Closing out our reviews of the new line of Avengers titles in Marvel’s Heroic Age is Christos Gage and Mike McKone’s Avengers Academy #1. This is title with a bunch of new characters and seems to pick up on some of the concepts introduced in Avengers: The Initiative. We threw in some follow up on the Avengers and Thunderbolts titles as well.

Avengers Academy #1

KevinMLD: I liked this book well enough I guess. I have no investment in any of the characters so that doesn’t bode well for me sticking around, but there was a certain charm to the book. It seems like all of the Classic Avengers except Scarlet Witch and Vision are back in the Heroic Age. Though I liked the oddly villainous Quicksilver from X-Factor a few years back. I hope they don’t reimagine him again… Already.

PTB: I don’t mind the cast they’ve chosen for the instructors here. Hank Pym, Quicksilver, Justice, Speedball and Tigra are Avengers characters that I’ve enjoyed reading about for years, but I am officially done with these Avengers books that introduce teams of new young characters. Marvel seemed concerned with the mutant population boom and used House of M to rein things in. The resulting creation of dozens of new Initiative and Academy characters puts them in the same position. I can’t really name one that I care about.

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As reported previously, we were in New York for the Avengers Signing at Midtown Comics earlier this week. It turns out Marvel.com’s “Agent M” was covering us!

Look for Angie and I at around the two and half minute mark:

We spent the day in New York City on Monday and the main attraction bringing us there was the Avengers signing at Midtown Comics in Times Square. Featuring writers Christos Gage, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction and Brian Bendis, this was a welcome event after a Philadelphia Comic Con that was light on comics. It was well worth the trip even on a day that was particularly hot in the big city.

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Our discussion of the new Avengers titles launching as part of Marvel’s Heroic Age continues with Secret Avengers #1. This was a book both of us were looking forward to for different reasons that you’ll see below along with spoilers for the issue.

PTB: I liked this. It wasn’t what I was expecting, but to be honest I wouldn’t know how to describe what I was expecting.

Steve Rogers plan to eliminate threats that the world doesn’t or can’t know about could be a great spin on the character and the Marvel Universe. I was questioning whether this was something that made sense for the character, but the reference to Cap’s experiences in World War II and having just read The Marvels Project got me over that.

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After all of discussion of Thunderbolts earlier this week, PTB and I thought it might be fun to discuss all of Marvel’s Heroic Age launches beginning with the centerpiece book, Avengers #1. Spoilers ahead.

PTB: I enjoyed Avengers #1, primarily because of the inclusion of Kang the Conqueror. I don’t know what it is about that character, but I’m a fan.

KevinMLD: i don’t really know anything about Kang except that he’s a guy that you have some like nostalgic appreciation of… Oh and that he’s a time traveler of some sort.

PTB: He’s a time warrior!

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