Young Avengers: Sidekicks with Keith Lehtinen
We’re back with another episode of Trade School! This time, we’re talking about the first chapter in the tale of the Young Avengers: Sidekicks! Our host this week is Keith Lehtinen!
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Scored by Bret Eagleston
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Outline
️ Introduction to Certain Point of View’s Trade School Podcast (00:00 - 00:30)
Host Keith Letinen introduces the show’s concept: discussing comic book trade paperbacks they love.
Recap of significant Marvel comic launches from early 2000s: Runaways (2003), New Mutants (2004), and presents the focus title of 2005, Young Avengers.
Background and Creation of Young Avengers (00:30 - 01:24)
How the teen drama The OC inspired Young Avengers via writer Alan Heinberg.
Marvel’s strategic decision to bring Heinberg aboard to write the Young Avengers mini-series.
Details of Young Avengers Volume 1: Sidekicks (01:25 - 04:00)
Creative team: Writer Alan Heinberg, Artist Jim Chung, Inker John Dell, Colorist Justin Ponsor, Letterer Corey Petit.
Context of storyline: Avengers recently disassembled, new heroes filling the void.
Series Impact, Continuation, and Legacy (04:00 - 05:15)
Heinberg’s limited availability preventing ongoing series writing.
Subsequent run handled by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, known for high-quality storytelling.
Closing Remarks and Future Plans (05:15 - 07:00)
Host’s personal appreciation for the 2000s generation of Marvel heroes and their lasting impact.
Invitation to continued readership and engagement with Marvel comics.
Transcription
00:00
Welcome to Certain Point of View's Trade School, where each episode a different host talks about a comic book trade paperback that they loved and why they love it. Hello, I'm Keith letinen, host of CertainPV Comic Book Review show. We have issues. So the year was 2003. Runaways came out and started a movement that transcended the comic medium and continues to this day. In 2004, they gave us a whole new generation of mutants who took the world by storm and shaped the future of mutant kind as a species. And now it's 2005, a new year. What do you do for an encore? How about you just introduce arguably the most impactful and important team of heroes in decades. Oddly enough, this story starts with the teen drama television show the OC which by the way, I loved.
00:50
Despite the premise consisting of sexy teens taking turns dating each other, the healthy dose of nerd references found their way into the story via character Seth Cohen. One of the driving forces behind this was writer and producer Alan Heinberg. One conversation with wizard magazine later, it became clear that Heinberg was more than distantly interested in comics. Marvel, in my opinion, one of the smartest decisions I think they've ever made offered him to write a chance to write a book and what would start as a 12 issue mini and would end. I mean, it never really ended. I mean, tell Kate Bishop it's over and see what you get. I am of course talking About Young Avengers, Volume 1 Sidekicks, written by Alan Heinberg, penciled by Jim Chung, inked by John Dell, colors by Justin Ponsor and letter by Corey Petit.
01:43
First of all, the timing of this book was really incredible. The Avengers had recently disassembled and there was a big Avengers shaped hole in the world when the older heroes wouldn't step up. New heroes are found. And in this case, that takes the forms of the mysterious Iron Lad, Patriot, Hulkling and Wiccan. Four young men obviously taking inspiration from classic members of the Avengers. Along with them, we meet Kate Bishop, AKA the future Hawkeye and Cassie Lang, daughter of Ant Man Scott Lang and soon to be known as Stature. I was immediately drawn in by this group. Of course, part of the reason for that is the incredible art. I can still perfectly visualize each of these characters as drawn by this team. The dynamics formed almost immediately within the team are just so perfect as well.
02:32
I shipped Hawkeye and Patriot the moment they appeared on the page together. Cassie and Iron Lad had immediate chemistry, but most importantly, Hulk, Lane and Wiccan were already an item and just out. Absolutely adorable. And there's actually an amazing story behind their relationship that I wanted to make sure I got out. Which is Heinberg was actually worried he couldn't have a gay couple in the story and didn't bother asking. But as he is a gay man himself, he wanted to find a way to get some queer rep in the story, so he come up with a clever idea to possibly sneak one in. In the original pitch, Hulkling was a female shapeshifter who would gradually come to grips with the fact that she felt male.
03:11
Hilariously, when he brought this idea to editor Tom Brevoort, he was provided feedback that it just felt messy and just make them gay. And hell yeah. As a side note, a very similar story would be used in Runaways later on. Caroline and Zavin for life, by the way. Honestly, all of this would have been enough to make me love the book. New characters, hidden identities, actual goddamn representation. But they sweetened the pot for me. They introduced a mentor of sorts for the team. And it's only Jessica Jones, the star of probably my favorite comic book of all time, one of the few fictional characters I can say I legitimately fell in love with. And you throw in Captain America and Iron man and they fight Kang the Conqueror right away. The book just has this amazing running start and just never hits the brakes.
04:00
Unfortunately, due to his other commitments, Heinberg couldn't commit to an ongoing series. However, the fans were rabid and we needed more Young Avengers. We do get more Young Avengers, and with some books when the original creator leaves, the quality kind of falls off. I'm only here to review the first volume, but if you're worried about that, know that the series was given to Kieran goddamn Gillan and Jamie goddamn McKelvey. You can't do better than that. The characters of the series ended up being insanely important to Marvel in the long run. Of the original six, four have already appeared in the mcu. Kate Bishop has received her own run of comics, played immeasurably important roles in several other series. Cassie became a hero of her own with and without her father.
04:45
Patriot became the subject of a controversial but in my opinion, really well told story about the origin of his powers, and proved he has what it takes to stand on his own as a hero. Wiccan and Hulking got married and rule space. They just rule space, guys. Pretty much all of it. At least for now. As of recording, Imperial just started and I'm a tad bit worried. As a note, one of the things I like best about the three books I've talked about is how often they've crossed over, especially Young Avengers with the other two. They're always in each other's business and I love that kind of social sloppiness in Marvel Comics. Every publisher wide crossover seemed to have a team up in some combination between this generation of heroes.
05:27
As for Young Avengers, their impact is still felt today as constant calls for a Young Avengers movie pollute MCU social media tags and to be honest, Marvel isn't doing much to dissuade us. Add my name to those screaming masses. With that, I wrap up my retrospective of the 2000s generation of new heroes in Marvel. In my opinion, all three are amazing. They still stand up and the impact of them will be felt for decades. And as long as they're around, I will be reading them. With that said, thank you for your time. Make yours Marvel and happy reading. Alright Josue, let's go through our new comic day stack. We have a lot to review. I know. Maybe we've gone too far. Let's see. Marvel, of course, dc. I got Image, Dark Horse, Black Mask, Boom.
06:16
Idw, Aftershock, Vault, of course, Mad Cave, Oni, Valiant, Scout, Magma, Behemoth. Wow, that's a lot. All we need now is a name for our show. We need a name for a show about reviewing comic books every week. Something clever but not too clever. Like a pun. It's kind of cheesy. Yeah, it's something that seems funny at first, but we might regret later on as an impulsive decision. A few dozen episodes in. Yeah, we'll think of something. Join Keith and Osway for we have Issues, a weekly show reviewing almost every new comic released each week. Available on Geek Elite Media and wherever you listen to your podcasts. Ce