengers #3 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG.

I just don't know where to start.  What did I love more?  The underage drinking while discussing how to save reality?  Teddy putting his arm around Billy at the club while Billy texts Kate, "We're in deep trouble.  Also, hugs."?  America, Billy, and Teddy's amazing death glares at Loki after America reveals that he tried to hire her to kill Billy?  Who am I kidding?  I loved it all.

First, the premise behind this first arc is brilliant.  To quote Will Smith, parents just don't understand.  I mean, what a better start to this series than that, a reminder that we're dealing with teenagers whose parents really don't understand.  They're trying to save the world, but they've also got homework.  Gillen really recalls some of the best early issues of "Amazing Spider-Man" here and I can't think of a higher compliment than that.

I also thought that Gillen really put in the work to explain the events happening here in as logical of a way as possible.  I liked the explanation for why all the parents are acting insanely, since i it seems believable that Loki's attempt to negate Billy's misfired "dead parent" spell instead wound up altering it and expanding it to all their dead parents.  Plus, I bought the explanation why they're having problems undoing it, since it also makes sense that Billy's power is still tied to the spell and Loki is too weak in his child form.  (The conversation where Loki tries to get Billy to loan him his power for ten minutes was hilarious.)  Finally, Gillen also wisely reminds us that the real motivation here is Teddy's mom trying to feast off Billy and Teddy's souls:  the involvement of the other parents is all just an unforeseen complication for the guys (and boon for her).  It is as tightly written plot as you're going to find.

But, despite this amazing plot, the best part about the book is the relationships.  I love the guys' initial reaction to America and I feel like Gillen is laying the seeds of a great friendship that could develop between her and Teddy (who could really use a friend).  I also love that Gillen gives a nod to who Billy was in the beginning, a Norse mythology geek.  It really shows that he's done his homework and explains why these characters feel the way that they always have.  But, he really manages to flesh out their characters even more, showing them as real people even more than Heinberg did.  I loved Billy telling Teddy that Kate keeps texting about Skrulls and cute boys and Teddy replying, "Two of my favorite topics."  In fact, of every series that I currently read, I'm hard pressed to think of one where the characters' voices are just so strong.  I could hear Loki say, "Now cease your texting!"  McKelvie is part of the reason why this effort to portray the kids as real people is so successful.  In just one small example, I adored Teddy making air quotes when telling America that they know that they can't trust Loki since, after all, "Loki."  I'm not sure most author/artist duos would've included that moment, but it's such a great one, summing up all the irreverence and snark that this title promises.

Moreover, Gillen sets the stage for future plots, such as Loki teaching Billy how to use his magic more efficiently and the guys (and us) discovering why America is doing what she's doing (particularly after she pointedly ignored Teddy's question to that effect).

"Young Avengers" always runs the possibility of getting dragged into maudlinness given the various tragedies that the team has shared, but Gillen makes you wonder if anyone has really ever had this much fun saving the world.

Young Avengers #2 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I read this one standing up again.  Seriously.  I just got my comics for this week and I was stacking them under the comics from last week that I still have to read and I just wanted to peak and then I was reading and OMGIFUCKINGLOVETHISCOMICBOOK.

I don't know what to say.  I don't know whether I should rave about how Kieron Gillen just hurls you into the story and you're just all tense and nervous and you're like, "OMG, I hope Billy's parents are OK" and "OMG, poor Teddy, he had to attack his mom that he thought had just been returned to him" and "WHAT?  How did she coop the AVENGERS?" and "Wait, shouldn't Wanda have been able to tell?" and "Hee hee, Loki really likes bacon."  But, you're also like, "Wow, this McKelvie guy is really good" and "That prison made of black boxes sequence is one of the most inventive layouts I've ever seen" and "Wow, he effing nailed Billy and Teddy exchanging sideways glances in the diner."  AND THEN LAUFEY APPEARS AND TRIES TO KILL EVERYONE.

[Deep breath.]

Having Billy try to bring back Teddy's mom and have it turn out that he brought back an inter-dimensional parasite is utterly brilliant, because it goes to Gillen's point in last issue's letters page that the Young Avengers aren't 16 years old any more and they're starting to live in an adult world with consequences.  Before, they certainly faced consequences, but they were often caught in the adults' battles, whereas this battle is one of their own making.  But, having Billy also recognize that the words that Loki was uttering maybe had something to do with his powers going screwy also shows that they're not 16 years old anymore and maybe know a thing or two that they didn't know.  Because although Loki claims that he didn't want Billy to bring in the inter-dimensional parasite, maybe he did.  Because he's Loki.  And, maybe Billy's parents won't be OK, because he's Loki and maybe he was lying because he wanted Billy to do something.  And I can't wait for Kate and Noh-Varr to return.  And...

OMG, I fucking love this comic book.  Maybe I'll read the next one sitting down.

Young Avengers #1 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I read this book standing up.

I picked up this issue off my bookshelf and, despite my anal-retentive need to get through my back issues in chronological order, I unwisely made the decision to just peek at the first page.  And I love Kate Bishop so I was excited to see her.  And I turned the page.  And I didn't expect her to be on a spaceship and then I definitely didn't expect that spaceship to be attacked by Skrulls.  And then, suddenly, Hulking was giving a terribly moving speech about how Billy has everything he ever wanted and yet Teddy is the one who watched his only parent burn to death in front of him.  And then we had Loki.  And some girl I didn't recognize.  And then Loki seemed to know something about Billy that we don't know.  And then Teddy's mom was alive.  And then she maybe killed Billy's parents.

And I am totally and completely effing thrilled that these characters are in my life again.