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Acclaimed O.C. writer and TV veteran Allan Heinberg makes his comics debut, melding his unique ear for realistic teen characters with the trademark action and adventure of the Marvel Universe. Lauded as "a great piece of entertainment" by Silver Bullet Comics, YOUNG AVENGERS became the sleeper hit of 2005 and the critical darling of 2006 When the original Avengers disband, a team of teenage heroes comes together to fill the gap. Their first order of business: surviving the wrath of Kang the Conqueror and weathering the disapproval of the adult Avengers Next, the newly formed Young Avengers take on super-powered sadist Mister Hyde, the extraterrestrial Super-Skrull and a full-scale alien invasion, juggling their parents and their private lives at the same time Collecting YOUNG AVENGERS #1-12 and the YOUNG AVENGERS SPECIAL.

352 pages, Paperback

First published February 13, 2008

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Allan Heinberg

65 books73 followers

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5 stars
2,475 (50%)
4 stars
1,725 (34%)
3 stars
605 (12%)
2 stars
110 (2%)
1 star
27 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 293 reviews
Profile Image for Nemo.
162 reviews
December 6, 2011
I love all of the things. Okay? All of them. There isn't one character that even remotely annoyed me and/or that I didn't love. And I need to seek out more of the Young Avengers immediately.
Profile Image for zinnia.
83 reviews9 followers
July 14, 2018
*Rosa Diaz voice* I've only been reading up on the Young Avengers for a day and a half but if anything happened to them, I would kill everyone in this room and then myself.
Profile Image for Robert.
2,191 reviews148 followers
June 29, 2021
This was actually a lot of fun! and also a nice origin story collection for any number of characters that have gone on to become quite important in the Marvel Universe in their own rights, such as Kate Bishop (Hawkeye), Eli Bradley (Patriot), Wiccan, Hulkling, and more. Since so many are starting to crop up on Disney+ series it's about high time I had a handle on what they're all about!

Not a perfect run by any means by definitely fun enough from a writing and art standpoint to amply recommend to my fellow Marvel-heads out there.

Profile Image for Chris.
776 reviews14 followers
April 20, 2021
This is a really fun, self contained series. I don't think you need too much prior knowledge of the Marvel universe beyond a fairly basic understanding. A bunch of super powered teenagers get together and fight crime.

I guess I'd describe myself as a lapsed DC fan, so I'm so used to young hero teams, Teen Titans, Young Justice, etc... but this is my first experience with Marvel's take on the concept (excluding The X-Men).

I liked the core group of characters, each of them gets a little bit of backstory (some more than others) to flesh them out as characters. I was particularly fond of Wiccan, because honestly just having a gay character is enough to add a star sometimes. This was released in 2005, which wasn't that long ago, but long enough that casually including LGBT characters in media was pretty rare. I loved the way Wiccan and Hulkling were written as regular teenage guys who happen to be into each other without falling into any stereotypical attributes.

Same goes for Eli's character, he's African American but it's only relevant in relation to his grandfather's time as the 'Black Captain America'.

I was disappointed that Kate Bishop's backstory involved being assaulted, it's a tired trope giving a female character that backstory as motivation. It was almost throwaway too, it was referenced once and never again.

It's a good book for anyone not overly familiar with the lore and backstory of every Marvel character. The main characters are new, and any backstory you need is explained as the story progresses.
Profile Image for Sofia.
63 reviews23 followers
July 16, 2011
Let's face it: this is as good as the "teenage-ification comics" (word? It is now!) are going to get. Stories of this nature will always be a little silly, but in the case of Young Avengers, there's a huge emphasis on the "A LITTLE".

In the foreword by Jeph Loeb, he says that Young Avengers should have been a disaster, a train wreck, and he is right: it very easily could have been. But the comic's greatest strength lies in how much it respects its own characters. Devoid of stereotypes or generalizations, Eli becomes so much more than just the black kid, Billy and Teddy are not just the gay couple and Kate is absolutely kick-ass. In fact, I dare say that this comic is a study in how you should write characters of different ethnicities and sexualities!

And that's not the only thing it's got going for it! The dialogue is wonderful: effective, believable and had me laughing out loud at several points! The plot, while rushed in a few places, was very good too. I especially love Billy, Teddy and Tommy's backstories. The cameos from various Avengers had me fangirling all over the place, though I'm sad that my favourite is dead at the moment. And lastly, the artwork is superb!

