Review of "Browncoats Redemption"

I have a confession: I never watched Firefly when it was on TV the first time (except for Jaynestown which is a horrible first episode to introduce someone to the series). I saw them at Comic Con the first time they came out to promote the movie (it was postponed so they were there two years in a row to promote the film – 2004 & 2005 I think). That first year they were there, I had only just discovered Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. As you already know, quite a few Firefly actors appeared on those shows. I didn’t get in line for the autograph session because it was jam-packed and I wasn’t a fan of the show.

But, destined to be the huge fan I now am, my friend (who I would introduce to the show and convert into a fan before the movie came out) was approached by one of the security guys in the autograph area. The Serenity signing was over and there was one more promo card (8.5 x 11) that was signed by the entire cast and Joss Whedon. The security guy couldn’t keep it so he gave it to the first person he saw: my friend. He knew I was interested in the signatures because many were on Buffy & Angel (or created both shows (if you’re reading this Joss, thanks for that)). He decided that he’d let me have the signed promo in exchange for making a photocopy of it for him. Right after the con I put Firefly in my Netflix queue and as soon as I was done watching I was hooked and that signed promo went to the top of the list of things I would run out of the house with if it were on fire.

Of course the show was awesome and the movie was just as awesome so I won’t go into those. I bought “Done the Impossible” at the Comic Con a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed that but it’s been out for a while so I won’t go into that either.

I saw the “Browncoats: Redemption” postcard on the freebie table at Comic Con and checked it out. It looked great and I was excited that some fans were still so passionate and excited by the show and movie to make a fan film – especially a fan film that was 90 minutes long – so I pre-ordered it. And the other day my mailbox rewarded me for all the times I opened it to junk mail and bills by giving me, “Browncoats: Redemption.”

The movie picks up 3 months after the signal went out in Serenity and the universe got hip to what the Alliance did on Miranda. Civil unrest is starting to brew so the Alliance is looking to squash any Independents who might be looking to rally the people. Their mission includes the arrest of one Captain Laura Matthews who is hiding a secret so large that uncovering it threatens to divide and break her crew apart.

I have to be completely honest, I wasn’t expecting much. I was expecting a vaguely familiar universe with a passable script and characters trying to be the original crew. As a fan, I just wanted to see the film so I could have an opinion one way or the other. But what I got was a great story with crew members who had unique personalities and even a twist (Captain Laura Matthew’s big secret) that I never saw coming.

The crew is a likeable bunch who are easy to root for and who I want to see more of. There’s definitely a treasure trove of back-story in these characters, like the reason Lux gave up a successful boxing career or Cam’s history with Laura. There is one scene where some of the crew are sitting around sharing stories and laughs and it felt like a real moment of bonding between old friends and new shipmate, “Pete.” If this movie was the pilot episode, it would have been good enough to bring me back. I would even enjoy fan-made sequels just so I could spend more time with these characters.

Unlike Serenity which is a Firefly class vessel, Redemption is a Scarab class vessel so the good folks at NEO f/x volunteered their time to animate this new ship and scores of skilled volunteers worked tirelessly to build a set that rivaled Serenity’s full-sized set (in Firefly and Serenity, the ship was built so that a camera could follow a crew member throughout the entire ship, giving the viewer a sense of how large the ship is) and pulled it off. The film is shot in the same way the series was (you’ll know what I’m talking about when you see it) so it’s familiar and comforting. The story is sprinkled with inside references from the episodes of the show and the movie. There are even a few outside film references that you might pick up. The film even features cameos from actors who were on the show and in the movie (I won’t ruin the “Who?” or “In what context?” for you).

I only have two complaints. The first is the varying sound quality. The second is a scene in which a rocket sort of explodes next to Redemption and there’s no explanation as to where it came from and the crew sort of ‘under-reacts’ to it. But those two complaints are pretty minor taking the film as a whole. I’ve walked out on movies that took millions to make (“In the Name of the King” and “Crank” come to mind) and have stopped movies before the end, put them in the Netflix envelope and sent them back (“Domino” and “Ninja Assassin” come to mind), but I watched this film straight through and watched all the behind the scenes material.

