A Spin-Off of Marvel's moderately successful Avengers series, set just after Avengers: Disassembled, this was aimed at young adult readers, but still contained enough Darker and Edgier material to please Marvel execs.The comic has so far had a 12-issue run, an annual issue, a Civil War tie-in where they teamed up with the Runaways (and another for the Secret Invasion), and a series of special "Young Avengers Presents..." books which focused on each character individually. A new limited series by creator Allan Heinberg, entitled Avengers: The Children's Crusade, is now being published bimonthly.Generally, reception has been positive, especially from GLBT readers, for the honest presentation of a relatively realistic gay couple who (so far) haven't had it any worse than any other superhero in the biz.Contains examples of:
Action Dress Rip: Kate's first superhero costume is her bridesmaid's dress with half of the skirt ripped off.
Almost Kiss: Speed interrupts Wiccan and Hulkling just as they're about to kiss on-panel for the first time.
Eli and Kate almost kiss while riding a carriage around Central Park
Ascended Fanboy: Hulkling, Patriot & Wiccan became superheroes to be like the original Avengers.
Coat-Of-Arms is a fan of Norman Osborn's, and she helped put together to Young Masters for the chance of seeing him become the Green Goblin again. Her actual dream is to dance with him to George Michael's "Shoot the Dog".
Badass Normal: Kate Bishop and Patriot both started out this way, but Patriot got hold of first some drugs, then a blood transfusion full of Super Serum, leaving Hawkeye the sole BN on the team.
Beware the Nice Ones: Wiccan and Hulkling are the sweetest, most unassuming Yaoi Guys you could ever hope to meet...until you threaten one of them, in which case the other will be very put out.
For the most part, Hulkling seems to have taken the lead on this.
Wiccan put twenty people into comas for threating Hulkling. It's pretty two-way.
Butt Monkey: Stature, between Civil War and Secret Invasion.
The Cavalry: Iron Lad's return in Children's Crusade to prevent Wolverine from killing Wanda.
Coming Out Story: Spoofed. The character Wiccan is reluctantly trying to tell his parents he became a superhero, but they misunderstand and assume he's coming out with his boyfriend. They're supportive of his sexuality, but no word yet on his choice of profession since he didn't get a chance to say anything about it.
After Family Matters, its safe to say that Wiccan's parents know about him being a superhero.
Billy changed his codename from Asgardian to Wiccan, because of the obvious jokes that would occur once the press got wind of his homosexuality (even Eli got a chuckle out of this). It should be noted that despite the codename, Billy is not of Asgardian descent; on that same note, Hulkling is of no relation to The Hulk, he's actually the half-Kree/half-Skrull son of Captain Marvel & Princess Anelle.
Lampshaded with Kate Bishop - The rest of the Young Avengers jokingly call her "Hawkingbird" after she arms herself with Hawkeye's bow & Mockingbird's sword. After she doesn't pick a codename, it's pointed out mid-mission that she probably should pick one, unless she wants the rest of the team to accidentally give away her secret identity in battle.
Crimefighting with Cash: Kate bought new uniforms for the Young Avengers after Captain America and Iron Man confiscate the originals in an attempt to shut the team down. Later, an abandoned building owned by her father becomes the Young Avengers' base of operations.
Deadpan Snarker: Pretty much everyone. Wiccan, Speed, and Kate might be best at it, though.
Doomed by Canon: Once we learn that Iron Lad is a teenage Kang the Conqueror, his fate is a given.
Dysfunction Junction: Pretty much everyone on the team has an issue, be it drugs, rape, parental abandonment...
Everyone Can See It: Stature and Speed see the bond between Kate and Eli clear as day, but Kate claims that the two do nothing but fight.
Fingerless Gloves: Wiccan and Hulkling both wear them. Kate wears a variation with just the pinky and ring fingers cut off, presumably to protect her hands when she uses her bow.