It is not perfect. The silliness I spoke of earlier especially comes out in some of the fight-scenes, and a few things feel taken out of the blue, but if one isn't a nit-pick, that's not much of an issue. I say if you have the chance, check it out! This was obviously not half-assed. These people put a lot of work into this comic, and it shows!
Profile Image for Adora.
363 reviews14 followers
July 21, 2018
A couple of years ago, I read the first trade of the 2013-2014 Young Avengers run, and found it really hard to get into. Thankfully, I LOVED this one and flew through all 12 issues really quickly, although I did miss a couple of characters that I know join the team later.
Profile Image for Lena's Version.
1,192 reviews542 followers
June 26, 2022
Fantásticos estos jóvenes vengadores. El nuevo reparto es muy fresco y dinámico, y se compaginan muy bien en las diferentes aventuras que reúne el tomo. Un tomo marcado por la búsqueda de identidad de cada uno de ellos, y como intentan abrirse paso, aprender y defender un mundo que sigue siendo de los Vengadores. La primera parte con Kang el Conquistador ha sido genial para apreciar todo eso. Y la última, me ha fascinado toda la revelación sobre Teddy con el Súper Skrull.
Buen guión, buenos personajes y un dibujo actual y potentísimo. Me han encantado y tienen un potencial increíble para futuros cómics.
Profile Image for Lucas Savio.
601 reviews29 followers
November 21, 2024
Vim direto de Agatha para cá, pois muitos não sabem mas me apaixonei por billy e hulkling deade a primeira aparição em guerra civil a quase 10 anos atrás e só agora tive a oportunidade de ler a obra que introduziu eles na cronologia, infelizmente tem pouco aqui sobre o relacionamento entre eles que eu estava esperando mas mesmo assim uma história muito boa, com espetáculares desenhos e todos os personagens que amo que estão sendo introduzidos no MCU🥰
Profile Image for the bard.
177 reviews118 followers
May 26, 2021
this collection has everything i love:

• gorgeous art
• serious topics
• teen superheroes
• queer superheroes
• time travel
• a boppin storyline
• loveable characters

definitely a new favorite
Profile Image for Helen.
19 reviews2 followers
May 16, 2021
JUST FOUND OUT YOU CAN LOG COMICS LMFAO LET ME BE ANNOYING FOR A WHILE

- i love this series so much i love every character i just wanna hug them all
Profile Image for Dylan.
191 reviews4 followers
Read
May 24, 2021
I love all of my wonderful children (don't tell but I love kate and teddy the best)
Profile Image for chad chrysanthemum.
359 reviews22 followers
September 16, 2023
Oh boy this was hard to rate because I really loved and also thought a lot of it was very stupid... I've decided that enjoyment triumphs, but definitely with some caveats.
Here's what I really liked:
- I like teen superheroes and I think these guys are well done! They feel like teens (although the artists didn't all get the message... more on that later) and have pretty realistic concerns even while they're being, you know, superheroes
- The team end up feeling like friends! One of my least favourite things with the MCU is that they don't devote any time to making the team actually feel like... they like each other, so I'm glad this gave me my fix of actual bonding etc.
- I get the complaints that there isn't enough fleshed out about why Kate is here at all but that doesn't change the fact that I love Kate :)
- Cassie wears whatever random baggy stuff she wants to in non-superhero mode
- Billy and Teddy's relationship is so cute! And they actually get called boyfriends. Disney's first gay character could never...
- The big fight scenes in the last issue are just GORGEOUS. Also I just like the art in this in general
- The plots are pretty solid - they'd be really good if the arcs got more than 6 issues each, but I digress. Iron Lad going back in time to prevent himself becoming Kang the Conqueror is a fun plot and is a good plot catalyst, and the Kree-Skull custody battle is fun too
And here's what I didn't:
- My biggest issue is that this run is very rushed. As I said, each arc is only 6 issues each and the plots just seem way too big for that much space, especially with the effort of squeezing in convoluted backstories among that
- The good old sexualisation of characters strikes again... these characters are CHILDREN goddamnit... this is also I think a bit of a symptom of the fact that the artists just aren't great at drawing teens
- WHY did it have to be the ONLY black character who was taking drugs to become a superhero... especially as he literally gets superpowers in the end anyway it adds NOTHING to the plot
- One of the issues starts with Cassie and Iron Lad kissing for... no apparent reason? I thought I'd missed an issue or something but no, it is just a romance with absolutely no lead up at all. Actually there are a number of romance-type things in this that I really didn't like... Eli is implied to like Kate but purely because he's mean to her?? What's that all about. I've seen some people suggest that they put gratuitous straight relationships in there to distract from the gay one they put in, which I guess is fair enough, but they could've at least tried to make it make sense...
- Patriot just kind of sucks in this. He's sexist, rude and he keeps being the person that suggests they sacrifice their friend to avoid a fight. AND he's the guy that lies to everyone. They could've written him as a guy that was trying to be pragmatic with suggesting that the good of the many outweighs their friend but NO he just sucks.
- They kill off Teddy's mom for... no reason really. The Super Skrull even says sorry afterwards it was SO pointless. Poor guy only had one parent to start with... you didn't have to murder his mother in front of him
Profile Image for Jazmin Castro.
510 reviews200 followers
February 28, 2022
VOY A SER HONESTA: No iba a leer Young Avengers ahora.
A ver, que sí me llamaba la atención, pero andaba en la línea de House of M y quería seguir por ese lado. Pero me enteré que para seguir tenía que leer Children's Crusade, y esa es una secuela de este (osea no directamente pero sí). ASÍ QUE, lo leí.