And the DVD is packed with “making of,” “behind the scenes,” stuff that was amazing. This film was a real labor of love with an all-volunteer force of Browncoats who came from everywhere to pitch in and help and donated funds to the cause. There was a nice feature called, “I am a Browncoat” that features fans filming themselves saying “I am a Browncoat” in varying ways (in varying video qualities) that I thought was really cool. In a film made by a ton of fans, it was one more way to include the fans. There was also a bunch of great interviews between cast and crew of the original by cast and crew of “Browncoats: Redemption.”

For those of you who wondered like I did, “How can they do this without getting sued,” the makers of the film reached out to Fox, Universal, and Joss Whedon to get permission to make film and sell it with the proceeds going to charity.

If you live in LA, the upcoming “Creation Entertainment Salutes Firefly, Buffy/Angel & Dollhouse” in November is playing the film on Saturday of the convention and selling copies of the film (hopefully some of the cast will be there signing). The film’s crew are hoping to sell 32,396 copies of the movie which is the number of copies that the Serenity Collector’s Edition sold on its release weekend (the Collector’s Edition came out a few months after the initial DVD was released) and would give each charity about $80,000 each. And who are the charities? The charities are, Equality Now, Kids Need to Read, The Dyslexia Foundation (TDF), The Al Wooten Jr. Heritage Center, and The Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation. These are all charities that are supported by the cast Firefly cast and Joss Whedon.

The film was completely worth ordering, fun to watch, and I’m looking forward to seeing it again and again.

Browncoats: Redeption official site
The Facebook page

Batman: Under the Red Hood review

As someone who read the comics that this movie is based on, I expected a great film and was not disappointed. Judd Winick is great at getting into the character’s heads and writing character-driven stories. Of course we all know the basic premise – Joker kills the second Robin, Jason Todd, and when he’s resurrected, he goes after Batman and The Joker. The execution of the original story was well done.

I’m not a big fan of the DC Universe animated films. Having been a huge Batman: The Animated Series, Superman, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited fan, I am used to the voice of Batman, Superman, etc, so when you hire a bunch of different actors every film to voice familiar characters it’s distracting. The story was good enough to get past the need to hear Kevin Conroy’s voice coming out of Batman’s mouth. Even though they aren’t the original voices, Bruce Greenwood, Jensen Ackles, John Di Maggio, Neil Patrick Harris, and Jason Isaacs fill in just nicely.

I liked the flashbacks with Batman and Jason Todd’s Robin in happier times fighting crime, showing how they met, and showing Jason’s developing temper. This was probably the most intense DCU animated project I’ve seen and it didn’t pull punches when it came to things like Joker almost beating Jason to death with a crowbar.

Watch this film – but not with little kids. Yeah – it’s that intense.

This disk also has great features.

It has a Jonah Hex animated short based on a story from the comic series. It features the voices of Thomas Jane (as Jonah Hex), Linda Hamilton, Michael Rooker, and Michelle Trachtenberg. It’s a fun, fast story with great action (but features a scene with a prostitute about to have sex so watch it before you show it to the kids).

There’s a preview of Superman/Batman: Apocalypse. This is the animated project based on the introduction of Supergirl in the Superman/Batman comic book series. It reunites original voices, Kevin Conroy (Batman), Tim Daly (Superman), and Susan Eisenberg (Wonder Woman) with Summer Glau voicing Supergirl. It looks fantastic and as close as I’ll get to a Justice League voice cast reunion.

There are also 4 Batman: The Animated Series episodes as a bonus. In watching these episodes, was really struck me is that, even though the show is 15+ years old, each episode had a great story that was character driven and looked like a movie. It was a ground-breaking show and became the style that DC used on a lot of the cartoons that followed: Superman, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, Teen Titans, and Legion of Super-Heroes.

So my verdict is this is a film worth having on your DVD/Blu Ray shelf.

