Young Avengers #2

Here’s another issue where I enjoyed the second issue more than the first. Kieron Gillen intrigued me with the premiere, but there was a lot of unrelated action going down and a ton of characters doing it. 

This issue wisely focuses on the great climax from issue 1; Hulkling’s returned momster. By keeping the focus on Wiccan and Hulkling, I really got worried for the characters and their upsetting situation. 

Thanks to Loki, I think things could end up OK, but wow, everything sure looked bleak for a few pages! (As an aside, how interesting is it that the Avengers in the mansion were the Uncanny Avengers?)

So the evil mom has not been resolved, but clearly she’s got some decent powers. Either there is some reality shifting happening, or she is one powerful mind-controller. She controls the reactions of both the Avengers and random folks on the street, so she’s pretty souped up.

One of my favorite parts of the issue is the way Gillen writes Hulkling and Wiccan. Gillen remembers that these guys are Avengers fan boys, so they definitely have some suspicions when dealing with Thor’s evil brother. I’m excited to see Laufey (the movie version) appear on the printed page, but I hope he’s not around too long. If I start thinking about it too much, I start to really want Tom Hiddleston’s Loki to be in the Marvel U, not this kid version of the character.

Jamie McKelvie doesn’t have the wondering, jarring layouts from last issue; he just has solid, beautiful regular pages. Because of the way he shows Wiccan’s powers operating, with the words showing up like a normal comic’s sound effects, it is neat that there is no SFX for regular fighting. That’s fine with me. I can provide the “SPLUFF” sound effect when Hulkling splatters his Mom all over the kitchen!

Good