Y LE AGRADEZCO A LA VIDA POR TRAERME POR ESTOS CAMINOS.

Amo, amo, amo a estos niños. Les he agarrado muchísimo cariño, porque son NIÑOS pero que bien desarrollados están sus personajes. Obviamente, después de lo de Avengers Disassembled, sí estaba un poquito sad, entonces me preocupaba pasarme esta historia pensando o comparando actitudes con los personajes ya conocidos. PERO NO FUE ASÍ. Todos estos chicos tienen una personalidad única y eso hace que los quieras todavía más y más rápido. Y siento que estas 12 partes ha pasado DE TODO, así que ha sido una historia que ha sabido compactar muy bien toda la historia sin que se sienta sobrecargada o exagerada.

Estoy enamorada de Wiccan, y su relación con Hulkling LLORO. Hermosos. Kate Bishop es una belleza aquí (en la serie también ok? las amo a ambas, pero aquí su origen y su historia son distintos). Me muero por seguir leyendo más de todos estos personajes, Tommy, Cassie, Patriot TODOS LOS AMO MUCHO.

Y ese especial me hizo mover el corazoncito, sobre todo con ESA ESCENA de Wiccan y my baby girl. No fue una escena muy larga pero LLORO por todo lo que implica.
Profile Image for Viola.
302 reviews27 followers
August 10, 2021
This a good story with interesting characters, well thought out plot and character arcs. The only thing downside was the art: I'm already not the biggest fan of the shiny skin texture thing a lot of Marvel comics do, but that aside the biggest issue is that the Young Avengers often don't look like teenagers. Especially the girls, if I can't tell that a panel shows Kate Bishop or Jessica Jones, then there's a problem.
Profile Image for Ross.
1,545 reviews
August 7, 2022
A fair take on how teenagers would fare starting their own super hero team. Nice to look back on it now and see how they've all evolved as characters in the 15 years or so since they released issue #1. There's always going to be teen heroes. It's nice to see this version still holds up with a solid story and great art.

Bonus: Cassie is 13 when this series starts? Ouch.
Bonus Bonus: Eli Bradley, grandson of Isaiah Bradley. Nice to see a link to a little known African American Captain America
420 reviews2 followers
August 1, 2020
Marvel's version of the teen titans is a blast to read. Likeable line up especially Kate bishop Hawkeye and it's just fun, a lot to like and a great entry point for anyone willing to try these characters
Profile Image for kar.
66 reviews
Read
February 26, 2021
kate bishop i'm free thursday night and would like to hang out. please respond to this and then hang out with me on thursday night when i'm free
Profile Image for Dylan Tobie.
11 reviews1 follower
January 16, 2024
Such a great introduction into Marvel’s most charming characters. The whole storyline from start to finish was A++
Profile Image for Marie.
435 reviews
October 11, 2024
I've never read a comic in my life but watching episode 5 of Agatha All Along and having no one to discuss it with led me here. And I couldn't be happier about it!!!
Profile Image for Graham Barrett.
1,354 reviews4 followers
November 23, 2024
(Read in 2015, review from 2024)
At the height of my college reading of Avengers comics I mostly focused on The New Avengers run by Brian Michael Bendis. But as the Young Avengers popped up a fair amount in New Avengers and various late 2000s Marvel event stories, I knew them and wanted to learn more about them hence reading the collection of the team’s first iteration. Overall these are pretty solid stories that do a good job capturing the feel of a group of teens trying to step into some pretty big shoes. They don’t feel quite as iconic/influential as early Silver Age Peter Parker was but these characters (and Kamala Khan and Miles Morales later on) are depicted well. I liked the initial mystery of how each Young Avenger was connected to the existing/adult Avengers if at all. It led to some great callbacks to Marvel lore, some which are deepcut like Isaiah Bradley’s Captain America. Overall I liked the stories here as well the general characterization for most of the team. For instance I like how they approached the topic of Billy and Teddy’s sexuality and as this came out in mid 2000s the writers handled it well considering the time. That said, not a fan of how they made the one Black character on the teen the one with the drug problem (which his powers are dependent on). 1 step forward into the 21st century and one back to Jim Crow era. Likewise, not a fan of Kate’s backstory needing some SA to motivate her path towards becoming Hawkeye.

