Art by Jamie McKelvie for Young Avengers
The saddest thing that ever happened to me was Phonogram ending. Okay, maybe that was a heavy exaggeration. It definitely made me lose interest in comics though. Phonogram just spoke to me on so many levels. I felt like it was written just for me. The concept of music actually giving these Phonomancers power just seemed like something real. I’ve been at clubs, heard my song play, and feel transformed into some sort of superhero. I never found anything quite so perfect for me in a comic, and I doubt I ever will.
Do not confuse my adoration for that comic as a bar set too high for other comics to even come close to. I understand that I won’t ever find anything like Phonogram. I don’t have to because it already exists in my world and has a very special place forever in my heart. On the other hand I felt like the superhero comics were so long running that I couldn’t really start at the top. Much like people foreign to Doctor Who feel when they realize just how long the series is. Do I really want to watch twenty something seasons of this just to figure out what my friends are talking about? But then someone tells you to start at the beginning of the reboot and it’s not so intimidating. That sense of relief is how I felt when I heard the Young Avengers was starting, but that wasn’t the big selling point. It was Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie working together again, from the beginning, on a new series.
I have been a fan of both since I met them at 2006 Comic Con. Phonogram wasn’t even out yet, but as I stood there in my homemade Jarvis Cocker tee, they told me about the premise and I was immediately sold. I still have those teaser flyers somewhere in my room. I read McKelvie’s Suburban Glamour and have loved his modern type style. Clean, bold lines and so much expression. Precise and perfect. I just stared reading Journey Into Mystery, written by Gillen, and the way he’s written Loki makes me so, so happy. I feel kinda creepy pseudo-crushing on a teenage Loki. Feels dirty.
I know nothing about who is in the Young Avengers, other than Loki, who is pretty much my favorite fictional character ever, next to Kate Kane as Batwoman. A handful of characters are mildly introduced, and at least three different plots are harboring intrigue. I finished it immediately wanting more. I feel like it’s superhero comics for the modern era, giving more to the audience that might be intimidated by the years of legacy behind these characters. Granted, I am familiar with Batman, Batwoman, and a few other heroes in comics, but not to the extent that I can comfortably say “yes, I read superhero comics”. I dabble in them. However, this comic gives me what I’ve needed to really get into them; a fresh start, and a familiar perspective. I know it will not disappoint and I’m eager to keep reading.
[orignally blogged on Xtine Is Hardcore.]
