Avengers: The Children’s Crusade – Search for the Scarlet Witch 1

Bloody hell that’s an unwieldy title! The first two parts are the series title (I don’t know why it isn’t Young Avengers); the latter part is because this is a collection of the first three issues, still in comic book format, at $5, which is only a dollar more than each one individually – I like this format, which is new to me. Good encouragement to catch up on a series. It actually comes with a double cover too, though I guess that is an error.

The story starts well, with plenty of logic, stemming from past events around Wanda. Two of the members of the Young Avengers are apparently unrelated, but one has super-speed and the other magical powers, and they look like twins: the magician, Wiccan, thinks they may be in some sense the sons of the Scarlet Witch, who were apparently magically created then lost. Wanda has gone missing since going crazy, killing people and wiping out most of Earth’s mutants, and they decide they need to find her.

After so many random buys have proven hugely disappointing, often through pointless and stupid writing, it’s a pleasure to see a story driven by sense, even a kind of internal necessity. Heinberg maintains that as events escalate, involving the Avengers, Wanda’s dad (Magneto), then her brother, Quicksilver. The motivations and ensuing behaviour make sense and flow pretty naturally. It’s also timed very well – even with the three issues joined into one, it’s obvious where the final page of each fell, since there is a big dramatic moment there, and one that each time would have made me yearn for the next issue, as the final page of this indeed does.

Of course the other driver besides immediate writerly intelligence is the fact that Heinberg created such a rich setup: his membership doesn’t just link to the Avengers, Wanda, Pietro and Magneto. The starting point and line-up give links to the Kree, Skrulls, Kang, time travel, magical realms, the super-soldier formula, Pym particles and more – with all that, strong potential stories kind of come your way if you are alert to the opportunities and know what to do with them.

The characterisation is as sharp as the plotting – some of the Young Avengers get very little play in three issues focussing on a couple of them and with lots of giant guest stars, but what there is of them is right and distinct, and he gets everyone else right all the way through. The dialogue has plenty of work to do at times, feeding us backstory in believable and even elegant ways, and introducing and limning lots of characters, and I didn’t spot a false note or clumsy line anywhere. I’m not sure there is anything brilliant in the writing here, but it is very much first-rate mainline superhero writing, high quality in every department, which is far rarer and therefore more precious than I had grasped until quite recently.

The art doesn’t let the side down at all. Well, occasionally a jawline looks as if he hasn’t quite got the hang of transferring 3-D faces to the flat surface, but that may be just how he draws chins. And to be picky I think his composition of background elements is sometimes clumsily misjudged or possibly thoughtless. Nonetheless, he draws well (there are a few excellent faces here), with subtle but clear expression, and the action is always clear, a very important aspect in team books especially. He also gets pretty much the best out of the big-impact moments, and Heinberg gives us a bunch of those. The inking is slick, and combined with some lively colouring, it brings out varying surfaces extremely well.

To be frank, I should admit that this one is a bit less than a random buy: I’d read Heinberg’s Young Avengers before and liked it, and I’m not really sure why I stopped. This three-in-one bargain comic has grabbed me back as a reader, and I will pick up the 4th issue next time I’m in a comic shop, and stick with it – the first of these purchases-for-review where I’ve decided that. It’s not going to change lives or make any all-time greats lists, but this is among the best superhero material I’ve read in years.