The Mentor - Jessica Jones. ("As in Jewel?") and James Barnes (aka Bucky, aka Winter Soldier aka Captain America) for Patriot and possibly Kate Bishop.
Gayngst: Mostly averted, but a flashback does reveal that Billy used to get bullied because of his sexual orientation.
Heroic Sociopath: Tommy manages to impress Wolverine with his eagerness to make Skrulls blow up with super-speed. Billy flat-out calls him the team sociopath in the Children's Crusade.
Heroic Wannabe: The entire team, who formed because they were fans of the original Avengers, though they do pretty well for themselves and eventually get their inspirations' acknowledgment.
Ho Yay: Billy and Teddy went straight past this to Official Couple, but the first issue gives us the semi-infamous picture of Iron Man with his arm around Captain America's waist in midair.
Legacy Character: Depending on how loosely you use the term, anywhere from half the team to all of them are legacy characters. Patriot, Hawkeye, and the Vision are each the second superhero to go by that name; Speed, Wiccan, and Stature have original codenames, but consider themselves successors to Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch, and Ant-Man, respectively; Hulkling falls somewhere in the middle.
Stature is a straighter example, being the daughter of the late Scott Lang, the second Ant-Man.
Lighter and Softer: Alias fans may find it weird seeing Jessica Jones as a maternal figure who doesn't smoke, drink, or curse (although the first two were because she was pregnant at the time).
Like An Old Married Couple: Wiccan and Hulkling, in Children's Crusade. Half the trouble Billy gets into is because of ignoring Teddy's common-sense warnings, and Teddy's not shy about making his displeasure known when he finds out about it.
Lonely Rich Kid: Kate's mother died at a young age and her father was inattentive at best.
Love Triangle: The team basically consists of the stable gay couple and two sets of love triangles: a Betty and Veronica situation with Kate, nice guy Eli, and bad boy Tommy; and the angstier/quirkier triangle between Cassie, a guy she knew for a few hours, and a robot with the memories of the guy she knew for a few hours.
Mythology Gag: The Stature/Iron Lad/Vision love triangle replicates the Scarlet Witch/Wonder Man/Vision love triangle. The Visions keep having this problem.
Meaningful Name: This might not be intentional, but Wiccan and Hulkling's names are Billy and Teddy, which reminded me of another pair of very close friends. However, those two are no where near as close as Wiccan and Hulkling.
Not so Different: Doctor Doom drops one of these on Billy after Billy sneaks into Castle Doom looking for Wanda.
Only Child Syndrome: Averted. Kate has an older sister, Billy has two little brothers, and Eli comes from a large family, though only Kate's sister has actually been shown. Tommy might also have biological siblings; it's hard to tell, considering we still know next to nothing about the guy.
Teddy has a couple of half-siblings on his father's side, although these are unlikely to ever be relevant to the series (being space-faring superheroes in their own right).
It has been confirmed by Wanda that Billy and Tommy are the reincarnated souls of her twin sons, so there's that.
Kate's 'mask' is a pair of sunglasses (hopefully she never wears those when not in costume).
Cassie and Eli wear actual masks, but their secret identities are already closely associated with the legacies they take on: Cassie, publicly known as the daughter of the second Ant-Man, wears a variant of his costume and doesn't hide her hair or most of her face (Domino Mask); Eli's grandfather is likewise publicly known to have been Captain America, and Eli, likewise with a Domino Mask, is Patriot. Both have been easily found out (though, thankfully, not by villains).
Actualy Eli's grandfather, Isaiah, is only known as a legend among the Black Community and heck even Wolverine had never heard of him before Black Panther and Storm's Wedding.
Eli's first costume did avert the trope by covering almost everything.
Wiccan has no mask at all and yet somehow avoids detection. Then again, He IS a wizard,you know.
Could be that snazzy headband's doing.
