"Young Avengers: The Children's Crusade"

 

                The following is a review of the graphic novel “Young Avengers: The Children’s Crusade” as presented in Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection format.

                Erik Lensherr/Magneto became interested in the Young Avengers, particularly Billy Kaplan/Wiccan and Tommy Shepherd/Speed, who might be the reincarnated children of Magneto’s daughter Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, essentially his own grandsons. Both Scott Summers/Cyclops and James Howlett/Logan/Wolverine warned Magneto to stay away from the kids.

                The Young Avengers (Cassie Lang/Stature, Eli Bradley/Patriot, Kate Bishop/Hawkeye, Tommy Shepherd/Speed, Kate Bishop/Hawkeye, Teddy Altman/Hulkling, Billy Kaplan/Wiccan, and Vision) battled the supremacist group the Sons of the Serpent. Steve Rogers/Captain America, Tony Stark/Iron Man, and Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel arrived to assist the fight. Wiccan lost control of his powers and put all the members of the Sons of the Serpent into comas. The Avengers feared he could potentially have the same powers as the Scarlet Witch and be the Scarlet Witch’s son. The Scarlet Witch had lost control of her powers and killed Avengers Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Scott Lang/Ant-Man, and Vision; created a world where Magneto ruled; and when the World of M failed, robbed millions of mutants of their powers with a single spell. After the World of M, Scarlet Witch disappeared, and no one had been able to find her. Wiccan refused to believe the Scarlet Witch was acting of her own free will when she committed these acts. The Avengers took Wiccan in for assessment. Hulkling volunteered to stay with Wiccan. The rest of the Young Avengers broke Wiccan and Hulkling out. Magneto found the Young Avengers and asked for Wiccan and Speed’s help finding Scarlet Witch. Wiccan refused to go without the rest of his team. The Avengers (Steve Rogers/Captain America, Tony Stark/Iron Man, Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Carol Danvers/Ms. Mavel, Logan/Wolverine, and Luke Cage arrived and fought Magneto, but Wiccan teleported the Young Avengers and Magneto to Wundagore Mountain in Transia, birthplace of the Scarlet Witch. They began to search for Scarlet Witch when they encountered Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver, who tried to separate Wiccan from Magneto. Quicksilver attacked Magneto, and during this attack, destroyed a Doombot disguised as the Scarlet Witch. Wiccan tried to sneak off to teleport to Latveria, the country ruled by Doctor Doom, but he was discovered by Quicksilver and the Young Avengers before he could make the jump. The Avengers turned to Simon Williams/Wonder Man for help finding Scarlet Witch due to an energy bond the two shared. Wiccan managed to sneak away from the Young Avengers, Magneto, and Quicksilver and teleport to Latveria. He used his magic to disguise himself as Scarlet Witch to see if the guards would lead Wiccan to the Scarlet Witch. Wiccan was brought to a room where he came face to face with Scarlet Witch. She had no memories of her life