The Ronin here,No one is buying Avengers Academy.
In a way we are fortunate, Marvel likes this series. Which is probably the only thing keeping it from suffering the same fate as 'Young Allies' and 'Spider-Girl'. Of course it is also better then 'Young Allies' and 'Spider-girl'. Not that Young Allies actually had much of a chance to shine. the titular allies barely come together by the final issue of the series.
I understand why people aren't giving it a try. For one there are a lot of Avengers titles right now, 'Avengers', 'New Avengers', 'Secret Avengers', 'Avengers: The Children Crusade', 'Ultimate Avengers', 'Avengers: Rehab', 'Avengers: Cleveland' and finally 'Avengers: Daycare'. Some of the real ones even sell quite well. Actually there is a lot of good stuff out there for today's busy Avengers fan.
Why would an Avengers fan spend his hard earned (I assume hard earned anyways, I suppose you could be a drug dealer or something) scratch on a title featuring brand new characters with a few third stringers thrown in? Well because it is good,
really good. It also has a completely different tone and setting then most of the titles. As the name implies 'Avengers Academy' is a school of sorts the characters are told they have what it takes to be the next generation of great heroes. However there is a twist. (spoilers below)
The youths in question are all the result of Norman Osborn's takeover of the old 'Avengers Initiative', they were young people gifted with unique powers, Osborn tortured them to bring those powers out. They are in fact not likely to become the next generation of great heroes, they are in fact likely to become the next generation of villains. The Avengers, under the guidance of Steve Rogers (the original Captain America) want to step in and prevent this.
The drama and fun comes from seeing these young people, who feel discarded, betrayed and broken, desperately trying to become the heroes they can be, in a world that has already labeled them villains. The Green Goblin himself thought these kids would make great villains. Do they have what it takes to defy that? They are young and self doubt comes with the territory, so only time will tell.
The youths in question are all the result of Norman Osborn's takeover of the old 'Avengers Initiative', they were young people gifted with unique powers, Osborn tortured them to bring those powers out. They are in fact not likely to become the next generation of great heroes, they are in fact likely to become the next generation of villains. The Avengers, under the guidance of Steve Rogers (the original Captain America) want to step in and prevent this.
The drama and fun comes from seeing these young people, who feel discarded, betrayed and broken, desperately trying to become the heroes they can be, in a world that has already labeled them villains. The Green Goblin himself thought these kids would make great villains. Do they have what it takes to defy that? They are young and self doubt comes with the territory, so only time will tell.
These characters could be waisted in the hands of a bad writer. Christos Gage does well here, I am new to his writing but if this is the quality of his work then consider me a fan. Hell even the first event tie in comic (#15) is excellent. Many great books have stumbled when they ran into their first event. 'Avengers Academy' is on one level a fun super hero romp featuring young heroes and on the other level a great exercise in characterization and discussion on the nature of destiny. Can these kids become heroes or are they destined to walk a darker path?
Let me address one segment of comic book readers. People reading scans online: A discussion on the topic itself would take days, however if you stumble across a few copies of Avengers Academy this way and enjoy it, then great! But sales for AA are terrible, if you can spare 4 bucks a month pick up the new issues do it! It is not like a movie that will rake in 300 million even if you download a dvd rip from a torrent. This book is barely scrapping by and every sale counts.
To summarize READ AVENGERS ACADEMY, and for the love of god buy this one it is worth every penny.
Still not convinced? Try the Fear itself tie in, or The Amazing Spider-man 661 and 662 (wrote by the AA's regular author) featuring a nice 2 part crossover. Letting Avengers Academy take over Amazing Spider-man? I told you Marvel liked this book.
I agree, so many people read the first couple of issues including me and enjoy it a great amount and yet dont collect it. I know this is a great comic but every month somehow it get left out of my pull list. Im planning to start buying the trades to show my support of the series. BTW Im following your blog,its well put together. I appreciate if you follow mine as well. xknightcomics.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteUm, the book is 3 bucks, not 4.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct Anonymous! I shall correct the article, the first issue was 3.99 but all additional issues are 2.99. Holding the line and all that.
ReplyDelete