February
10
Sidekicks and Throwbacks
Young Avengers #1
Creators: Allan Heinberg, writer; Jim Cheung and John Dell, artists
Marvel, 32 pages, color, $2.99
So? Sidekicks, especially of the teenage variety, have been pretty rare in the Marvel Universe. Captain America had Bucky way back in the 1940s and Wolverine's had junior partners in Kitty Pryde and Jubilee. So it obviously sends some shockwaves through the MU when teen versions of Captain America, Hulk, Thor and Iron Man show up unannounced. With the Avengers officially disbanded (at least for now), Cap, Shellhead and the Daily Bugle crew from The Pulse try to figure out just who these teens crimefighters are. The explanation begins to trickle out late in the book and shows some definite potential. Heinberg is best known as the writer on TV's "The O.C." who gave Seth Cohen his comicbook obsession. He gives Young Avengers a nice, breezy pace and makes good use of Marvel's shared universe, even though the titular stars remain something of a mystery even at the end of the issue. Jim Cheung delivers sharp, slick art that tells the story well and gives the new characters a bright, fresh and fun look suitable for a Marvel version of the Teen Titans. Whether Young Avengers has the legs to become a permanent fixture at Marvel rather than a good idea for a miniseries is the ultimate challenge for this book. With a fun first issue like this, the odds are better than many may have expected. It will at least be fun to see where this book goes in the next few months. Grade: B
GrimJack: Killer Instinct #1
Creators: John Ostrander, writer; Timothy Truman, artist
IDW Publishing, 32 pages, color, $3.99
So? Back in the early 1980s, the burgeoning business of comics specialty shops gave rise to a wave of indie comics that found a special place in the hearts of fans. One of those was GrimJack, published originally by First Comics and vanishing from the scene amid the rights battles that surrounded the publisher's bankruptcy. Series creators Ostrander and Truman, who've done plenty of other excellent comics work in the interim, recently straightened the whole mess out and are back with this first new GrimJack tale in years. Fans of the original series will no doubt be thrilled to have GrimJack and his bizarre sci-fi fantasy world of Cynosure back, though for the new reader it the trip can be a bit daunting. GrimJack is gritty sci-fi action and even though it's not always clear who people are or why they're behaving as they are, the book is a great throwback to the denser storytelling of early 1980s comics. That makes it a refreshing break from the mass of decompressed superhero titles on the stands. Truman's visuals are lush and convincing — the sort of thing that would be at home in a Humanoids volume. The end result is a bit confusing but still interesting. It definitely feels like a book that knows what it's doing, even if the new reader may have to play a bit of catchup to understand everything that's going on. Grade: B-
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