Essential books to go with this movie:

Batman #408 – the introduction of Jason Todd.

Batman: A Death in the Family (reprints Batman #426-429) – Jason Todd goes to Ethiopia in search of his long-lost mother. The Joker lures him into a trap and is beaten half to death by the ker. Batman rushes to save him but Jason and his mother are killed in the exploding warehouse. Batman carrying Jason’s body from the warehouse is one of the most iconic moments in DC’s history.

Batman: Under the Red Hood Volume 1 (reprints Batman #635 - #641) - Batman vs Jason Todd with flashbacks galore.

Batman: Under the Red Hood Volume 2 (reprints Batman #645-650 and Batman Annual #25) – Jason’s resurrection at the hands of Ras’ al Ghul revealed and Jason's desire for revenge drives him to kidnap the Joker and force Batman to decide: kill Joker, or let Jason kill Joker.

Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman's anniversary issues

With the exception of anything written by Paul Dini and reading Final Crisis, I’m not a consistent Batman reader. As far as Superman and Wonder Woman, I only know what I’ve read in either Wizard or Previews. I decided to get the anniversary issues and the following issues to see if they were good stories and good jumping on points for me. Here’s what I found.

Batman #700 & #701

Batman #700 had one story, “Time and The Batman” by Grant Morrison, Tony Daniel, Frank Quitely, Scott Kolins, Andy Kubert, and David Finch. This offbeat story features the Maybe Machine, which is a device that allows someone to time travel. We get to see a cameo from the Terry McGuiness Batman as well as other alternate realities. It was fun seeing the Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne version of Batman & Robin having fun beating up bad guys.

I knew that ‘killing’ Bruce Wayne was temporary and that it was inevitable that he’d come back but, seeing the new Batman & Robin in action makes me wish that return was a few years away. It would be nice to see this new team really make a mark so that Bruce’s return is more of a transition for Dick (maybe not Damian because Tim will probably stay Red Robin for a while).

Batman #701 goes back to the RIP story arc where Bruce has just escaped from Doctor Hurt and gets called in by Superman to take a look at the spot where Orion was killed at the start of Final Crisis.

Batman #700 was kind of confusing. I wasn’t always sure of what was real and what was part of the time travel (or alternate reality). With the exception of a few moments, the rest was either confusing or boring.

Batman #701 should have been an opportunity to capitalize on the increased demand for Batman #700 by introducing a new story arc instead of closing out a story arc that gives us details on events that happened recently. With Bruce Wayne returning I think readers could use more Dick Grayson Batman stories. When Bruce returns, that’s when you drop the final RIP chapter. In any case, I won’t be getting Batman #702.

Superman #700 & #701

Superman #700 has 3 stories:

The Comeback by James Robinson & Bernard Chang

Parasite is chasing after Lois Lane when Superman saves her. Apparently he was gone for a long time and this is the first time they’re seeing each other. Nice interaction between the two of them after a long absence.

Geometry by Dan Jurgens & Norm Rapmund

This is a tale from Superman’s past, back when Dick Grayson was still Robin. While Bruce Wayne is at a Wayne Industries function, Robin decides to take on gunrunners and gets an assist from Superman. Robin is disobeying Bruce’s order to stay in the mansion and Superman helps him slip back in. This story had me laughing at the end. It’s great to see Dan Jurgens & Norm Rapmund telling great stories with the character they contributed so much to.

Grounded by J. Michael Straczynski & Eddy Barrows

Superman returns to Metropolis where he’s inundated by politicians and reporters who question his allegiances. Unable to come up with anything he felt was sufficient to answer their questions, Superman decides to literally walk among the people he abandoned. It is Superman’s way of rededicating himself to Earth and reconnecting with its people again.

In Superman #701, “Grounded Part 1” by J. Michael Straczynski & Eddy Barrows continues where #700 left off. Superman continues walking around and connecting with everyday people. The most interesting part of the issue is when Superman talks a jumper out of committing suicide. Throughout the issue, when someone asks him a question, Superman answers each one thoughtfully. I don’t know if it’s my imagination but did Peter Parker make a cameo in this issue?

