I bought this title for my tween son, but I was curious to read it as well. This honest review is coming from not just a comic geek, but a concerned parent as well.
I was not hooked at all by this story. The pacing is off and I couldn’t help but to feel lost. The story begins with Kate Bishop waking up not remembering the name of the guy she spent the night with (Noh-Varr). The scene then turns into the “music video” the writer (Kieron Gillen) and artist (Jamie McKelvie) talked about in interviews.
One minute you see Loki goofing off in a diner, the next minute he’s zapped onto a rooftop where he’s roughed up by the beautiful Miss America Chavez. At this point, her intentions are unknown but the timing of this scene is off.
What concerned and frustrated me about this issue was the hurried emphasis on teenage romance. At one point I thought I was reading Judy Blume. I expected to see teenagers in action, kicking butt. Instead I got a teenage gay couple, crying and opening up about their feelings for one another. Hulkling did a dramatic breakdown in front of Wiccan, followed by a passionate kiss. The thing that concerns me the most is the condoning of this behavior by Wiccan’s parents. Not only do they allow Hulkling and Wiccan to live together, they became irate when Hulkling’s mother confronted them with her feelings about their relationship.
Do I like anything about Young Avengers #1? Yes I do.
LIKES
- artwork (excellent job Jamie McKelvie and Mike Norton)
- Miss America Chavez and her awesome costume
- The little chat Hulkling’s mom had with Wiccan’s parents, and the action she took against them at the end.
Dislikes
- weak pacing
- weak dialogue
- no hook or page turner
- inappropriate and the condoning of sexual behavior among teenagers
VERDICT (drum roll please)
The artwork is phenomonal. However unless the pacing and dialogue picks up, I don’t see this as being a successful Marvel NOW! title.
Comics To Read 
I’m sort of in your boat there. It’s a fun comic, and the art is very well done. The music video fight scene was great, and it almost feels like it should be a real music video.
On the down side, the Wiccan and Hulkling fight scene destroys what pacing the comic had, and there’s very little indication of where the almost non-existant story is going. Kieron Gillen’s writing is usually much tighter than this.
I can see why some people would like this comic, but I doubt I’m going to read past issue two. It’s probably meant more for people in their late teens than any other age group, and I’m past that.
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You made some valid points and I agree with all of them, especially that it’s probably geared more towards the late teen years. I’m past that age group as well and I don’t plan to read past the first issue. I’m getting back in the swing of reading comics so I need to learn/re-learn about the Marvel universe, not to mention its’ writers/artists and their styles. I’ll probably check out other stories by Gillen since you mentioned his writing is usually tighter than this one. Thanks for the tip!
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