Person of Mass Destruction: In the first issue of The Children's Crusade, Billy's massive use of his powers without even realizing makes the Avengers worry that they might have another Scarlet Witch on their hands, who, for those who don't remember, is a Reality Warper responsible for both House of M and Decimation.
Pregnant Badass: Jessica Jones. "Can I give you some advice, Kang? Never threaten a pregnant woman - especially one with powers."
In the Children Crusade's Oneshot, alternate-future-Kate states that she's pregnant with twins but is still active as an Avenger
Relationship Reveal: Wiccan and Hulkling, although it was downplayed due to everyone seeing it coming.
Running Gag: Not so much a gag, but a frequent occurance when Clint Barton was using the Ronin identity between Civil War and Siege; whenever he teamed up with the Young Avengers, Kate would be incapacitated at some point in the battle purely so the writer (Yes, more than one did it) could have Clint take up the bow & arrow again.
Although, Wiccan lost a few points of Straight Gay when he decided the best disguise for the team was outfits from The Sound of Music.
Even earlier than that came from "Young Avengers Presents..." in which he mentions quoting Project Runway for a spell.
Suddenly Ethnicity: Patriot's first costume completely covers his face, so we don't find out he's black until the third issue. This leads Cap to mistakenly assume his costume is based on Bucky instead of Eli's grandfather.
Suddenly Sexuality: Completely averted. Signs that Wiccan and Hulkling are a couple are there from Day One.
Super Serum: Patriot, using the stuff that started the trope.
Wiccan and Speed somehow inherit their "mother" and "uncle's" mutant powers, despite being reincarnated, and therefore not genetically related to the Maximoffs at all [or each other, but they're still identical twins]. Though trying to apply logic and/or science to Reality Warping will only bring you sorrow and grief, especially considering that the boys are technically older than their past lives. And both The Vision (a robot) and Mephisto (the devil) can lay equal claim to being their father? Your head may explode now.
Super Speed: The imaginatively named Speed, AKA Tommy. He's even faster than Quicksilver.
Not necessarily, when they were racing Quicksilver was carrying Wiccan on his shoulder and still managed to beat Speed the second time.
Taking the Bullet: When Cap refuses to hand Hulkling over to the Skrulls or the Kree, one of the Kree soldiers opens fire. Patriot takes the shot, and Cap has the Sentry (their most powerful member) fly him to a hospital to make sure he gets there in time.
Transparent Closet: Averted and played straight; Billy and Teddy are open about their sexuality, particularly to Billy's parents, but still 'in the closet' about being superheroes.
True Companions: Shows up in spades, particularly in the Children's Crusade mini.
You Killed My Father: Cassie tries to do this with Scarlet Witch when they end up on the Mighty Avengers; ironically, Cassie is right that Wanda shouldn't be trusted, but not for the reason she thinks (Wanda is actually Loki, God of Mischief, in disguise).
Hulkling had trouble trusting the Super-Skrull after the Super-Skrull, in his desperation to bring Hulkling back to the Skrull Empire so that he, as the rightful heir to the Skrull throne, can bring peace and order to the Empireburned Hulkling's mother actually the Skrull nanny entrusted by his real mother to raise and protect him in secrecyto death right in front of him. Hulkling never quite forgives him, but is able to trust him after the Super-Skrull explains his reasons while showing genuine guilt for the murder.
A Spin-Off of Marvel's moderately successful Avengers series, set just after Avengers: Disassembled, this was aimed at young adult readers, but still contained enough Darker and Edgier material to please Marvel execs.The comic has so far had a 12-issue run, an annual issue, a Civil War tie-in where they teamed up with the Runaways (and another for the Secret Invasion), and a series of special "Young Avengers Presents..." books which focused on each character individually. A new limited series by creator Allan Heinberg, entitled Avengers: The Children's Crusade, is now being published bimonthly.Generally, reception has been positive, especially from GLBT readers, for the honest presentation of a relatively realistic gay couple who (so far) haven't had it any worse than any other superhero in the biz.
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