Every story in Superman #700 was worth getting the issue for. I like this ‘ground-zero’ approach to Superman and will add this to my pull list to see how it develops.

Wonder Woman #600 & #601

Wonder Woman #600 has five stories:

Valedictorian by Gail Simone & George Perez

When Ivo’s Cyber-Sirens attack The White House, Wonder Woman and a few dozen of DC’s female heroes show up to stop them. Their combined might makes short work of the villains which is good news because Diana rushes off to watch Vanessa graduate high school. It’s a good story that lets the readers see Vanessa again and reminds us of who she is to Diana. The Diana/Vanessa conversation is meat of this story but the opening action between the DC ladies and villains makes me wish George Perez was doing something monthly. It’s a good story and the only story worth buying the issue for.

Fuzzy Logic by Amanda Connor

After Power Girl and Batgirl help Wonder Woman take down Egg Fu, Power Girl needs Wonder Woman’s advice. Unfortunately Power Girl wants advice on her cat. Moving on…

Firepower by Louise Simonson & Eduardo Pansica

Nikos Aegeus vs Wonder Woman & Superman in a by-the-numbers team-up against a foe clearly out of his league.

The Sensational Wonder Woman by Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins

This is a sort of origin story with 2 unknown narrators talking about Wonder Woman before she goes through a doorway to “Let the odyssey begin.”

Odyssey Prologue: Culture Shock by J. Michael Straczynski & Don Kramer

Wonder Woman’s new costume (and it is cool) debuts as she takes on a few thugs who self-destruct. She goes to see the Oracle for information and she shows Wonder Woman what Paradise Island looks like. The Oracle is funny and I enjoyed their interaction. The only thing that bothered me (and this is nit picky) is when one of the robed people (I don’t know who they were – but she had to talk to them to get access to the Oracle) talked to her and Wonder Woman responded, “Don’t EVEN go there with me.” Wonder Woman is someone of few words unless she’s talking to a friend in warm, cultured language. Wonder Woman doesn’t use slang.

In Wonder Woman #601 (by J. Michael Straczynski & Don Kramer) “Past Imperfect, Present Tense,” we’re given an alternate version of what happened on Paradise Island. She has visions of herself in the old costume then we find out that she can’t fly anymore. What’s most disturbing is that she’s told she can’t fly YET, not that she can’t fly anymore. It looks like Straczynski is retconning the character as though she’s brand new. If so then she doesn’t know the other heroes of the DCU or Vanessa and it erases all past history which would be unfortunate.

I like the new costume but the new direction is annoying – I don’t need yet another alternate history for the character. Wonder Woman #600 was worth getting but I won’t be buying #602.

Paula Garces presents Aluna

While at the Comic Con this year I got a few autographs from Paula Garces. She starred alongside Jesse Bradford in Clockstoppers and more recently appeared alongside Michael Chiklis. She was selling a package with her new comic book and an autographed photo. I read the comic book, Aluna, and here are my thoughts.

The book starts in 1520 with our protagonist, Aluna, running for her life from Spaniards. From the moment she gets off the boat to confront the Spaniards, she feels strange. While being chased she discovers she has power over nature (creating lightning and wind). At one point she is injured and flowers sprout up in the blood trail.

There’s a familiar feel to the character (think the X-Men’s Storm in 1520) but that gives me something to identify with. Also, in the midst of running for her life, a native saves her life, tells her that he knows she has power, then tries to kill her so he can take her power (the cliché is someone running in to tell her about her destiny and helping her escape then bonding with her).

The writing is a little clunky. The story begins with her on the run then backs up to show how she got there but there’s no reference to what country Aluna and the people on her boat are from – am I supposed to look it up on Wikipedia – or what their beef with the Spaniards are and who they’re killing. And besides Aluna, there aren’t any other developed characters. I don’t even know what Aluna is fighting for and having her leave the boat while everyone’s sleeping and run into a group of Spaniards on purpose without any weapons (she doesn’t know she’s powerful at that point) seems a ridiculous way to isolate her to stage a chase scene.

