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Young Avengers #11: Review

Mar 2006
Allan Heinberg, Jim Cheung

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Story Name:

Family matters part three


Synopsis

Young Avengers #11 Synopsis by Rob Johnson
In #9 the Super-Skrull kidnapped Hulkling (Teddy Altman), claiming that he was the heir to the Skrull throne. (Teddy is a shape-shifter like the Skrulls. He just assumes a Hulk-like appearance as a default super-identity. However Hulkling also has super-strength, which the normal Skrulls don't.)

In #10 the other Young Avengers, including the reluctant Patriot (Eli Bradley), picked up the new Vision from Avengers Tower. He consulted the Avengers Fail-Safe database that had led to them in the initial issues of this title, and found another candidate, a speedster Tommy Shepherd. They recruited Tommy, defeated Super-Skrull and rescued Hulkling. Only to be attacked by Kree soldiers, claiming Teddy is a Kree.

The Kree repeat the story that Teddy was born to Skrull Princess Anelle after the Kree-Skrull War. But now is added the claim that the father was Kree Captain Marvel. The conception was while Anelle helped Mar-Vell escape from Skrull captivity during the war. Straight afterwards Mar-Vell sacrificed himself (sort of) to save Rick Jones' life. (Last issue we also learned that Teddy was smuggled to Earth to protect him from Anelle's father's wrath. And Anelle died when Galactus ate her planet.)

The Kree want to induct Hulkling into the military. But he obviously doesn't want to go. The rest of the team fight off the Kree as Hulkling rescues the injured Super-Skrull. After defeating the Kree, Vision finds out how to fly their spacecraft.

Vision intends to fly it to Avengers Tower. Tommy doesn't like that idea, because the YA have just broken him out of a juvenile detention centre where the government were experimenting on him. But he also suggests that the Avengers will turn Teddy over to the aliens to avoid involving Earth in another Kree-Skrull War.

Patriot and Kate Bishop as usual bicker over what to do. Tommy is the 2nd person (after Stature (Cassie Lang) in #7) to take this as a sign they are an item. Kate denies it again, which pleases Tommy 'cos he fancies her.

Wiccan (Billy Kaplan) is trying a spell to heal Super-Skrull. Kl'rt now claims that he came here to protect Hulkling from the Kree, who want to control him or kill him. He claims that he found Anelle and Mar-Vell escaping, and helped them by pretending to be Mar-Vell still in captivity. His motives seem to have been a mixture of love for Anelle and dislike of her father, who had exiled him due to fear he'd become a rival. Throw in some respect for Captain Marvel and doubts about the war between their races.

Super-Skrull also drops the bombshell that Billy and Tommy, who look alike, are the twin sons of the Scarlet Witch.

Vision consults the files he inherited from his predecessor, and tells the assembled crowd that Scarlet Witch did magically conceive twin sons called Thomas and William. They were 'lost souls' who Mephisto later reclaimed. But their time with Wanda changed them so much that Mephisto couldn't reabsorb them, and they ceased to exist. They also vanished from Wanda's memory, until the reawakened memory drove her mad, leading to Avengers Disassembled.

Billy is convinced that they are the twins reincarnated. Tommy is skeptical. Vision discovers that the magical father of the twins was the earlier version of himself.

At that point their Kree ship is attacked by a Skrull ship. Injured Kl'rt wants to fly out to get them to stop. But Hulkling insists on going instead. And his boyfriend Wiccan flies after him. But meanwhile the Skrulls are attacked by more Kree, and it turns into a battle between troops of flying soldiers. Until Hulkling announces his presence and orders them all to cease fire.

Just then the New Avengers turn up. Iron Man, Sentry and Spider-Woman in the air, Captain America, Luke Cage, Spider-Man and Wolverine on the ground.

The 2 alien forces stake their claims on Hulkling, both claiming to have space forces ready to attack Earth if they don't get their way. Wolverine thinks they're bluffing. Teddy doesn't want to go, and the YA don't want to let him.

Cap tells them all that Hulking is under Avengers protection. A Kree tries to shoot Cap, but Patriot takes the blast. And all hell breaks loose.