as an Avenger or the Scarlet Witch and no magical powers and informed Wiccan she would be getting married the next day. The groom arrived in the room, and it was Victor Von Doom/Doctor Doom, who rendered Wiccan unconscious. The Young Avengers, Magneto, and Quicksilver managed to travel to Latveria, but they arrived at the same time as the Avengers. Doctor Doom used a spell to heal Wiccan, but the spell robbed Wiccan of his powers and locked Wiccan up. Wanda freed Wiccan and asked Wiccan to tell Wanda about the Scarlet Witch. Wiccan agreed if Wanda would help him escape. The Avengers and the Young Avengers got into a battle. Wolverine was about to end Wanda’s existence when Nathaniel Richards/Iron Lad arrived and stopped him. Iron Lad had come from the future where he found out that Scarlet Witch and Wiccan were killed at this point in time and traveled to the past to save both their lives. Iron Lad, the Young Avengers, and Wanda escaped into the Timestream. Iron Lad informed the Young Avengers he had developed new technology that would allow them to inhabit a moment in time without altering in. Stature asked Iron Lad to take them to the day the Avengers ended so Wanda would be able to remember. Stature reunited with her father Ant-Man before Jack of Hearts exploded and killed him. Seeing Jack of Hearts restored Wanda’s memories and powers, and Scarlet Witch teleported herself, the Young Avenger, and Ant-Man back to the present. Scarlet Witch lost control of her powers again. Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Jessica Jones, and Hank McCoy/Beast arrived at the scene with the Young Avengers. Wiccan talked to Scarlet Witch, and she regained control and recognized Wiccan and Speed as her sons. Beast decided to see if Scarlet Witch could undo her “no more mutants” spell. Jessica Jones suggested they go to X-Factor Investigations, the mutant detective agency, (Jamie Madrox/Multiple Man, Guido Carosella/Strong Guy, Geveedra-Seven/Shatterstar, and Juilo Esteban Richter/Rictor) Rictor was one of the mutants who had lost his powers on M-Day. Rictor agreed to let Scarlet Witch try to undo the spell on him, and Rictor got his powers back. The X-Men (Scott Summers/Cyclops, Anna Marie/Rogue, Piotr Rasputin/Colossus, Ororo Munroe/Storm, Emma Frost, Bobby Drake/Iceman, and Remy LeBeau/Gambit) arrived outside X-Factor Headquarters, looking for the Scarlet Witch. The Avengers fought the X-Men. Wanda knocked them all out and teleported herself and the Young Avengers back to Castle Doom. Doctor Doom revealed to Wiccan that Wiccan had never truly been depowered. Doctor Doom asked Wiccan and Scarlet Witch to join him in casting a spell to return the powers to the mutants of the world. Patriot tried to take out Doctor Doom while the three were casting the spell, but his shot hit Scarlet Witch, giving Doctor Doom the reality altering power of the Life Force. Doctor Doom teleported the Young Avengers and Scarlet Witch back outside X-Factor Headquarters. Doctor Doom arrived and asked the heroes to surrender to him. When the heroes refused, Doctor Doom fought the combined X-Men, X-Factor, Avengers, and Young Avengers. Not everyone walked away from the fight.

