Written by Matheus
Filmmaker by day, Wishlistmaker by night. Kamala Khan’s unofficial PR team since 2014.
“Teenagers scare the living sh*t out of me” were wise words from My Chemical Romance. What else do teenagers do? Well, they piled up my reading lists.
I think superhero comics mash really well with youth rebellion energy. The hero’s journey and growing pains follow similar, if not identical, routes. Marvel, even more, built the foundation of the company on a teenager - Peter Parker. The X-Men started as a coming-of-age book. So whenever Marvel launches a book with a new group of kids, I’m always paying attention.
Young Avengers was many things, and although their reading material isn’t vast, they’ve had a significant impact on the 616 universe, with their characters becoming fan favorites. Their material is also very accessible if you want to dip your toes into this type of comic - that’s the advantage of not having a ton of books.
So let’s see what’s available.
Young Avengers by Heinberg & Cheung
Allan Heinberg was a TV writer. Known for The O.C., Gilmore Girls, and Sex and the City, he had the energy Marvel needed to infuse into those comics. The big question Marvel was facing at the beginning of the century was exactly how to bring young eyes back to heroes who had been around for almost half a decade by that point. The answer this comic gave was legacy and defiance.
Legacy was easy to perceive - each character was made as an analog to a hero: Iron Lad to Iron Man, Hulkling (Teddy) to Hulk, Asgardian (Billy) to Thor, Kate Bishop to Hawkeye, Patriot (Eli) to Captain America, with Scott Lang’s daughter Cassie and a young Vision (a mix of the original programming with Iron Lad’s brain scans) finishing the team.
We start with the Daily Bugle and J.J. figuring out their names. Meaning these guys are already fully acting with costumes and powers the second we meet them. It’s a very fast way to say “these guys are gonna cause trouble” and also “these guys are gonna do their thing no matter what.” Then we unfold who they are - not through the mimetic, headline-destined costumes, but through their relationships and the slow understanding that they are not mere copies of their older peers and that they won’t get automatic respect just by choosing clever names.
The first arc focuses on Iron Lad, revealed to be Nathaniel Richards—a young Kang coming from the future, set on changing his horrible legacy. Allan writes like a TV show: full of reveals, twists, and a key understanding of that early-2000s TV character development that made a generation fall in love with fandoms, wikis, and tumblrs. The Marvel Universe was in turmoil at the time - with Civil War and Secret Invasion, and adults not being able to get their heads out of their pants and do something about it. So the YA are cubs caught in this machine, used by Civil War as rebel soldiers, with their eventual destiny a clear sign that things are not going to a good place. Anytime you want to gauge the state of the world, you should see how kids are being treated - and you’ll get a great idea.
Young Heroes Give the Chance to Bring in a Fresh Vibe!
There’s an edginess to this comic, disguised as teenagers screwing things up. And that’s what’s fresh about it - the key understanding that kids mixing up their hands for their feet is both what teens tend to do, but also how those same mistakes become a neon sign showing that things aren’t okay. If the world is set up in a way that makes these very valuable questions seem unreasonable, maybe we should review the setup - and not the question itself. Young Avengers is Marvel’s answer to stagnation, taking both the legacy of the company and its heroes at face value. The 2000s were about confrontation, and the Young Avengers were all about the humanity that can overcome the conflicts.
Another fun thing here is the presence of Jessica Jones (from Alias) as this sort of mentor figure - and if you know Jessica, you know how fun putting her in this role is.
After the first series, we have an outstanding “raise-the-stakes” move, or otherwise…
Avengers: The Children's Crusade
Tommy (Speed), Billy’s twin brother, comes into the fold in a meaningful way. With that, they reveal that Billy’s powers are not related to Thor at all. Instead, both of them are reincarnations of Wanda Maximoff and Vision’s long-lost children.
So, the children go on a quest to find the Scarlet Witch and discover what their legacies truly mean. This is a brilliant use of two narratives up in the air at the time. The first, obviously, is bringing the twins back from the Vision and Scarlet Witch series of the late ’80s. Back then, they were revealed to be not real - instead, devil spawns or “false creations” meant to trick the couple. When they’re taken away, it starts a slow descent into madness that Bendis used for Avengers Disassembled (where Wanda, having suffered enough, attacks the Avengers) and the House of M event (where Wanda, manipulated by her brother, creates a reality where everyone is a mutant - this is the storyline that ends with the famous “No more mutants” panel).
The Wanda story is Marvel’s defining story of that decade, and it was clever of the authors to throw these new cogs into the machine. The kids being real marks the start of redemption for Wanda - controversially, again. The tragedy was already set, and Heinberg used it as a tool for redemption, love, and hope. Marvel might be obsessed with conflict, but it’s also the publishing house of ideas and inspiration - and this book fits that perfectly. It’s the most dramatic and soap-like Marvel had been in years, but with a modern action flair. Billy becomes Wiccan - not Asgardian anymore - and he’s far from alone now.