 

Review / Commentaries

Rating:
4.5 stars

Young Avengers #11 Review by (June 27, 2013)
There is also some confusion over Wanda's memories. As Vision suggests, Avengers #503 showed that she didn't remember her children until Wasp thoughtlessly mentioned them. Then the Witch went to see her mentor witch Agatha Harkness demanding to know who these children were that everyone else seemed to know about. Presumably Agatha explained the truth, Wanda went mad, and Avengers Disassembled happened. However in AWC#62 it is ambiguously shown but Wanda may be given her memories back then. Certainly some later writers show her remembering the twins, especially in SW's own 1994 mini-series. So when did she lose the memories again? I don't think she mentions her children in Avengers v3, up until Disassembled. So maybe Franklin Richards restored her lack of memory during Heroes Reborn or Heroes Return? (After all he restored other things.) Maybe he didn't know she'd regained the memories? Children's Crusade will muddy the waters here, but I'll leave that to my recently-extended Comments there. However 1 part of that speculation is worth mentioning here:- How did the twins get reincarnated? I opt for Wanda causing it during Avengers Disassembled. This is relevant because she could also have inserted the information about them into the Fail-Safe database.

In #3 we were told that Iron Lad located some of the YA via a database in the old Vision's files. The Avengers Fail-Safe Program supposedly listed some young super-characters with connections to the Avengers. It is easy to see how Eli Bradley got on there (or actually his uncle Josiah), because Captain America knew about the family. Cassie Lang would probably be on there too, but Iron Lad didn't call on her. However, now that we know the secrets behind Hulkling and Wiccan (and later addition Tommy Shepherd) it's very difficult to see how the Vision's database could have included them. The Avengers didn't know about Anelle's relationship with Mar-Vell, or her pregnancy. Nor that Teddy had been sent to Earth with a Skrull foster mother. And, if Billy and Tommy *are* a reincarnation of Scarlet Witch's sons, it's a total surprise to the Avengers as well. Vision's tale of Wanda's sons has also morphed significantly since Avengers West Coast #52. There Thomas and William weren't based on 'lost souls', they were pieces of Mephisto himself, which he tried to reabsorb. They ceased to exist when Agatha Harkness made Wanda forget about them, which set Mephisto back a bit, but only temporarily. Without the changes in Vision's current story, there were no souls to be reincarnated as Billy and Tommy. Even if, as will turn out to be true in Children's Crusade, Tommy and Billy *are* Wanda's children reborn, there is an age problem. AWC#52 was cover-dated Dec 1989. While this is long enough in real time for the boys to have grown up, it doesn't really suffice in condensed Marvel time. (Teddy has more time to have grown since the Kree-Skrull War. And anyway who knows how fast Kree/Skrull hybrids age?)

Anelle is shown opposing her father's bloodthirsty ways in Avengers #94 during the Kree-Skrull War, and asking for mercy for his captives, including Captain Marvel. On such slim foundations are plotlines built. There was no hint there of a romantic involvement. It is true that the Super-Skrull did hope to marry Anelle in Captain Marvel #2-3, in hopes of succeeding Emperor Dorrek. At that time he was already in exile, because of his failures against the Fantastic Four, supposedly not because he was a threat to Dorrek's power. Captain Marvel did indeed sacrifice himself for Rick Jones in Av#97, thus excusing him from any accusation of abandoning Anelle. But he was in fact trapped in the Negative Zone, and his career continued from there until he died of cancer in the 1st Marvel Graphic Novel. Anelle did indeed die with her world in FF#257, consumed by Galactus. Spider-Woman here is actually the Skrull Queen Veranke. I believe Super-Skrull is here working for a different faction of Skrulls (who fragmented after the Galactus event), and he's not part of her Secret Invasion. So Veranke doesn't blow her cover to him.


> Young Avengers comic book info and issue index

Elektra
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Excelsioring your collection:
DIAMOND SELECT TOYS Marvel Premier Collection: Avengers Endgame Captain America Statue, Multicolor
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Jim Cheung
Jay Leisten
Justin Ponsor
Jim Cheung (Cover Penciler)
John Dell (Cover Inker)
Justin Ponsor (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Cory Petit.
Editor: Tom Brevoort.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Captain America
Captain America

(Steven Rogers)
Hawkeye
Hawkeye

(Katherine Elizabeth Bishop)
Hulk
Hulk

(Robert Bruce Banner)
Hulkling
Hulkling

(Theodore Altman)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Anthony Stark)
Luke Cage
Luke Cage

(Power Man)
Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch

(Wanda Maximoff)
Sentry
Sentry

(Robert Reynolds)
Spider-Man
Spider-Man

(Peter Parker)
Spider-Woman
Spider-Woman

(Veranke)
Wiccan
Wiccan

(William Kaplan)
Wolverine
Wolverine

(James Howlett)

Plus: Kree, Patriot (Elijah Bradley), Speed (Thomas Shepherd), Vision (Jonas).