                Doctor Doom summoned his niece, Valeria Richards. The Scarlet Witch would be coming for Doctor Doom, and Doctor Doom wanted to restrain Scarlet Witch and harness Scarlet Witch’s powers for good purposes. Doctor Doom presented Valeria with a list of candidates who could help him in this effort. Valeria went to S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Maria Hill, who partnered Valeria with Agent Phil Coulson. Valeria and Coulson recruited Elsa Bloodstone, John Walker/U.S.Agent, Valkyrie, Delroy Garrett/3-D Man, and Walter Newell/Stingray in the mission to Latveria to capture the Scarlet Witch and use her powers to undo Doctor Doom’s sins.

                The Young Avengers were invited to the new Avengers mansion, where they had to deal with the security system.

                Iron Man guilted Stature for destroying Iron Man’s car.

                Thor gave the Young Avengers good weather to play baseball in.

                Okay, now that we’ve got the plot summary out of the way, let’s get to the Tim Cubbin part of this review. I’ll start, as always, with my own personal opinions about the book. I found this book to be highly enjoyable. I thought “The Children’s Crusade” was a great storyline. I liked the whole web of family drama. I enjoyed the fatherly portrayal of Magneto. Seeing Magneto trying to save his daughter was touching (for those of you who are thinking you want to correct me about Magneto not being Scarlet Witch’s father, yes, I am aware that Marvel decided to declare he is not, this book was written before that retcon). It was also interesting seeing him accepting the role of a grandfather and seeing just how far he would go for family. Wiccan’s character development was also interesting to observe over the course of the book, watching how his decisions got him in trouble over and over again, but how he really wanted to find his family and absolve his mother of her crimes against the Avengers and mutantkind. I loved seeing X-Factor in this book, they are one of my favorite teams and I honestly wish Marvel would make Modern Era Epic Collections out of this run, it really deserves it. Rictor getting his powers back was great. I loved the war between the Avengers and the X-Men, and the Young Avengers and X-Factor having to take a side. I especially enjoyed watching Wolverine in his own solo vendetta against the Scarlet Witch where he was neither X-Man nor Avenger. I liked seeing the return of the Scarlet Witch. I enjoyed her development from being Wanda Maximoff, the bride of Doom, to the Scarlet Witch, Avenger, and mother. I enjoyed how Heinberg brought back Ant-Man through time travel. I liked seeing Iron Lad return. I will say, however, that the “Avengers World” issues felt out of place in a “Young Avengers” Modern Era Epic Collection. None of the Young Avengers played a starring part in it. It somewhat connects with the main story, and I can see the reason that the editors decided to include these two issues in this book, but they still really felt to me like they didn’t belong in this particular collection based on the main storyline being completely separate and from quite a time apart, and also for not including the Young Avengers in starring roles. That’s not to say I didn’t find the story interesting. It wasn’t my favorite part of the book, but I still found it to be relatively enjoyable. The “I am an Avenger” short stories were fun; I found them to be enjoyable for the brief bits that they were. As far as the art goes, for the majority of this book, I found the art to be excellent. My points of unenjoyment come from two of the “I am an Avenger” stories. Otherwise, I thought the art was fantastic. As far as the title goes, this book could not have been given any other title but “The Children’s Crusade,” and if it had, that would have been a crime in my opinion. It was the title of the series that was the majority of this book, so no other title would have made sense. I will say, though, that I feel it was a little odd to make this series into a “Young Avengers” Modern Era Epic Collection as this was not a “Young Avengers” comic series. The title was officially “Avengers: The Children’s Crusade,” and included the one-shot “Avengers: The Children’s Crusade – Young Avengers,” but this was not officially designated as a “Young Avengers” limited series. I can see the editors’ reasons for making this a “Young Avengers” Modern Era Epic Collection, the whole book focuses on them, but this was called an “Avengers” limited series at the time. As far as the cover goes, I feel the choice was perfect, it features the Young Avengers in the foreground, the Scarlet Witch in the midground, and the Avengers in the background. It is an excellent representation of the content of this book, and I am satisfied with the editors’ pick. All-in-all, I thought this book was a great read and I highly enjoyed myself consuming it.

                Next up, we’re going to discuss accessibility. Now, I’ve done over seven dozen Epic Collection reviews at this point, and I’ve explained myself every time, but I know that I have newbies reading my reviews every time I post, so I have to explain myself once again. When I’m talking about accessibility in graphic novels, I’m talking about if people who, for example, have never read a Marvel Comic book before can hear about this book and decide to read it, then actually read it, and understand it completely as is without any prior of outside knowledge of the backstory or the history of the characters. This book does draw on a lot of backstories such as “Avengers Disassembled,” “House of M,” and “Decimation,” but for the majority, it is self-contained. The hiccup is including the two issues of “Avengers World” from the “Axis” storyline, which does break the self-containment and draw on some outside knowledge. That said, I do still feel that this book is highly accessible. The stories are presented in such a way that I feel having no outside knowledge of Marvel Comics would be super detrimental to. Marvel goes as far as to advertise this as essential reading for fans of Marvel Television’s “Wandavision” and “Agatha All Along,” and I concur that fans of those series would possibly find enjoyment with this book as it highlights Scarlet Witch and Wiccan, both prominent figures in the two television series, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s essential myself as the storylines have no actual connections, the television series did not actually adapt “The Children’s Crusade” in the shows. I will say that I do feel that even though this book is marketed as Vol. 3, Vols. 1-2 are not necessary reads before reading this book, as the stories are not directly connected to or continued from the previous volumes. If you’ve never read a Marvel Comic before and are looking for a jump on point, I would say that this is a relatively decent one.