The art is pretty good. With the exception of a few panels, I understood what was happening (there are two panels where she trips the native to the ground where I had no idea what was happening until he hit the ground). But I do love the action scenes where, on one panel, there are several pictures of the same person tumbling through the air. I miss artists doing that – now you only see that kind of thing in a Flash panel.

Aluna isn’t a bad independent book and it may be worth getting #2 to see how the story develops. Hey, it’s a two issue mini-series so why not?

Paula Garces

Aluna #1

She's also promoting something called themun2 look which premieres August 21, 2010

Paula from Clockstoppers

Comic Con International 2010

As I do every year, I went to Comic Con. A lot of you were there (or have already read tons about the experience).

For me, the coolest thing at Comic Con wasn’t inside the convention center – it was a few blocks away. Disney built the ‘Tron Experience’ in a warehouse in the heart of the Gaslamp Quarter. Above the doorway said “Flynn’s” which looked like the neon sign about Flynn’s arcade in the original movie.

When you walk in, the first room is a small arcade with the original Tron game and games like Ms. Pac-Man. On one wall were flat panel TVs where the upcoming Tron Legacy game was being played on an X-Box 360, PS3, and Wii. I don’t have a Wii but that’s what I ended up on, playing a friend on the light-cycle level. It was a blast – the new game is going to rock. There was a vending machine in a corner with nothing but Coke Zero. The best part of this room was that the Coke Zero and the video games were all free.

The second room had props from the original movie including the digitizer. It didn’t have much to see so people moved on pretty quickly to the third room.

In the third room was a perfect recreation of a bar from the movie Tron Legacy (the picture I have on this blog is from an on-set visit, the one in the Tron Experience is the same minus the camera). Behind the bar in the included picture, covering the entire wall, is a screen playing a preview every few minutes. Around the sides of the room is a place where a mannequin with the new uniform is displayed. On the other side is a small bar where Coke Zero is handed out and there are Tron-related products on display (including AWESOME 3.75” figures that light up and lightcycles). I must have spent about 45 minutes lounging in that room watching the previews and the woman in the white Tron outfit who would slowly walk back and forth while the preview played.

The third room was this set - without the cameras and crew. And all the deep blue behind the bar was a screen.

Tron girl walked around slowly and at the end of the trailer, took photos with anyone who asked. Very cool.

On the way back I spent a few minutes watching the protest outside the convention center. Protest…at Comic Con? About a dozen members of the Westboro Baptist Church led, as always, by their minister Fred Phelps. If you aren’t familiar with that group, they’re the wack jobs who go to soldier funerals with signs that say the soldier is going to hell for fighting. They came out to Point Loma a few months ago to protest something at the Rock Church. Phelps’ group is extreme (check out what the kid’s t-shirt says).

Phelps' itty-bitty group

Including this poor kid (can't be more than 8)

Our nerd force!

Cool signs

Comic Con is that one magical time of the year when nerds and geeks with all different interests and beliefs come out and there was a hefty contingent of them (by hefty I mean about 60) who counter protested with signs that were irreverent and hilarious. It was a peaceful demonstration but what do you expect from a bunch of people who continually bump into one another in the crowded isles of the convention center and immediately (and usually at the same time) say, “sorry” to one another?

James Marsters was signing (that was a strange transition - let's push on) at the Lightspeed Fine Arts booth – his was one of one 4 autographs I got this year (I was really selective – actually I’d seen most of these folks at Wizard World Anaheim or last year). He’d only been at the booth a few minutes and I’d gotten my autograph ticket the day before so we got to talk for a few minutes. I don’t remember what we talked about – I’m sure I asked about what panels he’d be on and if he’d be at the Creation Con in November (he said he wouldn’t) and told him to have a good con.