All in all this is a great collection to establish these characters. These are pretty great characters and arcs and I like how Marvel has been working on ways to incorporate them into the MCU. Before a Young Avengers project comes to light in theaters/on Disney+ this is a great collection to get better familiar with the Young Avengers.
Profile Image for Hannah.
100 reviews3 followers
December 10, 2024
Baby’s first Marvel comic 👶🏼

(Feels strange to log on Goodreads but I figure if the work already exists with reviews on Goodreads and it took me more than an hour to read it’s fair game 🧐)

After watching Agatha All Along I was left with an ITCH and was very curious to know more about the Young Avengers that the MCU has been clearly setting up for a few years. Suffice to say the itch was scratched and I thoroughly enjoyed this run of comics!

I LOVE Teddy and Billy don’t even get me started 🥲🤍 I was also a big fan of Kate Bishop from the MCU series but she was SO cool in these - never in my life have I been into cosplay but I think I NEED to wear her costume from these comics at some point in my life … the cunty sunglasses? The thin scarf flowing down to the floor? The asymmetry of it all? A gag 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

However why was the ONE kiss in this entire comic run not between the actual boyfriends, not between Kate and either of the characters she was flirting with (who all seemed to at least be in their late teens) but between a 14 year old and a child from the future of an unspecified age that she met THAT DAY 😬 Hated that, it did NOT need to be included.

Also extremely random that Hulking (Teddy Altman) shares an exact name with Teddy from Greys Anatomy? Huh 🤨

All in all I am officially a Young Avengers Stan and am very excited to hopefully see the rest of these characters on my screen in the near future 🦹‍♀️
Profile Image for Tomás Sendarrubias García.
901 reviews21 followers
May 5, 2019
Acabo de emprender un viaje de redescubrimiento y repaso a algunos cómics del pasado, de algunas de las etapas que más he disfrutado tanto de Marvel como de DC, y he empezado por Jóvenes Vengadores. Y ha sido una (re)experiencia maravillosa. Situado en los días siguientes a la disolución de los Vengadores en las páginas de la saga Desunidos, en estos cómics hacen su aparición un puñado de jóvenes héroes que parecen haberse inspirado en los miembros fundadores de los Vengadores: Iron Lad, Asgardiano, el Patriota y Hulkling. El Capitán América, Iron Man y Jessica Jones tratan de averiguar quienes son estos "Jóvenes Vengadores", bautizados así por la prensa. En su momento y hasta que la leí, la idea de unos "Jóvenes Vengadores" me parecía maaaaala malísima. Pero la verdad es que el trabajo que Allan Heinberg y Jim Cheung hicieron en su momento fue absolutamente brillante, los personajes son una gozada, sus tramas personales y orígenes son grandes sorpresas... y en fin... es una obra redonda.
Profile Image for Eric Butler.
Author 45 books192 followers
January 18, 2021
As the new shows are starting to pop up on Disney+, I wanted to go back and fill in my knowledge of Kate Bishop. I had missed this series but knew of the characters from Civil War and the Hawkeye stand-alone series. It was a fun way to look at newer and updated versions of the original Avengers. The stories are well written but updated with a late 2000s sensibility.

The artwork is fantastic as well. Can't wait to see how much of the books they incorporate to the character when the show comes on.
Profile Image for Alicia.
119 reviews
April 12, 2022
Me ha gustado mucho :) No hace falta tener mucho conocimiento de los cómics de marvel para entender la historia, ya que al fin y al cabo trata de los orígenes de los personajes y de como y porque se formo el grupo. Me ha gustado la introducción de Tommy y la trama de Hulkling, y creo que cada personaje por separado aún tiene mucho potencial por explorar. Si tengo que poner una pega sería que me hubiera gustado que hubiera un pequeño salto en el tiempo o algo para verles como grupo ya formado de verdad en una ambientación o situación totalmente diferente.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 293 reviews

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