Lost Your Own Series? Come Join the Avengers Academy!

I caught up with Avengers Academy over the weekend.  (I was about five or six issues behind!)  I have to say that AA is probably my current favorite Marvel comic.  It's very fresh and relevant and, thanks to writer Christos Gage, the characters become more and more developed with each issue, as they explore their relationships with one another.  Gage gives each member their own personality, incorporating diversity in a subtle (or not so subtle) way. 

Avengers Academy #1

During Marvel's Avengers explosion of 2010, I sampled each new Avengers comic, only sticking with the Academy after the dust settled.  They were the only team to offer something different, and they reminded me of the New Mutants when they first debuted in 1983.  And, having been a huge West Coast Avengers fan back in the day, I was happy to see Tigra used again, this time as a teacher to young Avengers-in-training.  

I liked the possibilities of characters Veil, Hazmat, Mettle, and Reptil during the first several issues.  However, I felt that Finesse and Striker were too generic, both in their codenames and their personalities.   The name "Striker" reminds me of a character from the Airplane! movies, while "Finesse" sounds like a hair product.  They also have black and white costumes to match their bland, angry personalities.  

When it came time to shake things up during a roster change (circa issue #20), I was disappointed that Veil was the one to go.  She was my favorite character and had what I thought was the best costume.  What about Striker or Finesse?  I felt like they could leave and nobody would even notice they were gone.  

New additions to the team were -- surprise! -- Lightspeed (from one of my favorite 1980s comics, Power Pack) and White Tiger, whom I had never heard of, but I liked the costume, despite being black and white, colors already in abundance at the Academy.  I was excited to see Julie Power join and grateful that at least one of the Power kids was finally being used in a series and allowed to grow up outside of the confines of the Fantastic Four's Baxter Building.  She's more a teenager now with a more adult costume (hello, bare midriff!).  (Note to FF:  let the other Power kids grow up a bit, too!)  She also comes with secrets that I never would have guessed (more on that later).   Additionally, I was pleased to see series-canceled teens Spider-Girl, X-23, and She-Hulk (Lyra) joined the Academy.  I guess they have to go somewhere, right?  The new Avengers Academy recruiting slogan should be:  "Lost Your Own Series?  Come Join the Avengers Academy!"

Not only were there good additions to the team, but the team also added Hawkeye as a full-time teacher AND moved to the old digs of the West Coast Avengers!  How psyched was I?!  It was like a WCA reunion! 

The Avengers Academy series gets a bit bogged down during the crossover events (I'm talking to you, Fear Itself) and is at its strongest when dealing with one-on-one character interaction.  I love the relationship struggle between Mettle and Hazmat.  It reminds me of the torture that Colossus and Kitty Pryde went through for years and years, with a little bit of The Thing and Alicia Masters thrown in for good measure.  And Mettle's kind of sexy in his own, skinless way.  

Mettle and Hazmat

Most recently, I loved the very personal conversation between Striker and newcomer Lightspeed.  (SPOILER ALERT!  Just warning ya.)  Striker gay?  Lightspeed bisexual?  Whoa... Thanks for making me appreciate Striker more, Christos.  He's not just a pompous ass; he's confused and insecure!  Can we change the generic codename, though?  And, come to think of it, Julie always was pretty butch back in her Power Pack days.  Now, she's more of a lipstick lesbian -- er, bisexual.  I'm still not crazy about Finesse, though.  Can we kill her off?

I look forward to the continuation of Avengers Academy with characters that aren't popular enough to support their own series, but as a team do pretty damn well.  After The Children's Crusade, how about adding Hulkling and Wiccan to the school?  (Hint, hint.)