                Next up, I’m going to score this book on a numeric scale. I know some readers primarily come to this blog to hear about the story and read my numeric score, I know that some of my other segments aren’t as popular or as big of a draw, but I still feel that every segment in my reviews has validity, just some more than others, and the numeric score is one of my key segments, not to dismiss the importance of any of my other segments. Anyway, I score on a very basic system. I work with a scale of exact integers ranging from one through ten, no point somethings, just whole numbers. If I give a graphic novel a score of a one, that means that this book is a pile of trash that should be collectively gathered and set on a massive pyre, then all the plates containing prints of these issues so reprints can be made should be wiped so this horrible book can never be reproduced and is completely erased from existence, sparing anyone the pain of spending their money obtaining this book. However, a score of a ten means that this book is sheer perfection, and I will never understand it if this book doesn’t become a bestseller that needs to be reprinted every few years because there are no copies available on the shelves anymore because it is completely sold out. Okay, so I’m not actually being serious about this, I’m just trying to make a point. Anyway, I don’t give out tens very often because I don’t very often find books to be perfection. So, let’s talk about what I’m looking for when I give a numeric score. I’m looking for a compelling story, fantastic art, accurate title, and adequate cover. Now, this book did have all of that, yet I still don’t feel like this book was perfection. Again, the “Avengers World” issues felt a little out of place being in a “Young Avengers” Modern Era Epic Collection, it didn’t quite fit like a glove in my opinion. And some of the art in “I am an Avenger” was a little wonky. So, I do have to deduct. However, I still feel like this book deserves a high score, the problems with this book weren’t too detrimental in my opinion. So, when I churn out my numeric score, it’s going to be… an eight! I thought it was an excellent read and I highly enjoyed it.

                Moving on in our list of topics to discuss, we’re going to my recommendation segment. In this segment, I answer two questions. The first is, do I, Tim Cubbin, personally recommend that you, who have just spent the past however many minutes you’ve been taking to read this, should read this book if you are now interested in reading this book, based solely on the words I have just spent the past few hours typing? The second question is, beyond the obvious of the people who are already Marvel and Young Avengers fans, who do I think should be reading this book, regardless of the fact if I would personally tell you to read it or not? The answer to the first question is probably obvious, but yes, I would recommend this book to you, my readers. If you are reading this review and now want to read this graphic novel, I recommend going to your favorite bookstore or online retailer, or your favorite comic book store, or your local library, or to your Marvel-obsessed friend’s house, and look for this book and read it as soon as you possibly can. If you do read this graphic novel, feel free to express your opinions. Comment or post or tweet anything you’d like to say, I’d love to hear from you. Everything I write in this blog is my own personal opinion and I don’t expect any of my readers to agree with what I say. We all have our own minds and think our own thoughts, and I invite you to feel however you want to feel about what I have to say, and if you disagree with me on anything I write, I’d really like to know so we can discuss our opinions. As far as to answer the second question on who the best audience is, I’d say that it includes teenagers and young adults, the LGBTQ+ community, and people who like stories about family drama.

                Okay, we’re getting to the wrap up point. So, I do have a few things to say before I log off. First, I’ve been doing this blog for over five years now and have done over 180 posts. I’ve done plenty of reviews of Epic Collections, Modern Era Epic Collections, and Ultimate Epic Collections. If you want to read more “Young Avengers” posts, feel free to check out my reviews of “Young Avengers: Not What You Think” and “Young Avengers: Dark Reign” for more content. I purchase every Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection and Ultimate Epic Collection as soon as I can after it is released and put up a review of it as soon as possible. I’ve done over seven dozen reviews just like this, so there are plenty more to read. My next review will be “Daredevil: The Murdock Papers” which you can expect to see within the next two months following this review, so keep checking back for it. There are also short stories, poems, essays, articles, and editorials, so keep checking out timcubbin.blogspot.com for tons more content that I’m sure you’ll like. I post on a very frequent basis, so keep checking back regularly, and tell your friends, family members, and coworkers about my blog so I get more readership. I’ll be doing this blog for as long as I possibly can, so you can expect that to be for quite a while. That’s all I have to say for now. Until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!