Broken Frontier

Avengers: The Children's Crusade is one of those rare limited runs that deserves to be picked up in both single issue and trade paperback formats.  Pick up this issue and you'll see why.  The concluding page from this and the first issue alone are worth the collective eight dollars.

Jim Cheung's art is fantastic.  He has a distinct style that can't be ignored.  Each of his characters have so much personality, both in the way they’re designed, and the way they appear to "move," even in stationary drawings.  Cheung adds his own twist to even the most familiar characters.  The level of detail he adds to the costumes is unreal.  It’s almost as if you can physically feel the texture (although I’m sure this is thanks to colorist, Justin Ponsor, as well).  Cheung’s blend of fantasy and realistic proportions and anatomy create a dazzling and spellbinding reading experience that is sure to entrance readers.

Allan Heinberg brings the same youthful energy to this series as he did with the original Young Avengers run.  Though at times the dialogue can be a little corny and unnatural, the vibrancy of his characters and the energetic dynamic of the team as a whole keep the readers’ focus on the story.  This particular story has been a long time coming, and as with any long-awaited story, expectations are high.  Faithful fans will be happy to see that Heinberg does not disappoint.  

He really takes the time to explore and build relationships within the various groups that generally don’t interact.  Within these two issues, he’s taken the X-Men, the Young Avengers, the Avengers, and the House of M family and mashed them all together. The complexity of the familial ties in this series is mindblowing, and Heinberg juggles them masterfully.

The only thing I would like to see addressed is the fact that the Vision is essentially the father of the twins—so far this hasn’t even been hinted at, and long-time readers must admit that this is a big thing to ignore.  

I could go on for pages and pages analyzing and commenting on this 20-something paged book, but chances are I won’t be able to tell you anything that you wouldn’t get from picking the book up and thumbing through the first few pages.  So, do yourself a favor, and next time you’re at your local comic book store, take a look for yourself.  You won’t regret it.