I also scored my very first autograph from Alaina Huffman at the Official Pix booth. I haven't seen her work on Stargate Universe but I'm a big fan of Smallville (from season 7 on) and got a signed picture of her as Black Canary. I'm a sucker for autographs from people who have played super-heroes. It was fun talking Smallville with her. She wants to do season 10 if the stories call for Black Canary and she encouraged me to go to the Smallville panel. Alaina's really cool and I hope one day there will be Creation Smallville conventions. I have a feeling she'd be very interesting on stage as well.

Alaina Huffman

I was there at the Joss Whedon Experience (the annual Joss Whedon panel where he updates everyone on what he’s doing and takes questions. The last question was from a disguised Nathan Fillion who asked him who his favorite actor to work with was. That was a lot of fun and really exciting for the crowd. Count on Nathan Fillion to inject more fun into everything.

Joss taking a question; preparing to be brilliant

Spudtrooper Adventure

For my birthday this year, a co-worker gave me a Spudtrooper. That's a Mr. Potatohead in a Stormtrooper uniform. I started thinking of ways to display him - should I pair him with 3 3/4" figures? Then I went to Wizard World Anaheim 2010 and they had a lot of cheap figures and I imagined them in funny situations with the Spudtrooper so I picked a few up. Then I got a few more cheap figures at Southern California Comics (my homebase for comics) - I was starting to assemble a cast.

I wanted it to look like a strip in Toyfare but I don't have the space or skill to pull that off so I did the best I could. I gave my co-worker this strip for her birthday.

Enjoy!

Marvel's Heroic Age review

Marvel has had a few years worth of dark times for its heroes – Civil War, Secret Invasion, and Siege. Norman Osborn is removed as the world’s top cop and replaced by Steve Rogers, the original Captain America so the Marvel Universe’s heroes won’t have to worry about the Super Human Registration Act anymore. Now it’s time for heroes to be heroes and fight the bad guys without worrying about fighting the good guys.

Of course everyone is going to get Avengers Prime and the new New Avengers titles because they feature characters that are well-known. But what about the slew of new titles featuring less or unknown characters?

I’m going to review three of those titles, Avengers Academy #1, Secret Avengers #1 (and the related story in Vengeance of Moon Knight #9), and Young Allies #1.

Avengers Academy #1 by Christos Gage and Mike McKone

I’m not familiar with any of the characters on this new team so I’m not sure if this is their first appearances. This issue reveals that during Norman Osborn’s reign, he convinced young people with emerging powers to let him ‘help’ them. Instead he tortures them to get their power to manifest and test them – this experimentation leaves many of them with powers strong enough to kill casually or with conditions that are slowly killing them.

The book is mostly told from Veil’s point of view as she discovers that the damage Osborn did to her ability to turn into different forms of gas has resulted in her body beginning a process of losing cohesion. Along the way, Veil is introduced to Hazmat, a girl so damaged she has to be fully contained in a suit at all times or risk accidentally killing someone, Finesse, Mettle, Striker, and Reptil. Overseeing this group is founding Avenger, Hank Pym, Tigra, Quicksilver, and Justice.

What I like about this book is the premise: Norman Osborn’s most damaged subjects relearning how to control their power. One of their first lessons is with Speedball (no longer known as Penance and wearing a costume more like his original). While Striker reminds the team that he was “the guy who killed half the city of Stamford,” Mettle insists that Speedball’s lessons will be valuable because, “One wrong move and any one of us could be a murderer.”

I also like that the adults overseeing the group all have histories that none of them are completely proud of (with the exception of Tigra) and know the price for their mistakes and may be best equipped to handle this group.

Speedball is my favorite Marvel character from back in the New Warriors days. Even he gets a moment when Hazmat takes off her glove during a practice and Speedball freaks out about it, “You want to…accidentally incinerate a bus full of kids.” This is obviously a flashback to the incident in Stamford that resulted in Civil War because that explosion was right next to a school.

As for the surprise ending – it’s not Thunderbolts big but it’s interesting enough to bring me back for #2.

