Synopsis
Young Avengers Special #1 synopsis by
Rob Johnson
Rating:
The bulk of this issue is flashbacks to the Young Avengers' lives before they became superheroes.
At the Daily Bugle's Pulse office reporter Kat Farrell tries to persuade their private investigator Jessica Jones to get her an interview with the YA. She waves a newspaper article (headed "Young Justice?", a sly reference to DC's earlier teen team?) about their battle 3 days ago with Mr Hyde (#7-8) where it says Patriot was on drugs, attacked Captain America (not exactly), and had to be restrained by the rest of the team. Jess tries to deny knowing anything about it, but Kat points out she's there in the photo. She wants to know if the Avengers have made the team disband, and threatens to go for answers to 14-yr old Cassie Lang, who is obviously following in her father Scott Lang's footsteps as the size-changing Ant-Girl. Jessica reluctantly says she'll see what she can do.
1st-off pregnant Jessica goes to warn Cassie over fries and colas that Kat threatens to expose her secret identity. 1st she tries to reassure the teen that people may not believe her claim, but she reminds her what happened after a paper outed Matt Murdock as Daredevil (DD(1998)#32, and now the FBI is after him). Jess suggests she could always stop being Giant-Girl, and Cassie corrects her that it's Stature (I guess she's fed up with no-one remembering her super-id). Cassie says she can't do that.
Cue the 1st flashback. Cassie is at Stark Industries trying to get to see Tony Stark (as it seems she has done for several days). She's told he's not there but says she'll wait. Her mother Peggy arrives to drag her off to school, saying Mr Stark obviously doesn't want to see her (it seems he's ignored lots of calls and e-mails too). Cassie wants to know exactly how her father died (presumably the details of Avengers Disassembled have been hushed up, although in #2 of the main title she knew he'd been killed by Jack Of Hearts and where it happened).
They are joined by Peggy's new husband Blake Burdick who is a policeman. The receptionist chooses this moment to say that Mr Stark is coming to see her, but her step-father insists that she go to school instead. During a heated exchange Blake says Scott was a convicted felon, Cassie retorts that he became a hero, Blake says cops are heroes and Cassie tells him to go catch criminals then. Her mother slaps her and the girl storms out. But 3 other cops are waiting outside to escort her to school.
That night Cassie packs her things intending to run away from home. But on the way out she catches a glimpse of a TV report on the Young Avengers adventure in #1 and instead heads over there where she meets them in #2, discovers she has her father's size-changing ability and joins the team. End of flashback.
Jessica asks Cassie what she would have done if she did run away. Cassie says she would have gone to Los Angeles to join a group of kids who rebelled against their supervillan parents (the Runaways, currently in their 2nd volume). She's not sure if the Young Avengers still exist, since Iron Lad went back to the future (#6) and Eli Bradley gave up being Patriot after he was exposed as getting his powers from the MGH drug (#8). But no matter what *she* will continue the fight. Jess asks if she's really doesn't want a normal life, and Cassie counter-asks if Jessica did (when she was the teen heroine Jewel).
Next Jess asks the same question of Teddy Altman and Billy Kaplan in Central Park. Teddy says there's no such thing as normal, but until the Young Avengers he desperately wanted to be such. And he narrates his flashback ...
... In High School he knew he had the power to shapeshift and used it to make himself a jock and became best friends with the class president Greg Norris. Eventually he trusted him with his secret and surprisingly Greg was happy about it. His friend got him to imitate Johnny Storm to attract girls for them, to become the Hulk just for laughs, and to pose as Tony Stark to get them into exclusive nightclubs.
Then they hear about the Avengers disbanding (Avengers Disassembled) and use the Tony Stark disguise to get into the ruined Avengers Mansion. Teddy uses his superstrength to get past some debris. The Avengers fan marvels at all the mementos on display inside but Greg wants to steal some and sell them. Teddy won't let him and Greg threatens to tell the police he's a Skrull (which he actually is but doesn't know it). Teddy manifests some very large claws and Greg backs off, their friendship ruined.
