This week’s comics include a vampire hunting teddy bear, two teams of young adult super-heroes and the prequel comic to the most anticipated movie of the year.

YOUNG AVENGERS #5

This issue brings us the finale of the initial arc of this series that reforms the Young Avengers with a few characters from the original series as well as some newbies like Miss America, Noh-Varr and Kid Loki. There is a lot of mystic mumbo jumbo and hocus pocus that results in a pretty weak plot device used as the reason why these kids all decide to stay together.
Final Verdict: This book started out with so much promise. Its is written by fan favorite Kieron Gillen with art by his PHONOGRAM (great series, check it out if you never have) collaborator Jamie McKelvie and while McKelvie’s art is solid and some of the characterization is top notch (I absolutely love Gillen’s Kid Loki), the book as a whole just feels so empty and aimless. And for the life of me I don’t understand why Miss America is talking like 1980’s VIBE. Hopefully the next phase of this book picks up steam because as it stands now I am close to dropping it.
Grade: C-

THE GREEN TEAM #1

The New 52 retools the obscure and ancient DC series of the same name by updating the motivation behind the group of filthy rich young adults that make up the Green Team. In this incarnation The Green Team is run by an enterprising young trillionaire who uses his money and influence to hold secret tech expos as a way to get his hands on new technology that he could use for various reasons (to make money, to have fun and to become a super-hero in his own right). Of course holding a secret super tech expo in the Internet age is going to quickly become a not-so-secret super tech expo and once an anti-rich people villain shows up things go haywire.
Final Verdict: I am liking most of the characters that are introduced in this issue especially Prince Mohammed and the young folks actually sound and act like young people and not a middle-aged writers idea of what young people should sound like. My first reaction was that this group of characters are what the new Hellfire Club in the X-Men books should be like if they didn’t suck so bad. A few of the characters are a bit too slight (the actress especially) and the art is a bit touch and go for me but I am hoping THE GREEN TEAM is given enough time to become fully fleshed out. I know it is a hard sell in this day and age but first impressions have me thinking it will be worth the time if DC gives it to the books creators.
Grade: B

MAN OF STEEL PREQUEL #1

This prequel to the upcoming MAN OF STEEL movie, with plot by David Goyer, Geoff Johns and director Zack Snyder, gives readers a glimpse into life on Krypton for Superman’s cousin Kara. Yep this prequel focuses on the future Supergirl. In this version of events Kara is a cadet training for a slot on a Kryptonian space exploration team and horrible events befall her team and then, once she is a full-fledged member of the space expedition, Kara has some Sigourney weaver in ALIEN moments.
Final Verdict: If this is actually a glimpse into events that are going to be dealt with in the movie then I cannot recommend this book enough because there are some really major nuggets of information dropped on the reader here as well as being a nice preview of just how the plot of the movie is going to go and seems to answer some questions I have from watching the trailers that have been released. it also just serves to increase my already elevated levels of excitement for the MAN OF STEEL movie. Plus it’s always good to see Jerry Ordway’s clean art on any book
Grade: B

BERTIE BEAR AND THE DAGGER OF A THOUSAND SOULS #1

This is a book about an eye-patch wearing teddy bear monster hunter. Yeah…that is what I said. And amazingly the bizarro nature of that premise works because in the world of Bertie bear no one seems to find it odd that a teddy bear can talk and likes to run around chopping the heads off of vampires. Well, in this issue Bertie is tasked by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to investigate the dastardly team-up of an evil magician and a vampire cult that have acquired an artifact that can give its owner incalculable power. So of course the bad ass bear has to go handle things before the bad guys win.
Final Verdict: This premise is so ridiculous. You have a womanizing Lothario, secret agent, mister hunter teddy bear that talks like a pulp novel P.I. fighting monster and vampire queens. This silliness would make a great cartoon on Adult Swim. But until that happens it will just have to settle for being a really fun comic book.
Grade: B