Oh, and in the back of this book is a roster of these new characters and their abilities.

Vengeance of Moon Knight #9 by Gregg Hurwitz and Juan Jose Ryp

I picked this book up because Spider-Man is in it and I love a good team-up. Spidey and Moon Knight faced off against Sandman. Gregg Hurwitz may be new, but Sandman’s ‘I’m depressed and trying to steal money to take care of my kid’ story was old before he was a member of Silver Sable’s Wildpack. When (and why) did Sandman give up on being a good guy? The artwork was great – I hadn’t heard of Juan Jose Ryp before but I’m a fan now – the midair collision between Moon Knight and Spider-Man is hilarious and well-drawn. Speaking of great art, J. Scott Campbell did more than just the cover to this book – isn’t it time for an ongoing title for him?

The end of the book shows Steve Rogers approaching Moon Knight for membership on the Secret Avengers roster which leads into…

Secret Avengers #1 by Ed Brubaker and Mike Deodato

One of the reasons I was excited about New Avengers was because it had a diverse group of well-known characters who have never been on a team together (and I was looking forward to many funny Wolverine/Spider-Man interactions). It’s the same reason I was looking forward to this book – Steve Rogers, Sharon Carter, Black Widow, War Machine, Valkyrie, Antman (the former Thunderbolts member), Beast, Nova, and Moon Knight.

This first issue is a little rough in introducing the team. It starts with Black Widow and Valkyrie on a botched (and boring) undercover job when Steve Rogers busts in and cleans house. Then we’re introduced to Beast. Then we get to see a mission with just a few of the members, then they go off to join Nova in space who hasn’t interacted with any of the team yet.

The premise of the book is simple: Secret Avengers is a covert team that goes after emerging threats, hunting down villains before they attack heroes, cities, governments, etc. It’s a familiar premise but one that might have been better served by having a rotating cast of characters from all over the Marvel Universe, recruited depending on the mission.

With a team book like this, I understand that some missions can only have a few of the members on them (because members like War Machine aren’t built for stealth) but the book should have started with the entire team doing something, whether being introduced to one another or bringing down something like a Hydra cell. It’s more interesting to see this new group together than to introduce them a piece at a time. The flashbacks to Steve Roger’s talks with some of the members was interesting and I wish Brubaker had shown his talk with Beast (who was so disappointed by what was going on in the X-Men books that he quit). The Nova conversation would have been the most interesting considering the last time he visited Earth he found out that his old team was mostly dead, Speedball was fundamentally changed, The Thunderbolts tried to arrest him for being unregistered, and his father criticized him until he decided to leave and not come back.

Still, a bad start is still a beginning and I’m really interested in seeing these characters bond and interact – I just hope this first ‘Serpent Crown’ story-line isn’t dragged out for 5 or 6 issues or I might not stick around.

Young Allies #1 by Sean McKeever and David Baldeon

This is probably the best book of the lot. While the characters are introduced a piece at a time, it makes sense because there isn’t a central figure like Steve Rogers putting them together. With the exception of Firestar, none of these heroes is well-known but they have been around long enough that readers have probably seen them in other titles.

Firestar, Nomad, Araña, Gravity, and Toro are featured going toe-to-toe with The Bastards of Evil who are – apparently – the kids of villains. Their only motivation is destruction to gain notoriety and the five heroes find themselves coming together to fight them. There’s a lot of great setup to introduce the readers to each team member. While Toro’s situation is a bit of a mystery that’s foreshadowed at the beginning of the book, McKeever does a great job of introducing the rest of the team. He shows Nomad and Araña fighting crime together and letting us know that they’re good friends, introduces Gravity via a conversation he’s having with his college friends, and introduces Firestar rushing to make a college class on time.

It’s a great start, well-written and drawn and I’ll be back for Young Allies #2 to see if this roster’s reason for staying a team is good enough to carry the series forward. As a bonus, in the back there’s a short write up on each team member to catch the reader up on who they are and give a list of trade paperbacks that each character has appeared in.