Teddy is left alone with the Avengers' stuff. Which is where Iron Lad finds him and invites him to join his team as Hulkling. And we also see the team in action against Shocker between #6 and #7, which is the event Captain America, Spider-Man and Luke Cage were watching a TV report on at the start of #7.
Billy Kaplan then narrates *his* flashback where he's sitting moping outside Avengers Mansion when Wanda Maximoff finds him, his favourite Avenger Scarlet Witch. His face is bleeding and he confesses that a school bully John Kessler keeps beating him up for being different, though he's not a mutant like her (but possibly he already knows he's gay). She encourages him to stand up to the bully next time.
But instead he concentrates on keeping out of Kessler's way, and he's so successful that Kessler starts bullying another kid. But this makes Billy angry enough to intervene, and something happens within him which causes him to strike Kessler with lightning from his hands. This disturbs him so much that he runs to Avengers Mansion again, which by now is in ruins. And there Iron Lad finds him and inducts him as Asgardian (now Wiccan since #6).
In the present the 2 boys agree to meet with Kat Farrell. They even intend to confirm the rumours that they are a gay couple.
Jessica's next stop is the Rockefeller Centre ice rink where she meets Kate Bishop. Kate is worried about her father finding out what she's doing (including using his money to finance the team and using 1 of his disused warehouses as their base), but reveals that her mother is dead. She also reveals another reason why she's become a Young Avenger, in her flashback.
Kate and her sister are trying on their bridesmaid and bridal dresses for Susan's wedding (that will get interrupted in #1). Kate tries to persuade Susan to drastically cut down the cost of the wedding and give Dad's money instead to the charities Mom used to work for before she died. Susan won't do that, but confides that if Kate wants to devote her life to good works then she'll back her against their father.
Schoolgirl Kate is walking at night through Central Park when she's attacked and raped. She sees a therapist about it, but also learns self-defence and the use of various weapons. So she's well-prepared when she thrusts herself into the YA.
Now Jessica empathises with her because something similar happened to her (with Purple Man when she was Jewel) which made *her* *quit* being a superhero. But she's *not* telling Kate to quit. She has to admit that if her (as yet unborn) daughter inherits powers she'll tell *her* not to enter the super-business, but she expects the girl will do it anyway. And hopefully she'll be as good as Kate.
Jess' last stop is meeting Eli Bradley in front of the Manhattan Public Library. He says he's left the team but she says Kat will still want to know why, and about his using Mutant Growth Hormone to give himself powers. She suggests he tells her the truth to deter other kids from using MGH to become superheroes. But he protests that's not why he did it, and we're into the last flashback.
Eli is walking home from the store with his grandpa when they are confronted by a youth gang taunting them as Captain America and Bucky. (They've obviously heard the story that Isaiah Bradley was the black Cap in WWII, but the Super-Soldier process eventually dulled his mind.) Isaiah takes the insults and a thrown bottle without fighting back. Eli stands up to them but they knock him down and then leave. Eli makes to follow them with the broken bottle, but 2 drug dealers offer him something better - MGH.
Later at home he reviews the Internet claims that the black Cap is a myth. He asks his grandma Faith whether grandpa really *was* the black Cap. She says it's true but he asks how she *knows* it is. She replies that his fighting for his country in WWII means he's a hero, whether or *not* he was a super-soldier.
Later still he and Isaiah are playing ball out back when the gang appear again and start beating Eli up. Grandpa finally reacts and takes them all. Eli is ashamed that he doubted the man, and he becomes Patriot to make up for it by continuing his legacy.
But now he doubts himself. Jessica tells him that making mistakes is OK as long as you learn from them. And the topic of the future of her unborn child crops up again. Eli finally says he'll talk to Kat Farrell sometime, but now he has schoolwork to catch up on.
Jess returns to Kat with Hulkling, Kate (still with no super-name), Stature and Wiccan for the interview. Her partner Luke Cage is with her and comments that she obviously didn't talk the kids out of super-heroing as Cap wanted her to. She replies that they weren't going to stop, and in truth she didn't want them to.
And we see Iron Lad in his Kang armour watching from somewhen.