Love is Blooming in the Young Avengers Stories
Love is the central word here. Although it was touched upon in the first series, Teddy and Billy are Marvel’s first gay teen couple. Their relationship takes center stage, with an iconic kiss and very attentive development. It was wonderful, as a gay kid, to see myself in my favorite media. Representation today carries such a stigma, almost as if every attempt by big companies is automatically political. But when you break it down to the simple feeling of connection, it should be obvious how vital diversity is - especially when you call yourself “the world outside your window,” as Stan Lee always said. It might feature wizards and aliens, but they feel and love much the same.
I remember a few years ago, when Brazil was going through its own political nonsense, a conservative politician tried using an image of their kiss from a reprint edition being sold at a children’s comic fair as a talking point - and tried to censor all gay material. The image went viral, and suddenly those drawings were on newspaper covers. Allan Heinberg tweeted about it. It was weird to see something you love, something so formative, being scrutinized like that. It’s always strange when this hobby of ours breaks the bubble. I’d call it a rude awakening - a reminder of the gap between the peace you find in yourself and the violence the world insists on. But that’s a struggle we understand very early on.
I’m happy to report that this comic’s courage continues to be significant - and even happier to mention that, of course, said politician was arrested for corruption not long after.
This whole period is available in one omnibus and newly printed Modern Epic Collections.
Young Avengers by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie
When talking about his new indie book The Power Fantasy, Kieron mentioned that it was his creative answer to Immortal X-Men - in the same way The Wicked + The Divine was born from the creative turmoil of his Young Avengers run. As a guy obsessed with all four titles, I’m happy to agree with the comparisons.
Gillen takes the heroes off their legacy-seeking pedestal and blends them into a cape milkshake of sci-fi and weirdness. The “drama” gives way to uneasiness. It’s much more interested in the duality of having a brain that’s still developing while wielding enough power to be a god. I’m not sure I wouldn’t have chosen to be a god at fifteen.
This run also uses their powers in relation to the medium itself - understanding the visual potential of those abilities. Gillen always plays with form, but his books are about treating character struggles seriously - not discarding them for the sake of plot. That’s probably why it didn’t last long. And he does all that without ever sacrificing humor or the conventions a good YA book needs - reading “YA” both as Young Avengers and Young Adult.
America Chavez, Marvel Boy, Prodigy, and Kid Loki (from his Journey Into Mystery run) join the team. Each adds a cool layer to the already rich relationships. Tommy and Prodigy are my favorites. These kids feel like my generation - not written as appeal generators, but as real people.
This run is a gem, one of Marvel’s modern shames that it didn’t continue much longer. Gillen should’ve been given free rein to take the group wherever he wanted. It’s not like Marvel did much with them together in the decade after anyway.
Conclusion
Those are the two main runs (really, that simple). But, as I mentioned earlier, the characters go on to other things - so here’s a quick guide if you fell in love with them and want more:
Wiccan & Hulkling: They remain a couple and one of Marvel’s most enduring pairs. Al Ewing brings them into New Avengers alongside Sunspot. He dives into Hulkling’s origins, making him the descendant of both the Skrull and Kree empires - and maybe the only prince who can end their war for good. I still remember one issue flashing forward to their future. That final panel is stuck in my mind as one of Marvel’s most endearing moments. They’ve since become key players in Marvel’s cosmic books - S.W.O.R.D., Empyre, and Hickman’s new Imperial relaunch. Wiccan gets his first solo in December 2025: Wiccan: Witch’s Road. Long overdue.
Iron Lad: He’s part of the larger Kang saga. You can find more about his story in The Kang Dynasty.
Patriot: Sadly, the most poorly treated of the bunch. Still, if you want to understand his legacy, read Captain America: Truth - one of Marvel’s most important books.
Kate Bishop: A star. She co-leads the Matt Fraction Hawkeye run with Clint Barton, where she truly levels up. It’s a top-ten Marvel comic - fun, sharp, and full of heart. It also inspired the Disney+ Hawkeye series.
Cassie Lang: A recurring presence in her father’s stories, especially Nick Spencer’s Astonishing Ant-Man - a funny and underrated gem.
Speed: Criminally underused but pops up in Steve Orlando’s Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. He also appears when dating Prodigy in Krakoa’s X-Factor.
Prodigy: Recently returned in NYX: From the Ashes (with Kamala Khan).
Kid Loki: His main story unfolds in Gillen’s Journey Into Mystery.
America Chavez: A few solo titles, but her best version is in Al Ewing’s The Ultimates, where she truly shines.
